by Gingie | May 15, 2024 | Reviews
Specs:
- Diameter – 55.55mm
- Width – 42.35mm
- Weight – 65.1g
- Materials – Polycarbonate Body w/ Alu Rims (6061?)
Pleasantly surprised by this guy. Didn’t think it’d be much but it was rad when someone let me try it at a meet.
It plays fast and is powerful though it lacks stability and spin time. It’s really great. Super fun to thrash with. It’s particularly great and good feeling with speed combos, it’s solid for zontals. Binds are NICE with this.
10000% the rims NEED to be fileted more though. This thing is SHARP. A bit of a bigger diameter would also do this yoyo some wonders.
Play: Everyone
Power: Powerful
Speed: Fast
Controllability: Average
Stability: Gentleness Advised
Value: Bad
Bind: Tight
Sturdiness: Be Gentle
by Gingie | May 6, 2024 | Reviews
Specs:
- Diameter – 56mm
- Width – 43.93mm
- Weight – 63.54g (66.7g w/ Alu Spikes)
- Materials – 6061 Alu
This yoyo has been a grail of mine since day 1 basically. If you go back to my earliest posts on these forums chances are you’ll find my 13-year-old asking for yoyos that are cheap that are similar to the shape of the Terrarian, Code 2, and Edge. I vividly remember fiending after this yoyo as a kid but never being able to get it because it was way outside my price range.
It took me years to find it, and in the end, it wasn’t being able to afford it, but just pure generosity that I’ll always be thankful for.
Real quick, this yoyo has one of those “you only understand when you get it in person” type things; this thing is deceptively organic. It’s not a Beater or Sphere type of organic, but it’s still rounder than some pics may indicate. Blessed be the subtle curves.
So, how does it play?
Well, I tried it out with alu spikes and alu ultralights so that I can tune it in and get closer to what I enjoy, so I’m gonna split this review into two sections, UL’s and Spikes.
Play: Everyone
Ultralights
The Code 2 with ultralights absolutely ■■■■■■■ shreds. It’s an absolute speed demon with ultralights. It go NYOOOOOM with them ultralights.
It’s slightly uncontrollable though, and ever slightly anemic with ultralights. Stability is fine, but I found the issue with UL’s just took away a bit too much power.
Zontals are just fine.
Power: Soft
Speed: Speed Demon
Controllability: Difficult
Stability: Average
Spikes
Code 2 with spikes is a bit more reigned in, but it has too much centerweight, and it’s kinda unstable. The pacing isn’t as speed-demon-y but it’s a bit more wonky. Similar controllability because the pacing is kinda wonky. Adds just enough solidness and power that it doesn’t feel as anemic as the UL’s.
Zontals take a major hit because of the stability nerf with spikes.
Power: Average
Speed: Average
Controllability: Difficult
Stability: Gentleness Advised
I think I need to try this yoyo with some SE’s between the weight of Spikes and UL’s. Maybe Legos or Mini Spikes.
Value: Terrible
Bind: Average
Sturdiness: Average
by Gingie | Apr 18, 2024 | Reviews
Specs:
- Diameter – 56.77mm
- Width – 45.4mm
- Weight – 70.1g (w/ Alu Ultralights)
- Materials – 6061 Alu
This plays how I wish the Peak 2 played. Plus maybe 3-4 grams. Really fun yoyo. Solidly stable and handily powerful. Ribs are a neat aesthetic choice but it’s not exactly for me. Maybe for her pleasure though. Not a speed yoyo at all. Great control. Fatiguing af because of the weight. The profile makes it meh for zontals. The description of it reads:
“Many yo-yos recently, including ones we make, are focused on competition and speed. This is a noble cause and one we’ll continue to pursue because pushing the limits of performance is important and desired.”
And references how the Downbeat is supposed to not be performant. But it’s certainly still performant. To be honest it outperforms some of the stuff in their modern lineup. The power and stability of the Downbeat really carry this thing. Makes it handily capable. Hoping the upcoming ThruLine 11 hits the mark so I don’t gotta hunt down these oldies.
Code 2 next.
Play: Everyone
Power: Horse Kick
Speed: Slow
Controllability: Easy
Stability: Solid
Value: Bad
Bind: Average
Sturdiness: Metal Baseball
by Gingie | Mar 17, 2024 | Reviews
Specs:
- Diameter – 55.33mm
- Width – 47mm
- Weight – 65.15g
- Materials – 7068 Alu
Big one inbound
Saw this get accidentally leaked on Yoyofriends’ Instagram and instantly knew I was gonna cop. The shape, hub, and specs are all about what I’m into. But, I’ve had plenty of yoyos that I was completely not into come out great, and I’ve had plenty of yoyos that I was super excited for come out to be just kinda neat, or in some cases, not great.
In the case of the Graviton: Y, not only did it live up to what I hoped it was gonna be, but it ended up far exceeding my expectations.
The Graviton: Y just feels SO GOOD to use in basically ALL scenarios. The pacing and weight distribution of this yoyo feel similar to the Galaxy Diver’s sensation of rim-weightedness in tandem with its pacing that makes it feel super controlled, and coming in at the right places to bring forward an extremely refined and pleasant playfeel.
The pacing of this yoyo isn’t necessarily fast but how it controls and moves makes it an extremely unrestrictive and pleasant feeling yoyo for speed.
The power of this yoyo is extremely pleasant as well. There are absolutely zero doubts in play relative to how gently and comfortably the Graviton: Y comes back to your hand. The combination of tight controllability, and solid stability makes the Graviton: Y an insanely good yoyo for zoning.
Add in those two factors, as well as the shape, for zontals, Graviton: Y pops off. This yoyo is one of the best monometals I’ve played with for Zontals in a long time.
The shape is the biggest plus for this yoyo. It’s SO comfortable and pleasant in the hand. It just feels good to hold and look at. Yoyofriends nailed it with the Graviton: Y.
My only nitpicks are:
- the lip of the rim’s outer face and the rim’s profile face could maybe go for a little deeper of a filet. It’s not necessarily sharp, but I’ve noticed it.
- adding some design element to make the rim bulge this yoyo has a bit more aesthetically pleasing would be nice, but I’m not sure what that could be.
That’s it. This yoyo hits hard. Seriously good yoyo. Easily my favorite yoyo from Yoyofriends yet.
tl;dr: Good yoyo super great
Play: Competitive
Power: Powerful
Speed: Average
Controllability: Direct Control
Stability: Solid
Value: Average
Bind: Tight
Sturdiness: Play Hard
