Cyclop vs Aramith Pro tournament

Pretty sure you'll get some "They look too ugly", "They skid way too often" comments.
I personally don't prefer one over the other, although to be fair, I've never tried aramith tournament, i only have a set of cyclop and aramith super pro.
They do play differently, even the new cyclop cue ball plays differently from their old one. I feel like the cyclop cue ball reacts a tad different from the measle ball
Other than that, cyclop stays much cleaner

As an avid fan of Cyclop, Aramith Tournaments AND Centennials, I can say this: cut induced throw - and cue ball spin induced throw is "almost negligible" in all three sets IF THE BALLS ARE polished/cleaned/flawless - especially the cue ball being wiped of chalk whenever it is lifted from the table.

IF I were tasked with putting those sets in order of best playing from a "minimized throw/skid" perspective OVERALL it would be TIE for 1st place with the Aramith Tournaments (Duramith 4 technology - not the Super Aramith PRO balls) and the Cyclop balls. Next would be the highly coveted Centennials - I know - you didn't mention those in the OP so I only used them to draw a comparison. My $1 worth.

Hope that helps :-D

K


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nfuids said:

Set aside the color for the argument

Well, I was told they were skidding less, due to increased hardness .. you'd disagree with that statement?

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I personally would agree with that statement

K2Kraze said:

As an avid fan of Cyclop, Aramith Tournaments AND Centennials, I can say this: cut induced throw - and cue ball spin induced throw is "almost negligible" in all three sets IF THE BALLS ARE polished/cleaned/flawless - especially the cue ball being wiped of chalk whenever it is lifted from the table.

IF I were tasked with putting those sets in order of best playing from a "minimized throw/skid" perspective OVERALL it would be TIE for 1st place with the Aramith Tournaments (Duramith 4 technology - not the Super Aramith PRO balls) and the Cyclop balls. Next would be the highly coveted Centennials - I know - you didn't mention those in the OP so I only used them to draw a comparison. My $1 worth.

Hope that helps :-D

K


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Click to expand...

I've played with them all and I agree with this assessment. I play with a set of conventional color Cyclop, with the older, translucent eyeball logo CB and love them. Incidentally, my Diamond table is in the garage, and I haven't gotten around to putting any carpeting/flooring around the table yet, just bare cement. Have had some balls jump off the table, bounce on the floor, especially the CB. Not a mark on the finish. I have a phenolic center on my break cue's tip, also no marks/dings on the CB. They're definitely hard and durable.

I have to ask since the Duramith composition was mentioned in this thread....what is it with the Duramith cueball? Is it composition, or is it weighting, but I feel like I get so much different reactions from it vs any other set of balls I've played with. I can't tell if it's due to slide, grab, what....but it's just a different reaction all together. Can still shoot with it....can still figure things out....it's just an adjustment different to any other set I've ever played with.

I prefer the cyclops with traditional cueball. I'd rather use the standard colour but the skittles set doesn't both me in the least.


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Have you tried it yourself, and see if there is anything noticeable?

nfuids said:

The poolhall I play at purchased a set of cyclop ball.

The owner told me that the cyclop balls are a bit harder and thus have less cut induced throw, less of cling time.

What do you say?

Is that true?

How do both sets of balls play differently?

Click to expand...

I was a diehard Aramith fan. The pool hall that I play league in switched to new 3.5'x7' diamonds and skittle colored Cyclops balls. I figured I needed to get used to them so I ordered a set for my house as well. My Cyclops balls have the older translucent cue ball. The cue ball was odd at first, but just seems like another cue ball after a few times playing with them.

The first thing I noticed was that the balls don't "Kling" together as much as my Aramith's did. It really through my game off for a couple weeks. I constantly over cut everything. It was so frustrating that I switched back to the Aramiths a couple times. Eventually I got used to them and now I play with them as if there was never a difference. Likewise, I noticed that when I banked balls I could not get near the spin on my object ball. Sometimes I would use left or right English on my cue ball to get the opposite English on my object ball in order to make a bank shot. The English just doesn't take as well from the cue ball to the object ball. Again, that took some time to get used to.

Overall I don't seem to get as much skidding when shooting and the Cyclop balls definitely stay cleaner much, much longer. I can't help but laugh when people complain about the colors of the Cyclop balls. The traditional colored set looks just like all other ball sets out there. The skittle colored Cyclop balls are not the only color they make!

