So I’m sitting here looking at yoyos and I was wondering, whats the point of having silicone pads???
My friend bought a speed dial and the starburst response works just fine. it can be completly unresponsive or it can be as responsive as you want. it doesnt snag or slip much if you have the speed dial on the right setting.
SO, if starburst works okay, then why are there silicone response pads? The pads are a nuisance in some ways. For example: right now Im on vacation in alabama and i brought along a northstar and one of the pads fell out in the middle of the trick (wore out). Now i have a super slippy yoyo thats hard to use. However, if i had starburst response i wouldnt be having this problem??? another example: i paid like 10$ for several pads that i bought from this website, and somehow they got into the trash (maybe my mom?) so now im 10$ poorer
SO, can someone tell me the great advantages/ disadvantages of both response systems? Do pads help with spin times or something?
sillicone pads and starburst are two different response systems. the reason that people use silicone is because unlike starburst, it is flat and recessed into the yoyo itself, starburst sticks out and rubs up against the string both causing frayed string, and slowing down the yoyo. also silicone offers a much tighter response that starbust because it is has more grip to it when binding. since starburst is made of plastic bumps that curve into the gap of the yoyo, it is slippier while also rubbing on the string more
also you can change out silicone response. if your starburst get worn down, then there’s not really much you can do.
And as far as replacement pads, just get flowable silicone. much cheaper than buying the pads
Starburst are sticking out and are just raised bumps from the yo-yo. This will interfere by rubbing the string during a trick and slowing down the spin causing spin out. If you have ever played with a hybrid response or a ball bearing starburst yo-yo, you often hear a little high-pitched screeching noise. That is the starburst.
Silicone and pads take are recessed into the yo-yo half so they won’t rub the string and slow it down. Yet, they have a good enough grip to give you a really tight bind despite being inside the half. Think performance these days. Would you rather have starburst that slow down spin during mid trick, are raised taking up gap room, and slippy, or silicone that doesn’t slow down spin, are recessed giving you more gap room, and have tighter grip?
Again, it’s preference. If you don’t like buying pads then this is a good time to learn how to silicone your yo-yos. Check out the mod section of the forum or look it up on youtube. It will save you years of money for just one payment of 5 bucks.
What about friction stickers? Is there anything good about those. I have a yoyo with them and they seemed to work pretty well until one came off. now the yoyos response system is just on the verge of being unresponsive, while it is still a little responsive at times.
The thing I like about starbursts is that you can submerge a yo-yo half in a sandy, salty, alcohol-water solution for a day, pull it out, dry it off, and have a functional response system. (note: only response system)
If you do the same to a yo-yo with a sticker, it will probably need replacing. Non-polar solvents will probably remove the adhesive layer.
The thing I like about silicone stickers is that they stay out of the way when you do basically anything but bind, but they grip the string HARD when you DO bind.
With this, I can have the yo-yo grip the string harder on the throw (and actually spin faster), and bind at a lower speed.
Choosing a response system is all about what you are willing to give up.
Also, Sorry to hear about your stickers finding their way to the trash.
I have this cheap metal yoyo that doesn’t have a starburst, but it has this starburst insert thing that fits under the bearing. Hard to explain. I think the new whistling YYF uses the same thing. But, this yoyo was poorly made. Every little bit of it reeks of “cheap Chinese junk”. It’s just a bad yoyo.
Friction stickers wear out fast. The silicone pads last longer, a LOT longer.
What I do find is with a good many Duncans, I simply don’t like the way they perform out of the box. I don’t mind having to clean a bearing, I actually find that a bit relaxing. But it seems their responses tend to jut out into the gap, causing the play to be far too responsive. What’s interesting is I have the new light up FHZ, a stock FHZ and a FHZ that has been modded and painted by XminusmikeX. The modded one has had schmoove rings added and modified to accept flowable silicone. It plays wonderful! I need to clean the bearings in the other two this weekend. The light-up one uses a pad recess so the response sits a bit lower. I suspect once I clean the bearings they should get a lot less responsive. I don’t really want to do the “remove one sticker” thing, just seems wrong.
I don’t really mind too much what response system is used, but I prefer yoyos that I can use flowable silicone in whenever possible. I just like how it performs. I don’t see a certain type of response being indicative of the quality of a yoyo. My Unleashed uses star response, which I’m fine with. Almost all my other stuff is compatible with flowable silicone.
I have had one other yoyo modified to accept flowable silicone. It just didn’t fit the response pads it was supposedly designed for. I’m otherwise pretty happy with how things are stock.
