what do you guys think of the yoyojam/yomega firestorm? is it a good alternative to the yyj surge or the classic? if not, would you reccomend the raider or the maverick over it? im asking because these are sold near me.
Those are some good yoyo’s you can choose from. To give a better recommendation, we would need to know about what your level is. Meaning if you are just starting out or if you have practiced on different yoyos. What type of tricks do you want to learn? Also, does the place near you sell brain-lube?
Without that information, and figuring you are not able to buy pads and bearings near you, I would recommend the Maverick. It is responsive, meaning it will come back to your hand with a tug of the hand. After practicing with it for some time it will become less response, meaning that you will need to bind return every other throw. You can make it responsive again with lube, or just keep playing to make it unresponsive. The tutorials on this site will explain the difference better.
Have fun and practice with whatever you choose!
Most any yoyo can be made unresponsive by cleaning the bearing. Lube (or lack thereof) in the bearing is 90% of a yoyo being responsive (or not).
I already have the maverick but one of it’s response things broke and it doesn’t spin as well when I throw it anymore.
You could silicone the groove
I tried to, but the groove is way too shallow (1-2 mm). It kept going on the bearing seat, no matter how careful I am.
The raider does not use pads, it has starburst. If it were myself, I would try to silicon again. Look at the modification and maintenance section. There’s a lot of great information there to help. Look at the sticky at the top, or ask a question.