“What is the best diabolo?” is a question we often get asked and the answer depends on the age and level of the person you are buying for. The vast range of diabolos can be a little overwhelming, especially for people new to diabolo. In this article we’re going to try to make some suggestions for the best diabolos for children, teenagers, first time diabolists and more experienced diabolo players.
The Best Fixed Axle Diabolo for Children and Beginners
In our opinion the best, relatively cheap diabolo with a fixed axle for children of any age and ability is the Mr Babache medium Harlequin diabolo.
The Harlequin diabolo is a medium sized, fixed axle diabolo available at a very low price. Fixed axle diabolos in our opinion, are much easier to get started with and learn the basics, the mottled effect on the cups helps beginners to recognise when the diabolo is slowing down and needs to be sped up. It is also slightly heavier than other medium sized diabolos which helps the diabolo maintain its speed for longer, giving the player more time to learn tricks. The Harlequin is incredibly durable will last for years and years.
The Best Triple Bearing Diabolo for Children
In recent years, the popularity of bearing diabolos has increased significantly due to the increased spin time of the diabolo, the one way bearing axle works in a very similar way to the back wheel of a bicycle; once sped up the diabolo will free wheel and spin way longer than a standard fixed axle diabolo. Because of this certain tricks such as grinds are much easier to perform well and for a longer amount of time, making them very popular with beginners looking for their first bearing diabolo. In our opinion the best triple bearing diabolo for children is the Cyclone Quartz Triple Bearing Diabolo made by British company, Juggle Dream. It features a triple bearing wide axle and flexible plastic cups making ideal for all types of grind tricks, it’s very stable at high speeds and handles drops very well. Its medium size is great for kids.
The Best Fixed Axle Diabolo for Teenagers and Adults
Once you’ve advanced to a certain point, you’ll want to try some more difficult tricks that are much easier to perform on a full sized, fixed axle diabolo. Certain tricks like running two diabolos on the same string are much easier with large, fixed axle diabolos, along with some stick release tricks. Adults and older children often prefer large, or jumbo, diabolos.
In our opinion there is a clear winner for the best large, fixed axle diabolo for adults and teenagers. The model that stands out from the crowd is the Evolution diabolo from Taiwanese manufacturer, Sundia
Sundia have been on the forefront of diabolo design for many years and the Evolution is no exception, it features two large ‘stability’ rings which provide perfect weight distribution making this lightweight diabolo super stable at both high and low speeds. At 250g it is one of the lightest diabolos Sundia have ever produced but with the spin time and performance of something much heavier, this weight also makes it fantastic for controlling multiple diabolos at a time. It also features Sundia’s hybrid "competition" axle which boasts a stainless-steel axle surrounded by a Teflon coated aluminium outer, this reduces friction on the string during play to again increase string time.
The Best Bearing Diabolo for Teenagers and Adults
With the huge range of large bearing diabolos available, it’s very difficult to select just one, which is why we haven’t! We have, however, narrowed it down to two and the main difference is weight. The two diabolos we have chosen are the Evo 5° Diabolo from Sundia and the T & TC models from Hyperspin. Both these diabolos are stunning and the easily the two best performing bearing diabolos ever.
The Evo 5° features a five-bearing axle design which is the first of its type, the extra bearings surround the central one way bearing creating the smoothest spinning bearing axle out there, the hubs on the Evo 5° are much larger than the other Sundia models and make up over a third of the cup, this helps reduce friction on the string and increase spin time. The diabolo is light and manoeuvrable at 250g.
T & TC are produced by HyperSpin. These diabolos look fantastic and play the same. They feature a high-quality triple bearing axle with anodised aluminium outer. Similar to the Sundia Evo 5°, the hubs are very large and makeup a huge part of the cup. This combined with the axle creates the longest spinning bearing diabolo we’ve ever seen! This model has been an instant hit with vertax (vertical axis) players around the world thanks to its weight and stability. At 254g it’s slightly heavier than the Evo 5° but behaves much more like a weightier diabolo.
The Best LED Glow Diabolo
The main issue with LED diabolos is that the light kits are normally added as an extra, adding to weight significantly. This issue has been addressed by Taiwanese manufacturer Taibolo with their LED model. Weighing in at 260g it’s the lightest full size LED diabolo available, the LED kits feature four separate LEDs on each side creating four circular patterns while spinning. The conical hubs combined with the weight make it a perfect fit for doing two diabolos.
Summary
That concludes our guide to the best diabolos in the world (in our humble opinion). Like all the equipment we stock, your own personal favourites may differ from ours due to personal preference. Hopefully this guide makes choosing a diabolo a bit easier, especially if you are a beginner or buying for a child or someone other than yourself. If you're still confused or you have any questions then don't hesitate to contact us and one of our team (which includes some excellent diaboloists) will be happy to help.