First Impressions
The Rubicon UC3 is somewhat confounding but the more I evaluate, the more it lands on the positive side.

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Tamer Elbaga (Lefty)
Style: Tweener
RPM: 375 rpm
PAP: 5 & 3/8 up
Average Speed: 18.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium/high
Test Equipment: 15 Pounds
Layout: 4 x 30

Sean Jensen (Righty)
Style: Power player
RPM: 475 rpm
PAP: 5 1/2 & 1/4 up
Average Speed: 18.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 15 Pounds
Layout: 5 x 50

“Keep in mind that coverstock accounts for 70% of ball reaction, but the core creates the dynamic shape of the reaction. Your driller will alter the shape to suit your game.”

Pattern
THS: 40ft, 23ml
Sport: 43ft Earl Anthony Pattern

Specs
The Roto Grip Rubicon UC3 uses the Rondure Asymmetric core inside the new Tour-ethane Pearl coverstock.

15 pound = RG of 2.49, diff of .052, MB of .011
14 pound = RG of 2.53, diff of .052, MB of 0.09
Coverstock finish: 1000 Grit Abralon

Overall
Alright where do I begin. We now know the Rubicon and UC2 pearl version. I’m never going to jump out of my shoes about urethane for my personal game but we are here to understand the Rubicon UC3 for as many people as possible and it might even surprise me. Immediately, you don’t get the sense this is urethane. In fact, in the first few throws, the Idol Helios looked more urethane like than the UC3. Before I threw it on the house shot for this test, I actually threw it on the 43ft Earl Anthony pattern. It simply didn’t look like a urethane ball at all. It didn’t read at my feet and it had some ridiculous amount of continuation I rarely see from urethane. I thought eh, maybe that’s the fresh cover from urethane. I tried it on the same pattern after about 6 games and it did look calmer but this time, misses out came back and misses in had that really good forgiveness. That was an eye opener. Anyway onto this test and you can see that playing close to the friction this ball looked really good. The nice thing is it had bounce on misses out. Not a urethane like characteristic really. It looked great. Then as I moved in a touch I was reminded swiftly what happens when I try to ask more of a urethane ball, 7 pin city. The walled shot was saying to me, stay really tight to the friction and you will kill it. Move in away from the friction and you’re asking for a 9 count every time. Honestly though the big take away is it doesn’t really behave like urethane. Most urethane when you get too deep just pukes and leaves buckets. This left me 9 counts. Even when I got way deeper than I would ever bother dreaming with a urethane type ball, it at least made it back to the pocket and with more of a reactive type angle. And finally this is where I’m confounded. Where do I put a ball like the Rubicon UC3 in the bag. It’s not a traditional urethane at all so it won’t be a Pitch Black or an ideal spare ball per se. If I had to place it, it’s probably right on top of the mid control spot in the bag. But do I want to ditch a standard reactive ball from there for the UC3? I’m not sure but what I can say is the fact that I’m considering it in that space is saying a lot about this piece.

A Two Handers View
Alright as usual I test 2-handed and honestly, this is the first ball I felt like is a dream ball for my 2-handed game. I’ve other urethane balls and they just weren’t it. Rev dominance kind of makes early balls kind of die. This ball hid my big variations in release and everything funneled to the pocket, no drama. Miss out, cool it’s good. Miss in and it holds better than most pieces. It almost felt as close to a no brainer mid control ball for my 2-hand game.

Final Thoughts
At this stage, I feel like I’ve said all I want to say about the Rubicon UC3. I feel like the video is a good representation of what it’s capable of. I’m not sure if I will slot this in my bag yet, but I’m sure glad I had it to bowl my sport shot league. This is going to be a fun ball for a lot of people, even if it confuses you where it’s supposed to go in the bag.

A Power Player’s Perspective
Coming soon

A Stroker’s Perspective
It’s Bryan’s turn to test the new Roto Grip Rubicon UC3. For as much as I found it interesting and surprisingly useful, Bryan had a rough go with it. Bryan generally doesn’t have a need for urethane. But for some reason, this was one of the harder ones to test for him. Generally, urethane anything is going to mean a very direct shot for Bryan. He couldn’t get quite right enough due to the high amount of early friction but edging in meant very inconsistent reaction, or mostly under-reaction. He tried different angles, speeds, etc. Just disappointingly nothing consistent. By contrast, he had such a good look with the Motiv Desert Tank, a microcell polymer ball with pearl that cleared a bit more than traditional urethane and a touch more movement. I think the stored energy of that weaker longer core helped it make more sense from direct. This big Rondure core just seems to stop on him from that direct. Without going any further, it’s clear that is not a condition he would consider using the Rubicon UC3 on, period. Obviously we show you all test balls on our typical house shot to give you some idea of you might see but for Bryan, this ball won’t make sense until he sees a shorter shot possibly. This doesn’t mean that no stroker will benefit from this ball or anything like that. You’ll just have to take some ideas as you watch different bowlers test the ball. Bryan and I have very different rolls so worth looking at it from different perspectives.

Sport Shot
TBD

Thanks for watching.