Just curious what people’s preferences are. Lots of new responsive yoyos released at all bearing sizes within the past year or two. Some of these new releases as well as just time spent playing with these yoyos certainly has to have cemented or shifted some opinions.
I’ve personally never been too impressed with narrow C bearing responsives, but it seems like a lot of the recent narrow C bearing responsives have started using wider response pads. The new Stoopid release definitely caught my eye with wide response pads and light weight.
There’s also another MR85Z bearing yoyo on the market with the Origen, so that’s not an RBC exclusive option any more. So do people have more opinions on the bearing/response design instead of having it exclusively lumped in with the overall design of the RBC.
A bearings have consistently been my favorite responsive bearing size (lubed up FH1s are great). I feel like A bearing responsives give me the best spin time to consistent tug response combo out of everything I’ve tried.
D bearings to me sort of feel like the wild west of bearing sizes. There’s so many different widths for responsive D bearings. Honestly just lumping all D bearing stuff together feels a little odd. Between the Respawns, ZGRTs releases, and even the Minirage, there’s certainly no shortage of responsive D bearing designs.
So what have you all been enjoying as your preferred bearing/pad setups? Have any yoyos released in the past year or two changed your stance on what your preferred guts are?
I’ve found myself preferring D the most, because it tends to give me the best mix between fast play, reliable tug-response, and 1A capability. Respawn is my absolute favorite and El MiJo series are incredible.
C-bearing are a very close second for me. They tend to respond a little slower, but will also spin a litte longer. Deep/er State are both great, and the Thing and Stoopid are instant classics. Butterfly XT is also up there.
A-bearings are 3rd, response tends to be snappier than the above two, but 1A can suffer (Freehand is aj exception on 1A responsive with A bearing). Weekender is my #2 responsive, Day Tripper is a monster, anything with coreco pads really lol.
The MR85’s ive tried are too responsive for my tastes, but I also prefer a response that leans more towards tug-response than a “snappy” response. MR85 does play the most like a fixed axle, but I dont play bearing responsive to imitate fixies.
In terms of pads, I just use clear flowable on everything in my collection now lol. I also only use thick lube, no grease. Since swapping to flowable rather than pads, I’ve also found I”m lubing a lot less. My Respawn Lite gets play every day and I don’t remember the last time I opened it up.
I wonder if my bad experience with narrow C bearings mostly boils down to only having used less-than-stellar yoyo designs (for responsive). Yoyos that really seem to push you towards “upgrading” them to be unresponsive, instead of being explicitly designed to be a good responsive. Stuff like the Sage, old Butterfly AL, First Base. I’ve just been so unimpressed with all of them, they’ve felt like their spin time just starts to suffer so much by the time I’ve greased them up to have a real consistent response.
Seeing that the Stoopid didn’t just use the 19mm response really made me intrigued in all of this. I don’t have a responsive yoyo any more and there’s just so much to pick from now.
Don’t forget about B and K sized bearings. Both are used mostly in loopers, but the B is also used in the Layer Infinity Kasm for modern responsive play. I throw a little modern responsive play on my loopers and the Kasm is one of my modern responsive freehand faves.
I think my preferences generally go from smallest diameter to largest, with the caveat that there are obviously a lot of characteristics about a throw that affect play.
MR85 is my favourite size for a responsove yoyo. It has better throw and return behaviour than larger sized bearings and is easier to keep consistently responsive. The looping behaviour is better than A, C or D as well as they don’t loop upward on the throw.
I had nearly the same experience for a long time myself. Most modern yoyos that give a half spec and full spec bearing are most likely meant for unresponsive play, but can do responsive as well.
C Bearing responsive that are designed to be responsive, Deep/er State, Thing, Stoopid, Gamer etc, all play responsive so much better. The deep state is one of my all time favs, and easily my mosy played yoyo of all time (in my pocket every day for 2 years now) and I don’t really feel like the 19mm pads are a hindrance. Response is consistent all the time, even more so since going to flowable
Mr85 became my favorite with the rbc but I honestly throw my slim d bearing el mijo polycarbonate the most. Honestly it depends what I want to play with. The weekender is fantastic and I think that’s a slim c bearing and the doc pop thing is a fun responsive 5a throw with its slim c. I’m less impressed by the a bearing stuff like the confusion or the Duncan a bearing stuff. They are fun but nothing I gravitate toward. The kasm is a standout with its b bearing and an awesome yoyo in general. I want one of the upcoming purple clear caps but I don’t need three kasm lol.
To clarify my answer I think I like d bearings most but I enjoy all bearing sizes to an extent
What I should have done is come bumbling in yelling cork is the best response on a k bearing. I would be lying but I do love the smell of a cork pad though.
Your right. Shows how often I open my yo-yos. If I like how it plays I don’t tinker with it much. The al butterfly, deepstate, confusion and bumblebee I’ve opened a whole bunch cause I they never really play exactly how I want but yeah weekdd we need is a close second in favorite responsive yoyos followed by el mijo. Only reason I play the mijo most is it’s plastic and something in my brain says it’s okay to beat it up more lol.
I’m hoping the new metal harbinger replaces becomes my new favorite along side el tio. I imagine the respawn is amazing too but that’ll be a one day throw at this moment. Also that boomer yoyo has promise. 2024 Gonna be a fun year for responsive players.
Heck doc pop started us off strong my impulse control was missing as I snagged a pltps this Friday. I’m excited for those Pom rims.
I really didn’t like the Confusion for modern responsive with kickflips and other moves that go off plane, but for responsive freehand where you stay more on plane, its awesome!
