The Original Trend was good for me. When the lanes were dry and I needed a clean cover, big core symmetrical ball, the Trend was the best. Sometimes though, I felt like the Trend was too clean. There are defects with every ball. The Trend 2 reads the lane sooner for me. Compared to the original Trend, the Trend 2 is a few feet sooner and not quite as sharp off of the end of the pattern. The Trend 2 will be money when the lanes are starting to transition, but haven't quite gotten to the burn stage yet. This ball will give you some length through the front and a nice controlled motion off of the breakpoint where the original trend would miss that spot. Overall strength wise, it fell right below the Axiom Pearl/Zen slot.