I will say that the shore rating isn’t everything like gear oil has a higher hardness rating (shore) than ultra grey, but binds nicer imo. The gear oil has a higher elongation % (200) vs the ultra grey (120) and I think that is the difference I notice in the bind feel.
Basically, I noticed that the ultra grey would sometimes spin out a bit as the yoyo returned, so the yoyo would return to hand, but be loosely wound. It feels like the gear oil grips the string better, so that once a bind does initiate, it returns right away without spinning out and the string will be wound tight. The tight wind really helps to get the next throw out with good power. I was contemplating switching off silicone bc the loose binds were starting to really bother me with ultra grey but I absolutely love the gear oil and will be sticking with that for my 1A yoyos.
Also one more observation to add while I’m comparing the two, but the gear oil also lasts longer than the ultra grey for me.
also i just wanna reiterate something said way toward the beginning of the thread in case ppl dont scroll that high up. the little syringe things you can get for free from wallgrens for giving babies oral meds works amazingly well to get the silicone down in the groove. a coupl ml in the syringe will do both halves easily and its easy to clean afterward. very little waste and almost no excess to wipe off after it was dry. i think it was @Mooky i saw talking about it iirc
I had ordered new response pads for my Pyro and also followed advice from someone here in the forum to use only one pad instead of two for each side. Still, the Pyro really did not want to play nicely—either the binds were too hard and fast or there was too little response. I didn’t like it at all anymore.
I then wanted to try Ultra Grey, but unfortunately, even though it was not opened (!), it had become much too hard, like it was dried out, and it almost couldn’t be pressed out of the tube. Too bad.
But I also have another silicone, so I’m curious if the Pyro tomorrow, when it is dried, maybe will be playable better again.
if you end up in the market for a new tube, give permatex gear oil rtv a try. it’s very forgiving for snags and string layers but binds are still there and tight when you need it. it’s on the top end of hardness but doesn’t get slippy
I couldn’t wait the full 24 hours, so I already started putting it back together now after some 18 hours or so.
It wasn’t easy to keep the ball-bearing area totally free of silicone, so I had to pick a bit of it away with a needle.
I also had to trim the bearing’s side because a little bit of overhanging silicone was slowing it down.
Then a tiny bit of silicone even got inside the bearing but after I cleaned the bearing with alcohol and canned air…
I’ve gotta say, the pyro hasn’t played this well in ages.
One thing I’ve always had with the pyro (the string getting stuck so you have to use a string pick A LOT) is still there, but that’s probably not the response system’s fault.
but after I cleaned the bearing with alcohol and canned air…