Would you say the Whyte carbon shaft feels softer than the Cuetec Cynergy and the Rhino?
Anyone Use A Rhino Carbon Fiber Shaft?
- Thread starter Eric M.
- Start date
No. But that's qualified because it's 11.85mm so it's not apples to apples.
Not dead in and of itself, but softer relative to the Rhino. It has a newer How medium so it's not fully set in is my guess. Describing the shafts with words considering all the variables is a near hopeless task. I doubt I can do better.
Ok, just spent 4 hours on the table with the Rhino 12.2mm with the Chinese radial joint. It's a keeper and will become my main shooter. Solid but precise. Very controllable. Shockingly low deflection. (my guess is because its thinner shaft is even lighter than an already low deflection standard diameter).
I'm not a narrow shaft guy, but since I started wearing a glove I feel more secure with a snugger closed bridge. This allowed me to learn the benefits of a narrower shaft. And for me this Rhino just works. Now we'll just have to see if it's a moneymaker.
I'm not a narrow shaft guy, but since I started wearing a glove I feel more secure with a snugger closed bridge. This allowed me to learn the benefits of a narrower shaft. And for me this Rhino just works. Now we'll just have to see if it's a moneymaker.
It fits mine just fine.
I've also had the opportunity to use my carom shaft for about 4 hrs and I am very happy with my purchase.
Maple shafts match in terms of performance and deflection.......I saw where you stated that you were new to the sport, don't get hung up on Low Deflection shafts, the deflection is not in the shaft but in how much the CUE ball deflects when struck off center with the shaft, ALL shafts no matter what they are made of will cause the cue ball to deflect if not struck DEAD CENTER, you will miss shots if you don't account for this or if you think you are striking the cue ball dead center but you are not, with a low deflection shaft the cue ball will deflect less but you will still have to account for it or you will miss shots, I use a CF cue because it will never warp, it's not affected temp or humidity, lower maint, If you haven't already check out Dr. Dave billiards, good luck with your game .
I found the same thing, I missed some shots this week in league and worked on those misses the next day, moving both hand equally I made long hard cut shots over and over after using PHE, both inside and outside english.
I had that problem with an 11.8mm shaft, went back to 5 months later, I had to pay more attention to where I was striking the cue ball, smaller tip more action but you have to be more precise where you strike the cue ball, don't need to hit as far off center to get good action either.
Thanks. I need to keep in mind, 90% is me and 10% my gear, not the other way around. I just started some of Dr. Dave's videos. A lot of good info. there. Right now I'm trying to improve my breaks. They are not consistent. I'm finding lots of good tips there and other places. I did splurge a bit and ordered a Rhino CF break shaft. I figured I got the CF playing shaft for $20, I could spend a some on a break shaft, especially during their sale. I'll let you all know how that works out.
It occurs to me that one can go bankrupt purchasing everything on sale. Dammit.
Soo true. To be Bill Gates or Elon Musk .......
The more you spend the more you save!
I think I'll empty my retirement coffers and purchase 4500 Rhino shafts. Wait...4499 Rhino shafts and 10 Taom V10 chalks. Boom son!
Rhino Carbon Fiber Break Shaft. 2 shafts, tips coming off and the fix.
I purchased a Rhino CF playing shaft and really liked it. After using it a while I was curious how a CF break shaft would perform (not enough that I’d spend $350 to find out). I’d been using a J&J break cue but was now not happy with the tip (very hard phenolic) and was curious if a carbon fiber shaft would have enough “less deflection” that I would even notice. The J&J is 14 mm and pretty stiff.
Rhino released a carbon fiber break shaft for around $200. It came on sale with free shipping and I had a 5% off coupon. For $170 with tax, I was going to give it a try. 13 mm, special Rhino tip, pro taper, 4.0 to 4.5 oz.. It came well packaged like my playing cue and had no carbon fiber dust as others had issues with. This was the case with the first and second shaft I received (read on).
I set up for an evening of breaks. It had more control than the J&J but the tip was harder than I expected. Later I learned it was phenolic. I’m not sure if I missed that in the on-line description or if it was left out. It doesn’t matter, that tip has been discontinued, the newer tips are not phenolic. The shaft felt stiffer but I think the biggest difference I was feeling was the tip. I was an improvement for me except I only got about 15 breaks in when the tip came out.
This was a weekend evening and I sent a message to Rhino. I’m not sure what day or time it was in Vietnam, but I got a response in about 15 minutes. An impressive response time that anyone who’s ever tried to contact support, can testify to. They informed me there is a known issue with the tips. They offered to send me a replacement tip, the newer “Komet Break” tip. As with all tips, it was over sized and would need trimming and shaping, nothing I wanted to do with a brand new shaft. I asked if I could return my shaft and get another with the new tip installed. That was not an issue, they sent a return shipping label and when the new shipment of shafts with the Komet tips arrived in the US, it was shipped to me. I racked up and this time got 6 breaks in before the tip flew off. I’m a hard breaker but considering the J&J has held up to my breaks and every other person that has used it here, with no issue for about 9 months, I don’t think this would fall under the category of abuse. I sent about 5 e-mails to Rhino with pictures and asking what happened. What’s going on?, did I get a shaft with the older tip?, what can we do now? (no swearing, insults or rude comments!). All I got was 2 return shipping labels and a promise to refund once they received the shaft.
