D bearings appear to becoming more prevalent these days, so I’m curious how many modern 1A throws there are that use an A-size bearing? The only ones that come to mind are the Quail and the SB Bassalope, but those aren’t too easy to come by. I’m looking to try a few if they exist.
Unresponsive is preferred, but I’m not sure really sure what a modern A-bearing throw entails. Are there modern A-bearing throws that are intended to be unresponsive (albeit sensitive) or does semi-responsive just come with A-bearing territory by default?
Duncan’s Plastic FH1 or FH1 AL A bearing, can be set up unresponsive by swapping in a concave A bearing.
You can also clean the stock bearing and that’ll work too.
Worth mentioning… in my experience, unresponsive A bearings require more frequent cleaning to remain unresponsive. Otherwise they do tend to become semi responsive, even if they’re only slightly dirty.
PS- Slimmer string helps too when playing unresponsive A bearings.
Semi responsive is kind of the entire point of A bearings (that aren’t explicitly designed for modern responsive play).
Jusr play them like you would an unresponsive but be aware that they’re easier to snag/respond when you don’t want them to. If you don’t want that experience at all, then I don’t think you want an A bearing yoyo.
The old Duncan Metal Drifters are good. Duncan also made small bearing Freehand One ALs and Freehand Minis, but I haven’t personally played either of those. Again though, I kinda think the point of A bearings is just to do string tricks while being aware that your yoyo is easier to have snag/respond when you don’t want it to.
It’s for when you actually want that real oldschool feel, back when people just played 1A on yoyos that were responsive as the norm.
The old Metal Drifter can be fun when it doesn’t snag or get a knot (so about 3/4 throws it’s fun for what it is). I didn’t have a good experience with the new one, but I think others have. Just be aware that it’s nowhere near up to par with the performance that modern organics can give. You also have to be ok with spacers and sticker-pad response. These aren’t “bad” things if what you’re looking for is the the old-school experience @Mable mentioned.
You know how when someone describes pads as snaggy, someone else will correct them and say snappy?
Well, unresponsive A bearing yoyos often just feel snaggy. From the Bassalope to the current FH One. The 888 was a bit better than both imo, but it wasn’t immune from the issue.
Conversely, D bearings feel snappy.
There is just a night and day difference imo, and D bearings are the clear winner for unresponsive play over A bearings. Though I’m not at all convinced there is any meaningful advantage over C bearings.
