ILOVEYOYO Valve
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
January 21, 2012
Introduction
It is the beginning of a new year; so that means yo-yo companies are gearing up to top the successes of the previous year. This means ramped up production and more importantly brand new designs. ILOVEYOYO is starting off the year with a brand new entry in their budget line of yo-yos. I have eagerly been waiting for this new design to hit my door for several reasons; chief among them being that the first budget ILYY, the Void, is in my opinion one of ILYY’s best designs to date. At this point lets dispense with the lengthy intro, dive right in, and see if this is a worthy successor to the Void and another great entry in ILYY’s more budget oriented line.
Specs
• Diameter: 54 mm
• Width: 42 mm
• Gap: 4.10 mm
• Weight: 65.5 grams
• Response: Large KMK Metric bearing
• Bearing: ILYY sILYYcone
Construction
If there is one thing that ILYY has always been known for, it is the absolutely stunning and vivid colors of their yo-yos. The Valve is no exception, the rich emerald green used on it is pretty much perfect. The Valve is a slightly rounded V-Shape design, a shape that I have always been fond of due to its excellent weight distribution and wide-open gap that expertly guides the string into the gap. The rims on the Valve are rounded off, giving a comfortable feel in the hand while holding it and during bind returns. The gap area has almost no wall to it what so ever, which will only help add to the performance during play. The cup of the Valve is large thanks to the full size design. The entire hub area is lifted directly from the 2011 Saint Eel, complete with the easy to use spiked hub. There is a small IGR lip on the undersides of the rim, whether or not that is enough for thumb grinds will be discussed in the playability section. The finish on the Valve is ILYY’s hard coat Candodized finish. I am torn on the finish, while I would love to see the Valve in a Candy Blast finish (Frank stop rolling your eyes at me) I think that the blasted finish would detract from the striking green color. Overall I am impressed with the deceptively simple design of the Valve, it feels great in the hand and looks great while flying around on the string… all while maintaining an understated and classic look.
Weight
A 54 mm yo-yo with a 65.5 gram weight, I can live with that. Specs like that give the Valve a moderate amount of speed without making it feel like it is out of control. The pushing of the weight towards the rims gives the Valve an increased spin time while remaining stable throughout play.
Response and Bearing
The response is the always-impressive Red Hot sILYYcone response. As we have seen in recent months custom silicone, like Monkey Finger’s Monkey Snot, will sell if offered to the public. I wish Frank and Dom would find a way of packaging their Red Hot sILYYcone in easy to use applicators, I think it would be a hit.
The KMK bearing is still tops among the metric bearings on the market, although I am noticing that they are arriving a little louder than normal lately. I don’t know if it is the humidity causing issues in transit from Europe or a change in manufacturing. It isn’t a huge issue, more of a preferences sort of thing. A simple lube job later and it is quiet again.
Playability
On first throw I was rather impressed. The balance and speed is spot on for my play style. I found that even though it naturally wants to play at a nice even pace, the Valve could easily be pushed towards speedy play without much effort. The low walled gap made learning Jake’s 360 Red Triangle Suicide a whole heck of a lot easier. The loop stayed open long enough to hit the suicide a couple of times. The spikes on the Valve are sufficiently pointy enough for rip starts and matador play but may not be long enough for players with smaller hands. Even with the Candodized finish, grinds were more than acceptable. I didn’t have any major issues with finger, palm, or arm grinds. It just had the occasional desire to catch and shoot off but that was only after coming from the winter cold of outside into my much warmer house. Thumb grinds were easy to pull off as well thanks to the deep cup and slight lip. Over all the play is spot on for the Valve.
Final Thoughts
This is another great addition to ILYY’s budget line and another stellar player for the company. I really like this push towards lower prices from ILYY and I hope it entices more players to give the company a shot. As for whether I find this to be a worthy successor to the Void… heck yes and then some. I am going to have to find one to add to my collection. If this is how ILYY is going to start the year, I can’t wait to see what they do over the next 11 months.