Finally, I like the Aramith, Centennial, and Cyclop balls equally. They are all superior. However, I do feel like there is a learning curve when playing with different ball sets. No two tables play identical either. Learn to adjust.

djv122385 said:

I have to ask since the Duramith composition was mentioned in this thread....what is it with the Duramith cueball? Is it composition, or is it weighting, but I feel like I get so much different reactions from it vs any other set of balls I've played with. I can't tell if it's due to slide, grab, what....but it's just a different reaction all together. Can still shoot with it....can still figure things out....it's just an adjustment different to any other set I've ever played with.

Click to expand...

Good question.

I don't "think" there is anything different about the way the Duramith 4 cue ball interacts with the other object balls or the Simonis cloth in the various levels of play I use them in (8/9/10 ball and 14.1 mostly).

This has been brought up before in various ways so I pulled out one of my trusty stimpmeters and did some collision testing using the donuts and numerous other balls from various sets over the last 40 years. When I say balls, I'm specifically referring to the original issue cue ball and object ball that comprise a given set - like the Aramith Crown Standards or the latest Brunswick Centennials. I DID ALSO take the Duramith 4 cue ball and for fun used it against numerous 8 balls from various sets (as long as they were within 1/2 gram of the Duramith balls.....

The angles and speeds after impact were as close to identical as you can get - using my basic field/table testing methods that is - that I did last year.

Now that you've got my curiosity up a notch, I'll pull another "test" rabbit out of the hat this weekend under closer scrutiny for grins and see what develops.

K

nfuids said:

The poolhall I play at purchased a set of cyclop ball.

The owner told me that the cyclop balls are a bit harder and thus have less cut induced throw, less of cling time.

What do you say?

Is that true?

How do both sets of balls play differently?

Click to expand...

If they have them and you play there why don't you judge for yourself? :shrug:

nfuids said:

Set aside the color for the argument

Well, I was told they were skidding less, due to increased hardness .. you'd disagree with that statement?

Click to expand...

I whole heartedly disagree. I grew up using Aramith, when i biught my table last year i got the Skittles too. I cannot guarantee they skid more, i believe they do but have never really kept count. That being said, ehem they do skid, THEY SKID REALLY BAD.

nfuids said:

I certainly will. They only bought 1 set though.. and having a table at my place, I don't play there often...

Wanted to exchange my aramith pro tournament (or sell them) to get a cyclop set..

Will see

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Why sell them? Keep them to really compare and have a choice of balls to play with.

Here is a link to buy the Cyclops at a reasonable price

http://www.sears.com/search=cyclops balls?QParsing=1&s_tnt=62651:1:0

Or buy them direct from the vendor that sells thru Sears.

http://www.gameroomguys.com/Parts-A...liards-Cyclops-Traditional-Pool-Ball-Set.html


You have a choice of the TV set or standard.

I bought the TV set and it came with the new big red dot CB even thought the picture shows the Cyclop eye.

I got to try some cyclop balls for the first time yesterday. They seem to react different. They dont throw the object ball as much as aramith. Inside english squurts a little more. They sound muted. Was odd.

xxNineBallxx said:

I got to try some cyclop balls for the first time yesterday. They seem to react different. They dont throw the object ball as much as aramith. Inside english squurts a little more. They sound muted. Was odd.

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My longtime Seyberts account rep, who is a very good player as well as a certified instructor, sells all the various makes of balls. His opinion/expertise in the pool cues and accessories industry is valued as highly as anyone I know of. When I asked him his opinion as to which balls are the best, he didn't hesitate in saying the Belgium made Saluc balls (Aramiths and Centennials) are far superior to anything the Asian market has yet to come out with - specifically the Cyclop balls.

We've also heard more than one touring pro player who posts on this site who says the pro players dislike having to play with the Cyclop balls in the tournaments they sponsor. Obviously it's bad enough to the point that I've noticed even some tournaments that Cyclop sponsors, they use an Aramith Pro Cup Cue ball, I'm assuming because the players have complained so much about the Cyclop cue ball.

Qaddiction said:

My Cyclops balls have the older translucent cue ball.

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I think that's the cueball that can easily roll-off in slow speed.

The old Cyclop logo sticks out from the edge of the ball .

You can actually feel the logo.

Can't understand how Cyclop expected those balls to roll perfectly straight when
we all know that pros, and others, often ask referees to clean even just a little chalk
smudge off the cue ball.....let a lone a logo that is clearly very easy to feel, and you
can obviously never take it off the cue ball.

Cyclop tend to crack in a commercial environment. I own a 14 table pool hall with Cyclops provided by Diamond. Seven of the 1-Balls and one 2-Ball developed cracks and a chip came off of one of those. I’ve been waiting 3 months for replacements. On a positive note they still look new after 3 1/2 years ... except for the cracks.