The “butt crack bearing”. Innovation at it’s finest!
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Not your yoyos. Whatever you are doing for the pads is perfect. I’m saying for other companies that ship with the CT. If I swap in a flat it’ll rub up real nasty again the recess, where with ODs it doesn’t happen.
That’s weird. Pretty sure everyone has recessed pads.
Edit: I just tested with a few yoyos in our collection that shipped with String Nudging TM bearings and when I switch to a flat I don’t get the vibe you are talking about.
Also, the yoyos have the same amount of precession. This makes sense because torque is the cause, not the string location.
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1.1k views, almost 200 replies, and only 3 likes for the topic? Where’s the love guys… You know I’d do it for you… 
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Keep chasing the dragon my friend.
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This. I actually use 10balls when I have a yo-yo with excessive vibe, they almost always fix the problem.
I’m not following?
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Huh. Idk then. Forget what I said then.
I would love to learn, then, the physics explanation for the behavior I observed:
A VTWO with a flat bearing would begin turning (precession) after only a few seconds on a simple gravity pull. This would happen consistently throw after throw. Swapped the flat bearing with a Boss Rage and now it takes minutes before it begins turning.
I observed the same behavior with a Top Deck. I have no reason to believe this phenomenon is specific to any particular model or brand of yoyo. My experiences with flat vs. centering bearings strongly suggests that it is the bearing that matters moreso than the yoyo.
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I would expect a flat bearing to precess faster than a centering bearing. Precession occurs here because the center of mass of the yo-yo is not aligned with the string. This puts a torque on the yo-yo, perpendicular to its spin. This results in a precession around the third, vertical axis, the spinning you are talking about. This is like the bicycle tire hanging from the rope experiment. For a centering bearing, the string is closer to the center of mass, so less torque. For a flat bearing, it’s possible for the string to be farther from the center.
Now, I don’t know how close the the edge the string is in a flat bearing, or if this effect is enough to be noticeable.
Here’s a video explaining this for a tire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJWIl4MYMbw
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Quite an apt pun, considering I did used to chase the brown dragon for real…
Really, or are you just being dense? Gentry won a contest with an organic plastic, which in and of itself performs at a peak far below any other metal yoyo in the competition. He did it through a combination of superior routine and superior skill alike. Following the same logic, this is how people compete with flat bearings and still do well. So basically, it involves overcoming weakness in equipment with flawless execution. Do you honestly not notice a stability difference in centering bearings vs flat?
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Exactly as I’ve been saying, it is not the bearing, it’s the player. Give Gentry a Shutter with a flat bearing, and it’s still going to be a great performance, and I’d bet you’d never know it was flat. I’d be interested to hear his thoughts after a performance with a flat bearing.
@yyfben2.deactivated Do you think Gentry would be up for something like that? Even non competitively, film two as close as he can routines, one with his bearing of choice and another with a flat bearing? Then have him discuss any differences he felt?
I honestly couldn’t tell you what bearing I have in most yoyos, let alone a huge stability difference. Most centering bearings are flat in the center anyway, difference is when you get off it’ll send the string back to a centerish position. I’ve been playing a long time, most of that time has been on fixed axles and responsive flat small bearing yoyos, so I’ve learned to make adjustments on the fly, do I probably make less adjustments on a centering bearing? Probably. Is it enough that I feel they are superior? Not really.
In the end I feel a CT type bearing is like those skin tight suits speed skaters wear, or shaving your body like an Olympic swimmer, for people that compete and want every tiny, even microscopic, advantage they can get a CT type bearing gives them that little extra they want.
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There are tangible benefits for beginners and “average throwers” as well. Even if nobody else believes that, I know it to be true for me, and I suppose that’s all that really matters.
No, but I bet Gentry would know. And he might not particularly love it either.
This reminds me of a YouTube video from many years ago in which Joe Satriani visited a buddy of his who had just bought a cheap Strat copy, and you see him rocking out Surfing with the Alien on it, and except for the parts he had to sorta improvise around because it lacked a tremolo bridge, it sounded great. And at the very end, when he finished playing, Joe said, “Wow, that was harder than I expected.”
So sure, a highly talented individual can take any old piece of kit and still perform at a top level, but that doesn’t meant it was easy for them or that they particularly enjoyed the experience.
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That’s why I said it’d be cool to see Gentry film something and then talk about it. I could be completely wrong, but it may surprise everyone what he says. 
Gentry probably wouldn’t have won on a Replay if it had a flat bearing.
-mic drop-
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What makes you say that Ben?
You lose a lot of forgiveness (spin time) when Using plastic vs metal. He would lose even more using a flat bearing vs the CT.
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-kicks around stage looking for dropped mic-
I like flat bearings in certain yoyos. In an organic with a little response where I want lots of string slide and loops to stay open I prefer it.
For someone looking to ekk every inch of performance out of their yoyo, say on a contest stage, performing bigger faster click friendly tricks and combos… you wouldn’t mess around. The little bit extra matters. It’s like recessing pads and putting weight in rims and poly string.
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To answer the topic: good bearings are never outdated. Shape is preference.
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@G2_Jake & @yyfben2.deactivated That makes sense, goes back to my illustration of the speed skater or swimmer.