ILOVEYOYO CanFlon Liopleurodon
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
June 28, 2010
Introduction
When the latest Liopleurodon, Lio for short, landed on my doorstep I was a little apprehensive about doing a new review of it. We already had a review of the Candy Blast Lio on the site and I had played the Candodized Lio in the past and found no major difference in play between it and the Candy Blast version. Originally I was going to just update the original review and call it a day. Two things changed my mind on the matter. First, Brett wrote the original Lio review; writing a new review allows me to give an alternate opinion. Second, the CanFlon Lio offers some unique visuals and play that I felt warranted a full review. Now lets see how much of a difference a little space age technology can make on an already proven design.
Specs
- Diameter: 54.85 mm
- Width: 41.50 mm
- Gap: 4.1 mm
- Weight: 68.00 g
- Response: Hot Red SILYYcone
- Bearing: ILYY KMK 6×13x5mm
Construction
Before we go into the construction of this yo-yo we should probably discuss this new coating, CanFlon. What exactly is it? To sum it up, CanFlon is just a fancy name for Teflon. The same Teflon that has been used on everything from cookware to various NASA parts and even in sensitive parts of the Manhattan Project. With the CanFlon Lio, the first thing that you will notice is this new coating. This is not your average looking anodized metal, shiny and pretty. Teflon coating is a baked on process similar to powder coating. This gives the yo-yo a painted look very similar in feel to the eggshell finish paint that Levi McCarroll used on the original painted CLYW Peaks. When it comes to the color of the CanFlon Lio I really have to be brutally honest, I find it to be one of the uglier colors I have seen on a yo-yo. So far ILYY has released three different CanFlon colors, military green, hot pink, and this one called lime green. Lime green is a misnomer; this Lio looks like a flying avocado when cruising around on the string. For future applications of the CanFlon finish I would like to see richer colors in the same vain as the military green CanFlon, or better yet white since white is the hardest color to find on a metal. Color aside; the finish on the Lio is extremely durable. While putting the Lio through its paces I smacked it hard against the edge of my wood computer desk. There is not a single scratch, dent, or break in the finish to be found. I would not recommend that you go out and walk the dog on concrete but it seems to be pretty durable for everyday use. The feel of the finish is paint like. It feels sticky when you run your finger or thumb over the surface. This is Teflon though, so we will talk about whether the sticky feel translates into adverse grind ability. The shape of the Lio is what you expect from ILOVEYOYO. It is a very organic looking classic butterfly shape. It fits squarely into the full sized category with its almost 55 mm diameter. Even though it is a large yo-yo, it rests comfortably in the hand. The catch zone is wide and easy to catch. The cups are also large with a well-defined IGR and no obstructions to impede the use of it. As I said, exactly what you would expect from ILOVEYOYO.
Weight
At 68 grams, the Lio is on the heavier end of the spectrum. This is not your featherweight yo-yo that zips through tricks. The Lio is a solid, slower paced yo-yo perfect for a more relaxed player who concentrates on flow and style over speed and tech. While I found the Lio a little heavier than what I usually play, I thought it played quite well. It is extremely stable on the string with excellent spin times.
Response and Bearing
The response is the standard ILYY hot red sILYYcone. It gives tight binds and lasts quite a while. In this particular Lio the sILYYcone added to the avocado looks by giving it the appearance of a reddish pit in the middle of the yo-yo.
There is not much to say about the KMK bearing used in the Lio. It is by far one of the best metric bearings found in yo-yos today. It spins for quite a while and is very durable. The fact that they come shieldless by default is just the icing on the cake.
Playability
As I stated above, the Lio is not a speed demon. Now this is not meant to be a negative. I like the fact that it has a more laid back feel to it. Sometimes I want to just throw. I don’t want to have to rush to get my hands where they need to be. I want the yo-yo to just flow and that is where the Lio shines. It isn’t slow and cumbersome; it moves gracefully on the string. The best way to describe it is that it is the Marvin Gaye groove counterpoint to frantic Tiesto beats. On the first throw I found that it changed direction when I wanted while remaining at a relaxed pace. The wide-open gap was easy to hit during slacks and whips. Finally, even though it is on the heavier side I found that I had plenty of time to get my hands where I needed them to be when doing tricks like Kwijibo.
Now for the part that most are interested in when talking about this particular yo-yo, the grinds. The CanFlon finish was designed as an alternate surface for grinding. One that will perform as well as its bead blasted counterpart without chewing strings like some of the harsher media blasted finishes. The good news is that this finish grinds quite well. Even though it has that sticky feel when rubbing a finger over it I found that it gave above average spin times on the arm, hand, finger, and thumb. A Candy Blasted Lio will give better grinds than a CanFlon Lio but on the flip side a CanFlon Lio beats a Candodized Lio at grinds hands down. All in all the new finish is a better alternative than the Candodized finish when it comes to grinds and it is very string friendly.
Final Thoughts
Even though I found the color itself to be an eyesore, I cannot bash the play of the CanFlon Liopleurodon. The CanFlon gives great grinds and has the added bonus of allowing for some colors on a yo-yo that will be difficult for traditional anodizing to match. This yo-yo gives a perfect marriage of German engineering and an old school painted Peak. If you liked the Lio before, you owe it to yourself to give this one a throw.
