How far can I go with half spec bearing?

Hello everyone, got a quick question.

I was wondering, how far can you really go on a yoyo with a half width, responsive bearing?

I’m asking, as I am learning some new tricks, and am getting a bit frustrated as where the gap is small, the yoyo is stopping spinning quickly, or grabbing the response pads and trying to come back up, smashing me in the hand and hurting.

When I use the wider bearing, this doesn’t happen, but it doesn’t seem as “fun” at the moment unresponsive, probably because I only know one bind.

So what would you do? Either carry on with the half spec, or bite the bullet and just go unresponsive and learn some more binds in the process?

I’m a bit of a newb here, I did yoyo when I was a kid, but back then they was all responsive.

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If I were you, I would learn on the unresponsive bearing. It opens doorways to tricks that would be very difficult responsive unless you’re Ed. Then you could do a 10 second combo (no regens) on a fixed axle. Neither one of us is Ed. You should probably go unresponsive.

because of the half spec, when your tricks are getting grabby, it usually means time to upgrade.
its like taking the training wheels off… I apologize if that’s a bad analogy, but it works.

also, learn more binds. great binds can add an exponential amount of flair to a somewhat simple combo!

Learn more binds. Once you understand the concept learning new ones is fun and simple, especially at the beginning.

Fair enough, time to get some more binds down! I only know the really simple one, the easiest bind ever video.

Any you would recommend for a beginner binder? Its a bit boring doing a trick and always ending in that bind.

I’d say; about halfway…

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I’d actually say play with both still. I also used to throw around a decade ago and recently came back into it and was learning about the unresponsive throws nowadays. So I switch between responsive and unresponsive because I feel that unresponsive does open up a extended world in yoyoing with adding so many new elements and especially the sleep time. But there are still many tricks that you can perform them on a responsive yoyo. Once I try to figure out certain string hits, movements, slacks to a combo or trick I’m working on, I’ll then go back to my responsive (either duncan freehand 1, zero, or pro z) and see if i can land the same trick or combo. This way it allows me more fine tune training on how I throw and my movements since it’s not as forgiving.

And of course learning new binds along the way never hurts. :stuck_out_tongue:

I think I will do a bit of both then :).

One question, is it OK to keep changing the bearing in my yoyo? I read on one site you shouldn’t take apart your yoyo unless you really have to, so I don’t want to damage it if I shouldn’t be keep changing it, I’l just leave my dark angel unresponsive and the legacy responsive if so.

Doesn’t hurt to swap the bearings in and out on plastic yoyos. You should be fine. Be careful and weary of
Over tightening as that could damage your yoyo. Also, when removing and installing bearings, be careful of the bearing seat and post, sharp objects could gouge the plastic and leave you with a vibey yoyo. (I forget if the classic had metal spacers or not)