BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: ccrider on January 26, 2020, 07:23:33 PM
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Since I have not posted in a while, I must first say hello to everyone. Have not been bowling much but trying to get back started.
I like to keep a urethane ball in my lineup. When all else fails, I can generally pick one up and bowl average. I see that everyone has their offerings. My brother insists that I get a Purple Hammer Pearl. He says their is nothing out like it. They are hard to find and bring a premium. I am hesitant to believe that no one else is making a comparable urethane. However, my brother is a pretty good bowler and bowls 2 to 3 nights a week. He says that he can use the Purple in most any shot and score with it.
So, what’s the story on the urethane balls out now?
I just ordered a Gravity Evolve although I expect to have to play with the surface to use it on a THS. I match up well with that core so I had to give it a spin. Considering the V2 release as my control piece, but have not decided.
Thanks
CC
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If you're looking for weaker urethaney motion, the Covert Tank. Bigger motion, Tank Blitz. Honestly unbelievable for people that get trapped in tweener hell
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The purple hammer is very popular in the urethane crowd.
Seems like a few other companies have tried to copy it, none have been succesful so far.
however, IMO, no need to use urethane on a house pattern.
I only use it if i need to control the back half of the lane on the tougher patterns.
A rev rate also helps if using urethane (see Jakob Butturf release)
Is the purple good? I think so, $225 good??
not for me it isnt
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If you're looking for weaker urethaney motion, the Covert Tank. Bigger motion, Tank Blitz. Honestly unbelievable for people that get trapped in tweener hell
^this. Have the Purple Hammer and the Covert and frankly unless you only need a urethane ball for a game or are a lefty with rev rate over 400 the Covert is better. Unlike the Purple Hammer the Covert reaction gets better as the night goes on and can move in with it.
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If you're looking for weaker urethaney motion, the Covert Tank. Bigger motion, Tank Blitz. Honestly unbelievable for people that get trapped in tweener hell
^this. Have the Purple Hammer and the Covert and frankly unless you only need a urethane ball for a game the Covert is better. Unlike the Purple Hammer the Covert reaction gets better as the night goes on.
Is the Covert urethane or "urethane like"
ive not heard a good explanation of what it really is
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Urethane like. Oil sits on the cover same as urethane but it doesn't seem to have much problem with carry down as core flares a ton and cover stock doesn't lose traction even with oil on it, a bit like a reactive. Reaction wise for me its closer to urethane with a big core than reactive.
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Does it read early like urethane
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Covert OOB does read fairly early but its slightly longer than PH imo. Polished mine up for league tomorrow as lane is pretty dry. Will give a status update once I throw it as only thrown it OOB so far. Also I should clarify with guys with hand the Covert can be significantly stronger especially on the back end than urethane.
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Interesting to hear your thoughts.
definitely interested in USA made from here on out
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Again because I edited my reply late might not behave as much like urethane for people with more revs than me. Speed dominant, semi spinner so balls tend to naturally go pretty straight for me.
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For me, it's urethane that keeps going. Is it "urethane"? No. Is it urethane like? Imo, yes. I had the Covert about 4 boards "weaker" than the Blitz, but I could get the ball to create a little more angle and get it back from the gutter, where I couldn't get the Blitz to push that far before it started it's move.
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All you need to do is watch the guys coming over from Ebonite to Brunswick. They are all throwing Brunswick resin, but when they go to urethane it is purple hammer. I know Storm guys who would love to be able to use Purple Hammers instead of Pitch Black
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I know some Motiv staffers that put short pin layouts on the Blitz and Covert to provide more of a urethane motion.
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I never found a real use for my previous Brunswick Karma urethane. Then I invested in the Hammer purple pearl urethane and never looked back. This ball is everything they say it is, and you don't have to be a Jacob Buttruff to have success with it.
As they use to say in the old TV cereal commercial "Try it Mikey, you'll like it"!
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Just as an aside used my Covert tonight for the first game in league. Guess probably should not have polished it because it was super controllable but just wasn't carrying very well. Didn't help was a bit nervous (couple new teammates in new league) so wasn't really sharp at first either. Pretty meh game so kind of panic switched to my Slingshot and went off with a couple of pretty good games for me and ball was money. Not giving up as thinking of going back to some surface next week on it for game one because when ball did pick up it did carry. Just not a lot of turn polished for me on the fresh. Was significantly weaker even than my Slingshot which also had polished (though was bowling against a team of no thumbers depleting the oil) .
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Drill a short pin iQ Tour and don't look back. You'll get more mileage out of something like that.
I get the nostalgia part of urethane.. I drilled a Pitch Black when they came out and used it quite a bit on the 36 ft pattern we were on at the time. Since then, it has sat on my ball rack in the basement.
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I just drilled a vintage phantom. After it lane polished the look was very similar to my purple hammer on one house shot I practice on. The line between resin and urethane is getting more blurred as new shells come out. Not surprising since resin is urethane with a resin additive.
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Thanks for the responses. I was hoping it was all just hype. Evidently the Purple offers a look that no one else has.
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To me the Purple Hammer gives the look that Storm was trying to get with Fever Pitch and Motive from the Covert Tank. Nothing magic, but the best urethane look I have had
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I'm quite certain the Purple Hammer will continue in the line up .... just wait until production starts back up. Brunswick will continue to use the same cover formulas.
The Storm Pitch Purple seems interesting ... it has the bigger backend shape the Purple Hammer crowd likes.
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Surprised nobody talks about the core specs. 2.65 rg, .015 diff way tamer than almost anything else out there. Shell also unique. Doesnt lane polish to any degree.
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The purple does lose some juice. 6 boards in 60 games is quite a bit for a "urethane" cover.
