RELEASE INFORMATION

Release 10 JANUARY 2021

SOLD DIRECT AND AT YOYOEXPERT AND SPINGEAR

6061 ALUMINUM AND STAINLESS STEEL

Diameter 50mm, Width 43mm, Gap 4.4mM

Weight 62.4G

M4 x 10mm AXLE (ALUMINUM), M4 x 8MM AXLE (STEEL)

CONCAVE D bearinG

D SIZED TYPE 50 LANDING PADS RESPONSE

KICKBACK

Kickback is one of the greatest mysteries of the yo-niverse which has been discussed extensively. Refer to this page on the YoYoExpert forum.

So what exactly is kickback? A kickback is experienced after you throw a sleeper. When the yo-yo reaches the end of the string, it does not remain there but comes (kicks) back to the thrower for a short distance. It is best visually represented in this video by HSpin of the Save Deth Edition of the Good & Evil 4, at the 0:40s mark.

It is well known that D bearing yo-yos are more susceptible to kickback compared to C bearing ones. Some yo-yo designers are put off by it and hence favor the C over D bearing.

Another contributor to kickback is an increased rim weight. If you are one of the lucky few who have tried both the prototype and production versions of the DOOMBOT, you will notice a significant decrease in kickback in the production model due to the decreased rim weight.

THE D BEARING RESPONSE STANDARD

Many boutique yo-yo companies face a huge hurdle when making D bearing yo-yos because of the difficulty in obtaining D bearing response pads, which do not have a fixed measurement or standard. Of note, the few companies that have manufactured D bearing yo-yos in recent times, namely YoYoEmpire, Freshly Dirty, and Sturm Panzer, have their proprietary response pads. If you wanted to make a D bearing yo-yo, you would either have to approach one of these companies for their pads or make your own. Making your own pads is an extremely costly endeavor, as the minimum order quantity is typically in the tens to hundreds of thousands of pieces. Most boutique companies would find it had to stomach the cost, particularly if one is only doing a small run of yo-yos. This is often the deal-breaker for many boutique companies. Flowable silicon is a reasonable alternative, but lacks the elegance and convenience of response pads.

Although it was not financially feasible for RSO, I went ahead to make my own D bearing response pads anyway (you can check them out on the LANDING PADS page on this site). I did this for the following few reasons:

There is a massive potential in D bearing designs, although they might only cater to a niche market. Now defunct companies like HSpin, SPYY, XCube, and B.I.S.T used to come up with exceptional D bearing designs. I felt it was worth a shot.
My reluctance to approach other companies for their response pads, as I didn’t think they would care about a baby boutique company like RSO.
I hope to set a “standard” D bearing response specification which other companies can use freely, without facing the same predicament as I did. This standard specification already exists for the C bearing response.

The D bearing LANDING PADS were made to fit the Freshly Dirty response pad groove. I went with the Freshly Dirty response groove specifications because they are simply the most popular yo-yo company making D bearing yo-yos on the current market, with their most successful model being the Canary. I hope that it will be a joint effort by both companies to set a D bearing response specification standard.

Specifications for the D bearing seat with the RSO D bearing Landing Pads groove, as shown in AutoCAD. Note — Specifications for the D bearing seat with the RSO D bearing Landing Pads groove, as shown in AutoCAD.

On RSO’s part, to push for the D bearing response specification standard, I will be able to supply D bearing LANDING PADS to all boutique yo-yo manufacturers for a low wholesale cost. Just drop me a message via any of the RSO social media channels.

Another problem is finding high-quality D bearings. Due to their ubiquity, it is easy to find high-quality C bearings from companies like NSK, but premium D bearings are few and far in between. I concede that I have not found a perfect D bearing supplier, although the ones I used in the Bowl Mini are of an acceptable standard. The included D bearings come lubricated.

RE-IMAGINING THE BOWL MINI

Due to its smaller diameter, a D bearing has a greater number of revolutions per minute (RPM) when spinning compared to a C bearing, hence giving the yo-yo a more powerful spin. However, the down side is that the yo-yo spins for a shorter period. These characteristics are more pronounced with an A bearing, which is has an even smaller diameter. The D bearing sits comfortably between the A and C bearings in terms of these characteristics.

You can feel an apparent difference when comparing both the C bearing and D bearing versions of the steel Bowl Mini. The D bearing version plays more like a younger child, with more extraordinary bursts of energy and shorter attention span. The C bearing version plays like an older child who can sit in front of a television for days. Like all parents, you would love both children.

This time, I decided to make two versions of the Bowl Mini, in 6061 aluminum and stainless steel. I started with prototyping the D bearing steel Bowl Mini design. However, the prototype had slightly too much kickback. Designing a D bearing yo-yo is a tricky balance between reducing rim weight to decrease kickback and increasing rim weight to increase spin time. I believe I found the sweet spot for the Bowl Mini - to reduce kickback, additional weight (about 1.5g) was added to the center of the yo-yo for the production version. The aluminum design was derived from the final steel design and went straight into production.

6061 ALUMINUM EDITION

I wanted to do something special with the 6061 aluminum version of the Bowl Mini, and applied a much thicker layer of blast. The heavy blast gives the yo-yo a more premium feel and brings out the colors beautifully. The yo-yos look gorgeous in person, following the Pantone colors of the Rubik’s cube.

Due to the aggressive blast, a significant portion of the 6061 aluminum Bowl Mini run has tiny spots in the cup, which are only apparent under bright light. I am calling these the Crayon Edition - if you give a young child a crayon to draw on a piece of paper, you’ll probably get the same effect! The Crayon Editions are different from B grades, which have too extensive crayon spots and will not be sold.

A total of 102 6061 aluminum D bearing Bowl Minis were made. The Standard Edition will be priced at 99 USD, while the Crayon Edition will go for 79 USD. The Crayon Editions are as smooth as the Standard Edition. Both versions will include the same box and accessories.

The color distribution of the run is as follows:

WHAT’S IN THE BOX

WOODEN HORSE ENAMEL PIN

D BEARING LANDING PADS

yellow THICK strings

STAINLESS STEEL EDITION

The D bearing Bowl Minis also offer one a chance to compare two yo-yos with identical shapes in two completely different materials. The stainless steel version feels heavier on the string, owing to its higher density. It also makes a peculiar sound when it hits the string. This slightly more “premium” feel is also what you experience when you throw the titanium Bowl versus the Bowl 7068. The artwork is a throwback to the C bearing stainless steel Bowl Mini, with new/updated side flaps, cert, and enamel pin.

52 steel D bearing Bowl Minis were made and they retail for 189.99 USD each.