Roto Grip RST X-1 Review
While no longer in production, the RST X-1 remains a formidable heavy oil weapon for power players. The combination of the RST asymmetric core and MicroTrax Hybrid coverstock delivers the strong, continuous motion needed to tackle challenging lane conditions.
what's up everybody j.r rehman back again coming to you from classic lanes here in rochester hills michigan home of mrb classic pro shop and i feel like it's been quite some time it's been what at least a week and a half since i've actually posted a video uh and i haven't posted a ball review in a while drilled a bunch of bowling balls over the last couple of days a lot of the new ones but today we're going to take a look first at that new roto grip ball the uh what is it even called the rx or just the x1 rst but you guys know what i'm talking about that green and
black looking ball it's got a pretty standard five inch pin layout it is 55 by five by uh by 45 i believe uh puts that pin just above my bridge maybe an inch higher cg kick just a little bit with the mass bias right next to the thumb in a pretty strong position but we're gonna take it out here on a typical lead condition here in a minute stay tuned
[Music] so [Music] all right so we're going to take a look at this rstx1 um like i said it's 55 by 5 by 45 so it does just put the pin right up here above the
middle finger uh cg is kicked just a little bit the mass bias right next to the thumb so we're going to try and get back to the basics throw some straighter shots and this time i'm going to start straight i'm going to start at that 8 9 10 range see if it'll hold its line through there and just keep moving left so i did a really good job there and i threw this ball a couple of times as i was getting loose
just to make sure i knew what was uh that i could actually throw the ball because i haven't thrown the ball in like a week and a half so um but i'm gonna try to make these videos just a little bit quicker instead of them being you know 13 14 minutes i'm gonna try to keep them right around that 10 minute range i'm gonna throw a few shots in each area rather than moving left so quick i've had some recommendations of our requests of people wanting to see some straighter angles
now what i really like about this ball is i like the way it actually gets around uh off of the middle part of the lane so it really tries to pick up the middle of the lane and continue oh good job buddy push the reset button for me just don't push it anymore okay good job so this ball is really reading the middle lane really well um because it is a duller cover so it's going to read so the question will be how does it do further left so now i'm gonna go a couple more boards to the right i'm gonna try to get to
that six seven and see if it hooks immediately yeah it looks pretty early you know and a lot of that is just because of how much dry there is over there we are on a leak pattern so you're going to see nothing but dry boards to that right part because they try to give you as much free hook to the right as you can so that's okay that makes sense now i'm sure i could get it to the pocket from there if i really back out of my hand so if i
just take some hand out of it and just really knuckle it through there i can get it to not hook that's for sure so let's see if i can throw one more knuckle a little bit straighter i mean that was i had to have taken 100 rpm off that one we're gonna try all of them buddy we're
gonna get them all going down the lane here in a minute if i can get this ball back there it is yeah that one took a while to come back all right let's try that again i'm going to move my feet even further right now i'm just gonna try and do that same really low rev knuckler yeah so you can see if you want it to go straight it's definitely going to go
straight so that's good news if i want to hook it i'm pretty sure i can hook it and you've seen what it did those first couple of shots playing 8 9 10. so we're gonna move left now not yet we don't want that one yet buddy this ball's taking a while to come back i'm not really sure why it keeps taking so long all right so now let's get over to that 15. 14 15 range
okay so put the reverie back on nice and rolly and get it to go through the pins pretty easily so i really like the way this ball is rolling i really like the way it's reading the middle of the lane that middle of the lane is the key it's always the key if we can get it to read the middle lane and not be stupid down lane and not be too early it's always going to be a good versatile ball it's going to allow you to play any part of the lane you want it just may be really slow coming back in the ball return for some reason he keeps doing that all right we're going to try this again
now that we're not interrupted hopefully the ball comes back a little bit better so we're gonna make three in one see what happens oh bad balance but it still ride the lane properly i'm really curious what this ball is gonna continue to do as i go left because it's reading the middle lane super well i'm hoping it still continues to do that but then still goes through the pins as i go left
because right now this ball is looking like it's really good playing straighter and even in the middle of the lane but as i get left a fourth arrow what's gonna happen so now let's get right around that fourth arrow start to get my hand around it a little bit that's actually a good sign now no matter what even though it got six and it overhooked that's
still a pretty good sign because it reads the middle of the lane and you watch it have that strength going through the pins so let me see if i can just keep going left and see how about how much better it does this is going to be three and one off of that shot so it should be good
yeah that's a good sign very good sign still wants to have the strength down lane to get through the pins so that's really good really really good all right keep going left if i can get it back now it's being slow again darn it so remember what i said about the video not being 13 14 minutes long i might be lying because the ball returns taking so long
well i am just destined to not do reviews again geez louise i'm just going to throw a ball down there [Music] ah there it is now it comes back of course geez unbelievable that was the zenith by the way if you wanted to see how that ball rolls that review is coming up
get rid of that let's try this again maybe this ball is too small or too big or something i don't know right i'm gonna go three more left another three in one see what happens yeah that might be too steep now yep too steep now so i gotta stop going so three and ones are a little too much now so i'm gonna have to shut that back down