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^^^^^^^^
So 60 games with no cleaning or surface prep. Is there any surprise with the results?
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I don't recall him saying that he never cleaned the older PH.
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I don't recall him saying that he never cleaned the older PH.
I watched carefully. Unless I missed it, there was no mention of cleaning or surface refresh. My Purple stays consistent by using the same cleaning/surface prep regime I apply to my reactives.
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I don't recall him saying that he never cleaned the older PH.
I watched carefully. Unless I missed it, there was no mention of cleaning or surface refresh. My Purple stays consistent by using the same cleaning/surface prep regime I apply to my reactives.
I don't think that it is fair to assume he never cleaned it just because he never mentions it. Can we assume that he did clean the PH and never mentioned it? It can go either way. Can you now make a video comparing your cleaned one to a new one?
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60 games without a surface refresh and you are going to lose multiple boards even with an old Blue Hammer.
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I don't think that it is fair to assume he never cleaned it just because he never mentions it. Can we assume that he did clean the PH and never mentioned it? It can go either way. Can you now make a video comparing your cleaned one to a new one?
Well, it's a pretty important detail to leave out if he did. Which to me suggests he didn't.
I have 3 modern Urethanes -- the Purple Hammer, Black Hammer and the Hot Cell. They all quickly develop shine with head oil and tend to lose some reaction after a handful of games. A good cleaning followed by an Abralon pad bring the balls back to life. A video isn't needed to show this.
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Surprised nobody talks about the core specs. 2.65 rg, .015 diff way tamer than almost anything else out there. Shell also unique. Doesnt lane polish to any degree.
I might be in the minority on this page, but not in the competitive bowling world. I got a 16 lb Purple several months after release date. I'm more on the rev dominant side, but I have speed to help get it down the lane. It flared much more than my Pitch Black at the time, but hooked 10 boards more. I've had 2 15 lb Purples now with stronger layouts than my 16 lb was and they both flare significantly less and cover less boards as a result. I see carrydown as quick as a typical urethane and the loss in performance due to oil on the cover (even while using a shammy). I prefer the 16 lb one way more because I didn't see the effects of carrydown and it was usable from about anywhere on the lane.
I do think balls like the IQ Tour and Phantom are better (maybe even short pin them if you want the urethane look) as they offer pretty much the same kind of idea with more versatility. But one major thing to note is that you may see those kind of balls go straighter when a lot of thane is being used while the actual urethanes (or pseudothanes as I refer to them) will react about the same as they normally do, just a faster carrydown process.
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Urethane is a condition specific niche tool for most of us. Having said that the purple hammer fills that niche better than any urethane I have thrown
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Avabob,
Spot on, 100% correct, couldn't be more right, +1111111.
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Urethane does one thing that even short pin to PAP reactives don't do: It allows rev dominant players to play virtually on top of the oil line on a short pattern like Kegel Boardwalk and not "stand up" on the backend. The early roll of the urethane will prevent the ball from falling into the gutter yet the super slow arc will create just enough angle to strike at will. Urethane is amazing at that but otherwise...
It is completely useless on anything THS or medium/longer sport patterns.
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Urethane does one thing that even short pin to PAP reactives don't do: It allows rev dominant players to play virtually on top of the oil line on a short pattern like Kegel Boardwalk and not "stand up" on the backend. The early roll of the urethane will prevent the ball from falling into the gutter yet the super slow arc will create just enough angle to strike at will. Urethane is amazing at that but otherwise...
It is completely useless on anything THS or medium/longer sport patterns.
As a high rev 2 hander I just don't see the need on THS. I swear I want a urethane ball just because everyone seems to have one and that's what we see on the shows. I refuse to get it though, I'd rather keep learning how to adjust with resin like rash. There's always a solution on THS with a proper arsenal.
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Urethane does one thing that even short pin to PAP reactives don't do: It allows rev dominant players to play virtually on top of the oil line on a short pattern like Kegel Boardwalk and not "stand up" on the backend. The early roll of the urethane will prevent the ball from falling into the gutter yet the super slow arc will create just enough angle to strike at will. Urethane is amazing at that but otherwise...
It is completely useless on anything THS or medium/longer sport patterns.
As a high rev 2 hander I just don't see the need on THS. I swear I want a urethane ball just because everyone seems to have one and that's what we see on the shows. I refuse to get it though, I'd rather keep learning how to adjust with resin like rash. There's always a solution on THS with a proper arsenal.
IMO can add the Covert Tank to the list if you don't have the revs even on lighter house. Love the control but if its not high flush it isn't carrying for me (and zero miss room out). Bet that ball owns short sport patterns though. Most people on here probably have the hand to make it work.
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Urethane does one thing that even short pin to PAP reactives don't do: It allows rev dominant players to play virtually on top of the oil line on a short pattern like Kegel Boardwalk and not "stand up" on the backend. The early roll of the urethane will prevent the ball from falling into the gutter yet the super slow arc will create just enough angle to strike at will. Urethane is amazing at that but otherwise...
It is completely useless on anything THS or medium/longer sport patterns.
As a high rev 2 hander I just don't see the need on THS. I swear I want a urethane ball just because everyone seems to have one and that's what we see on the shows. I refuse to get it though, I'd rather keep learning how to adjust with resin like rash. There's always a solution on THS with a proper arsenal.
On THS, Urethane is completely unnecessary for me. However, in a tougher, less maintained center, their "house shot" plays fairly tricky. Nobody throws a lot of the new high end equipment there. I used a Purple there and made it look pretty easy because of its traits. I created hold for my team that traditionally isn't there and we all scored well because of it. If you're seeing the traditional oil in and dry out, you're not missing anything.