Hammer Black Widow Bite Reviewed by: bowlingball.com reviews 01/18/2008 10:54

225 of 225 people found this review helpful.

Click Layout Image to Enlarge

The Black Widow Bite expands the Black Widow series by offering a stronger hook motion with more aggressive backend.

Pin to PAP(5 1/8" over 1/8" up) - 5"
Mass Bias Position - 45 degrees
CG Placement - 1" right and about 1 1/4" up from grip center
Balance Hole - none

Surface Preparation - Box Finish

What I Was Looking For In This Ball Layout:
This is our bench mark layout. We use this on most balls for testing purposes and from our past experience we have found it to work well on our Black Widow test balls in the past. We figured based on all we knew of this ball this layout would offer us a pretty clean reaction through the front with an aggressive move through the mid lane and back part of the lane.


What I Ended Up With in the Ball and Layout:
We are a little unsure of this ball at this time. We may update this review later based on more testing.

We really did not see the ball motion we expected to see out of this ball right out of the gate. The first few shots we threw were a little odd. The ball seemed to react well but as we threw more shots we saw a huge decrease in reaction. It seemed to start to "float" more and more on the back part of the lane. It was a weird ball reaction because it looked like it was going to read the friction ok and then when it got there it just seemed to stop.

When other balls were thrown against this they looked really good compared to the Bite. From what we heard before drilling the ball we knew that with less oil to ball would burn up early and lose reaction overall. We may re-test this ball with some polish on the shell and see what happens. Knowing what we know about the ball, that is has the same proven core as the original Black Widow and a stronger cover that Hammer has used previously we know this ball should be fine. I guess this ball test proves that sometimes things do not go as planned and slight adjustments have to be made from time to time to get the desired ball reaction.
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Hammer Black Widow Bite Reviewed by: bowlingball.com staff review by Shawn Ryan 01/22/2008 08:44

17 of 17 people found this review helpful.
Hammer Bowling’s Black Widow Bite is a Black Widow on steroids. The only thing that has changed on this ball compared to the original Black Widow is the coverstock and oh boy what a change it is. Compared to the Black Widow, the Bite needs a lot more oil. If you have a lot of hand and are bowling in a house with a lot of friction, you will have to play way inside in order to keep this ball from burning up in the front and make little to no movement in the back. For those that do not really get a lot on the ball, this ball will work for you anywhere. My Bite is drilled with the pin above the bridge, cg kicked and the MB 3 inches to the left of my thumb (I’m left handed) with a weight hole. While using this ball on the typical house shot in the track, it tended to be way over under for me, if I got it outside too quick it burned up and if I missed in, it would u-turn in the back. In order for this ball to do what it is intended to do I had to move inside with it and open up the lane. Once I got inside, I had the world, I could miss out and it’d make it back and if I missed in, I had the more push than I could imagine. Once I got to the right part of the lane I couldn’t put it down. Over all, this ball is stronger than what it is made out to be since it is similar looking to its predecessor. Make no mistake if this ball is drilled to strong, if the center you bowl at tends to hook up front or a combo of both, this ball will not make the turn it is suppose to because it is burning up not because it doesn’t hook.

Shawn Ryan
2005 Jr. Team USA Member
Manager
Striking Advantage Pro Shop
River Lanes
Titusville Florida

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Hammer Black Widow Bite Reviewed by: tellitright 01/14/2008 19:55

114 of 123 people found this review helpful.
I am very disappointed in this ball and even more disappointed in our industry. I have posted my problems with the Bite on at least four other websites only to see them taken down within hours or days. I hope this is not the same for this website. This must be a small closed industry. I am posting here and waiting to see if it stays up. If it does I will post further. For now let me say that this ball is not what it claims to be, I love my other Black Widows but I guess I spoke out against the wrong person?, ball? who knows. Shame on you Ebonite. BowlingBall.com please have the honor to keep this post up.
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Hammer Black Widow Bite Reviewed by: stevej 01/13/2008 13:01

