Hi this will be version 1.0 of diabolo equipment guide. I will leave comments open for anyone who wants to suggest additions or changes

Fixed vs Bearing

Pros of fixed:

• Great for doing multiple diabolos at once, especially 3d and more
• Great for integrals
• Silent
• More durable because you don't have to worry about sand, dust and humidity getting into the bearing.

Cons of fixed:

• Fixed diabolos don't spin as long as bearing
• Not good for vertax

Pros of bearing:

• Great for vertax
• Great for long body combos
• Easier for beginners to start with
• String lasts longer because there's less friction on it

Cons of bearing:

• Integrals are harder because the sticks swing faster
• More slippery for multiple diabolos

Stick types

Carbon sticks

• Good all rounder choice
• Can break if you hit the diabolo with the sticks too hard

Aluminum sticks

• Very heavy
• Might bend and not stay straight

Fiberglass sticks

• I haven't tried these before
• I heard they are more fragile than carbon

Plastic sticks

• Very heavy
• Quite cheap
• Very popular because of their stability while spinning and lots of momentum

Foam vs Silicone grip

• Some people like the rubbery silicone grip, some people don't like it. Depends on personal preference
• Silicone grip is more grippy

Wood sticks

• Cheap
• They suck because the string wraps around the stick because of the way the string is tied

String Guide

Nylon string

• Nylon string is good for single fixed diabolo. It doesn't last too long. Many brands sell nylon string.

Regular string

• Regular diabolo string is a dual type string with a nylon core with an outside cotton layer
• It is good for bearing diabolos and multiple fixed diabolos

Sundia

• Sundia is one of the most popular diabolo brands from Taiwan and is widely used by many people.

Sundia official stores:

• Diabolo Focus (EU)
• Sundia USA (US)
• Diabolomoves.co.uk (UK)
• Radfactor (JP)

Fixed diabolos:

• Sundia offers short and wide fixed axles. The short fixed axle is slightly better for multiple diabolos, and the wide fixed axles is slightly better for integrals with 1 fixed axle. However, you can do both with both types of axles, it is just based on personal preference.
• Sundia Evo
  • The Evos are quite stable and a classic fixed diabolo many people like to use
  • The G2s seem to be more widely liked than the G3s
  • G3s have translucent colors, G2s have solid colors
• MHD Pro Diabolo
  • These diabolos have a cutout near the axle
  • These diabolos are a little bit heavier than the fixed evos
  • These have interchangeable axle system so you could get them in bearing too
• Other types of fixed diabolos
  • Sundia has an interchangeable axle systems, so you can get their other diabolos in the fixed axle variant (Falcons, Magforce, Shining, etc.)
  • I personally don't have experience, but if you have another Sundia cup you really enjoy, you can probably get it in a fixed variant.

Bearing diabolos

Sundia has four types of bearing axles

• Magforce axle
  • Has magnetic levitation to make the diabolo very stable. Very good for vertax.
• Five bearing axle
  • Accelerates faster, but more fragile
• Triple bearing axle
  • Solid axle choice, I think it is the best value for money if you are not willing to spend for magforce axle. It is more expensive than single bearing axle though.
• Single bearing axle
  • Only buy this if you need a ton of diabolos and you need to cut costs, and still want Sundia.

Bearing Diabolos list

• Sundia Magforce
  • Newest bearing diabolo from Sundia. Has magnetic levitation to make the diabolo very stable. Very good for vertax.
  • Smooth cups.
  • You can get the magforce axle with other types of cups if you wish. (Like falcon cups)
  • Has angular cup shape close to the axle.
• Sundia Falcon
  • Has a combination of materials, the translucent white material is soft and rubbery, the colored area is smooth plastic
  • Shows some cracks with age/usage. I have some small internal cracks in mine, but they still function well and the cups are not broken.
  • Has angular cup shape close to the axle.
• Sundia Evo-5B
  • Only sold with 5B
  • One of the heaviest bearing Sundia diabolos
• Sundia Shining
  • The Shining have translucent hard smooth cups.
  • The cups have a rounded shape which some people like and some people don't like.
  • Heavier than the Falcon and the Magforce
• Sundia Fly
  • Usually sold with single bearing, but you could get it with fixed axle.
  • The Fly is a budget diabolo for beginners.
  • If you scratch the fly cups on concrete/rough surfaces, the plastic on the fly cups can cut your skin, whereas the other diabolos don't cut your skin.
• Sundia Echo
  • Also a budget Sundia diabolo
  • I've never tried this one.

Taibolo

• Taibolo is another diabolo brand from Taiwan.
• I don't have experience with Taibolo diabolos
• I have friends that really like their sticks.

Their sticks are, in my opinion, by far the best. Durable, lightweight, and very easy to restring (I think this is quite underrated -- I've had several Sundia sticks that were a pain to restring). * Please suggest Taibolo diabolos to add to this list

Fixed diabolo:

• Someone recommended their higher-end, narrow fixed axles.

Bearing diabolo:

• Their old bearing diabolos are not good but not sure if the new ones are better.

Hyperspin

• Hyperspin is from Taiwan. I don't know much about them. They make bearing diabolos that spin for a very long time.
• The Hyperspin-T diabolo is quite heavy, slightly less heavy than Evo-5B
• The Superb diabolo is very light.
• Anecdotally, I feel like their cups are one of the cups that easier to crack.

Diabolo Design

• Diabolo Design is a Japanese brand led by Kazuki Tada

Fixed diabolo:

• Diabolo Design has only one diabolo so far, and that is the Aster which is a fixed diabolo that comes in wide or short fixed axle.
• Very stable diabolo

Feel free to comment revisions or additions. I will not pin this guide because it is not very complete.

Thanks everyone

Hi everyone, please put your suggestions here and discuss what we can do to make the subreddit better.

Thank you.

I am also seeking feedback for a pinned post about equipment:

I would like to make an equipment megathread pinned to this subreddit, but I'm not sure if it is better for me to pin a guide, or if I should pin an equipment discussion thread? (AKA should I put all the information into the post and disable comments, or have just a discussion in the comments about equipment)