What is a microbead?

[coupe]

I watched a video last year of Dave Dunipace finally admitting that a bead is simply a wear layer to make your discs last longer. It has nothing to do with flight characteristics.

Uh ... not quite, on either count:

Ask Dave Dunipace About Innova Discs:

dstearns5
Aug 23 2013, 01:41 PM
Dave,
Can you give me a little history behind the addition of beads to certain molds? I can't help but notice that most of the more stable to over-stable discs have a bead on the underside of the wing. I also know that during the 80's and 90's durability of discs was a huge issue. Were these beads developed to add stability to discs, or were they developed as a durability enhancement? Also, where did the idea come from?

davei
Aug 28 2013, 08:49 AM

The bead was developed to add durability. A secondary effect on some discs was to add a little high speed stability in some models. It was an original idea starting with the Classic Roc. We noticed the sharp bottom of the XD and Aviar tended to fray quickly and feel sharp so we added the bead to make the bottom less sharp and less fray prone.

 

[da Crippler]

Uh ... not quite, on either count:

Ask Dave Dunipace About Innova Discs:

Weak sauce.:\

 

[Jay Dub]

I have heard Dave Dunipace say the bead was for wear and not flight characteristics.

Does it change the flight? I think it does but have no real data to prove it. But Dave did say that it doesn't.

 

[mostlynorwegian]

Back to the main topic:

Gator (bead) on left
Caiman (micro bead) on right

This is what I came to this thread for.