I recently started to yoyo and I’ve been using the yyj speed maker for a couple days now. I was wondering if I should upgrade to a bearing that has a groove in it or get a metal yoyo with a better bearing. I was looking at the Duncan metal drifter and the Duncan raptor.
Which should I do new bearing or new yoyo
and if so which bearing and which yoyo’s do you recommend
Edit:
Also I won’t spend more than $40 to $50 on a new yoyo
Grooved bearings aren’t necessarily an upgrade unless that’s what you want. It’s a preference thing. Plenty of people play flat bearings at the highest level.
If I were going to move to a mid priced metal, I’d go YYF Yuuksta. And that’s probably what I’d do, but I don’t really love plastics.
The stock bearing in the speed maker is fine. I’d put the money towards another yoyo.
What Stookie said. Yuuksta’s are awesome. It was my first metal and I can’t recommend it enough.
I bet you could find one on the BST real cheap!
sorry I forgot to mention I wanted an unresponsive yoyo
Then I have a cheap suggestion for you:
Clean the bearing. The Speed Maker will become unresponsive. Trust me, well worth the effort and it’s a skill you need to learn anyways. Worked great for mine. That and my Kickside shipped just with too much lube in the bearings. Once completely clean, I Terrapin X treated them, they play amazing!
Your next upgrade should be maybe a Legacy II, because it gives you the option of responsive vs. Unresponsive play. The DM2 would be a better choice.
If you’re into unresponsive play only and are ready to jump into binding(sounds like you are, btw, and way to go!), more options open up. Many of the Shinwoo Zen’s, dv888 and maybe some other stuff. The Duncan Metropolis, Echo and Raptor are all fine choices. The Metal Drifter isn’t necessarily a model to avoid, but for what you’re willing to spend, you can do better, but it costs better.
Staying more affordable, The Protostar and Northstar are really amazing plastics to not be overlooked. The DieNasty and PGM are options you can explore. If you just gotta be cheap(and not in a bad way), the PSG and Asteroid should be on your list of things to seriously consider. Heck, even the stackless grind machine is really a ton of fun and at $12, well, wow!
But, the Speed Maker is nice too. Don’t be so quick to replace it. I’ve been playing my Lyn Fury a lot lately.
Thanks Studio42, I’ve got an idea I’ll clean the bearing and get a new yoyo, plus I’ve always thought the Duncan raptor looks cool, but I’ll look into some of the other yoyos you recommended too
Di Base.
This. I haven’t played a yuksta, so I don’t know how they compare, but for the price…I was absolutely blown away by this throw. Not to mention, it’s just downright beautiful and I’m not even a fan of solid colorways. It is at the top of your price range though, so i’d also recommend a Northstar or a Protostar (depending on your weight preferences, I prefer the North) which will only run you $35. They ARE plastics, but it can definitly hang with a lot of the metals out there. And another metal you may want to look into is the Cafe Racer by One Drop. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this one, although I haven’t played it yet.
Good luck :]
Cafe Racer is my favorite yoyo to date. There are so many choices, none of the ones already mentioned are bad.
Best thing would be to replace the black O-ring in the SpeedMaker - you can either (very carefully!) shave it flush (so that it doesn’t stick out), or pop it out and put something else in the groove, like flowable silicone or a pad/sticker that fits (YYJ has their own silicone groove stickers that work great).
Just this and a broken-in stock bearing will get the SpeedMaker about as good as it’s going to get - so then use your money to rather get a new throw.