Are the bearing shields necessary? Do yoyos play better with out them?
Doesn’t affect the play of the yoyos at all. Basically, their entire job is to keep dust and grit out of the bearing as much as possible. I’ll usually leave mine on unless I need to clean out the inside of the bearing at which point they’re removed and pretty much tossed in the trash because I’m really too lazy to put them back in.
Yuki
It doesn’t matter if the shields are in or out the yoyo play’s the same.
The only thing removing the shields doe’s is make it easier to clean the bearing. I have removed all the bearing shield on my yoyo’s but it really doesn’t matter if there in or out unless your planning on cleaning your bearing.
without shields can make it spin a tad longer and makes them a little quieter, I play all mine without shields
Only if they are slightly warped.
no, it doesnt matter if they are warped or not, it’s still slight added friction which can slow it down just a tad and makes it louder.
I’m sure deshielding would make it spin a teeny tiny bit longer but I seriously doubt that anybody would notice a difference in spin time of less than 1 second.
Yuki
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true, i think itd be more than a second, but yeah i meant a tiny bit
Theoretically the shield doesn’t touch anything except the outer race as seen here
So theoretically there isn’t any friction between the shield and anything. We don’t live in a perfect world though, so there probably is some but nothing to realistically increase/decrease spin times. If there was then everyone would be using deshielded bearings.
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That’s a good point. Mostly I don’t use shields cuz the bearings I use don’t come with them and they’re quieter without.
Thanks everybody!
Frankly I think that’s just your perception. Shields are not a noise generator in any form.
maybe your right, maybe i’m just a little stubborn, i’d rather hear it from you than anyone else 
I have been known to be wrong a couple of times in my life.
a lot of people are wrong when they are 5
anyways, i’m always glad to hear you chime in with your opinion.
Great for fine tuning the weight on a yoyo.
I would say they might affect the yoyo a wee little bit. Especially if they were warped.
As someone who knows a thing or two about bearings from purchasing them for industrial maintenance. The shield is there to do just as it’s name suggests, shield the bearing. Shield it from contaminants.
Do you need it in your yoyo?
To keep your bearing performing at it’s peak the longest it would be best to keep them in.
But if you are like me and travel with your yoyo in a dedicated holster rather than your pocket or backpack then you are likely ok to rock it with out. As in those conditions your throw is much less likely to pick up dust, dirt and lint.
Do I use shields? No, I generally find that they are more work than they are worth to pull out and put back in every cleaning. So mine go in the trash. I figure it doesn’t actually take that long to clean a bearing and the time saved of not having to deal with them is a bonus. I do keep shields on until their first cleaning though.
If you carry your throw in your pocket, backpack or other place that might have other items and debris tossed in with it then in that case I would totally recommend keeping shields on.
I would think much could get in there anyways, between the yoyo halves covering nearly the entire bearing and the sting wraps doing the same.