Review: Epic Juggling - A-Dream diaboloFirst impressionsEpic juggling gear is another Malaysian manufacturer of diabolos. The A-Dream is full sized diabolo. If I had to compare it to existing models I would say that it's somewhere between Taibolo and Circus. For European eyes it is some ways similar to Henry's Circus with the giant hub. But cups and washers look and feel like they could be from Taibolo V2.
There's no easy way to take this in parts without correct set of tools. However most players already own 10mm set of tools which work well (even if I feel like the nubs are imperial size). With earlier prototype the size of nubs and the was the same size as Taibolo V2's. Diabolo looks big. Bigger that your usual Circus, Finesse or Sundia. Not by much but still a little. The size difference comes from the width. Scale says it's 262grams. Cups are bendy and little bit grippier to hand than other diabolos with harder plastic and smooth surface.
The weight distribution seems to be on the edge. That is, if you forget the fact that it has metallic washer. Using metal in washer adds strength but gives more weight to center of diabolo. This is probably a first part that I will take a way to get the weight away from center and get little bit more stability and more lightweight.
On the stringFirst throw on the string surprised me. It looks big but plays light. On a minus side the axle has small lines left from CNC machine I assume. Those give small sound and little more friction compared to normal. However these lines are small and will wear away the more you use the diabolos. So basically this is problem that will pass away on it's own. From stock it already spins longer than Circus with JC wide kits. So no worries there.
Diabolo is wide and it's super easy to do finger grinds with it. If you are stick grind lover this will work perfectly for you. You can easily add speed with a stick. I had some issues only when using thicker sticks such as wooden sticks. The stick seems to rub the hubs instead of the axle. This causes diabolo to tilt little bit too easy and makes “forever long” grinds harder to control. With carbon sticks there was no issue, and in fact most of diabolo players are using thin carbon. In any case this is a thing you should keep in mind while choosing the the gear.
Epics have 3 outer beveled lines in the inner cup. For the life of me I can't figure out why. Must be just for the design. The logo is right where you put your stick when doing some cup grinds and this gives more friction than there normally would be. A small minus there (you can use sand paper to get rid of it). But normal ufo grinds from vertax work really well. It's just the ones where diabolo is in normal non. Horizontal position. It's still waaay better for those tricks than Circuses or Finesses... EPIC's cup material just works much better.
SummaryAll in all this is amazing diabolo. Makes me wish that there would have been more options on the market before when I was starting. But I'm happy that the equipment is getting better. After all Circuses and Finesses have been around for too long without anybody questioning the fact that diabolos could be better than what we currently use. There are always small improvements but so far I've heard only good things. After writing this Joona also reported that EPIC's are great for 3diabolos and 4 diabolos. Apparently he can do much easier amounts with this model than Finesses. We have been amazed how easily the diabolo recovers from collisions. So if you play with many diabolos this is you probably want to try this diabolo out and maybe get few of these. In time it does take color and if you're using white one and black carbon sticks you will probably end up having black stripes. But as we all know the marks on diabolos = love. If you don't have got any you haven't really loved your diabolo.
Pictures
Available fromYou probably want to know where you can get these. So here you go:
Mightaswellcommit.com (UK)
http://mightaswellcommit.com/diabolo/43-white-epic-a-dream-diabolo.htmlKumiankka.com (Finland)
http://www.kumiankka.com/kumiankka-shop/diabolot/99-epic-a-dream.html
