Does anyone know why the Center Trac X’s come without shields?
and why they are lubed, I know YYF said its to reduce nose while playing but I dont like playing with lubed bearings. Without cleaning it with mineral spirits (Because Im away from home) How can I break it in quickly so it spins as long as it should?
I dunno who was making excuses about the lube, but a different YYF rep (Ben himself?) said the CTX comes from the factory that way… as I recall (and memory is fuzzy) he implied that it’s not really a conscious decision “Let’s ship this lubed!” as much as that’s just how that particular bearing is made at the factory.
It’s therefore not extremely likely to be a yoyo-specific or even yoyo-friendly lube. I personally wouldn’t waste TOOOooo much time breaking it in. There should be other ways to clean it even if you don’t have access to your mineral spirits. If you’re abroad, I would just buy a solvent … denatured alcohol, more mineral spirits, or lighter fluid… and give it to whoever’s providing your lodging when you’re done with it. 
That’s because I’m as impatient as heck. If it’s just “for the day,” wait til you get home.
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this is from yoyofactory’s website: “We are also excited to have the new CTX bearing, in the “Large” size. The CTX takes the popular Center Trac shape and combines it with an extremely smooth, precise configuration. These bearings come with a small about of very light lubricant for quieter play. You may notice a bit more responsive play when you first install this upgrade, but with some play the bearing will “break in” and play perfectly”
So im pretty sure its yoyo-friendly lube. And im not very patient either. I love the idea about a center trac with 10 balls. But the lube makes it responsive when in tight situations and doesnt allow it to play at its full potential. I was just wondering if quieter play was the only rational for YYF lubing the bearings. Because I dont mind loud bearings. Id rather have a longer spinning bearing than a quieter one.
And Im wondering if anyone knows why they dont come with shields.
Thanks for that quote, and I stand corrected!
As for the shields, who knows? Buddha Whipples don’t come with shields, either. A few of the OEM 10-balls (the ones that came with Lesula and Token for examle) also don’t come with shields. It’s certainly going to shave a few fractions of a penny off per-unit in terms of both materials and manufacturing.
Have you noticed the number of posts regarding bad bearings? I personally wish all bearings still came lubed. I know, I know you think I’m crazy, but I don’t know how long that bearing has sat in a box or on a warehouse shelf.
One of the best bearings I ever received came greased! The thing is still amazing and I’ve had it forever.
More on topic, they claim gyroscopic flops will break a bearing in. I just play the bearing and enjoy using the responsiveness, experimenting and having fun.
The gyroscopic flop freezes the outer … shell… ? (is “race” still the right word here?) so that 100% of the time, there is movement between the balls and the inner surfaces of the bearing. Otherwise, the outer (race?) can theoretically move along with the inner, with the loop just sort of slipping along with low friction.
I believe in gyro flops being more effective for quickly breaking in a bearing… but on the other hand, I’m a big believer in playing for the fun of it. Treat the semi-responsive yoyo as a semi-responsive yoyo and just keep on playin’ on. No interruption to the fun, you just sacrifice a few slack tricks. 
So while there’s probably something to the flop method, you can always just play as Skitrz does!
I would just use the paper cleaning method.
As much as I like bearings that come clean I think I agree with you, but the CTX just comes with WAY TOO MUCH lube in it, I basically have to clean the thing twice before it’s first use to get the job done. But from now on I’ll just wish more bearings came lubed but only just enough to protect it, not as much as the CTX.
I like my CTX’s that came with my Shutters…
Yup! The old YYJ bearings were the best.
Loved the old AIGR’s.
Sooooo smooth.