Arbitrary color matching is another reason to do manual silicone for sure. That is fair
Consensus data says manual silicone lasts about one fourth the time (or less) of silicone stickers.
So those advocating manual silicone as a clever frugal way to save money, have you factored in the fact that you’ll need to do it 4× as often… or more?
Also with that in mind, replacing the stock stickers that come on the yo-yo from the factory right out of the gate starts to look like a bad deal financially, considering how long those stock pads would have lasted…
When i was looking for replacement pads for various YYR throws I had, I had a very hard time finding the right ones I needed. It was confusing and troublesome as they use several types for several models. Ran into a similar issue with some older CLYWs (peaks, BvM, etc), before they made the swap to snow tires, and sometimes ran into problems with figuring out what thickness some of my others needed.
I would have had to spend a lot more on this set of pads, and that set, and these ones were out of stock, and those ones only came in one color, etc
Even if I did have to replace them 4x as often (which ive never had to do yet, so theres that…), I find it, easier to find supplies, cheaper (one and done, not a pack + shipping from here, and another pack + shipping from there, and waiting months for restocks for this one + more shipping), and more customizable by a long shot, (i can have flat, or grooved response, which stickers do not offer)
Snot fixed all that in one fell swoop, and cost a lot less than all the stickers I would have needed (if they were even available).
I see where you are coming from, but I find a higher value in sili over stickers. Cost is what you pay, value is what you get, and I get more for less with sili.
Does that mean I sili every new throw I get? nope. But I do for several, and never had a problem or regret thus far.
Yeah before the industry standardized on pad sizes you pretty much had to silicone everything manually. Nobody wants to figure out 12 different pad sizes! Thank goodness for 19mm standard slim pads…
The only reason I learned to do manual silicone myself is for maintenance on older yo-yos.
Thats why I started too, and ended up trying “just to see” what it would be like to try it on another one and fell in love with how it looked and played. Didn’t do it to many others for a while, but this black TiVayder was just screaming for a neon green accent haha!
I enjoy the process of prepping and putting it in, but having to wait 24 hours stings a tiny bit.
After reading this thread I’m now going to rip out all my pads and replace them with flow able silicone. But I am an intellectual and a scholar so my flow able will have starbursts for maximum efficiency
I’m about to pull the o-rings out of a Phat Phaktor I just got and replace with silicone. Anyone have experience with this? I never liked the o-ring response feel but did like that they seemed to last forever and when Duncan stopped making friction stickers I appreciated them even more, because you can always find o-rings. (Apologies if it’s been mentioned on this thread, after post #35 I ran out of patience)
[quote=“Dust, post:105, topic:304400”]
Thats why I started too, and ended up trying “just to see” what it would be like to try it on another one and fell in love with how it looked and played. Didn’t do it to many others for a while, but this black TiVayder was just screaming for a neon green accent haha!
I enjoy the process of prepping and putting it in, but having to wait 24 hours
When the first few yo-yos with silicone response stock were coming out it was pretty common to do exactly what you’re saying with yoyojams. Another thing we used to do was shave the orings so they were flush with the yo-yo.