69 of 72 people found this review helpful.
About me profile. I carry a 202 average, age 56, stroker, bowling for 35 years.
This ball is terrible, it does not carries well regardless of the conditions. I swear that I throw one ball and see the most awesome reaction that I have ever seen, next shot goes 55 feet. When I wipe the ball off it helps but the oil rings stay on the ball, I believe the ball may have trouble with oil absorption. Not sure ask around first maybe there was a bad batch. I certainly would not recommend. Mine has not cracking issues however there is a small spot on the back of the ball that looks funny, like it was placed against a heater could be a coverstock curing issue, any I do not know, ask Ebonite.
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Hammer Black Widow Bite Reviewed by: Former Hammer Fan 02/15/2008 20:34

54 of 56 people found this review helpful.
Extremely disappointed. There is not too much to say, it is a let down in:
Reaction (very weak)
Performance (rolls early)
Carry (what carry)
Most of all quality (mine too, read the reviews)
Thanks bowlingball.com for posting this review, in advance, I just know you will allow the truth out. I posted to other review sites and they delete them, why because they all own retail sites and they are not in the bowling business like bowlingball.com. They own a lot of pro shops and have done a lot for our industry. I personally know of at least 22 portable lanes that they have donated to our troops overseas.
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Hammer Black Widow Bite Reviewed by: slamminsammy 01/10/2008 13:19

33 of 34 people found this review helpful.
It's OK, definitely not like the Black Widow. I guess everyone gets lazy and tries to ride a wave which is just not right. The Black Widow Bite is just another ball, nothing special, it will do, but I could have saved a lot of money and you should too. Buy the Twisted Fury or the first Black Widow.
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Hammer Black Widow Bite Reviewed by: hammerdown 01/07/2008 20:09

26 of 29 people found this review helpful.
I love Hammer but not this ball. I threw a dozen shots and the ball cracked, really never have seen anything like it, not near the holes and not lane damage. Went into the shop to see if I could get another one and two of the three we pulled out were odd looking, they looked like melted rubber in spots. I would steer clear of this one and go with the Black Widow.
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Hammer Black Widow Bite Reviewed by: bowling analysis 03/03/2008 08:02

22 of 22 people found this review helpful.
It really seems to be a crap shoot on what you get lately with Ebonite, by the way they own Hammer. They also own Columbia and Track. I don't have much I really feel like talking about concerning my Hammer Black Widow Bite, it's bad, really bad. Does not roll well at all and I cannot seem to do anything to the surface to make a difference. I bowl regionals and know quite a few of the guys that work in the bowling industry, if anyone every found out who I was it could be bad for me but someone needs to sing this song. I do know that since Brian Graham left Ebonite there has not been much good coming out of Hopkinsville. Brian was a great communicator and a great bowler and he knew how to come out with a good ball and market it. I understand that his boss, who runs things there, is a person named Bob Reid. This guy doesn't even bowl and comes from the fishing lure business (I could be wrong about that, I have met him at trade shows and all I remember is that he talks none stop about himself and it is not bowling). I understand that Bob is the person who also has tried the price fixing scheme on bowling balls. Or should I say on bowling balls that are selling well. Reid came out with a fixed price list, meaning that if you were a bigger pro shop and bought 48 you got the same price as the guy who doesn't even stock the ball and buys one whenever he has it sold. By the way, he really sticks to his word. If the ball is not selling like he would like then it comes off the fixed price list. Nothing like a man without his word meaning anything. I can see how marketing can help but WOW he doesn't even bowl, you gotta love this game to go anywhere with it, in the long run those in this sport who don't love it will leave or abuse it. Sorry I got off there, bottom line my Bite is bad, why take a chance that you may get a good one, what is this some kind of raffle, maybe you'll win, maybe you won't. DON'T BUY EBONITE. BYW, I have posted this exact same review at four different places I hope it shows up here, the voice of the bowler is being muffled at other sites.
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Hammer Black Widow Bite Reviewed by: dancinginthesun 01/09/2008 20:42

22 of 23 people found this review helpful.
I already returned my Black Widow Bite because of a crack and asked for a Twisted Fury instead. WOW the Twisted is awesome, the Bite did just that for me it bites and not in a hooking way. Did not like the roll. I still like Hammer but I like my Black Widow. Save your money on the Bite.
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