My plan was to return the shaft but after some thought, I decided I’d try one more thing. I did like the feel of the shaft and tip. I was either going to install a new tip on my J&J or purchase a different CF break shaft. The later was probably never going to happen! I now had a CF shaft for $170 with no tip. Maybe it was worth spending a bit more to see what could be done. I hated the idea of throwing money away if nothing could be done. After all, if the manufacturer couldn’t get the tip to stay on (even after a tip redesign) what could I or a shop do? I started calling around and e-mailing shops to get some feedback. I finally reached California Billiard Supply (Lens) about 45 miles away. They had had some experience with tips coming off of the less expensive carbon fiber shafts. He had several suggestions: Add a vault pad if there was not one already, 2 part epoxy, change the ferrule if it was made from a less desirable material (I can’t remember what that material was). He would need to see the shaft and suggested I bring it down on a Saturday when he had a pair of tournament players that moonlighted as techs there. They were also interested in demoing the shaft if they could keep it in one piece! I went in with the shaft, the tip that came off, a new Komet Break tip that was sent to me and an UltraSkin Black HH break tip. The 2 techs scrutinized the shaft and tips. The ferrule was of good material, the tips had vault pads, the tips looked good. Their conclusion - poor prep of the shaft end and tip before assembly. I asked what they suggested doing. They said let’s rough and score the shaft and old tip and reattach with Cyanoacrylate glue. I asked if they wanted to use 2 part epoxy. They said no. I reminded them it’s an 1 ½ drive there and back for me if this doesn’t work. They offered to fix it right then and said we could use it there until I felt comfortable the tip was staying in place and if it came off during play, they could move on to plan 2. They did just that and 4 of us used the cue for about 45 minutes. The techs suggested doing a few jump shots to really stress test the repair. It held up. I took it home and did some more breaking with it and it seems to be “fixed”. I’ll update this if I have any more issues.
The review, and I’ll include the feedback from the techs who demoed it at California Billiard since they are much better players than myself. I wish I had taken notes while they were using the shaft but I was not expecting this. No one had anything negative to say about the shaft. 4 users and it seemed everyone had different preferences for what they were looking for in a break shaft. There seemed to be more interest in comparing tips and several other shafts were brought out for play and comparison (a real treat for me). The Komet Break tip is softer than a phenolic tip which is what myself and one other were looking for. The other 2 preferred harder tips. All of us agreed the shaft had good feedback. I could feel a difference between my J&J and the Rhino CF. Once home I continued breaking. It’s been a week now. My 9’ table is larger than what we were playing on in the shop. I’m finding I’m using more force on the larger table and am now feel the tip is just a bit softer than I’d like. I think I might have liked the first tip better! It sounds different than the loud “clack” of the J&J but I guess that should be expected. I’m not to particular about the sound but it was noticeably different.
In conclusion, it’s unfortunate Rhino is having this issue. It seems like an easy fix. I wonder if others are having similar issues with the Rhino break shafts, I can’t be the only one. I’ll probably send one last e-mail to Rhino telling them what I did since I won’t be returning the shaft. I’m happy with the shaft now that the tip is staying on. Not too happy with what it took to get to this point. My total investment is $195 which is pretty good for a carbon fiber break shaft. I don’t think the shafts are on sale anymore so you can decide for yourself if it’s worth it. An odd way of looking at it- if you want to change the tip after using the Rhino break shaft a few times, you’re half way there! I’ll eventually try a different tip down the road but for now, I’ll stick with the Komet Break tip.
First 2 pictures on red felt are the 1st tip failure. Next 2 pictures are the Komet tip failure. Last 2 pictures are of the new Konet tip next to the Komet tip that came off.
I purchased a Rhino CF playing shaft and really liked it. After using it a while I was curious how a CF break shaft would perform (not enough that I’d spend $350 to find out). I’d been using a J&J break cue but was now not happy with the tip (very hard phenolic) and was curious if a carbon fiber shaft would have enough “less deflection” that I would even notice. The J&J is 14 mm and pretty stiff.
Rhino released a carbon fiber break shaft for around $200. It came on sale with free shipping and I had a 5% off coupon. For $170 with tax, I was going to give it a try. 13 mm, special Rhino tip, pro taper, 4.0 to 4.5 oz.. It came well packaged like my playing cue and had no carbon fiber dust as others had issues with. This was the case with the first and second shaft I received (read on).
