sorry…two threads right after registering. I’m “that guy” today. I’m new to the yoyo world.
I’ve got the Dark Magic 2 and with the responsive bearing if I get a pretty good sleeper going I can keep it down maybe 60 seconds, which is amazing compared to what I had before but I know it should probably be a lot longer. I’ve got the original string on it at the moment. I lubed the bearing and tried a new string that came with my Luminator advanced kit but it seemed like it was too thick and the sleep time diminished even more so I went back to the original. I try to do Brain Scrambler and maybe 1 in 10 tries can I even get one forward swing then reverse out of it and the yoyo actually have enough momentum to return to my hand.
Is there a different string I need?
I saw mention on the internet somewhere about cleaning the bearing. Should I do that?
Do I just suck at throwing a decent sleeper?
Is there anything else I need to do optimize this thing?
A 1 minute sleeper with the responsive bearing is about normal due the more narrow gap any amount of string in the gap is going to narrow the spin time down.
You’re going to hear this a lot, but…work on your throw. Other than that, try popping in the unresponsive bearing that came with it. It’ll probably help A LOT, and if you can do brain twister, learning to bind should be relatively easy.
Everything is normal. The more lube you put on the bearing, the less it will sleep, so don’t overlube it.
Narrow bearings do put out less sleep times due to the fact that they friction the response or the wall of the yoyo more.
Changing strings will not change much of your sleep time, just practice more, and if you really want more sleep time, change the bearing to the unresponsive one.
You’re not that guy, don’t worry haha. We’re here to at least attempt to answer questions and help people, so it’s all good. Welcome to YYE!
Good choice going with a DM 2 as a beginner, lots of people buy unresponsive yoyos before they even know how to bind or have a clue what they are doing, so good job.
It’s always good to have lots of string available (and not to mention decent string), so I would suggest that you pick up string in bulk, because even if you don’t think you need it… you need it. haha
And yes, to answer your question, cleaning your yoyo bearing would probably be a good idea. Here is a very good thread detailing how to do so with multiple methods and even an instructional video. http://yoyoexpert.com/forums/index.php?/topic=871.0
Doing so will get you better spin times, although I must say for a beginner to get a 60 second spin time is very good; although spin time doesn’t matter, as long as you get through your tricks.
I would also STRONGLY suggest working on your throw. Your throw is one of the most important things you need to develop during your yoyoing “career.” If you don’t get it right, you’ll have trouble down the road.
Don’t pop the unresponsive bearing in. Play it as is and you will be much better off.
It will be easier to do tricks with an unresponsive setup, but your overall technique will suffer. Playing responsive for a good long while will help immensely for when you’ve got the basics down and you start stringing things together. You’ll be smoother for it, but it can be frustrating in the beginning.
Just stick with it and practice! (And get lots of string)
Some people might disagree with this…I started out with a semi-responsive dash, went up to around Split the Atom. When my DMII came, it was WAY more responsive than I was used to.
I disagree with this.
Practicing unresponsive will increase by a lot your learn rate, specially if you can quickstart bind.
Will you be as smooth as you were if you were responsive? If you practice the same trick the same amount of times with either, I believe so, yes. The thing is that with a unresponsive yoyo you’ll hit the trick earlier and move ahead to something else.
Doing more complicated tricks on responsive yoyos can get pretty frustrating.
sleep time is somewhat irrelevent in a thin bearing yoyo. it might be time to throw in the wide bearing. also practice your throw a lot as well. the thin bearing that came in my classic was actually thick lubed as your thin bearing prolly is too. so basically its just a starter responsive bearing not meant for insanely good sleep time or the best combos.
There are two kinds of bearings YYJ is shipping in their yoyos.
For the yoyos intended for performance with a slim bearing, they include a steel caged bearing. If it’s a Classic, it’s a cheaper plastic caged bearing. I can’t get the plastic ones to spin as long even after a major cleaning. The metal ones, man, I can get some great spin times out of those.
As a new thrower, I was soooo frustrated that I couldn’t get these “2 minute sleeptimes” with my DM2. If you have a cleaned bearing 30 seconds is completely normal for a new thrower. The #1 thing to keep in mind is to worry about your technique, not the yoyo. Honestly, you get mad respect in the yoyo world for doing tricks on a crappy yoyo (not that yours is, the DM2 is rad).
I wasn’t so upset with sleep times. Then again I didn’t know what normal was for me. But what I did to make my throw better is practicing and singing a lullaby to the Yoyo.
So, I’ve never actually timed my sleeper so since someone said 60 was great I figured I was guessing high. I timed it 3 times and got 2 30’s and a 38. Sorry for sort-of lying…lol
I also had it return immediately a few times and that really really hurt.
Anyway…I was doing brain scrambler with the responsive bearing because in the yo tricks video he’s using the Luminator with advanced kit, which is responsive. I have that model but it doesn’t stay down long. I learned it with the dm2 and wide bearing but I had to bind it back up and I only know one bind so it didn’t look real impressive.
I’ve played maybe 20 hours total since I started yoyo and probably a third of that is with the DM2 and unresponsive bearing. I learned that basic bind and tried a couple tricks but for now I kind of enjoy the responsive play more. I like bringing it back from full extension. My kids are more impressed that way…lol
I’ll probably still keep alternating between the two though. I’ll definitely continue to work on my throws. I’ve noticed that my precision affects the sleep time, like during the rotations in brain scrambler or trapeze. Any bit of lean really jacks it up.
actually the Luminator advanced is more responsive than the dm2 with small bearing–at least at my house. It’s lighter though. When I first got the dm2 it took some effort to call it back up. Not so much now though.