let's hope this ball comes back a little quicker this one came back quick so that's good all right so three in one was a little too much there throwing it right so i gotta start shutting my angle down a little bit but it's floating through the front pretty well i'm surprised by that
yeah and it wants to go through the pins we got a winner here now if i'm going to replace something what am i going to replace in my bag because i don't really have a solid piece or at least a dull piece that is clean and still good down lane i don't even remember it's been a while since i bowled so remembering what's in my bag is difficult i'm gonna keep going left try to get to that fifth arrow area now
yeah i think we got a winner here i think you're going to see this ball used an awful lot the problem is is now it's coming out when there's nothing to bowl tournament-wise as far as the pba goes so you're not going to see a lot of the tour guys using it on tour stuff right now because there's nothing to bowl and by the time the new year comes there's going to be all kinds of other new bowling balls but maybe it'll be a special enough bowling ball that they will you know still use it i'm gonna keep going left again
tuck my pinky this time and see what happens [Laughter] yeah you guys are going to want this one you're really going to want this one i mean because i can do whatever i want with it i can throw it how i want i can make it do what i want real responsive to what my hand does and that's always it's always a good sign
and when you see a bad bowl i'm not necessarily a bad bowling ball but when you see a ball that struggles it's because it it either wants to read the front too much or it wants to read down lane too much and it doesn't read the middle this one reads the middle perfectly start inching back and go back right a little bit more man and it trips a four pin game over
right there you go so there's that new roto grip ball that r x why do i keep saying want to say r but it's the x1 x star one uh rs one something like that you know what it is you can see the picture of the ball here somewhere um but you obviously i don't even have to tell you how good this thing is this actually read the middle of the line properly did all the right things in the middle like i said before if it reads too early or it reads too late generally that's not very good sign it's usually that's it means it's either good for playing straight or it's good for playing way in there's never really any in between this is going to allow you to do both you saw
how i could float it through all the burn to the right even though there's so much there's so much dry i could take enough hand out of it and make it not hook so i probably could have sat there and adjusted it a little bit more but you saw how good it was as i started to go left and continue to go left this thing just let me do whatever i wanted so this ball is going to find its way in my bag i'm going to have to go through my bag and figure out which ones i'm going to start replacing because i do have some balls i have quite a few games in them now so we're going to replace them you know what i would bet you probably that bloody ocean that that's what this ball reminds me of is that bloody ocean because it reads the
middle lane it's still sharp enough down lane so uh maybe that's the ball to replace because the bloody ocean's got some games on it now until i can drill another one until they send me another one that's probably what i'll do but this will be good because i don't the bloody ocean i couldn't use in the pva events you can use any of the lane masters legends all that stuff you can use those on anything other than pba so this would be good replacement for that when i need that type of a reaction that's all i got for you today make sure to comment like subscribe if you think these ball reviews are good please share them make sure you get them out there as much as you can
trying to spread the word as much as we possibly can and make sure to go check out the podcast over at anchor dot fm slash i don't even want to say slash but it's it's uh the ltc bowling show so links in the description you can go get yours over one of these bowling balls over at bowler x.com link in the description for that as well it's going to be a pre-order for this because they're not quite out yet but that's all i got for you until next time see you guys later take care
Performance Analysis
Performance Analysis
Testing revealed that the Roto Grip RST X-1 demonstrates exceptional midlane read characteristics on a typical league oil pattern. Independent reviewers observed the ball’s ability to pick up the midlane consistently while maintaining downlane strength through the pins—a balance that proved difficult to achieve in back-to-back comparisons. The reactive hybrid coverstock exhibited a dull surface profile that allowed the ball to read the lane predictably without early overreaction. Across multiple angles, from the 8-10 board straighter play through progressive leftward movement toward the 5-board area, the ball responded intuitively to hand position and rev rate adjustments, giving bowlers genuine control over ball motion rather than forcing a predetermined reaction.
What distinguished this ball in testing was its versatility on the same pattern. When thrown with reduced hand and lower rev rates from the right side of the approach, the ball tracked relatively straight despite significant dry boards—indicating the coverstock wouldn’t overread burned-out areas. Conversely, when thrown with full roll and entry angle from the left side, it transitioned smoothly through the midlane and maintained the energy needed for consistent pin action. The asymmetric core configuration with the mass bias positioned near the thumb appeared to support this responsive behavior. Reviewers noted this stands in contrast to balls that either read too early (limiting left-side play) or read too late (forcing bowlers to play only straight lines), making the RST X-1 functional across multiple board ranges within a single session.
Who Is This Ball For?
The RST X-1 is ideally suited for league and recreational bowlers who want a workhorse reactive piece without the angular, aggressive motion of stronger asymmetric designs. Bowlers currently carrying older balls with significant usage will find this a solid upgrade, particularly those who don’t have a reliable dull-coverstock option in their arsenal. The ball’s responsiveness to hand position makes it especially valuable for bowlers who like to adjust their shot shape within a session rather than relying on footwork changes alone.
