Roto Grip Rubicon Ball Review by PJ Haggerty

The latest addition to the HP4 line at Roto Grip is the Rubicon.  With an RG of 2.49 and a differential of .052, this rock wants to hook early, often, and cover some ground down lane.  Also, with the surface being at 3000, I’ve noticed the Rubicon can be a bit cleaner than expected.  After drilling two of these so far, I’m thoroughly impressed.  The one I can see using the most is mapped out as 5 x 4.5 x 70.  This put the mass bias just to the right of my thumb.  I also took the surface down to 4000 + water.  This keeps the teeth of the surface in the coverstock so it gets through the front a little easier and still retains energy down lane.

I’ve been able to play all over the lane with the Rubicon, but have had the most success when covering a lot of ground with it.  When my angles have been open and needed something to come off the spot in a smoother fashion, the Rubicon has been my go-to piece.  From what I’ve seen, it compliments the UFO, Axiom pearl, and MVP pearl really nicely. 

If you need a versatile ball that allows you to play multiple angles and varying speeds, the Rubicon should be the next ball you drill!

Roto-Grip Rubicon

Core: Rondure

Cover: eTrax S-20

The Rubicon brings a new Asym core to the HP3 line. I say it over and over again...if you want bang for your buck you have to look Roto Grip.

The Rubicon is a solid but shapes like a pearl. It wants to go long and make a strong turn. It shows you the how much oil is out on the lane based on the move. In heavy oil I was seeing a quick turning, angular shape. On a normal house shot, I see a little earlier read and a much smoother reaction.

Biggest thing I have noticed about the Rubicon is that it is useful for a variety of players. I am seeing but high rev and low rev players scoring well and playing all parts of the lane with the Rubicon...which is not usually the case with asym solid balls.

Rubicon is going to fit between my Omega Crux and my well used, trusty Phaze 3 in my tourney bag.

Roto Grip Rubicon - 65 x 3 1/2 x 45 - 2000 grit ( box is 3000 grit )
e-TRAX S20 coverstock with Rondure Core
This addition to the Roto Grip HP3 line was a great add! using my Idol and Idol Pro with motion holes, I found that the Rubicon to be a great replacement for my Idols that had motion holes. The "light" asym core with the very reliable e-TRAX cover was very readable in all aspects of the lane. Very close to my MVP attitude with a 2 1/2 pin to pap layout that I used. Can stay outside of the traffic I run into when bowling league with 3 other lefties. The Rubicon is very constant and stable throughout a night a league bowling and also in tournament play on patterns 40ft to 45ft. You can be speed dominate or rev dominate and the ball works for all styles of bowlers. The flares are nice and tight and that shows how consistent the ball reads the pattern with out giving up hitting power. Check out rotogrip.com for a video from the RG pro staff on how good this ball really is. It rolls like a Super Hero!

Speed: 15.5 Mph
Rev Rate: 300
Drilling: 50 X 4 ¼ X 25 Dual Angle

Being a bowler that likes to see the motion of the new ball before I drill it, I was excited when I saw Pro Staffers rolling this ball during the PBA League. My first impression was this is an asymmetrical version of the !Q Tour Solid. It is clean through the fronts and rolls earlier than the !Q Tour Solid but has the same shape down the lane.

In my arsenal this ball fits below the Phaze II but is stronger than the !Q Tour Nano. I have noticed after putting games on it the solid cover likes to lane shine quicker than other pieces in my arsenal.  This will reduce the overall reaction but by having a 1000 or 2000 abralon handy will help with keeping the cover fresh. I use this ball in a second shift league or on a house with a little more friction down lane. The ball is just too clean in the fronts for me to use on higher volume house shots in my area.

For tournaments this will be a benchmark ball on lengths between 37-39 for bowlers with my speed and rev rate. This will give the bowler a smooth and controllable reaction off the end of those patterns.

