Bowling Ball Life Expectancy

[nomercyvibe]

how long do they typically last?

[nomercyvibe]

I've only bought three balls new; Emerald Vibe, Columbia Noize, and the new Siege. The other balls I've gotten at garage sales for 3 bucks then i got redrilled :) the only bad thing about that is I have no idea how many games are on them. I clean them after every use and resurface them every couple months so I think i take good care of them. I'm just wondering how long they're going to last for me before the coverstock pretty much dies :confused:

[chevy02]

You keep up the cleaning regiment that you are doing and they`ll last a long time

[BubbaRay]

With todays equipment the life expectancy of a bowling ball has a certain life expectancy. If memory serves me correctly it was in the neighborhood of 130 to 150 games (Some coverstocks will last longer, some not as long). After that time one can expect the reaction to slowly diminish. With proper care and cleaning the ball will last for many years.

[Rowdy]

how long do they typically last?

Forever. Bowling balls don't die. Ever.

[Flessan]

I've basically had the bite since I started bowling... Several thousand games later, still hits the pins just as hard...

[mmcfarland300]

I have not had any balls die out yet. Sauce has 300+ games Danger Zone has 1500+ Toxic 200+ Resurgence 300+. Keep them clean and they will last.

[Walkin Kamikaze]

My old 14# psycho was smooth as silk and outhooked most of my balls to this date and had 600+ on it and only cleaned like once. I never heard about cleaning the balls til i got the Virtual, now i have a cleaning after ever 3 game set with a cleaner and a bath every couple months. :D So far non died out.

[nomercyvibe]

Ok well that's good to hear! My friends Gamebreaker pretty much started diminishing fast after 100 games and this just led me to ask this question. I know that's ebonite and alot of their coverstocks kinda die fast.

[Rowdy]

Ok well that's good to hear! My friends Gamebreaker pretty much started diminishing fast after 100 games and this just led me to ask this question. I know that's ebonite and alot of their coverstocks kinda die fast.

Repeat after me,"Bowling Balls don't die. Bowling balls don't die. I may be a slacker and not clean the thing,but that ain't the balls fault."

Now,take the Gamebreaker and a five gallon bucket and get busy. Those things are oil hogs. The G/B that Tinkerbell rolls can sometimes take up to 10 trips through the bucket before it's squeaky clean. The last thing I saw that put that much oil into the water was the Exxon Valdez. But boy does that ball work for her when it's clean!!!

[nomercyvibe]

ok the coverstocks just soak up oil, thanks

[can-ham]

Until it slips right through that circle thing your proshop should have to make a league circumference.

BTW: If your house is old scratchy wooden lanes and your proshop has a diamond cutter, go easy on the free resurfaces as you only have so many runs through the diamond cutter before your too skinny...

[Street Racer]

thanks for reminding me.. i gotta clean my gear..

[Ray1010]

I have my first BWS that has over 500+ games on it and I'll still bring that sucker out before i do any of my new stuff.I hit it with clean n' dull after every game,hot water bath ever 2 weeks,surface changes when needed,and a resurface roughly every 100 games.Balls don't die,they get mistreated.

[nomercyvibe]

ahh well said...

[BubbaRay]

Bowling balls do not die they just loose reaction. It;'s the balls way of telling us it is time for a resuface and deep cleaning. Keep following this routine when needed and you will get many many years out of them.

[nomercyvibe]

until there are massive gouges in the ball and track that you cant sand away haha

[Rowdy]

until there are massive gouges in the ball and track that you cant sand away haha

You obviously haven't seen some of the balls I've seen out on the PBA Tour. Most of their gear looks like it's been rolled across the parking lot. All of those "gouges" create ungodly traction on the backend and on a really heavy pattern. Storm used to put up pics of their PBA staff members balls on their website. Some of those balls looked like they hadn't been resurfaced since they left the factory and they were only a few months old.

[nomercyvibe]

oh wow! that would make sense though haha