Tournament bowlers in non-PBA events—particularly those in PVA or similar formats where equipment restrictions differ from PBA regulations—will appreciate having a capable midlane-reading option that provides an alternative to comparable pieces already in rotation. The testing profile suggests this ball fills a genuine gap for players needing solid all-around performance on typical to moderately heavy oil patterns without the backend aggression that dominates stronger asymmetric offerings currently on the market.
The Pros
- • Strong asymmetric core provides excellent hook potential
- • MicroTrax Hybrid coverstock handles heavy oil effectively
- • High flare potential creates impressive pin action
The Cons
- • Limited versatility outside of heavy oil conditions
- • 3000 grit finish may require adjustment for some bowlers
Who Is This Ball For?
While no longer in production, the RST X-1 remains a formidable heavy oil weapon for power players. The combination of the RST asymmetric core and MicroTrax Hybrid coverstock delivers the strong, continuous motion needed to tackle challenging lane conditions.
Technical Specifications
How It Compares
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The Bowling FixVerified Bowler Reviews (53 reviews, 5.0/5 avg)
Bowlers Say
Bowlers say the RST X-1 is a versatile asymmetrical ball that fits perfectly between stronger balls like UFO and weaker options like Rubicon. The MicroTrax hybrid coverstock provides clean length through fronts with strong, continuous backend motion. Most praise its predictability, controllability, and excellent pin carry on medium-heavy oil conditions.
AI summary of 53 verified purchase reviews
Bowlers frequently mention:
The X-1 is the newest addition to the HP4 line. It features the MicroTrax Hybrid coverstock. This ball doesn't do anything flashy; it simply gets the job done. In the past, Roto Grip has been known to make some of the best Asymmetrical balls in the industry. The X-1 proudly carries that torch. I found the X-1 to be similar in overall strength compared to the UFO and the X-1 is about a zone stronger than the Nuclear Cell. The UFO and X-1 differ because they read the lane at different points. The UFO will be slightly earlier because of the Solid MicroTrax cover whereas the X-1 will be slightly cleaner and retain more shape downlane because it has the Hybrid Cover. In all, you'll be able to throw the X-1 on heavy conditions when you need slightly more length than the UFO is giving you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W50DPeKfxnQ&t=108s
This ball is SICK! I am so happy with this release! This ball is super versatile. Whatever I do with my hand, this ball responds to. I can get right and get up the back of it or I can get in and get around it and it will boom down lane. My first 6 games with this ball was 804 and 802. 247, 257, 300, 289, 256, 257. Along with the versatility there is also its hitting power. This ball goes through the pins SO well, destroying racks. The only downfall of this ball is the color. I personally like the darker colored balls, but some may think that this ball doesn’t have the shelf appeal as the other Asymetrical ball with the same release date, Proton Physix. Pick yours up on Black Friday!! Layouts: Pin Buffer- 5x4.5x1 Dual Angle- 60x4.5x15 Other balls in the league bag: Rubicon-5x4.5x1 AstroPhysix-4x5x2 Hyroad Pearl-5x4.25x4.5
I knew this was a ball I would be excited to drill as I had been looking for a shape similar to the original Physix and I have found it with the RST X1. Although not entirely the same the RST X1 provides a tad cleaner and stronger shape down lane compared to the Physix. The RST X1 will be good for medium to higher volume as well as those harder lane surfaces that are conducive to Asymmetrical's. The RST X1 provides plenty of punch in the the HP4 line.
Roto grip’s newest addition to the HP4 Line is the brand new RST X-1! This ball features the MicroTrax Hybrid Reactive Coverstock wrapped around the RST Core which stands for (Roto Star Tour Core)! This ball comes out of the box at 3000 grit and will give you a different shape on longer oil patterns! My RST X-1 is drilled pin over my bridge with the Mass Bias right next to my thumb which the pin is about 4 1/2 inches away from my PAP! This new piece will be weaker than a UFO but it will be more aggressive than a Rubicon or Idol in the Roto Grip Line! Definitely love the motion of the RST X-1 so far it’s really aggressive ball that reads the midlane very well and good continuous motion down lane! Head over to your local Pro Shop and get yours 11/27/20!
When I first saw this ball was going to be released, I knew it was going to be an instant winner for me. I really love the Storm Physix and knew this RST-X1 would be a great compliment to it. The RST-X1 brings the all new Roto Star Tour with the MicroTrax Hybrid Coverstock. This combination is not only predictable but allows for great continuation to be used on a wide variety of oil patterns. This ball reminds me of an asymmetrical IQ Tour. It is a ball that most people will love because of its roll versatility and drilling versatility. This ball also handles surface changes well and don't be afraid to polish this one either. A cleaner and faster response will allow for better use on drier lanes and older lane surfaces. For those who only drill 1 or 2 balls a year, this is a sure winner to be one of those balls. This ball would be a great piece for any arsenal from the average league bowlers to the competitive tournament bowlers.
Showing 1–5 of 45 verified reviews
Frequently Asked Questions
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