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Make Them Fly | Storm Trend 2 Bowling Ball Review By Luke Rosdahl
the long anticipated follow up to the trend is here - Storm trend 2 bowling ball
The Newest Belmo Series Bowling Ball The Storm Trend 2
Hey everybody, welcome to another review, this one is for the latest Belmo ball, the Storm Trend 2. I know we’ve all already seen plenty about it for months, but we’re gonna slow down and give it a good in depth look like we always do. Guess where you can buy the Trend 2 though, follow the link in the description or at the end of the video for it or any of your other bowling needs at Bowler’s Mart, supporting them supports me, and don’t forget my code “Rosdahl10” the next time you go to order anything at Coolwick to get 10% off, they’re the ones that keep stuff like this coming, and speaking of Coolwick, if you like the jerseys we’re wearing, Angel’s is called Holiday Explosion and mine is the Belmo Quick Ship. Ok, so I know we’ve all seen a bunch of videos and a bunch of hype on the Trend 2, but with it finally being within a couple weeks of release, it’s time for you to seriously consider whether or not to give it a look. I know there’s a lot of you that will buy it regardless, a handful that’ll avoid it like the plague for pretty questionable reasons, and I realize all the hype hasn’t really helped but let’s just forget all that and look at it like another ball.
The Drilling Layouts For The Storm Trend 2 Bowling Ball
Angel’s layout is the same as always, or her finger placement is the same, the layout numbers changed because her positive axis point changed, so the numbers now are 4 ⅛ x 3 ½ x 2 ½. My layout is a little adjustment from usual, going pin up so it’s 5 x 5 x 2 ½, just wanted to boost the core a little. Speaking of the core, the Piston core has also been altered a bit from the Pro Motion and Trend, and is the Piston LD in the Trend 2. This raises the RG slightly from 2.52 to 2.54, and lowers the differential a fair amount from .049 to .041. The difference in the core makes it want to roll and rev a bit slower, or just get a bit longer down the lane, while the lower differential makes it want to blend the shape a bit more, or make the shape rounder. Stronger cores can sometimes be too strong, they get the ball revving up fast, but sometimes it can be more aggression than you need which results in the ball locking up or using too much energy too fast when it hits friction and kind of giving up. The Piston LD in the Trend 2 is more balanced, and that puts it in kind of Rocket land if you remember the Rocket series from a few years ago. The cover is NRG hybrid and it comes polished, we’ve seen NRG hybrid a handful of times over the last few years which I’m happy about, I love nano covers, and this time it’s polished which I’m also pretty excited about and which further adds to the balance. NRG is pretty early, strong, and smooth, when it’s sanded at least, so like the Zen for example which also has a stronger cover, the shine creates again this really nice blend between strength and shape which gives you a lot of versatility and forgiveness. Shiny more responsive covers can be too sensitive, and sanded stronger covers can often times be too much, and that’s why stuff like the Zen and Dark Code have been so popular, they don’t go too far in any one direction. The result for the Trend 2 is that at face value, just looking at the ball on the house shot, it’s a nice and comfortable reaction. We could both stand where we’re comfortable, give it a little room, didn’t have to fight it to get it down the lane or grab it to get it to move, which we expected, again it’s kind of like a beefed up Rocket or Roto’s original MVP for a more recent comparison.
Angel’s Take on the Storm Trend 2 Bowling Ball
Starting with Angel here on the house shot at Royal Crest Lanes, many thanks to their team for always taking care of us, right of 2nd arrow is out, the cover is both a little too strong and responsive for the hard friction on the outside, but that’s going to be the experience for most people unless you have low revs and or higher speed. If you’ve seen Storm’s video or Darren Tang’s review which is really good by the way, would highly recommend checking that out if you haven’t, Belmo has talked a lot about building a compliment to the Trend. He noticed, and it’s something I would echo myself and actually showed in a handful of videos, that the Trend seemed to be a lot more effective from straighter angles. It’s got a strong symmetric core and the clean and responsive R2S pearl cover on it, so it’s going to be rolly but pretty clean and sharp which it is for Angel at least. However, as you get deeper on the lane it either got a little long or tended to lock up a bit, similar to the Idol Pearl, really rolly ball that popped down lane, but just didn’t have the teeth or torque to get back from deeper. By adjusting the core and giving it a stronger cover, the Trend 2 doesn’t start up quite as early but does start getting traction a little earlier, so when it hits the end of the lane, it’s still got the energy to move and it’s ready to go. The cover keeps it from getting too long or over skidding, and the medium differential plus the strength of the cover keeps it from locking up or burning too much energy turning. As you get into transition in longer formats or start getting earlier friction, you don’t need a core that’s getting the ball revving super fast, and cleaner or more responsive covers are going to bleed a lot more energy a lot earlier because they’re going to react more firmly to the friction. Strength again isn’t quickness, something isn’t strong because it’s sharp, stronger stuff gets more traction in the oil so it’s less sensitive to both the oil and the friction so it’s going to blend little burn spots early better. Since the core isn’t revving it up super fast either, the Trend 2 isn’t going to be as sensitive early and will control the back part of the lane better and be more consistent. It’s not necessarily a step up or down from the Trend though, it’s a step sideways for a different zone on the lane. This is something I’ve talked quite a bit about, sometimes certain balls more naturally like a certain area on the lane. The Idol series for example really prefers staying straighter and keeping the angles closed. Again, strong symmetric cores that get them rolling and revving quick, but trying to make them cover a lot of boards can make them kind of give up. Sometimes that’s perfect if you’ve got too much reaction down lane and WANT something that’s going to offset that, but generally speaking, some balls like staying straighter and some like the Rubicon UC2 like to fly, it’s too quick to play too straight with unless again you’re lower rev or higher speed.
