I bought my first Ebonite Ball in 15 years, a Vital Sign that now has 50-60 games on it and it's still going strong. Clean it after every set, other than that I haven't had to touch it. I know in the past some people had Ebonite balls that died after this few games so I take it as a good sign it's still going strong.
I hit some very oily conditions recently with it for a few sets in a row that I thought would put the longevity issue to the test, or at the very least I'd have to touch the ball up with an abralon pad afterwards. That wasn't the case, it held up fine. Based on my early experience I think the Flexol covers have the potential to be a long lasting cover but won't know for sure until I hit that 150-200 game mark with it.
Sorry for the slight hijack here. I will say the Vital Sign is a very underrated ball. I wouldn't have even considered it until I threw it and a few other balls from Storm, Brunswick and Track that my pro shop guy drilled up for people to try. I knew Ebonite had the reputation about the longevity of their covers and this worried me, but the ball reaction of the Vital Sign was too good so I decided to take the "risk" and hope the cover would last. So far it's held up fine with no noticeable loss in performance.
