A few months ago, I bought a Becue. I got it in a very timely manner from Alessandro in Italy. The price including the optional weight system was roughly 700 euros. I played with the cue for a few days. While at the time I didn't care for the feel, and I was missing a lot of shots, there was something about the cue that told me I would be a better player if I stuck with it. I am VERY happy I did. It took me a while to love it, but I love it. I am a pretty solid player with a Fargorate of 620+. I only usually play in one tournament a year because I am not really into tournament play. But my experiences with this cue might encourage me to play in more tournaments.
Construction:
The first cue I received I felt had something wrong with the shaft. You must realize that the cue is made with no sanding, no lathe, no turnings. The cue is built up lamination of carbon fiber materials. It is essentially a laminated tube filled with sound absorbing material. On my cue, I felt there was a weakness in the shaft about 3" from the tip end that was affecting the play. The shaft had a roll out in that area as well. I should point out that the roll out is not a warp. The way the shafts are made, it is hard to get them dead straight. The squirt was higher than a 314 but very consistent. I discussed it with Alessandro and sent the entire cue back for testing. They returned the cue with the original shaft and a new shaft. they mentioned that they did not notice a difference between the two shafts, but I definitely did. The new shaft was straight and played solid.
Adjustment Period:
Understand that my experience of adapting to this synthetic cue was difficult. They are a lot different than wooden cues. They feel different and flex differently. The results are not the same as a wooden shafted cue. This was a huge adjustment. Unlike a wooden shaft, the feel of the hit on the cue ball feels pretty much the same no matter what spin you put on the ball. There is no sense of a bending, vibrating shaft on side spin shots. Once I adapted to the shaft, which took about a month of regular practice, my game started coming together.
I feel like my game has improved and will continue to improve quite a bit from changing to the Becue. But if it has, why?
- It's easy to aim. The white shaft is like looking at a string to your point of aim.
- There are no surprises. You get very consistent, similar results each time.
- The cue does not exaggerate spin errors. It does not exaggerate cueing mistakes. Of course, correct aim is important but if anything, minor errors in cueing are not very significant. I play on a very tight (4") table. Usually any minor errors result in misses. The Becue minimizes the effect of these sort of errors .
- English is produced with easy to control effort. The results are very predictable and accurate, once you fully adjust to the cue.
The bottom line is simply this: The combination of easy to aim, predictable results with forgiveness from minor cueing errors results in more balls pocketed and better position play.
Feel: It is unlike any cue I've played. There is virtually no vibration. Some will call the feel "dead" and in many ways it is. What I've learned is the feedback comes from visual shot results. This is one of the reasons it takes so long to adjust.
Squirt: I would say that the squirt is a little higher than most LD shafts. But it is well within tolerance and it is consistent like no wooden cue I've ever used.
Where they can improve: The handle is a hollow carbon fiber tube with weight in the back. The cue would be better balanced if the weight was distributed more evenly in the handle. To make a long story short, the cue feels an ounce or two lighter than the actual weight, because the weight is so far rearward.
Also, I think the manufacturing tolerances need to be 100% and I think these guys, who are very respectable, will get there.
To get a Becue, email alessandro.bressan@becueofficial.com . The cues are guaranteed not to warp and should last a very long time. Based on my experience, I am confident that synthetic cues will eventually replace wooden cues in pool.
Construction:
The first cue I received I felt had something wrong with the shaft. You must realize that the cue is made with no sanding, no lathe, no turnings. The cue is built up lamination of carbon fiber materials. It is essentially a laminated tube filled with sound absorbing material. On my cue, I felt there was a weakness in the shaft about 3" from the tip end that was affecting the play. The shaft had a roll out in that area as well. I should point out that the roll out is not a warp. The way the shafts are made, it is hard to get them dead straight. The squirt was higher than a 314 but very consistent. I discussed it with Alessandro and sent the entire cue back for testing. They returned the cue with the original shaft and a new shaft. they mentioned that they did not notice a difference between the two shafts, but I definitely did. The new shaft was straight and played solid.
Adjustment Period:
Understand that my experience of adapting to this synthetic cue was difficult. They are a lot different than wooden cues. They feel different and flex differently. The results are not the same as a wooden shafted cue. This was a huge adjustment. Unlike a wooden shaft, the feel of the hit on the cue ball feels pretty much the same no matter what spin you put on the ball. There is no sense of a bending, vibrating shaft on side spin shots. Once I adapted to the shaft, which took about a month of regular practice, my game started coming together.
I feel like my game has improved and will continue to improve quite a bit from changing to the Becue. But if it has, why?
- It's easy to aim. The white shaft is like looking at a string to your point of aim.
- There are no surprises. You get very consistent, similar results each time.
- The cue does not exaggerate spin errors. It does not exaggerate cueing mistakes. Of course, correct aim is important but if anything, minor errors in cueing are not very significant. I play on a very tight (4") table. Usually any minor errors result in misses. The Becue minimizes the effect of these sort of errors .
- English is produced with easy to control effort. The results are very predictable and accurate, once you fully adjust to the cue.
The bottom line is simply this: The combination of easy to aim, predictable results with forgiveness from minor cueing errors results in more balls pocketed and better position play.
Feel: It is unlike any cue I've played. There is virtually no vibration. Some will call the feel "dead" and in many ways it is. What I've learned is the feedback comes from visual shot results. This is one of the reasons it takes so long to adjust.
Squirt: I would say that the squirt is a little higher than most LD shafts. But it is well within tolerance and it is consistent like no wooden cue I've ever used.
Where they can improve: The handle is a hollow carbon fiber tube with weight in the back. The cue would be better balanced if the weight was distributed more evenly in the handle. To make a long story short, the cue feels an ounce or two lighter than the actual weight, because the weight is so far rearward.
Also, I think the manufacturing tolerances need to be 100% and I think these guys, who are very respectable, will get there.
To get a Becue, email alessandro.bressan@becueofficial.com . The cues are guaranteed not to warp and should last a very long time. Based on my experience, I am confident that synthetic cues will eventually replace wooden cues in pool.
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