I just drilled the new Storm Byte, and all I can say is what a great idea it was to come out with a lil lower differential asym ball.  This ball still revs up hard like a normal asym, but is definitely a lot cleaner through the front part of the lane.  I drilled mine 55x4 1/4x35 (Axis is 3 3/4 over 7/8 up.  The lane condition I threw it on was a typical house pattern (40 ft), and I was able to throw it for about 5 games with minimal movement as far a adjustments were concerned.  I highly recommend this ball for all lovers of asym balls, since it gives you a completely different look then youre used to.  For those who haven't been fans of them in the past, give it a shot, you will be pleasantly surprised on the roll of this high performance piece.  Another home run from Utah:)

Erik Ramos
Storm/Roto Grip Staff

Byte review –
I used my favorite layout on the Byte.  Pin above my middle finger and the cg kicked out at a 45 degree angle with a small hole on my axis. 

I have had the opportunity to use the Byte, on the following patterns:
House, Abbey Road, Broadway, US Open, Badger and Wolf.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to get when I first threw the Byte.  My Sync rolls really heavy and I have not matched up with the Sync, so I wasn’t sure I would match up with the Byte either. 

From what I have seen, the new G2+ core makes a big difference.  The Byte does exactly as it should.  It provides more length and more angle down lane.  It reminds me of the original Paradigm with the angle it can create down lane.  It easily cleared the front of the lane, and provided a powerful angle through the pins.

My Byte is more angular down lane than my Lucid and Marvel Pearl.  If you are looking for a strong pearl, the Byte is your answer.  The byte will be great on medium to longer patterns and is a great compliment to the Sync.   

Derek Eoff

Storm Byte
PAP – 5 over and ½ up
Ball Speed:  15-17 mph
Rev Rate 300-350
Right Handed
Layout 5x5x2.5
Surface Preparation:  OTB

What I wanted from this Ball:  Being a huge fan of the Storm Sync, I wanted a pearl version of it.  Sometimes my Sync starts too early and I wanted to be able to stay on the same line and switch to something exactly like it but Pearl.

Result:  One of the best compliments to a ball I have ever thrown!  I am able to simply switch when my Byte starts to roll too early and stay right where I have been on the lanes with the same awesome backend reaction.


I tested this ball on our at home house condition on our wood lanes.  The house pattern is heavy oil 16-18 ft. and buffed down to 32 ft.  Our typical house pattern is not an easy pattern and usually creates carry down on the outsides of the lane and a massive snap in the middle.  An out of bounds typically forms quickly and the mid-lane becomes very dry.  I bowled 5 games on our pattern and found this ball to be clean through the heads and keep the strong backend reaction.  The ball continued to stay very clean through the heads for all five games which is exactly what I wanted.  Over the course of the next 5 games, I moved deep inside.  I was able to create a hard arcing reaction with this ball on our shot while still clearing our dry head area and have the same hitting power I had earlier.  I tried to use this ball up the outer portion of our lanes, but as expected, the out of bounds wasn’t complimentary to this ball for me and I got over under as expected. 

The Storm Byte is a great compliment to the Sync.  I rely on this ball for conditions when I don’t quite want to switch to a pearl ball yet, but my solid is starting to move too much.

I highly recommend this ball to all bowlers with many different styles.  I have sold several of these balls with no complaints from any customer and even better feedback than most balls.  Most customers report that this ball is much bigger than they even expected.

Sean Baker
Storm/Roto Grip Pro Shop Staff
Bowl Like A Pro Shop
Paducah Ky 42001

My Byte Layout (#1): 55 degrees x 4 3/8" X 2" (or 30 degrees)

October 22, 2013 will be a day for Anarchy fans to rejoice. The Storm Byte will be released that day. The Byte, to me, is similar to the Anarchy in terms of ball reaction with possibly more continuation. The core numbers are different with a lower differential (.043 vs .054) but still my Anarchy was the first ball to come to mind after throwing some shots with the new Byte. The Anarchy was one of a few balls I have had in recent years that could provide enough power through the pins even if I pinched it in a bit and still get the 10-pin out. The Byte appears to be that next ball that really helps open up the back part of the lane with its ability to recover and continue through the pins.

The polished ERG cover provides excellent response to friction without giving away the midlane. The ERG cover first appeared on the Lucid with a matte finish at 4000. On the Byte it comes with the proven Storm 1500-grit polished finish you see on most Storm pearls.

The G2+ core has the same shape as the G2 core found in the Sync but has a lower density resulting in a lower differential (.043 vs. .058) and a slightly higher RG (2.52 vs 2.47).

I really didn't know what to expect before throwing it, all I knew was Chris Forry at Buddies Pro Shop told me he was really impressed with the one he had drilled. Once I threw a few shots with it before shooting the demo video I knew this ball would be special, the way it rolled and went through the pins was different than anything I had in my bag.

I have not shot 700 every night since drilling the Byte but darn near close to it. I have had a couple high 700s and quite a few sets over 720 since the end of August and almost exclusively throwing the Byte in both leagues.

Because I liked the ball so much I drilled two more, layouts:

Byte layout #2: 45 degrees x 4 1/8" x 65 degrees

This layout is probably my favorite, the pin is below my ring finger, no extra hole. This layout gets rolling a touch sooner with a little more arc than the 55 degree layout.

Byte layout #3: 65 degrees x 3 1/2" x 30 degrees

This layout provides great length and a very continuous arc. It is the layout I used the least just because I need quite a bit of friction for this layout to become useful to me.

