Luckey Yulin Li is a 4 time Canadian 1A Champion. That’s a heck of an accomplishment. So when he told me he was starting a yoyo accessories brand, Sochi, he had my attention. Sochi sells high-quality bearings, pads, string and axles. To be honest I wasn’t initially sure how successful he’d be. I mean, bearings and strings are cheap and plentyful. And who buys new axles unless they lose them? But it turns out people are tired of cleaning seized up bearings, fighting with poorly made string, and missing binds becuase of cheap pads.
Luckey is from China originally but has spent much of his life in Canada. He’s travelled the world competing in, and winning contest. He’s tied in to the global competition yoyo scene. In 2018 he organized the first ever Chinese National Yoyo Contest that wasn’t run as an exclusive event by a company. He has worked for years designing yoyos for a number of different brands. He started Sochi because he saw something missing. He sourced out high-quality gear and purchased in large enough quantity to keep the price affordable. I am not a competitor and am a rank amateur in comparison to Luckey, but I can still see the value of a quality upgrade.
Sochi currently sells
Pair of pads: Blue $2.50, Pink $2.99
String: 3 thicknesses, available in 10, 25, 50 or 100 packs. With a 100 pack at only 18.99 it’s easy enough to buy a bundle to try out. The quality is solid and it holds up well.
Axles: Titanium.
Bearings: Concave or Center Track for $11.99.
The bearings are noticeably better. I really drilled him on what justifies the price and he stressed the difference in the quality of the materials. A cheaper bearing material is going to contain flaws and isn’t going to be as smooth and balanced. When it comes to string, there is a difference between types of polyester and blending the right types at just the right tension makes a big difference.
So I’ve decided to stock Sochi accessories at raincityskills.com. Luckey gave me a deal on a sample pack priced at $15 that will give you a chance to test out his gear.
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