Yomega Glide
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
September 22, 2013

Introduction

If you had told me two years ago that I would be reviewing a Yomega design I would have had you institutionalized. Not because of anything they did in their past, but because they have pretty much been associated with low end budget yo-yos or being one of the most popular suppliers of looping yo-yos; neither of which put them on my radar. This all changed last October when reports started circulating that Yomega was coming out with a metal, competition level design. After reading about that my curiosity was piqued. I began to dig around for more and more information about The Glide, this new high performance yo-yo, and what I found looked promising. What sealed the deal for me was right around January or February of this year. Dan Dietz left One Drop to go work for Yomega as a spokesperson and intern. It made sense for him to do so since they are based in his home state of Massachusetts. He and I began talking and he had nothing but positive things to say about the Glide… on his recommendation I had to give it a shot. Now the big question, can Yomega pull off the same thing Duncan has done and start to reinvent their image, can they go from being known for fun little plastics to higher end metals that can compete with the rest of the pack?

Specs

• Diameter: 55.95mm
• Width: 42.80mm
• Gap: 4.40mm
• Weight: 68.3 grams
• Bearing: Dif-e-yo KonKave (C-Size)
• Response: Yomega Silicone Response

Construction

Yomega played it safe with the design and stuck with the H-Shape profile we see in most competition yo-yos. The Glide has clunky, flat rims that are slightly angled towards the catch zone with the outer edge being rounded for comfort. The outer wall has a steep, angled drop for the rim almost to the gap making for an easy to hit catch zone thanks to the wide step out from the wall just before the gap. The cup is made up of a series of steps before reaching the floor with most of the weight set away from the outer edge of the rims. There is no IGR on the Glide. At the center is a flat hub that has just enough room for a laser-etched box with the letters “Em” in it. The finish is a mixture of blasted and polished with the profile getting a silky smooth blast while the cup pops with a polished inside. One area that needs to be addressed, the blast used is pretty aggressive and Yomega did not have the gap masked so it becomes a little bit of a string eater. You will want to take a pair of denim pants or a leather belt to the gap before extended play sessions and definitely keep an eye on the strings. I had one snap and after that a couple more close calls. In the hand it feels great, you can tell with all the rounded angles that Yomega put some time into making sure it would not hurt during long periods of play. Over all the design is well put together and quite solid for their first attempt at a high-end metal.

Weight

At 68.3 grams the Glide is pushing the edge of my comfort zone. It is not a fast yo-yo but does not feel like a brick either. Good for chilling out and learning new tricks. It is rock solid stable on the string. At this point, while I would like a little weight shaved off for slightly faster play, I think Yomega made the right call. The Glide’s speed will not alienate the Yomega players who are transitioning from their Mavericks or Crossfires to a solid high-end throw.

Response and Bearing

The response is spot on. Yomega’s silicone response feels similar to CLYW’s Snow Tire response giving tight grinds and dead unresponsive play.

The KonKave bearing is the big misstep in the Glide. Yomega needs to drop it like a bad habit and go with a flat bearing. The KK made the play worse in my opinion. The initial throw didn’t feel right because the string was not catching the response so the yo-yo felt like it was falling off the bearing instead of unrolling. Binds were also horribly slippy and erratic. Swapping out to a flat bearing fixed all of these problems and made the Glide play 100% better.

Playability

All play sessions were done using a flat bearing I had on hand. I ripped out the KK after 10 minutes of play and only put it back in when I took the photos for this review. Now with that out of the way lets talk about how this thing plays.

The Glide is so smooth on the string. I was not expecting such a precise feel from Yomega’s freshman effort into the high-end arena. There is not the slightest bit of vibe or wobble to be felt and the yo-yo corrects quickly if you give it a bad throw. It lives up to its name; feeling like it glides from string to string during tricks. Hops and whips are exactly as you would expect thanks to the enormous catch zone. Coupling the easy to hit catch with the slower speed makes this a great yo-yo to learn on. Grinds are for the most part perfect. The blast used makes it easy to control on your hand, arm, or finger. I had more than enough time to pull of the finger grind to inverted Green Triangle trick that Jake taught us in his tutorials. Thumb grinds do not fair as well but that is to be expected. There is no IGR and the surface is polished. You CAN do a thumb grind but only when you transition from a trapeze. Over all there is nothing I can really ding the Glide on in the play department.

Final Thoughts

For a freshman effort, the Glide definitely earns a solid “above average” on its report card. There are two areas where it stumbled but over all it is a rock solid player at a sub $100 price. To increase its appeal I would definitely ask Yomega to change two things. First they need to mask the gap area to reduce the string saw nature of the Glide. Second ditch the KK and go with a flat bearing. Pass the savings on to the customer while increasing the play of this yo-yo. I cannot stress enough how swapping out the stock bearing took my experience from “no bueno” to “wow, this is impressive”. At the end of the day Yomega has come out with a solid yo-yo and I can see why Dan recommended it to me, it is quite good. If you have a chance at a meet or a competition I would highly recommend giving it a shot, I bet you will be surprised.