jason_doust
The Bowling Geek
Radical Times Up Solid
OK, first things first. I am not a member of any company’s promo staff. Ken McLachlan of KM Bowling Supplies in Orange kindly asked me to review this ball. He has been very forthright in stating that he wants my honest opinion. I have not received payment for this review beyond the ball itself. This review is written to help you better understand the characteristics of the ball and it’s reaction on a number of conditions.
The Radical Times Up Solid is the big brother to the Times Up by Radical Bowling, a smaller company headed up by Phil Cardinale of Track and 900 Global fame.
Cover
The Times Up Solid is covered in a solid reactive cover stock. This cover comes in a 4000 Abralon sanded finish. Although the ball I got was considerably rougher than this, closer to 1000. I hit it with some polish to get to a satin finish just to see what happened and so far it’s been a pretty useful ball.
Core
The Bulls Eye core is the same as from the Times Up. It provides a medium-high RG and medium differential and flare, which is conducive to a clean look through the front of the lane and controlled, motion downlane. More on that under “Reaction.”
Layout
I gave this ball one of my favourite layouts, being 55° x 5¼ x 40°. This paces the pin above my bridge, with the CG about ½” right of my grip centre. This layout is very similar to my Radical Slant Hybrid and therefore ideal for testing and comparison purposes.
Reaction
Solid covers are designed for traction. The Times Up Solid has a strong cover with a controlled rolling core. It’s early smooth reaction can be tweaked nicely with line, angle, hand position, loft and speed changes. The differences are subtle, but enough to affect carry.
I have used this ball successfully on different conditions in three centres now. The Times Up Solid loves the house shot. At my local house (Bathurst) on Anvilane with A-2 machines and kickbacks, this ball surprised me by out hooking my Slant Hybrid, owing to the duller cover. Once I moved in far enough, my score went from 190 to 258. (All of a sudden, the ball carried everything!) The Times Up Solid is fairly clean through the front, strong in the midlane and controls the backend beautifully. The ball showed a lot of recovery area and nice hold on the house shot. With room to the left and right now, it was then simply a matter of find the right angle and follow through. I was playing through 18 out to around 7-9 and the Times Up Solid would just turn and set on the pocket, going through the rack in a very straight line (the right way.) Carry was excellent and moves were small and predictable all night.
On a 3:1 on HPL the Times Up Solid was a really handy piece. The ball reads the midlane well and controls the backend, which is always a big key to scoring on these tougher patterns. Having some friction from the lane surface certainly helped here. The same pattern on Anvilane would probably have been too much for it.
One of the things I like about this ball is that you know in a couple of shots whether it's going to work or not. This is not one of those "sucker" balls that looks OK and takes you 9 frames to work out it's not working out. If The Times Up Solid can hold the pocket with some roll, it'll get the job done. You can see straight away if it's rolling too early or too late and the adjustments are straightforward.
Carry
This ball carries better than you expect for the smooth shape it gets on the lane. When I first saw it go down the lane, I wasn’t that impressed. Then I realised that it didn’t need to change direction hard or cover a ton of ground to hit respectably. There’s quite a few times where that’s a pretty handy trick to have up your sleeve. Like I said earlier, once I got my angle and roll right, it carried everything. It's one of those balls that looks like a flat 10, then trips it cleanly. (Those balls tend to break up splits in my experience.)
Summary
The Times up Solid does what it claims to do. It will give you a very handy ball reaction when you see a sudden change in direction, such as a house shot or a fresh medium sport shot, as it’s curving motion is predictable. It’s an excellent benchmark ball and will also be very useful when you want to stay straighter through the front of the lane to maintain entry angle. Best of all it still carries well, providing there’s enough friction and you don't get in too far. (Like any smoother rolling ball.) I suspect it will be an excellent ball on short patterns or wood lanes with a smooth surface finish or maybe even light polish.
When you’re looking for a smoother reaction and backend control, the Times Up Solid is a very worthy choice. It gets the job done with a minimum of fuss. It could be your next "get out of jail" ball.
