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As with any other hobby, the cost of diabolo juggling will rise with your interest in it.
You can enjoy diabolo for as little as $55. You can find a good diabolo for about $30, a pair of aluminum sticks for $15 and a roll of string for $10 and you’re good to go! A dedicated diabolo juggler who takes his hobby very (too?) seriously might spend upwards of $500 on gear, plus more recurring expenses travelling to juggling conventions.
The Cost Of Starting Out Diabolo
Diabolo juggling is pretty accessible at the beginning. All you need is a diabolo, a pair of sticks and some string.
Diabolo
Choosing a good diabolo to start with is really important, because it will affect how fast you learn and how much you enjoy the “feel” of juggling. You can get away with spending 30$ for a beginner diabolo (something like a JuggleDream Typhoon) that is not optimal but it’s good enough. A good beginner diabolo will cost around 50$ but will save money in the long run.
Here is a guide to choosing your first diabolo.
Sticks
For sticks, you have several options depending on your budget.
If you have a small budget, you can choose wooden sticks they will cost you about $3, but they can break and will give you blisters unless you also buy some silicon grips (or devil stick handsticks).
If you have a bigger budget, my advice is to go for aluminum sticks, they are about $15 but they are almost indestructible. They can bend if you’re rough with your stick release tricks, but you can always bend them back into shape.
I wouldn’t recommend carbon or fiberglass sticks to start with as they are less durable, and you need to be a bit advanced with those flying sticks tricks not to break them.
String
You can start with a single roll of diabolo string for $5-10.
My only advice is DO NOT BUY Henry’s white string or you will have to change strings every other day if not more. Any other string by Henry’s or other brands are ok.
Learning
You can learn completely for free. There’s a lot of information and video tutorials available online.
To get you started, look at the first 10 tricks to learn (in my opinion) and the tutorials on this site.
There’s also a lot of other great ressources such as YouTube, http://diabolotricks.com/ or https://www.2diabolos.com/ if you speak French.
You can also buy books or DVDs, they will help a lot as they provide a structured course of action, but they can be expensive.
If you have time to do a bit a research or ask on diabolo forums, you don’t have to spend a penny to learn.
Recurring Expenses
They’re aren’t a lot of recurring expenses and they are very cheap.
Changing The String
You will need to change your string regularly to avoid the dreaded unvoluntary string climb. Depending on your height and the type of sticks you have, the length of the string to change will vary.
For example I am 1,73m and my sticks are DEOS carbons measuring 32 cm each. Including some more string for tying the knots, I need roughly 2,5m (or 8,2ft) of string every time I change it, which is about once a week. So I need 130m (427ft) of string a year which is between $40 and $80 a year.
Changing Sticks
Sometimes, sticks break especially wooden and fiberglass ones. Carbon sticks are a bit sturdier but can break too. If you have aluminum sticks and managed to break them, I’m impressed!
You can break your sticks at the beginning and have to change them once or twice. But as you improve and you will have more control when doing tricks and you won’t break them anymore. So you’ll spend between 0 and $40.
It’s been years since I’ve broken a pair of sticks (I use carbon ones), and I’m only a decent diabolo juggler.
Expenses When You Get Better
Multiple Diabolos
Once you become proficient with 1 diabolo, you will soon want to try your hand at 2 diabolos and then 3,…
Depending on your first diabolo, you may want to buy another one just like it (which is another $30-50), or change brands or model and buy 2 new ones which will costs between $60 and $100.
Fixed Axle Style vs Bearing Style
This choice will come down to preference, but if price is a factor, you’re likely to save more money if you opt for the fixed axle diabolos.
For example, on diabolomoves, the sundia evo3 with fixed axle costs £30 (about $38) and the 5-bearing is £47 (about $59).
A bearing axle will also need some maintenance with some silicone lubricant or teflon axle grease, that you can find in any good bike shop for $10.
However, most diabolo enthusiasts will have both fixed axle and bearing diabolos to explore both styles.
For a comparison of both types of axle, see this post.
Juggling Conventions
This is the biggest expense because of the travelling. Also, once you go to one and experience the boost in learning and inspiration, you won’t want to stop!
Most juggling conventions last a weekend and you pay a small entry fee. They usually include somewhere to camp, access to the shows, the workshops and the games.
So the cost is entry fee, travelling expenses, tent and food.
It’s not the most expensive of holiday, but it will add up if you go to multiple a year or go to big ones like the EJC, which in 2022 is in Spain, lasts 8 days and the entry fee is €175 for adults and €70 for under 15 year olds.
Good To Have Extras
Not necessary but well worth the price! This is your diabolo juggling tool kit!
Backpack
I like to have a dedicated diabolo backpack, so I can be ready in seconds to go to a juggling convention! Yes I might have a problem!
Mine is big enough to fit my 3 diabolos, my sticks and a roll of string. I like it with a front pocket for the tools that I might need and a side pocket for my bottle of water.
It’s the size of a regular school backpack and was about $15.
Tools
You will need a pair of scisors or a tiny knife and a lighter to change your string, maybe $10 for everything.
You’ll need to tighten your diabolo every now and then and you’ll need a pair of allen keys or socket spanners depending on your diabolo brand. That’s another $20.
DVDs
DVDs are good for tutorials but are even better for inspiration!
The two I highly recommend are:
- Diabology by the Mad French Posse
- Planet Diabolo by Nico Pires, Priam Pierret and Thierry Delaveau.
Final Thoughts
Overall, diabolo is fairly cheap hobby.
If you want to start right with good gear, all the tools you’ll need, a backpack and a book (Diabolo From A To Z, for example), you’ll have to spend about $125 upfront and $60 every year on string.
The biggest expense for a diabolo player will be travelling to juggling conventions.
Otherwise, if you don’t go crazy buying all the diabolos, diabolo juggling doesn’t break the bank!
