Predator Z2 vs. Lucasi Hybrid Shafts

wwjdwithca

Registered
I have both of these shafts in the pool room, so I thought it would be fun to provide my thoughts on them, and maybe somebody in the same/similar position as me might find it helpful.

The two shafts in question are the Lucasi Hybrid:
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and the Predator Z2:
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Both are low deflection (LD) shafts and both are constructed similarly in that they are radial laminated shafts. The Predator however is a 10 piece shaft while the Lucasi is an 8 piece. From a specification standpoint, the Predator seems to have an edge, but playability standpoint I cannot tell the difference in stiffness.

Both shafts provide me with the power and confidence that I lack when using standard deflections shafts. However, I will admit that I do not own an 11.75 mm "standard" shaft, so naturally the smaller size adds stiffness in itself, but I'm really not trying to persuade anyone to use these laminated LD shafts. I don't have enough table time on any of the alternate shafts one could buy (like a McDermott I-3) to fully understand what these two shafts bring, and what they don't bring, but I can compare and contrast these two.

The Lucasi shaft:
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was purchased from Lucasipoolcues.com, which is not affiliated with Lucasi by the way with the LZ2000SP butt. This was the only place I found that I could upgrade the shaft when buy this cue. I paid $270 before shipping.
The Predator shaft:
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was purchased as a shaft only on Seyberts.com and I upgraded the tip, and extended the shaft to 30". I mated the shaft with a McDermott Lucky cue that I bought for $42. The shaft was $231, so you can see the prices were almost identical.

Like I mentioned earlier, the shafts are very similar in deflection qualities, but I prefer the Predator shaft over the Lucasi in nearly every way. First of all, feel. the Lucasi has an almost grainy feel to it, to the point that I used a really fine steel wool on it a few times to smooth it out better, and its still not as nice running through my fingers as the Predator. This grainy characteristic is demonstrated in maintenance as well. The photo below shows both shafts after the same amount of cleaning:
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You can see how much more chalk remains on the Lucasi (bottom) than the Predator shaft. This was the case before I used the steel wool on it as well if you were wondering.

I'm a taller player, so the ability purchase a longer shaft was excellent, and of course the Predator upgraded tip is better than the standard Lucasi (Tiger Everest) tip.

Both provide really firm hit quality when I'm trying to hold long shots, as well as significantly reduced squirt. Some do not like the hit quality of those shafts, I love them since I am about results, and I pot more balls with these shafts than I do with my other shafts, so that's all good. Whatever they are doing, bring it on, and then some :)

Do they feel different from each other? My answer is "No", better players may say differently. Interestingly, I like the butt better on the McDermott; it has a nice slim feel to it. However, it's not as pretty as the Lucasi and the McDermott joint, 3/8"-10 is a really, really slow connecting system. The Lucasi inter-loc is a super fast, and never prematurely breaks open like the Action Cue quick connection joint can do. However, once connected the McDermott cue is extremely solid, almost like a single piece cue where the lucasi joint will rattle if you were to lay it down on the table surface. Not some nasty rattle, but it makes a noise, were the McDermott makes no such noise. All in all, the McDermott joint is superior, because really, does it really make a difference that you're playing cue takes a few more seconds to assemble? Jump cue, yes, but you're playing cue, no.

Obviously, I'm a big fan of 11.75 MM tips. Some say they make longer shots more difficult. That may be, but it's really pretty small in my mind, and the ability to control english is far superior, at least for me.

The Predator shaft is a great shaft, versatile (30" option), and you can easily have the tip upgraded upon purchase. If you need to have a Predator butt, you're going to spend over $400, so it quickly becomes significantly more expensive, and not such a great buy anymore. But in the configuration as I purchased, easily better than the Lucasi, and probably still even if one had to pay over $400 for the Predator version since I like the 30" options so much.

I'll attach all the images as well so you can see them better.
 

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Physiqz

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I prefer the Lucasi Hybrid LD Slim shaft over the Predator Z2 and 314 shafts.
 
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