Storm Fire Road Bowling Ball

Nick C. BowlerX staff member Weight- 16lbs Surface- factory Recommended lane condition- medium/ dryer house shot Pin Placement- 4-5 I drilled my fire road with the pin just under the ring finger and the cg kicked just to the right of the thumb, with a small balance hole just to bring it back to legal. I will start off by saying that the fire road is one of my favorite balls after receiving a few new ones all at once. This latest edition to the Thunder line from Storm is the perfect ball for the average bowler or someone who does not like to make ball changes at key moments. The fire road accepts hand position changes and lane adjustments very well. This ball is very smooth through the front part of the lane offering consistent and predictable reaction on the back end. It is without a doubt my first ball out of the bag on an unknown condition. The fire road is also very continuous, while never overreacting on the back end making carry a non-issue. For the bowler looking for a very predictable ball that will allow endless amounts of versatility, the fire road from storm is a must have for you.

Thanks for reading. As always find our video portion of the review here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ87OQLJ0Rc&feature=bf_prev&list=UUUdapKcbpNzp3PGwdo7P6GQ Storm Fire Road is a fantastic piece if you are looking for a long skid ball with strong angular backend. Drilled mine with my favorite layout 65 x 4 3/4 x 65 and it is exactly what I was looking for. This ball pushes down the lane with ease holding on to energy as long as possible before making a strong angular yet continuous move toward the pocket. I am comparing it to a Victory Road Solid to give a bit more comparison than normal. The Fire Road allow me to play further right with my feet or a tighter closer line to the pocket while still providing an angular enough backend to kick out the corner pins. I have used this ball on longer patterns adding a little bit of surface to make it more controllable on the back part of the lane but that does not take away how easy it is to get down the lane. Use your favorite layout and prepare for an extreme backend reaction.

The Fire Road ball details are here: http://www.stormbowling.com/products/balls/fireroad I drilled 2...1st one pin 3-4 inch pin out placing pin below middle finger 5 1/2 inches from PAP and "MB" 4 inches from PAP with hole in P4. I go to this ball when the Marvel Pearl core is to strong to get down lane. It was nice that Storm release the Fire Road and !Q Tour at the same time, I believe these two compliment each other nicely. My second Fire Road is 6 inch pro pin. The pin is up 5 inches from pap with 1 1/2 pin buffer and "MB" 4 inches from PAP with a P4 hole. This opens the flares up and create more movement on the back. I believe the Fire Road and !Q Tour will make headlines in the WSOB and other PBA and big tourney events.

The FIRE ROAD ball details are here: http://www.stormbowling.com/products/balls/fireroad You can find a picture of my FIRE ROAD on my blog here: http://www.11thframe.com/page/reviews_id_7 The FIRE ROAD uses a modified version of the symmetrical Inverted Fe3 weight block first used in the VICTORY ROAD, with the modification upping the differential about 15 percent. However, while the VICTORY ROADS and CROSSROAD all used the popular and proven R2S coverstock, the FIRE ROAD uses a pearl R2X that previously has only been used in its higher-end balls like the VIRTUAL GRAVITY line. One of my favorite balls of all time is the T-ROAD PEARL, an R2S cover that I have gotten a ton of great use on on burned out shots with a stacked drilling -- pin over my bridge and CG about in my grip center. What I'd like to have is that ball but a little stronger so I can use it a little earlier and when there's more oil. I tried a MARVEL PEARL that way but that core is so strong it was hard to get a consistent reaction out of it with that drilling. So I decided to try the R2X pearl FIRE ROAD with the stack. The pin did end up over my bridge with the CQ about in my grip center – no hole necessary. The PIN to PAP is 5 1/8, PAP to "MB" is 6 3/8, and pin buffer is 3 3/4. I have used the FIRE ROAD on a wet-dry house shot on Brunswick ProLane synthetics and the PBA Chameleon pattern in a PBA Regional on older Brunswick synthetics, as well as many other conditions since my initial review. The FIRE ROAD surprised me with how well it reacted on the house shot – it wasn't as squirty as I expected it might be, which I'd attribute to the R2X pearl cover vs. an R2S pearl. It was pretty much strike all day. The FIRE ROAD was the ball I used the last four games on the Chameleon in the Regional, which I cashed in. The lanes got to hooking so much I probably would have been better served by the T-ROAD PEARL but I did not bring it. The FIRE ROAD makes a strong move at the breakpoint but I would not call it skid/flippy at all. Instead, it was more of a hockey stick move - turn left and roll on a line to the pocket. My carry was hampered by shots that rolled out as the lanes got to flying, but on those that retained roll my carry was excellent – I've always preferred the way balls that roll into the pins carry vs. those that skid/flip. If you're looking for a that kind of hockey stick and rolling motion on a ball ideal for medium to hooking conditions, the FIRE ROAD should be a good choice for you.

My layout: 70 x 4 7/8 x 30 My PAP: 5/78" over 1/8" up The Fire Road joins the Crossroad, Victory Road, Victory Road Solid and HyRoad as the latest release in the Thunder line from Storm. The major differences between the Fire Road and Victory Road is the Fire Road uses a modified FE3 weight block which ups the differential approximately 15%. The cover is also stronger, using the R2X as opposed to the R2S cover. The R2X had previously been reserved for the balls in the Premier line. I expected to see a reaction similar to the Victory Road but what I saw was a reaction that was slightly smoother when hitting friction than the Victory Road while still producing ample hitting power. When comparing this ball directly to my Crossroad I was able to play the exact same line with the Fire Road picking up slightly later and still clearing the deck. The bottom line is if you're looking to add or replace a pearl ball in your bag that will handle medium oil to lighter oil conditions the Fire Road should be your choice. For more information on the Fire Road, visit: http://www.stormbowling.com/products/balls/fireroad