Tide
Meet the Tide – our new flagship organic that embodies rhythm and flow.
SPECS
Diameter 54.9mm
Width 47.6mm
Weight 64.5g
Material titanium
The Noah was released in 2021 and has since represented the Atmos organic playfeel more than any of our other designs. It marked a departure from a form factor we used over the first two years of our existence (beginning with the Cloudberry), and it captured the light, relaxed, sense of play that characterized the taste of the time. The minimalist design, unapologetically round form factor, and weight distribution worked in concert to produce a floaty, zippy and bubbly design that eventually went on to become one of our best releases and a crowd favorite; it remains one of my personal favorites in our lineup.
The conversation surrounding a titanium reincarnation of the Noah naturally emerged multiple times since its launch, and it’s one of the few designs in our lineup that merits an aluminum-to-titanium translation. Titanium versions of aluminum models don’t always make sense; they’re not always a compelling concept, unless there’s something fundamentally interesting or creative you can do with the specifics of titanium as a material that justifies the translation. With the Noah, the notion was that it might be possible to add power and spin in a titanium version whilst entirely replicating and preserving the Noah’s lithe signature by creatively reapportioning mass – in other words, it could preserve everything the Noah is loved for, but turn out more capable, more full, without compromise.
Also, as a slight note – different metals have different “feels” – for this reason, we’ve never felt the appeal of stainless steel designs. They feel incredibly rigid, and we’ve never tried a stainless steel throw that didn’t feel awkwardly maximalist in its weight distribution – they’re often paper thin in some areas to compensate for density of the material. Titanium is tough and durable but retains a pliability that feels comfortable and less extreme – anything crafted from it feels like it’s made to last a lifetime, and yet safe from the exaggerated playfeel of steel throws. Titanium has a material profile that is dense and strong, which allows us to be incredibly intentional and precise with fine tuning weight distribution, but still natural feeling – and it served as a perfect canvas for an iteration of the Noah.
We machined a first Tide prototype in early 2022. The first prototype had a very similar weight distribution to that of the Noah, which featured zero bias towards the rims. The hubs were a clean, lipless cup with unbroken curvature. We sent one to Coleman, who had just joined Team Atmos at the time, for testing and feedback. His response resonated with what we were thinking, too – which was that it was too airy. Light and floaty is good, but there’s a threshold in distributing weight where it just gets too sparse, and it starts to feel anemic and weak. This often happens with “purer” organics, since the initial instinct is to be stingy with rim weight. Yet the solution to the issue was not just to pile on mass at the rim, which would have altered the profile of the playfeel, but to very gently overhaul the entire structure of the hub, and increase rim weight judiciously while maintaining a commensurate relation to its overall mass.
In simpler terms, in our second prototype, we enlarged the overall diameter by 0.6mm, while giving it 2.2g of muscle. Tiny numbers, but to great effect.
Coleman wrote in after receiving the second prototype, saying, “The new prototype is incredible. Much more substantial on the string but still zippy and fast. I really like how you’ve changed this one.” The second Tide prototype, which eventually was used as our production version, played with a nice presence and a fuller playfeel, while capturing the floaty, maneuverable signature of the Noah. It has a quicker rhythm in movement and is actually – surprisingly – less reluctant than the Noah.
We’ve paired the Tide with AL Flat Caps as the stock Side Effects of choice, which add a nice bit of centerweight to its overall frame. They also blend in with the hub; it looks nearly like a feature machined out of the titanium block.
For those that prefer Ultra Lights installed, we’ll have a couple of Tides with those installed available at drop.
Fullness seems to describe the Tide best – not just physically, in the way its bubbly, rounded minimalist form rests in your hand, but also dynamically – it moves a lot more confidently, paces well, and takes the stress of more strenuous tricks easily. It’s the most fully integrated organic design in our lineup.
With obvious reference to the Flood, the Tide represents power and energy in the Noah story, while preserving its capacity for flow.
We also couldn’t resist the hidden “ti” embedded in its name.
The Tide is a ball of fun, and fully represents our philosophy towards organic designs.
The Tide comes equipped with premier kit in white Stratos Pads, NSK DS Platinum bearings by Yoyorecreation, Side Effects by One Drop, and First Class XL String by Kitty.
Note – we hand-tune each Tide for smooth play before we send them out, but as it is with any Side Effects design, players should expect that, should faint vibe occur, some degree of tuning is part of the game.
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november 2023
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