ILOVEYOYO Trvth
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
September 18, 2011
Introduction
One thing I have always admired about ILOVEYOYO is their willingness to do a completely bonkers design just for the heck of it. You can look back and see just that in yo-yos like their St. Eel, a little steel beast that on paper just should not be as appealing as it is in real life. To this end team ILYY has started releasing some of these yo-yos in very small runs as an experimental series of sorts. There is a own side to this model and that is that these yo-yos may never actually see a true release so if one catches your eye you need to act quickly. Currently there are three experimental series releases, The Trvth, P.Y.B.I.T., and the Greyhound. Of the three, the Greyhound has made it out of experimental stages and will see a full release in the near future. Today I am looking at the Trvth, a yo-yo that takes a lot of its inspiration from the Tom Kuhn Silver Bullet 2. The idea came from Dom’s love for the original SB2 and his desire to create the ultimate homage to that classic design. Now it is time to see if these experiments are ready for primetime.
Specs
• Diameter: 55.40mm
• Width: 28.50mm
• Weight: 66.60g
• Response: Hot Red SILYYcone
• Bearing: ILYY KMK 6x13x5mm
Construction
I went in expecting something completely different from anything I have ever tried in the past and I was not disappointed. The Trvth is a modified imperial shape with a wide gap. The rims are very well rounded and comfortable when they hit the palm of my hand. The catch zone is almost nonexistent meaning you will have to be pretty darn precise when it comes to hitting tricks. The cup area is large and shallow with an enormous flat floor, sharp spiked hub, and a pretty well implemented IGR. The floor is covered with a gorgeous flame laser etch that hides an ILYY logo and the Trvth logo. The coating is the standard Candodize finish that ILYY uses on all prerelease yo-yos. Overall, this is an incredibly unique design that pays the utmost respect to the SB2 while adding many of the modern touches that we have come to love in today’s designs.
Weight
At almost 67 grams, this is at the higher end of my comfort zone but it does not feel all too heavy on the string. During 1A play I found the weight to be acceptable while having a little zip on the string when moving through tricks.
Response and Bearing
The response is still ILYY’s custom Red Hot sILYYcone. This was recessed a little more than normal leaving enough to grip the string but also reducing the break in time required for a normal install.
The bearing was a little bit of a shock. I would expect a design like this to be paired with an A Bearing but instead ILYY used their standard large metric bearing that comes stock in 99% of their throws. This choice allowed them to open up the gap, making tricks easier to hit.
Playability
Unique, that is the best way I can explain it. The closest yo-yo to this design that I have played is the SPYY Flying V and it is quite a bit wider. Even though it is odd, I loved playing with the Trvth. While it looks like it would be hard to hit tricks, I found after a few minutes of play that I was hitting everything that I can normally do with a much wider yo-yo like a CODE1 or an Avalanche. Eli Hops were the trickiest of the lot but after some practice they became standard fare. I did not attempt behind the head Eli Hops; that was just an accident waiting to happen. Having such a thin yo-yo made hopping between the strings on Black Hops a snap as well. Since it is based on an old school design I decided to try it as such. I did not have a slim line metric bearing or thick lube so I took an idea from Ed Haponik’s playbook. I took apart a dead large metric bearing and installed just the inner race in the yo-yo. After looping the string around axle three times I was able to get it to play responsive. Leaning on my extremely basic knowledge of regens and stalls proved to me that this is indeed a pretty good responsive yo-yo. Moving back to some of the more modern features of the design, the spike and IGR are not just there for aesthetics. The spikes are extremely sharp and easy to catch when you pop it into the air. I had a blast just catching it in by the spikes and having it spinning on my thumb. The IGR is well implemented but not easy to hook on the thumb. The shallow cup causes the yo-yo to deflect off the thumb when you try to land it after popping it in the air. This is only a small issue considering that this is the first modified imperial design that I can think of that has an IGR. I’m not saying they aren’t out there, just that I have not seen them. Finally, while this yo-yo was never designed to grind it did a decent job on the hand and the finger.
Final Thoughts
Quirky as it may be, I like this yo-yo. It is refreshing to see a yo-yo designed just for fun instead of being the latest and greatest competition play. If this yo-yo does make it into production I would like to see ILYY follow SPYY’s lead and release it with a thin bearing as well as a standard size bearing. This is another fun yo-yo that, much like the Flying V, could be a great bridge between responsive and unresponsive play. At the end of the day I can see a place in the market for this yo-yo and I hope ILYY decides to give it at least a small run. The key will be to put it out at a price that will make player want to give it a go, because once they do I have no doubt they will enjoy it.