Are we seeing the end of wood cues?

garczar said:
Both cf and aluminum bats can exhibit a trampoline effect. Its not a result of the cf breaking down. Composite bats used in college ball now have limits on the ball's speed when struck. As for cues, cf doesn't play much different. Big plus's are its durability, slickness, warp resistance. More of a ownership benefit than in how it plays. I've tried a bunch of them and am still using my Mezz HybridPro(orig version). Its solid wood with a cf rod in it. Great shaft.
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Actually, mlb rules require wooden bats. If the players had their way, they would use these in a minute.
 
garczar said:
i never said anything about mlb rules. cf bats can be made to same ball speed specs as ash or maple bats.
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True, but my point was that is why they aren’t used in the major leagues, whereas tennis, golf, hockey and skiing will never see wooden equipment again at the high end. Imagine the scandal you would see about juicing those bats, and how hard it would be to detect without actually testing the bat.
 
And to make my point about cost, I’ll trade two of our tennis racquets for one name brand cf shaft, three if you include a good cue butt.

The relatively high price for cf shafts will continue to come down, and with the potential to match or exceed the quality of wooden products, I expect within a few years they will dominate the market. Yes, the high end cue makers are truly skilled artisans, and make beautiful high performance products. At the mid and low ends, not so much. They are not going to be interested in seasoning perfect maple billets for years, opting instead for high production/low cost, which they can get with cf. We have seen the movie several times now—high initial costs that drop rapidly as it becomes a consumer product.

Get over the fact that the shaft blanks come from China or Taiwan. They make essentially all of the cf tennis racquets, ski poles and bike frames sold in the world today, and have learned how to make excellent products. Cf shaft blanks and the work needed to turn them into a good cue shaft is childs play compared to those, and guaranteed to come way down in cost as the novelty wears off and the competition shows up.

My offer stands for now about the tennis racquets, but I suspect that by this time next year I wouldn’t think about such a deal.
 
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Of course not. I play with a carbon fiber shaft and I like the feel. I wouldn’t say it’s better for everyone but it’s better for me. It has a different feel then a wood shaft and some may like that feel and some may not. The amount of wooden cues being made and sold is 1000x compared to carbon shafts. wood isn’t going anywhere.
 
bbb said:
i guess its a chocolate / vanilla kind of thing
:)
btw
what is a "frankencue"?
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straightline said:
like Frankenstein. Cobbled together.

Incidentally that birdseye cue up there isn't mine. I'll post a pic of my new favorite by tomorrow. You'll laugh.
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And here's the new baby.
Alaskhalla.png

Valaska.png


Straight off Amazon, ASKA No Wrap, $49.00. It was the only look that spoke to me. Shaft was sub standard so I rifled my collection and found a Valhalla ($40.00 used) that matched (give or take) and rolled straight enough screwed in. Hits at least 14 hundred worth. :D
 
Meh, it's still the Indian and not the arrow. Maybe I could see top level pro's switching if it does offer a modicum of improvement but for the layman it is just great marketing to sell a product for 500 that has 25 in materials in it.
 
Das Cue-Boot said:
True, but my point was that is why they aren’t used in the major leagues, whereas tennis, golf, hockey and skiing will never see wooden equipment again at the high end. Imagine the scandal you would see about juicing those bats, and how hard it would be to detect without actually testing the bat.
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they can make ballspeed-legal cf bats now for about the same cost as wood. MLB stays with ash/maple out of tradition and the sound more than anything else. nothing 'CRACKS' like lumber. one of the truly glorious sounds in all of sport.
 
Was at the pool hall last night. About 60 players ages from twenties to seventies. I saw four playing with carbon fiber, one about twenty something, two middle age, and one in his sixties.
 
I
thenaturalpoolplayer said:
I personally was the first to jump onto the carbon fiber cues well before any of the pros started adopting them. I found this weird because carbon fiber cues are superior in every way imo, but pros seem so attached to their cues they were reluctant to switch over. I can go from deflection to no deflection, from cue to cue etc without much affect on my overall game...but obviously I prefer to play with just one type which is the REVO btw. I prefer the butt and shaft be carbon fiber not just the shaft.

I never understood all the emphasis put on the inlays and wraps and stuff with pool cues either? What's the point? Carbon fiber, no wrap is the way to go. Anyway, I see the pros are finally catching up to technology.
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I’m running these roads with a John Nimmic Wood pin , 19oz 11.9 …… LETS GET IT WOOOOOOOOOOOO , who wants some ?
 
Just want to clean up the bat thing if possible. Meant no controversy. Yes carbon fiber can be made to the same coefficient as wood. It is used in amateur leagues. Youth, school. college etc. because it is more cost effective. Wood bats break frequently, carbon fiber doesn't. It is resilient stuff. Carbon fiber also has a larger more forgiving sweet spot. Yes garzcar, the fibers can be broken down and bats become up to 20% livelier. Back in the early 2000's people used gadgets that resembled old wringers on wash machines or just beat them off a telephone pole. There were bat doctors all over the internet crushing and shaving bats. May still be? Everyone did it for the competitive edge. We had to have our bats measured by a blood pressure type machine (had to hold a certain psi) and certified for tournament use. It was so bad that it is now a suable offense if somebody is injured with a tampered bat. Last I say about baseball bats.
Happy Holidays. Shoot well everyone.
 
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