Pete Dohan 
Storm Amateur Staff
#StormNation

The Rubicon is a new asymmetric ball, in the HP3 line of balls from Roto Grip. This new release has a new core called Rondure and features a mild asymmetry of only 0.011 (intermediate differential) in 15lb weights. The Rg in said 15lbs comes in at 2.49 with a differential of 0.052. The idea behind the Rubicons lower intermediate differential is to produce a motion on the lanes similar to that of a symmetrical ball with a balance hole. The color combination of eTrax-S20  cover is azure, black, and navy, and comes finished from the factory with a 3000 grit abralon pad. Looking at the Rubicon, I am reminded of the very first Cell.

I drilled the Rubicon using a 4.5 X 3 X 4 layout based on Storm’s VLS layout system. The idea of the Rubicon is to give bowlers a shape on the lanes similar to that of symmetrical balls with a balance hole, and I would say that I can see that kind of shape out of the Rubicon. The Rubicon has a slightly more defined breakpoint, being asymmetrical, but still has a little more continuation like that of a symmetrical ball. The Rubicon is surprisingly strong with the out of the box finish. The read in the front of the lane is close to that of my Axiom with the same pin placement. The Rubicon rolls really well on fresh patterns with clean backends, and is a very good ball to start with. I can transition to my second Nuclear Cell with a 4.5 X 4 X 4 layout almost seamlessly.

I like the Rubicon enough that I will be getting a second one and using a different layout on it. Being a left hander, we see different conditions than what right handers see mainly because there just isn’t the same amount of lane play, and the lanes are not scratched up as much like they are on the right, so we tend to need balls that slow down a bit earlier to smooth out the breakpoint (pro tip of the day). Yester-year when we bowled on wood lanes and every so often they would get cut, lefties and righties would “see” similar ball motion until the right side of the lane got worn in again. Today, you would have to bowl on a brand new synthetic install to see similar ball motions on fresh conditions. With that said, I have watched plenty of right handers throwing Rubicons, and they look great for them too! In closing, left handed or right handed, drill a Rubicon and OWN IT!

My Rubicon is layed out with the pin over the bridge of the fingers, and it's 3 inches from my PAP

This is one of the newer releases that Roto Grip has came out with, and it's an asymmetrical bowling ball. It will come out of the box with 3000-grit polish and it has the e-traxS20 coverstock on it.

I really like this ball when the block first starts, especially on higher volumes of oil. The Rubicon reads the lanes early, for me, but not too early either. I have found out that it blends the lanes perfectly when the block begins on fresh oil. I am also able to move left later in the day, and it doesn't seem to roll out for me - it continues through the pins great. It's nice having such a big core bowling ball in my hands later in the day and still seeing it have the energy that is needed to crush the pins. For comparison, the Idol would be the bowling ball that I could drop down from the Rubicon.

I believe this would be a perfect ball in anyones bag that is looking for an asymmetrical bowling ball to start out blocks with - either house shots or sport shots.

PICTURES AND/OR VIDEOS

Roto Grip Rubicon is one of the newest addition to the hp4 line. It will come out of the box with 3000-grit polish and it has the e-traxS20 coverstock on it.

I really like this ball when on fresh higher volumes of oil. The Rubicon reads the lanes early, for me, but not too early either. I have found out that it blends the lanes perfectly when the block begins on fresh oil. I am also able to move left later in the day, and it doesn't seem to roll out for me - it continues through the pins great. It's nice having such a big core bowling ball in my hands later in the day and still seeing it have the energy that is needed to crush the pins. My Idol is a nice step down to give a comparison to the Rubicon.

I believe this would be a perfect ball in anyones bag that is looking for an asymmetrical bowling ball to start out blocks with - either house shots or sport shots.

Roto Grip Rubicon

Layout: 50 x 5 ½ x 35

The Rubicon has become my go-to ball on medium to medium-heavy lane conditions. The combination of strong midlane and downlane continuation that this ball possesses matches up perfectly with my game, and is one of my favorite bowling balls of the past few years. With the lower mass bias differential that this ball has, it does have slightly more skid and backend when compared to an Axiom or other similar solid symmetric upper-mid performance bowling balls; because of this, it is easier to get left and go around the lane when the fronts start to dry out a bit. I get excellent pin carry with this bowling ball when used on the right lane condition. When it does get a bit too dry to use the Rubicon effectively, I can switch to my Idol Synergy.

Mike LeViner