My previous experience with bearing yoyos has been limited. Mainly a Duncan Speed Beetle and a Tom Kuhn RD1. I was recently gifted a Butterfly AL by my wife and was stoked to get it. Despite the marketing pitch it arrived completely unresponsive. I swapped to a lubed half spec and it was one of the most amazing throws. I couldn’t stop smiling! But after a few hours of play (off and on through an afternoon) it seemed to settle into what I suppose is semi-responsive. I added another drop and it was fine but after a short while the response diminished a bit again. Basically it needs a super sharp tug to return. A pop up from a trapeze can just hang there etc and even an around the world returns badly.
My questions are these…
Is it normal to need to lube so often for full response?
Is this just how modern responsive operates and I need to acclimate?
Is there something I’m doing wrong?
Are there any longer lasting options to achieve the response I want?
I tried double wrapping and it didn’t help. It wouldn’t sleep at all with a triple wrap.
I appreciate any help and hope everyone has a good weekend.
You might also try Double Looping the axle, this was kind of a recommended practice back in the late Transaxle nineties and early 00s. I do this with one of my 1/2 spec responsive Sherpa set ups. Then Triple Loop if you need some more, this will put all the rotational force on the bearing race without any slippage.
I got this as a tip from Doc Pop and it’s worked wonderfully for me. Instead of applying the grease into bearing itself, put a dab of it on the bearing seat instead. It seems to stay snappy for a lot longer in my experience when applied this way.
Awesome. I am pleased to find that there’s thicker options that have been found safe. I didn’t want to damage anything. I’m still really ignorant to all this. My main goal is not to have to lube this every day.
I play with that less responsive responsiveness constantly. I hear a lot of people don’t like it, but it seems fine to me. It has its own ways. You can do it however you like, but I am one who plays that way, so it can be done.
I definitely hear that and honestly don’t mind conforming to the yoyo. I just want to make sure I’m doing stuff correctly. Duncan said it was a responsive yoyo specifically so I’m trying to ascertain whether my idea of modern responsive is still relevant or, in light of the current unresponsive play, if semi responsive is the new responsive etc.
In general ‘modern responsive’, also called 0A, is meant to be fully responsive. It involves lots of stall-based play with very short spin times. Stuff like trapeze stalls and kickflips. The style originated with wooden fixed axle yoyos.
Semi-responsive was basically the transition-point style from classic yoyo to unresponsive and pre-dates ‘modern responsive’. As I see it, most people during the semi-responsive days were pining for a more unresponsive experience with extended spin times, but getting that spin with yoyos of the era was difficult. But nowadays, playing with a semi-responsive yoyo, you understand the limitations and just do what is natural (like combining elements of 0A).
Personally, I find the Al Butterfly tuned responsive to be a bit of an advanced yoyo. Its limitations are mostly in how heavy it is, and make it kind of hard to play in a fully responsive manner. At the moment I think the best yoyos for responsive play are wooden fixed axle yoyos, but with more recent releases like the Daytripper, Weekender, El Mijo, and the RBC, metal yoyos are emerging with very tight tug responses that come very close to the essence of what you want for pure 0A responsive play.
As for longer lasting response, the general consensus seems to be to pack the bearing with grease instead of just regular thick yoyo lube. It should definitely last longer than a day.
Thanks for that. I am appreciative of the clarification. I assumed 0a and modern weren’t connected by assuming that modern meant soley modern technology etc so that was very helpful. If it turns out that shooting for full response on the al doesn’t quite work out I’ll still be ok. I do appreciate making the most of what a particular yoyo offers. It seems this is purely a case of me getting hung up on the description from the product page, mixed with a bit of ignorance. I really appreciate all the help!
When a bearing is spinning the yoyo that is in the shaft rotates and the string which is attached to the outer ring of the bearing remains static. What the thick lube or grease does is to add friction to the roller elements and makes the outer ring to rotate for the bind to occur.
Our El MiJo yoyo includes 4 different bearings:
5mm wide unresponsive - thin lube
4 mm wide responsive - thick lube
3 mm wide responsive - thick lube
3 mm wide responsive/fixed axle - it is not a bearing and does not need any lube
