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Author Topic: Ebonite Demo Day In Pittsburh  (Read 2399 times)

bergman

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Ebonite Demo Day In Pittsburh
« on: September 28, 2014, 11:26:18 AM »
I attended an Ebonite demo day here in Pittsburgh yesterday. I had the opportunity
to test several new balls from the Ebonite "family (which includes Track, Columbia, and Hammer). The event was held in a center that has the Brunswick Anvilane surfaces. A THS pattern was used. The balls that I tried were:

Ebonite Honor
Ebonite Gamebreaker 2
Ebonite Energy Source

Hammer Black Widow Legend
Hammer Deadly Aim
Hammer Absolut Flip

Track LX-05
Track MX-16
Track Tour X

Columbia Throw Down
Columbia N'Sane Antics

Most of these balls were drilled with the pins above the bridge and with the MB just right of the thumb (for Rt-handers).

My stats are: 280 Revs (stroker)
                    17.5 mph (avg spd)
                     PAP= 5 1/16  by  5/16 up
I bowl a lot of PBA50 regional events, as well as in a sport league.

First of all, I want to say that I believe these demo day events provide serious bowlers an excellent and inexpensive opportunity to try out the newest balls.
In addition, bowlers get the opportunity to ask questions and to get advice from
the Ebonite family's ball staffers at these events.

First, let me say that I believe all of the balls listed above have something for
all types of bowler styles and conditions. Since we were testing balls solely on a THS
(house shot), my comments are of course, restricted to how these balls performed on that pattern alone.  I tested these balls for close to 3 hours because I wanted to judge their performance on the fresh, the transition, and finally on the burn.
The following represents how I felt these balls performed in my hands and with my style.

I will cut to the chase. Out of all of them, when it came to the "fresh", I had the best
"look" and the best carry with the Track LX-05 when I played the pattern straight
up and just inside the oil line. This ball excelled in the oil for me. I was surprised because most heavy oil balls tend to lose their "oomph" at the pocket. The LX-05 didn't.

Next, and while still bowling on the fresh, I moved a little right, just outside the
wall. Here, almost all of these balls performed well, but I had the best reaction
with the Game Breaker 2. It gave me a strong, but smooth recovery with excellent
carry. The runner up was a tie between the Ebonite Honor and the Hammer Absolut Flip.

As the lanes began to break down, more balls in this lineup began to show their
strengths, but I got the best reaction with the  Ebonite Honor (again), and the Absolut Flip (again). These balls allowed me to open up the lane with strong recovery and carry.

Finally on the burn, my best look was with the Black Widow Legend. This ball
really allowed me to move inside and feed it to the right with very strong recovery and carry. The runner up was the Hammer Absolut Flip, once again.

One final note as it relates to the Columbia N'Sane Antics and Throw Down. Both
of these balls were milder, but very smooth off the breakpoint for me. Out of all of these balls, they would not be my first choice on this oil pattern and lane surface but
they would definitely be if I were bowling on a fresh challenge and/ or sport pattern.
These 2 balls are very predictable in their motion. You know were they are going.
However, due to my low rev-to- high speed release, I tend to need more "help" in the carry department, and frankly, the other balls performed better for me in that regard.

In summary, all of these balls perfomed remarkably well. But if I were bowling on a similar condition and lane surface, and if I had to pick only 2 balls to take with me,
those 2 balls would be the Track LX-05 and the Hammer Absolut Flip.  The LX-05
was far superior inside the oil line. It dug into the oil and still provided excellent carry
for this old-time stroker. On the other hand, the Hammer Absolut Flip was able to
excel on the transition and the burn better than the others, and it gave me a larger
margin of error along with incredible carry.

Again, it is important to stress that this was my experience with these balls. Other bowlers undoubtedly will have different results than I had. For example, there
were several younger, high-rev testers present and as always, it didn't seem to matter what they had in their hands on that pattern. Oh! To have just half of their power! LOL

 

Dave81644

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Re: Ebonite Demo Day In Pittsburh
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2014, 06:08:55 PM »
excellent post, thank you
very insightful

i was going to guess the GB2 would be the top choice before i read this
the track was a surprise to me
i have the GB2 and love it, also really digging the Eruption Pro hybrid
the BW legend doesn't do well for me on the fresh, much better on the burn like you had mentioned.
picking up a bad ass as soon as they come in

bergman

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Re: Ebonite Demo Day In Pittsburh
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2014, 12:38:16 AM »
Thank you Dave. Incidentally, I did attend another Ebonite Demo Day last weekend
at my home center.  The balls were tested once again, on THS (41'). The lane surface
was AMF HPL 9000, which is a softer surface than the one I had bowled on when I attended the previous Demo Day (which was on the harder Brunswick Pro-Anvilane). The HPL 9000 surface hooks more than the Pro-Anvilane does.

I tested the same balls that were available on the first Demo Day, including the  Hammer Bad Ass and the Columbia Eruption Pro Hybrid, which were not available
for testing a few weeks ago. On the softer HPL 9000 surface, my ball rankings changed somewhat. For example on the fresh, I wanted to test each ball both, inside and outside the oil (the top hat). Inside the oil, I got my best reaction with the GB2.
I played straight up the boards, avoiding any belly to the outside. This ball never failed to read the midlane. There was no "skate" or loss of energy at the pocket. The carry was excellent. I then moved right, outside the heavy oil. Here, the GB2 still
made the turn but it tended to lose a little steam. I noticed some weak 10s as a result. I attribute this to the softer lane surface and my lower rev release.  As the lanes broke down, I was able to make parallel moves left, with very good results.
I could not feed it too far right because it would lose too much energy for me.
The ball that came the closest in reaction to the GB2 was the Track MX-16, but between the two, I would choose the GB2 if I had to play inside the oil.

Once the shot really broke down, the ball that worked best for me was the Track Tour X. This ball allowed me to get left and throw right--big time. This ball had no quit in the friction. I rarely get the opportunity to open up my angles, but on the burn, this ball was magnificent.  Second place on the burn went to the Ebonite Honor, followed by the BW Legend and Absolut Flip (both were virtually tied).

Unfortunately, I did not have much luck with either the Bad Ass or the Eruption Pro.
The Bad Ass went too long for me, even on the burn. The Eruption Pro only
worked if I kept my angles closed, even on the burn. I had to keep it outside the oil
line in order to get it to turn the corner. It skated if I got it inside the oil line.
The high revvers had much more luck with it than I did. It also seemed to work well
for the left handers.

As with any ball, surface prep and different drillings will often change how these balls
will react. All of the balls I tested were in box condition. All had pins placed directly above the bridge with the cgs (for the symmetric cores) and the mass biases (for the asymmetric core) stacked directly beneath the pins. 

Once again, all of the balls I tested were very, very good. There was something there
for everybody to like.