My Take on the Storm Trend 2 & Comparing it to Other Bowling Balls in my Bag
On the left side of the lane, we’ll do the zone check. Typically we show Angel from the preferred or comfortable line, just kind of reinforcing the general shape and getting you a solid look at the ball reaction, then I’ll move around some and see what it likes to do. With it being kind of long and firm, or at least not early, it’s pretty workable from straighter, it’s not necessarily comfortable and it still keeps me honest but it’s not difficult. From a strength standpoint, it’s in Trend, Idol Pearl, Axiom Pearl, Honey Badger Intensity territory. The stronger cover but medium strength core makes it a little difficult to place, depending on the conditions, they could all feel either stronger or weaker than others that are similar. In a little deeper, this is generally the most comfortable for me. I have a rev rate on the higher side of medium and I like to roll the ball so I need a little room to swing it. I’ve got a bunch of room right here. If I get it out, it doesn’t bounce or jerk or overreact, it blends it and walks back up, and if I tug it, it’s blendy enough that it just kind of sits there unless I really yank it. Putting on the big wheels, it’s got that climbing motion to it, so it continues to continue, and that really allows you to play around with the shape. You can keep your angles closed and kind of jam it in there, or you can circle the whole lane and it’s going to keep coming. That also means you’ll get the occasional flat hit where it won’t quite start up early enough, but anything can hit flat for a number of reasons, with this ball it’ll most often be just going a little too long rather than starting up too early and quitting, burning up isn’t something you’ll have to worry about with the Trend 2 I don’t think.
Storm Trend VS Storm Trend 2 Bowling Ball
Comparing it to the Trend, the OG rolls earlier because of the stronger core, but it’s also easier down the lane because of the cleaner cover. This is my second one and a fresh one that I drilled up specifically for this video, and it’s pretty smooth and controllable, though obviously it pops quite a bit for Angel. The comparison creates an interesting wrinkle that’s fairly hard to describe, because there’s a lot of things to consider and a lot of things that can mask as other things and again, in certain situations the Trend will LOOK stronger, and in others the Trend 2 will look stronger, but most people misread shape or quickness as strength, so hopefully I’ll get these 2 out on something heavier in the near future to illustrate exactly what I’m talking about. The Trend I think is a simpler more obvious reaction, so it’s easier to read, it booms on friction and is pretty smooth in the oil. The Trend 2 is a more refined type of reaction that I think is ultimately a lot more versatile, but it’s a little harder to read or understand because of the cover core combination and the fact that most people just don’t understand stronger covers as well as they think they do because they think strength equals board coverage. It looks like it’s just long and flippy, but if you watch the Trend, it’s pretty sharp on the dry boards and pretty smooth when I get it inside a little. The T2 just booms no matter what, that’s due to again that stronger cover formula that doesn’t need as much friction to get traction and move. With an abundance of friction, the Trend is going to come alive and move like it did for Angel, and the T2 is going to start up earlier and slow down a bit. The Trend was the stronger and more dynamic ball for Angel while it was the opposite way for me. This also speaks a little to the differences in the right and left sides of the lane, lot more traffic on the right, more friction in the track area, and that doesn’t exist on the left side, usually there’s more skid and more sharpness. With the lower friction on the left, the Trend doesn’t get started early enough to really do much, while it actually helps get the T2 down the lane where it can unleash everything at the same time.
Summary of the Storm Trend 2 Bowling Ball
The Trend 2 is going to be another polarizing ball, and mostly just because it’s a Belmo ball, but I think it’s like the Pro Motion at the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s going to be happiest for most people covering boards, and at the very least, it’s flippy so it’ll be something visibly easy to work with, but I think you also will have to know when to use it and when to put it away. I’m not doing the rating thing anymore because I think it could obviously be one set of numbers for me and one set for Angel but I think the Zen would be a ball up, the Honey Badger Intensity is a similar ball sideways, similar look but a shape compliment, and the Hyped Pearl or Hybrid would be a ball down. I’ll have plenty of comparisons coming in the near future so keep an eye out for those, and hit that Bowler’s Mart link if you want to get one or ten of these pre ordered. Thanks for watching and may the strikes be with you.
storm trend 2 bowling ball
For a ball to be emblazoned with Jason Belmonte’s insignia, you know it must be special. After all, his 13 majors and multiple PBA Player of the Year accolades is no small feat. This man knows what he’s talking about, so we’ve enlisted his help in designing some of the highest performing balls on the market, balls which reflect his career.
Now it’s time to set another TREND with the Trend 2.
“Of all the Signature™ line balls Storm and I have created, Trend 2 has us the most excited. With a stronger cover and a redesign of the weight block, we have created an absolute monster for any style of player,” said Jason. “Trend 2 will give you the ability to move deeper on the lane without losing entry angle into the pocket. If you are in need of throwing that big couple games, Trend 2 is going to have your back.”
Color: Indigo/Space Black/Rosé
Coverstock: NRG Hybrid Reactive
Weight Block: Piston Core
Factory Finish: 1500 Grit Polished
Flare Potential: High
Radius of Gyration (RG): 15lbs – 2.52
Differential (Diff): 15lbs – 0.049
Fragrance: Blueberry
storm bowling Balls
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I LIKE MY PRO MOTION ITS THE FIRST BALL OUT OF MY BAG AND WHEN I BALL DOWN I GO TO A IQ TOUR. WHAT I AM ASKING IS WHAT BALL IS GOING TO BE A BALL UP WITH SIMULAR LOOK OF THE PRO MOTION. I LIKE SOLIDS. I WAS LOOKING AT THE ZEN MASTER. WOULD A TREND 2 BE GOOD?