While you're at it, check out my review of the Radical Slant Hybrid.
OK, first things first. I am not a member of any company’s promo staff. Ken McLachlan of KM Bowling Supplies in Orange kindly asked me to review this ball. He has been very forthright in stating that he wants my honest opinion. I have not received payment for this review beyond the ball itself. This review is written to help you better understand the characteristics of the ball and it’s reaction on a number of conditions.
The Radical Times Up Solid is the big brother to the Times Up by Radical Bowling, a smaller company headed up by Phil Cardinale of Track and 900 Global fame.
Cover
The Times Up Solid is covered in a solid reactive cover stock. This cover comes in a 4000 Abralon sanded finish. Although the ball I got was considerably rougher than this, closer to 1000. I hit it with some polish to get to a satin finish just to see what happened and so far it’s been a pretty useful ball.
Core
The Bulls Eye core is the same as from the Times Up. It provides a medium-high RG and medium differential and flare, which is conducive to a clean look through the front of the lane and controlled, motion downlane. More on that under “Reaction.”
Layout
I gave this ball one of my favourite layouts, being 55° x 5¼ x 40°. This paces the pin above my bridge, with the CG about ½” right of my grip centre. This layout is very similar to my Radical Slant Hybrid and therefore ideal for testing and comparison purposes.
Reaction
Solid covers are designed for traction. The Times Up Solid has a strong cover with a controlled rolling core. It’s early smooth reaction can be tweaked nicely with line, angle, hand position, loft and speed changes. The differences are subtle, but enough to affect carry.
I have used this ball successfully on different conditions in three centres now. The Times Up Solid loves the house shot. At my local house (Bathurst) on Anvilane with A-2 machines and kickbacks, this ball surprised me by out hooking my Slant Hybrid, owing to the duller cover. Once I moved in far enough, my score went from 190 to 258. (All of a sudden, the ball carried everything!) The Times Up Solid is fairly clean through the front, strong in the midlane and controls the backend beautifully. The ball showed a lot of recovery area and nice hold on the house shot. With room to the left and right now, it was then simply a matter of find the right angle and follow through. I was playing through 18 out to around 7-9 and the Times Up Solid would just turn and set on the pocket, going through the rack in a very straight line (the right way.) Carry was excellent and moves were small and predictable all night.
On a 3:1 on HPL the Times Up Solid was a really handy piece. The ball reads the midlane well and controls the backend, which is always a big key to scoring on these tougher patterns. Having some friction from the lane surface certainly helped here. The same pattern on Anvilane would probably have been too much for it.
One of the things I like about this ball is that you know in a couple of shots whether it's going to work or not. This is not one of those "sucker" balls that looks OK and takes you 9 frames to work out it's not working out. If The Times Up Solid can hold the pocket with some roll, it'll get the job done. You can see straight away if it's rolling too early or too late and the adjustments are straightforward.
Carry
This ball carries better than you expect for the smooth shape it gets on the lane. When I first saw it go down the lane, I wasn’t that impressed. Then I realised that it didn’t need to change direction hard or cover a ton of ground to hit respectably. There’s quite a few times where that’s a pretty handy trick to have up your sleeve. Like I said earlier, once I got my angle and roll right, it carried everything. It's one of those balls that looks like a flat 10, then trips it cleanly. (Those balls tend to break up splits in my experience.)
Summary
The Times up Solid does what it claims to do. It will give you a very handy ball reaction when you see a sudden change in direction, such as a house shot or a fresh medium sport shot, as it’s curving motion is predictable. It’s an excellent benchmark ball and will also be very useful when you want to stay straighter through the front of the lane to maintain entry angle. Best of all it still carries well, providing there’s enough friction and you don't get in too far. (Like any smoother rolling ball.) I suspect it will be an excellent ball on short patterns or wood lanes with a smooth surface finish or maybe even light polish.
When you’re looking for a smoother reaction and backend control, the Times Up Solid is a very worthy choice. It gets the job done with a minimum of fuss. It could be your next "get out of jail" ball.
While you're at it, check out my review of the Radical Slant Hybrid.
