A few of my fixies have started to “slip” at the end of the string. When I throw, it seems like they roll down the string smoothly until the last inch or two, when it feels like little “thud.” Afterward, they don’t respond very well, making it hard to get nice stalls with neutral string tension for kick flips.
It’s happening with both my Legend Wing and EhKnown. I’m using YYE cotton type 10, newish but slightly broken in.
I’m wondering if it has to do with weather/humidity change? Seems to happen without and with the old burts bees on the string trick.
Any thoughts/tips?
How new are the yoyos you are throwing? Is the slipping happening since the first string change?
Weather can have some bearing in this, but I’d say not usually.
With lots of fixed axles, there is a thud at the end of the string, it’s considered normal by most and is usually a matter of increasing the string torsion.
I think Glen hit the nail on the head. For me, string torsion is a balancing act, enough for snappy response and smooth unwind/minimal “thud”, but, not so much that loops don’t stay open for kickflips and suicides.
They’re both 1 month old, and getting daily play. I’ve changed strings on both of them a few times.
This morning I played with the torsion on the Eh, and I think I got closer to finding that balance between responsive and able to maintain open loops. It may ultimately just need a new string. I may have played it more than I realized during this quarantine time.
I tried the same torsion adjustments with the Legend Wing, but I think it might still be going through a break-in phase with the response - still a little rough and inconsistent.
@yoyojoe. Do you have a recommendation for thicker string? I was thinking YYE type 10 was the thickest commonly available, but I’m still new to the fixie world. I’m always open to trying something new.
Welcome to the YYE forums. Is the lack of response you are getting at the beginning of play? Remember response is friction and friction is heat, so ambient temperatures and humidity can have effects. With the popularity of modern OA tricks it’s tempting to just want to start stalling and flipping out from first throws. But sometimes you need to warm up. Some of my warm up tricks are a few back to back Double or Nothings to Fly Outs, Fence and Plant Hops and Stop 'N Gos to tightening Sidewinders. When the string and axle start to heat up, then my response starts to begin being consistent enough for neutral string torsion and I can start jamming out stalls and flips.
The response in wood yoyos often slicks out. They typically come rough, play in sweet then slick out. It’s a lifecycle. It’s where yoyos like proyo sand nojives excelled, because you could replace the axles. you can rough up the insides with sand paper, even (ironically) add a grease type lube to gunk it up or move it on. New yoyo
