ILOVEYOYO Nile
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
October 13, 2013

Introduction

ILOVEYOYO (ILYY) is known for some amazing, and sometimes completely bonkers, designs. That being said, they have been flying under the radar as of late. I think this is partly to do with a lack of a more “competition” oriented yo-yo in their design line up. Their latest release, The Nile, looks to change this and we have Ernie Kaiser from General Yo to thank. Ernie suggested to Frank that he design a yo-yo like this. Those wondering if there link between these two companies need look no further. Frank from ILYY was invited to become a member of General Yo’s competition team a few years back and has been a member for some time, although Frank and Ernie have been friends quite a bit longer. In taking Ernie’s suggestion, ILYY has created a yo-yo completely different from their past efforts. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen. Time to check out ILYY’s big foray into competition style, high RPM yo-yos.

Specs

• Diameter: 56.10 mm
• Width: 43.92 mm
• Gap: 4.15 mm
• Weight: 66.2 grams
• Bearing: Large Metric KMK Bearing
• Response: ILYY Red SILYY-Cone

Construction

I want to start off talking about the crazy engravings on the Nile. Fans of death metal may already recognize the design, ILYY teamed up with South Carolina metal band, Nile in order to use their logo on their latest release. The logo fits perfectly with the Nile’s design and the engraving is executed flawlessly. Enough about the logo, lets look at the shape. The profile shows off an almost straight V-Shape design but looks can be deceiving. If you look closely you can see a slight concave cut just after the rounded rims then a diagonal drop to the small step out right before the guts. The face of the Nile gives us the biggest departure from past ILYY designs. The rims are extremely thin near the outer edge. Traveling midway down the inner wall we see a weight ring that shifts quite a bit of weight from being heavily rim focused to a more centralized approach. Just under the ring is an IGR that transitions to the floor of the yo-yo. At the center there is a hub that gently rises from the floor to an almost flat plateau with an ever so slight point to it. The entire surface of the Nile is covered in ILYY’s candy blast surface, except the guts, which have been masked and left smooth to eliminate string damage. The feel in the hand is impressive. While it is hard to see that slight cut in the profile you can definitely feel it; giving the Nile a high level of comfort in the hand. While different from ILYY’s past designs, you can still tell that this is an ILYY product. The candy blast is a dead give away, but so are the little things like the extra cuts in the weight centering ring and the organic way the hub just flows up from the floor that give it an extra visual flourish. I am a fan of this new direction that ILYY is taking with their designs. The Nile looks fresh while keeping true to the aesthetic that we have come to expect from them.

Weight

At 66.2 grams and 56.1 mm in diameter this is a speedy full size yoyo. The shift in weight from pure rim weight makes it feel incredibly stable on the string while giving it impressive spin times. While it may be speedy by default, the Nile does not penalize you if you want to chill out with it.

Response and Bearing

I have heard rumors that ILYY was going to move to pads for their releases, thankfully the Nile stuck with ILYY’s tried and true SILYY-cone. Their response is still one of the most impressive poured responses on the market in both play and durability. It breaks in quickly and remains dead unresponsive for an incredibly long time.

ILYY is still using the large KMK bearing for their releases which can be a slight problem for those that like to tinker with their setup since metric bearings are not as prevalent in the community. For everyone else, this is a nonissue. The metric KMK is an amazing flat bearing. I consider it the metric equivalent of the One Drop 10-Ball… and it is pretty common knowledge what my thoughts on that bearing.

Playability

I absolutely love it when established companies that I have been playing for years surprise me. I have said before that all companies develop a ‘feel’ that you come to expect over each and every release. When they break away from that in a new and exciting way it gives freshness to the brand. The Nile is ILYY’s break away from the old. It plays amazing and you still get those slight hints of the old ILYY feel but it plays totally different from their past efforts. The Nile is comfortable when being pushed fast while never feeling like it rushes the player. The wide open catch zone is easy to hit during whips and hops, adding to the ease of use at higher speeds, even if your style is sloppy like mine. Suicides are perfectly executed on the Nile thanks to the no wall design and the polished guts. There is nothing to negatively impact the loop after it leaves your finger. Grinds are where the Nile truly shines. The weight distribution and the candy blast finish gives you complete control of the grind from start to finish. When resting on your finger or arm you almost cannot tell it is spinning. I had it crawl up my arm and with the slightest change in angle I could start and stop it during its climb without having it spin out. Thumb grinds are just as good with that hidden IGR being easy to catch even though it is farther in the cup than a normal IGR. Horizontal play is not one of my strong suits but I was still able to pull of a Banana Turnover pretty easily without it feeling like the yo-yo was going to lose control. Overall there is one word to describe the play of the Nile… flawless.

Final Thoughts

It is a rare yo-yo that has me fawning over it from the start. Usually I go through the same stages every player goes through: honeymoon, critical phase, and then acceptance or rejection of the yo-yo based on the flaws found. The Nile is a fresh change from ILYY’s established design philosophy and is a great first step in reinvigorating the brand. I have had it in the High Speed YoYo Bunker for about a month and a half now and I am still grooving on it as much as I did on the first throw. I hope Frank and Dom continue on this course. As for the Nile itself, just go get one. It is THAT good.