Other Radical Torrid

[jason_doust]

The Torrid by Radical Bowling utilises the core from the legendary Track Heat, wrapped in a traction mica pearl cover. (I could stop the review right there for some of you, couldn’t I..?) People loved the Heat series and everybody’s had a particle pearl or traction mica pearl ball that was solid gold. It’s a match made in somewhere approximating bowling lab heaven.

The core characteristics give this ball control of the midlane. It’s lower differential numbers mean that the flares stay tighter together, conserving rotational (and especially precessional) forces, keeping the ball roll alive longer. (More on this later…)

I like to keep test balls in pretty standard layouts. I laid the Torrid out with a 5” pin to PAP, 4½” CG to PAP that’s roughly 55° x 5” x 35° dual angle. Pin is below my bridge, with the CG slightly right of the grip centre. It’s something you’d see on any rack in league.

I started testing this ball on the Bathurst Pit Stop Pattern a higher volume tournament shot, based on a house shot. I had trouble initially with this ball and pattern. The very handsome red and gold cover (with that pretty mica sparkle) read the lane earlier than I expected and I had to make a move inwards to pick up more oil. The low flare core then wouldn’t let the ball turn the corner. Then I engaged my brain, moved right a hair, straightened up my hand and bumped up the speed a hair so I looked more like a “normal” bowler. BAM! The ball was money. I had a smooth rolling look that just hit indecently hard for the small number of boards I was covering. With about 7 boards of backend, I was throwing scouts (not rolling scouts – throwing them!), slapping soft 10’s out and blowing 5 pins into next week. This was very impressive considering how straight I was throwing it.

Last week I took it to Canberra, but couldn’t use it there. (Anybody want to read an Ebonite Maxim review? OUCH!) I got to throw it on the Bathurst house shot yesterday. Again, when I kept my hand quieter and threw it more like a stroker, the ball just carved it up. Using the Torrid on the house shot was just cheating with it’s strong midlane and continuous strong arc motion on the backend. Give it some room to the right and the world is your oyster.

I also got to throw it on WTBA Paris (47’ – 20ml – 3:1) and it gave me a very good look on the fresh with pilot error being it’s biggest drawback. (Man, I need practice!)

Overall – the Radical Torrid is a very interesting ball. It hooks in a different shape to a lot of releases, rolling very sweetly and hitting extremely hard. This ball is going to travel with me to tournaments, almost regardless of the pattern. The Torrid is more angular than a solid, with more midlane than a pearl. It’s a really useful and quite unique piece in my kit.

Jason Doust is the proprietor of Bowler’s Edge Pro Shop in Canberra, Australia. In the interests of brand independence, Jason is no longer affiliated with any ball company.

Ken MacLachlan of KM Bowling Supplies kindly asked me to review this ball. Contact Ken at [email protected] for Australian wholesale enquiries or your local pro shop for retail enquiries.

 

[John_Velo]

Hey Jason,

This sounds like a great ball. Who pours the Radicals?

 

[jason_doust]

It's a pretty handy piece, John. Poured by 900 Global, so easy to drill as well. All the stuff out of their factory (900G, AMF, Lane#1 and Radical) is a pleasure to work with. You have to slug them though. Their fill material between the core and cover is a tad gritty!

 

[Michael Little]

I drilled a Slant Pearl for someone the other day, one of the balls won from Orange, interesting balls, reminds me of the earlier Roto balls when they were trying to make a comeback and something the Roto balls hold strong today, not over populating the market with products and making sure each ball is quality and has a purpose. I expect them to fill a nice little niche in the market place.

 

[jason_doust]

They're making some good kit. That's an interesting comparison and not far off the mark.

I finally worked out just what this ball looks like on the lane when a customer rang me up with her beloved Storm Eraser Ragin' Banshee getting a crack in it. She was after something that rolled just like it I racked my brains and realised that the Torrid is a lot like the Ragin' Banshee. And that was a helluva ball. I had two of them and they were both terrific.

 

[jason_doust]

Update: Ken McLachlan tells me that his Torrid hooks quite a bit at Orange. They have more friction than Bathurst, so on a recent trip to Canberra, I took it back to the dusty plains, I mean lanes (no I don't) at Belconnen, which apparently is an aboriginal word meaning "big friction".

Just for the hell of it, I got left, increased my axis rotation (flipped the release almost sideways) threw it hard and hooked the whole lane. I was laying down around 35, targetting 25, with a break point around 5 board. To my amazement, the Torrid just kept coming back and carrying everything. The ball stayed alive nicely, as long as I stayed ahead of the strip I was burning fast in the almost non-existent volume (strike, move, strike, move, strike, move... The only time I didn't move was on a light hit!)

So, as an addendum to my review, if you're looking to open up a dry house shot, definitely consider this ball. It's got more tricks than I expected! Looking forward to trying it on WTBA Montreal at Orange and cutting about 25 boards of hook off the front half of the lane. I bet it still works!

Cheers,
Jason