I hope that this is the appropriate place to ask this. I realize that it’s unusual to mod with responsiveness in mind.
As a project, I’m planning on taking some old, broken fixed-axle yoyos and upgrading them with bearings.
It seems like most of the newer “beginner” yo-yos that ship responsive, such as the YYJ Classic or the YYF ONE, are fitted with “Half Spec” narrow C bearings.
I’ve never really found the half-spec responsive setup to be ideal. When I would try to play with a half-spec Legacy III, the string would rub against the response and the yoyo would be dying on tricks that I could easily do with a Raider (e.g., Brain Twister). The half-spec size just doesn’t seem to tolerate much string in the gap. I found that using a wide bearing with thick lube made for much better play.
Is there any advantage to using a half-spec bearing, aside from the easy upgrade to a wide bearing for unresponsive play? If you were to make a dedicated (non-upgradeable) responsive yoyo, would you be more likely to go for a half spec bearing or something with a smaller radius?
I’m currently planning on using “A” bearings for this upcoming project, since I have bearing seats from a Duncan bearing kit handy, but I was curious as to what people’s thoughts were on the half-spec size. Is it anything more than a compromise made for throws designed to “transition” players into unresponsive play?