The one characteristic all three layouts share is they are all very continuous.

Conditions I have used the Byte on: Most of my experience with the Byte has come on various house shots or modified house shots but I don't think that should take away anything from what the ball does. I have used them on 40' to 43' house shots on both AMF and Brunswick surfaces with a sharper downlane reaction on the softer AMF lane surfaces.

Where the Byte fits in my bag:  This is the first ball I go to since drilling it. If I have to ball up it will be a Reign On, Reign of Power, Marvel-S or Sync depending on what I have with me or how much more surface I might need. The next ball out of my bag if I need to ball down is the IQ Tour Pearl which is a little less angular for me.

When I use the Byte: As I mentioned above, I use it whenever, wherever and as long as possible. It is possilby my favorite ball Storm has released since I signed my contract with them two years ago, no lower than top 3. That's saying something because they have released a number of great pearl balls in the last two years.

BALL SPECS
Pin Length: 4”
Top Weight: 3.1
Ball Weight: 16

DRILL PATTERN
5 x 4 ¾ x 3 (pin to PAP, CG to PAP, pin buffer)

BOWLER  STYLE
Rev Rate: High
Ball Speed: 18

SURFACE PREP
OOB

BALL REVIEW
The Byte is one of the most highly anticapted balls hitting the shelves as it is the follow up release to the Sync™. Many have asked the same question, “Is this ball going to get me further down the lane than my Sync?” You’ll see that the Byte carries a new Core name G2+™, yet it has the same shape as the G2 core found in the Sync. Storm made this change to the core as to avoid having the ball starting early and then not giving that back-end motion you need for the ball to recover. With a higher RG (aka length) and a lower differential (aka flare) I did not notice any loss in the mid lane response.

My first game out of the box I threw the front 8 before ringing a 10 and punching out playing the 4th arrow out to 5. The pearl cover helps propel the ball down the lane and bounce off of the dry to increase your angle of entry. And we all know that without the right entry angle, you can forget about carrying 10 pins to the pit. Where this ball is paying big dividends for me is that it blends out the over-wall found when league first starts. I can really lean against the oil line and trust the ball to drive through the 1-3-5 and split the 8-9 pins over and over. This core continues to provide that good heavy roll and a consistent reaction.

COMMENTS
ERG cover is clean in the heads and really recovers down the lane.

Right handed
  PAP- 4 up 1 1/4
  Rev Rate - 380-400
  Ball Speed - 16-17
  Axis Tilt - 15


 The Storm Byte is the pearl version of the Sync.  It uses the newly-designed G2+â„¢ Core yields a strong change of direction at the breakpoint, giving you more angle to the pocket and better pin carry. With The proven pearl Evolution Reactive Genesis, or ERGâ„¢, coverstock.

I drilled mine 5 3/4 x 1 5/8 x 1 1/2.  My intent was to drill this ball for our short and dry league patterns lately. Which this drilling fit the reaction that I was looking for my dry house shots. 
The Byte is very clean and has angular motion at breakpoint.
I also threw the Byte from Matchmaker balls which is drilled stacked above fingers.
This Asymmetrical Pearl had a good skip/flip ball motion to it.  A lot of the bowlers out there loved the Sync and wanted a pearl to complement it when the Sync started to labor down lane.  Well this Byte is it, good length and plenty of pop on back. The Byte can be sanded with a pad to be able to help it pick up a little sooner.  As I was pleasantly surprised how the Byte gets through the fronts, especially for a asymmetrical ball.
 This ball is going to be very popular ball for all styles.
#stormnation

Byte

Right Handed
Ball weight:  14
Rev Rate:  378
Ball Speed:  18.2
Axis Tilt:  6.67
Axis Rotation:  45*
PAP:  3 7/8 horizontal, 1 up
Layout:  4 ½ x 3 ¾ x 2 ¾

I drilled this ball for medium-long and longer patterns.  I wanted this ball to be a go-to when I need a ball to makes its move after the end of the pattern, instead of making a left turn at the end of the pattern.  This is my first attempt to really try to drill a ball in this manner.

Having just recently drilled it, I have only had the opportunity to use it on a THS. 

While the shot was fresh, this ball was absolutely amazing.  I was able to open up the lane like no other ball I’ve rolled in quite a while.  With my feet, I had roughly 10-12 boards and about 5 boards at the arrow, just by changing my wrist positions.  It was not speed sensitive.  If I was a little soft, it was still smooth through the break point.  If I had too much speed, the ball made up the difference with no loss of carry.

I started with my feet at 22; rolling at the arrows at 14 (I tend to walk about 7 boards left).   If the ball didn’t get room, it held pocket quite well, if I bumped it right, it had no issue coming back.  I had to begin moving about 7 frames into the first game.  After about 2 games, and chasing the shot about 8 boards with my feet and 4 boards at the arrows, I had to put it away. 

I will stress that I know that any ball would have looked great on this version of our THS, but I really liked the way the Byte moved down the lane, read the break point, and rolled over the 8 (not every time…).  By not using a skid/flip drill, the ball was very smooth and even through the heads and at the break point.  I’m considering drilling a second just to see what I can get out of a skid/flip, but I’m not sure when I’d be able to use it. 

This ball will be in my tournament bags, but I doubt that I’ll be using it on our THS, barring a volume increase.  I will post an update once I have an opportunity to use the Byte on a sport/animal pattern.

Thus far, I’m confident in calling this ball an amazing release from Storm.  Definitely looking forward to seeing if it lives up to its potential…