Overview: The Topyo Silenus is a tried and true design. It has been reviewed, and loved by hundreds throughout the world. That being said, how does the 2020 updated version play? Unfortunately, I have not played with the original silenus so there will be no comparison between the two. I will just share my thoughts on the 2020 version.
Design: The Silenus is a wide comfortable H/O shaped yoyo. It has thick rims due to the shape with a substantial amount of mid weight in the cup. The yoyo has a center nipple that allows for a very long axel. The silenus has a blasted finish and topyo has produced several stunning colorways for the silenus in both splash colorways and solids.
Performance: The Silenus is a powerful, stable, and long spinning throw. The silenus will easily spin as long as most bimetals. This is due to the thick rims and the substantial weight. 67grams is rather heavy for a modern yoyo and you feel it. The yoyo prefers to move at a slow pace making it difficult to push the silenus to extreme speeds. The combination of the slow speed and incredible spintimes makes the silenus an excellent choice for learning new tricks. The silenus is quite smooth. I would put it at an 8 out of 10 on the smoothness scale. This means that you can’t really feel any vibe in play but can feel some vibe on grinds and when touched. The response system is great. Binds are consistent, free from snag, and satisfying. The silenus is a very catchable yoyo and can aid in learning difficult slacks, hooks, and bangers.
Soul: The heavy weight of the silenus provides an interesting feel in play. The weight causes me to slow down and focus on more flowy elements. This creates a very relaxing feel in play. I notice that when I play with this yoyo, my normally tense body frees up. Playing with this yoyo is almost like a form of meditation. I leave the throwing session feeling lighter and more relaxed.
Final Thoughts: The silenus is a long spinning, comfortable, relaxing and satisfying throw. It excels at learning tricks and can aid in improving flow while increasing relaxation. The silenus is my recommendation for anyone looking for a first metal yoyo. The weight, width, and slow-pace make it the perfect yoyo for learning new tricks. I also recommend this yoyo to anyone looking to relax while throwing.
Great review! One thing I will note, although the Silenus is heavy and and can preform slower, as you gain experience, you can give this throw more speed and it will fly like a bullet.
It’s not going to turn you into Gentry overnight, but as you grow in skill level, it will as well.
Thanks for putting this together, I think people will really find it useful!
(p.s. if you ever decide to let that Silenus in that colorway go, hit me up! )
Silenus was first released in 2017 - 6 year old design already
The one in the pay it forward thread is from the second drop (2018), and those from the 2017/2018 are the same appearance wise.
Sometime in 2019, they updated the design to the one reviewed in the thread.
In 2022, they updated the design again, the one you have.
With this, I can note 3 major changes in the Silenus, but I have a feeling that each drop had slight tweaks to the design based on what people have said over the years. The major differences to tell them apart aside from knowing the colorways, is that the first version has a larger nipple. The third version looks like the second from a glance, but the profile cuts go back to the style of the first version.
The 2020 version is one of my favorite monometals of all time and well worth the money imo.
The new version is terrible! I bought it in August '23 after viewing many people killing it with it in 3 different languages, all skill levels all tricks from 2018 until 2022, better than the shutter wide angle, they said. I really thought it was gonna be the best way to start really getting into monometal, how wrong I was.
It kept tilting, dying after one lousy run of skin the gerbil and had nothing but comtempt for not playing in perfect perpendicular lines with both arms. I have a free metal yoyo and it plays better at any rate. The bearing is the only “premium” feature.
BUT, I managed to replace the pads with grey silicone, the trick was to make it half height since is ultra gripy and kept being pulled off at full height, then I added a cable, yes! A piece of cable on each side, so now is over the 70 grams mark. The results speak for themselves (for the psyichics in the forum you can stop reading here) it spins double the time, which for a normal mono metal is equivalent to 50% more, so it went from being a potato to an above average, meta-bimetal throw.
The catch, no pun intended, was to keep the vibration to its original level before the aggressive cable tweaking. Originally it didn’t but a couple dings, as shown in the picture, change its consistency, nothing crippling though.
They went backwards at Topyo, this yoyo screams for extra rim weight, why file it down when the metall is already there?! So, now I can learn, finally!, horizontal and focus more on the flow, it even adjusts itself when I maneuver it to a tilt, just like the hertz, but with a weight I actually fell and a better design that barely ever snags. I wish I could command a version with this modifications and have the best single bimetal-feeling ever.
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