Wow, thank you for clearing that up. I can sleep at night now.
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I’ve tried flat, concave, centertrac, and centered (Boss Rage) style bearings. My personal favorite right now is anything that’s smooth as I’ve tried rougher CT/concave and smoother flat.
That Pixel-style bearing is intriguing, though! Definitely going to pick up a pack of Buddhas to check it out.
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Ok, this post intrigues me… I’ve played lots and lots of bearings and this is what I’ve come down too. I don’t like the grooved bearings. always feels weird and just not right when you get more than string in the gap. Personally I love OD 10 ball bearings in some of my yoyos, and in others it just don’t feel right… I have owned a gold center track bearing, and it was the longest spinning and quietest bearings I owned for a long time. Eventually the gold plating has all but worn off on both the inside and outside. It took hours and hours before that happened but eventually it did. Lots of yoyos I’ve owned have come stock with CT bearings. Good bearing, nothing special always consistent in terms of how it works. I’ve owned three DS bearings, probably some of my all round favorites. One platinum(which didn’t seem to make any difference), and two stainless steel. The SS DS bearing is what I’ll buy if I ever need to replace a bearing in a yoyo. The pixel bearing is good, probably one step above the 8 ball CT and on par with the 10 ball CT and the SS DS bearing Honestly I don’t know how much difference the bearing makes. If its in good condition cleaned and what not there is barely a noticeable difference. But hey!!! that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about he differences right???
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You know, I just couldn’t get into the pixel. I’ve only had one though. I could never get the thing to quiet down, I tried cleaning it several times and properly lubing the thing, and I just couldn’t get it to quiet down. There is an off chance that I got a dud though
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One thing that mystifies me is how the same brand and model of bearing can sound so different in different yoyos. And not just different yoyo models, but different instances of the same model even.
For example, the Center Trac bearing in my Ashigaru is barely audible, while the Center Trac bearing in my iCEBERG practically sounds like a chainsaw. Maybe that’s just the difference between alu and delrin at work there, but how about two of the same yoyo? My two NorthStar (fingerspin) yoyos sound utterly different despite having the exact same kind of bearing.
Another example is how the Boss Rage bearing sounds different in my Elite, Banshee, and Top Deck.
I’m like, wtf???
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Bearings are all mass produced so there’s going to be some variance as far as tolerances and QC. Some might spin a little better, some might sound a little different, some might fit ever so slightly tighter… You can have a stack of 10 identical bearings that all vary slightly in some way.
And some yo-yos just amplify bearing noise too, the shape/material might cause the bearing noise to resonate more with certain yo-yos.
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For sure… I’ve been meaning to start a topic on this, it is surprising how noisy some yo-yos can be just based on their shape / composition. Plastics do the worst for noise in my experience, but some metals can be oddly loud as well.
Top deck definitely amplifies bearing noise.
Yes, this is the only type of bearing I don’t like using. I’m mostly indifferent, but I strongly dislike these. I’m all for personal preference, but I really feel like the groove does more harm than good.
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Centering bearing are better than flat bearings. I have a you with a flat bearing and it’s no match against a centering bearing. Centering bearing spin longer and make less noise.
Not sure about the noise part, that might be a coincidence or something related to specific manufacturers.
As far as the spin times, if you’re talking about the relative lack of precession on a centering bearing, then yeah it might spin longer. Under “perfect” circumstances (never happen) they should both spin the same. But I’m not too worried about running through a minute or longer combo. All I want is a lack of snagging. It’s ironic to me that one of the big selling points of the grooved bearings was unresponsiveness. I’m sure they said this because the groove keeps the string away from the response pads, but I have more issues by far with grooved bearings and unwanted responsiveness than anything else by far.
Edit- if you’re just talking about a regular center trac bearing then yeah I’m totally on board with those. At least I think center trac is what I like. I’m out of the loop with my bearing lingo
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Yeah. The flat bearing is a little delayed to binds. The centering bearing is a little snaggy.
What? If your centering bearing works correctly it centers the string, thus moving it away from the response. Did you get that mixed up?
I’ve always wished there was a blind bearing experiment. I doubt there would be that many of us that would actually know the difference without looking. Then again if it helps, even if it’s just psychologically, might as well have them in every yo.
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I think it might be the pads or my string tension.
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I can easily tell by the lean induced onto the yoyo by the string sitting to one side of the (flat) bearing or the other. And if the lean doesn’t give it away, the inevitable twisting around the axis of the string (precession) that follows almost immediately after the throw does.
Precession immediately after the throw? I don’t have this problem. 
Good to be me! 
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The bearing, flat or otherwise, isn’t responsible for any lean. That’s the initial throw.
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A throw that starts out straight will still be afflicted with tilt/lean if the string is off to one or the other side of the bearing. The fact that the lateral weight is not evenly distributed on both sides of the string will see to that.
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Sort of, but the initial throw is a huge, huge factor. If you have a bad throw the solution is not a different bearing but… to throw again more betterer next time 
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The important thing to remember is “it’s good to be me!” Back to throwing!
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