Switching Out Stock Bearings

General Yo-Yo
1

I’m curious…

What is the likelihood that, when you buy a new yo-yo, you will switch out the stock bearing in it? Do you find that you do this…

  1. Sometimes, but only if you don’t like the bearing it comes with;
  2. Most times, you rarely like the bearing it comes with; or
  3. Never, you always play it stock.

Personally, I only switch bearings out of BST yo-yos. If I get a crap bearing in a BST yo-yo, I remove it and toss it. Otherwise, in a new yo-yo, I play it stock. In my mind, the yo-yo plays how the maker of the yo-yo intended it to, and I either like it that way, or not. I never have complaints about a bearing as long as it’s not defective. In the poll, please vote for the closest option. The question only applies to new yo-yos.

After you vote, comment if you have thoughts about this, or want to explain and share your reasoning for what you do, as I have done above.

Thanks.

2

Stock bearing baby.
It’s cheaper and I don’t have problems.

3

I’m with you. I’m just not that picky about them I guess, and it is one less thing to worry about. I leave response as it is too.

4

Totally. Some things are best kept the way it is. Except if it comes with YYF red pads, those things wear out like crazy.

5

It depends. Like I’ve found the Arctic Circle plays WAY better with a flat bearing instead of the stock CT. I usually leave stuff stock. It all depends on the person’s preferences, but they have to experiment with it.

6

I hate opening my yoyos and don’t like switching out bearings. If I could, I’d never ever open my yoyos, but I get more knots than I can do tricks :frowning:

7

I very much agree. All that screwing and unscrewing just adds to wear and tear, and for me, it is not worth that, the time, nor expense of keeping all those spare bearings around.

By the way…the poll is dead even right now.

8

I’ll use stock bearing, unless it’s a string centering bearing. I can’t stand those. OD 10 balls and General Yo AIGR’s are the way to go.

9

I’ll play stock until something starts bothering me about a bearing, and then I’ll give something else a try. Sometimes you stumble across a combination and realize “this is IT for this throw”. Supra and a KK was recommended to me by a friend, so I gave it a try and he was right. Probably never going back to flat for the Supra.

On very rare occasions I’ll do a batch of experiments in a day… futz around with profiled and flat bearings and try to find a good match. But that’s rare.

Certainly the wear and tear doesn’t bother me. These things are designed to come apart, and if you put them back together carefully, you will not lose any material or cause any damage. With exceptions like nutty-short-axle yoyos (Token, I’m looking at you!), I only fart around with knots for a few minutes before I happily unscrew the thing.

My favourite bearings are AIGR and OD 10-ball right now, but I have KKs, Trifectas, and a Terrapin X that have found their way into particular yoyos. I guess I just get a kick out of trying it out. Aftermarket parts in all kinds of hobbies are ubiquitous. I don’t see why not yoyo. :smiley:

10

YYJ Surge. Shims of either size. Centertrac. Type X. Oh my god it’s the perfect set up… So yes I sometimes change but mostly I keep it stock. Well unless its YYF because I can’t stand Spec bearings. They play like cheap pieces of poop.

My favorite alternative bearings are YYJ Speed Bearings, OD 10 Ball,
CT, and KKs.

11

I always change them immediately if they don’t have a KK or a Center Trac. I’ve just amassed such a collection of KK’s and Center Tracs, and I know that’s what I like, that I always have a few spares to swap into a new throw.

…this also means I have a pretty massive collection of brand new flat bearings…but I generally keep those and the stock string in the box. If you buy a MIB throw from me, that’s exactly what you get.

12

I put konkaves in mainly all my throws.

13

Hmmm, sounds costly, depending on the size of your collection, but I know if you get the enjoyment out of the way it plays, it’s well worth it to ya.

14

I tend to switch 'em out until i find the right combo of shims/no shims, string, response & bearing. I even sometimes end up putting the stock back in if it performs better. KK’s, Trifecta’s, CT’s, OD 10’s, Terrapin’s … Love them all just in the correct combination

15

I always switch out the stock bearing to play around with the performance, except when the yoyo in question is a YYR. I have a Sleipnir and it will never have a bearing in it other than what it came with because I don’t plan to unscrew it. Now if I played it more and had to end up putting in new response then I might play around, but probably not.

Sometimes it turns out that what came in it stock works best, but most of the time that isn’t the case. I’ve actually just been able to try a ceramic terrapin wing cut bearing and I haven’t found a yoyo that doesn’t perform better with that in it.

16

Very interesting about the brand specific exception, and the fact that you definitely have an overwhelming bearing preference too.

17

I, as a general rule, never change out bearings. I also dislike every sting centering bearing except the CT, because they bunch up string.

18

But have you tried the TX wing bearing yet…

19

Can’t CTs bunch up string too?

20

I usually only play with stock really. The only time that I switched some out was when these bearings ceased in two YYF yoyos only days after I got them (I probably should have mentioned that to the company or someone…), and I replaced them with bearings I had gotten with them. Otherwise, I see no problem with the stock bearing. They always seem to play just fine to me.