My granddaughter’s favorite yoyo is her Metal Drifter. She practices a lot but after only two months it no longer responds. She’s 10 and she’s working on the trapeze and the lindy loop so that gives you an idea of how she plays.
Could the response pads have worn out so quickly? Even with a good throw I can barely make it respond. We tried a new string and thick lube on the bearing but it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
I appreciate your thoughts.
The pads probably do need replacing. I was surprised at how fast the friction stickers on my metal drifter wore out.
I eventually got tired of constantly replacing the expensive friction stickers and got a yoyo that used regular response pads (these last MUCH longer)
The yoyofactory one uses these and is a good responsive yoyo.
If it needs new pads (likely after 2 months), go with the Duncan silicone pads over the friction stickers. They last much longer.
I use silicone stickers from Duncan, They normally last me longer then the glue lasts on the backs. That being said mine last a few months, I don’t pay much attention really.
However the friction stickers that come in the drifter I could ware out in a single day. In fact I have in the past.
Ok, I’ll get her some new friction stickers (in silicon).
I went to our local yoyo store and tried to get her a YYF “One” but they were sold out. The only responsive yoyos they had was the Velocity which she already has and a FAST 201 which she already has. She really likes her Metal Drifter because it’s metal just like her grampa’s yoyo. ;D
Then I saw the Duncan Flipside and thought “Oh! We’ll just use the narrow bearing and that should be responsive”. Nope, it turns out that the two bearings make it unresponsive, or more unresponsive. (They’re actually flat and centertrac bearings).
So I think I’ll get her a YYF One here along with some silicon pads for her drifter. Now she also has the Flipside which might inspire her to learn a bind. But if I knew it was totally unresponsive then I just would have bought her a YYF Replay Pro.
Thanks for the advice. You helped a lot.
Greg
Lube the bearing on the flipside and it should be nice and responsive. The difference between a responsive throw and a non responsive throw is normally just if the bearing is lubed or not. Thats kinda’ of over simplifying it but, in your case lube that thin bearing and you will have a responsive throw.
We got the friction pads for the metal drifter last night (Thanks YYE. Very fast shipping) those pads made the yoyo responsive again and she’s happy once again.
I bought her a YYF ONE as well so she’ll always have a backup responsive yoyo. That thing is really responsive. She tried it for about 2 minutes and went right back to her metal drifter. Yeah, her purple metal drifter is her favorite throw for sure.
Thanks folks. You helped me make a 10 year old very happy.
