I have now bowled 8 games in league with this ball, and am very happy with the Hot Wire.
My Hot Wire is 15lbs 3oz before drilling, 2.96 top weight with about a 3 1/2 inch pin. I shined the ball with Storm #2, and Storm #3 before drilling. I used a little different layout for this ball, but it does just what I wanted, maybe even better.
The pin is 5 9/16" from my PAP and the cg is 3 1/2" from my PAP. The pin is below and left of my middle finger with cg at a 3:30 to 4:00 position to the right of the grip. About a 60 degree layout with the 5 9/16" pin to PAP. This layout put the mass bias over by the verticle axis line, about 1 1/2 below my PAP.
It's a little funny looking, but it works really well for me. I really like to use this layout with early rolling balls. The pin distance from PAP makes the weight block lope a little and save energy for down the lane. Have used this layout with Trauma Response, El Nino Xit, El Nino 2000, and Super Power with success. Response was great like this. X it was very smooth. With my soft speed, I get a decent mid lane read, with plenty of back end. Varies with what I do with my hand.
This ball is very clean through the front, as the shell is shiny and resin. The Hot Rod weight block seemed to rev up really fast for me, but this ball has a different personality. This Hot Wire doesn't read the dry abruptly, but because the ball is saving energy, has plenty to recover on shots missed wide right. Finished very strong through the pins.
I would like to give warning before trying this layout. It is release sensitive for me. If I miss it, or try to lay off with my hand, this ball goes really long, giving me lots of tug room left. If I catch a little too much of it and got it to the dry too quick, it would jump up really hard. If I caught it good and missed wide right late, man the ball would come back really well, giving me lots of room to both sides of my target. Just had to be consistent with my hand position.
I will try and drill another one of these balls soon, with another layout that I can compare to other balls that I own.
As of right now, this ball is great! 987 and 940+ for my two 4 game league sets in two different houses. One league on fresh, the other after a shift had already bowled. Front 9 first game right out of the box.
The crankers will like this ball for mediums to dry with the right surface adjustment. Straighties will only use this ball on dry lanes with a shine. There might be better balls for the straighties on fresh. Tweeners will probably like this ball better on medium/dry also. Should be a great entry level ball.
Hot Wire isn't as much ball as the Erase It or Ultra Hot. Much better control at/of the break point. No particles/Mica makes it cleaner up front than the Ultra Hot. Weaker weight block makes it more controllable than Erase It. I think this ball will be very versatile, like the Blue Wicked and Vortex II Blue Solid. As of right now I don't think it will handle oil as well, but with the correct box surface, I could be wrong.
Versatility, Contol, good price point, ugly color, no smell, I really like this ball.
More later....
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Mike Austin
Mike Austin's Precision Pro Shop
Houston, TX
strikes4days@sbcglobal.net
Onward through the Storm!!!!
Coming Soon!!
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