The Peak is my favorite yo-yo and with the recent Peak documentary video, I’d figured I’d share how I set mine up.
Back in 2009 when the second run was dropping like crazy, everyone used type 6 poly string. Nowadays, most people use “fat” type string, myself included. This isn’t the best option for these old peaks, it’s got highwalls and wide silicone. This is a recipe for snagging and bloody knuckles! Ouch
The flowable silicone used in the peak is a super grabby response. One way to “fix” this problem is to recess them even more than normal. This will allow more string wraps before snagging.
The other option is to use red high temp silicone. If you have ever used this type, you know it’s a pain to get smooth. So here’s what I do.
I mix 50% red high temp and 50% flowable and mix them together. Once mixed, I transfer them to an IV flush syringe. This allows for easy application and can be stored in the fridge. This mix gives you the best of both silicones, It’s less grabby and easy to smooth. Once applied, I recess With a plastic spoon, which give me the perfect response!
Next, I swapped the flat bearing to NSK DS or DS platinum. You don’t have to use these, i just prefer them. Any centering bearing will work. These bearings keep the string centered and away from the high wall/response, it also helps with yo-yo tilt.
Lastly, I tune them. Just about every peak has the coined term “peak vibe”. So and easy way to tune the vibe out of these peaks is to swap out the axles. I ordered 100 8-32 5/8in set screws from boltdepot for like $10 and kept swapping the axles until I got it just about smooth. I was able to substantially reduce the vibe in all of my Peaks just by swapping the axles.
Just changing the silicone and bearing alllows the peak to play to its full potential. So dust off those old peaks and start playing them again!!
Here’s some pics of what the mixed silicone looks like.
-Bonus-
Another option I tried and seems to work well is using MFD monkey snot. This type of silicone seems to “stick” better to the flow groove and can be heavily recessed without issue.
As always, threads are useless without pics… so show me your Peaks!