I set up for an evening of breaks. It had more control than the J&J but the tip was harder than I expected. Later I learned it was phenolic. I’m not sure if I missed that in the on-line description or if it was left out. It doesn’t matter, that tip has been discontinued, the newer tips are not phenolic. The shaft felt stiffer but I think the biggest difference I was feeling was the tip. I was an improvement for me except I only got about 15 breaks in when the tip came out.
This was a weekend evening and I sent a message to Rhino. I’m not sure what day or time it was in Vietnam, but I got a response in about 15 minutes. An impressive response time that anyone who’s ever tried to contact support, can testify to. They informed me there is a known issue with the tips. They offered to send me a replacement tip, the newer “Komet Break” tip. As with all tips, it was over sized and would need trimming and shaping, nothing I wanted to do with a brand new shaft. I asked if I could return my shaft and get another with the new tip installed. That was not an issue, they sent a return shipping label and when the new shipment of shafts with the Komet tips arrived in the US, it was shipped to me. I racked up and this time got 6 breaks in before the tip flew off. I’m a hard breaker but considering the J&J has held up to my breaks and every other person that has used it here, with no issue for about 9 months, I don’t think this would fall under the category of abuse. I sent about 5 e-mails to Rhino with pictures and asking what happened. What’s going on?, did I get a shaft with the older tip?, what can we do now? (no swearing, insults or rude comments!). All I got was 2 return shipping labels and a promise to refund once they received the shaft.
My plan was to return the shaft but after some thought, I decided I’d try one more thing. I did like the feel of the shaft and tip. I was either going to install a new tip on my J&J or purchase a different CF break shaft. The later was probably never going to happen! I now had a CF shaft for $170 with no tip. Maybe it was worth spending a bit more to see what could be done. I hated the idea of throwing money away if nothing could be done. After all, if the manufacturer couldn’t get the tip to stay on (even after a tip redesign) what could I or a shop do? I started calling around and e-mailing shops to get some feedback. I finally reached California Billiard Supply (Lens) about 45 miles away. They had had some experience with tips coming off of the less expensive carbon fiber shafts. He had several suggestions: Add a vault pad if there was not one already, 2 part epoxy, change the ferrule if it was made from a less desirable material (I can’t remember what that material was). He would need to see the shaft and suggested I bring it down on a Saturday when he had a pair of tournament players that moonlighted as techs there. They were also interested in demoing the shaft if they could keep it in one piece! I went in with the shaft, the tip that came off, a new Komet Break tip that was sent to me and an UltraSkin Black HH break tip. The 2 techs scrutinized the shaft and tips. The ferrule was of good material, the tips had vault pads, the tips looked good. Their conclusion - poor prep of the shaft end and tip before assembly. I asked what they suggested doing. They said let’s rough and score the shaft and old tip and reattach with Cyanoacrylate glue. I asked if they wanted to use 2 part epoxy. They said no. I reminded them it’s an 1 ½ drive there and back for me if this doesn’t work. They offered to fix it right then and said we could use it there until I felt comfortable the tip was staying in place and if it came off during play, they could move on to plan 2. They did just that and 4 of us used the cue for about 45 minutes. The techs suggested doing a few jump shots to really stress test the repair. It held up. I took it home and did some more breaking with it and it seems to be “fixed”. I’ll update this if I have any more issues.
The review, and I’ll include the feedback from the techs who demoed it at California Billiard since they are much better players than myself. I wish I had taken notes while they were using the shaft but I was not expecting this. No one had anything negative to say about the shaft. 4 users and it seemed everyone had different preferences for what they were looking for in a break shaft. There seemed to be more interest in comparing tips and several other shafts were brought out for play and comparison (a real treat for me). The Komet Break tip is softer than a phenolic tip which is what myself and one other were looking for. The other 2 preferred harder tips. All of us agreed the shaft had good feedback. I could feel a difference between my J&J and the Rhino CF. Once home I continued breaking. It’s been a week now. My 9’ table is larger than what we were playing on in the shop. I’m finding I’m using more force on the larger table and am now feel the tip is just a bit softer than I’d like. I think I might have liked the first tip better! It sounds different than the loud “clack” of the J&J but I guess that should be expected. I’m not to particular about the sound but it was noticeably different.
In conclusion, it’s unfortunate Rhino is having this issue. It seems like an easy fix. I wonder if others are having similar issues with the Rhino break shafts, I can’t be the only one. I’ll probably send one last e-mail to Rhino telling them what I did since I won’t be returning the shaft. I’m happy with the shaft now that the tip is staying on. Not too happy with what it took to get to this point. My total investment is $195 which is pretty good for a carbon fiber break shaft. I don’t think the shafts are on sale anymore so you can decide for yourself if it’s worth it. An odd way of looking at it- if you want to change the tip after using the Rhino break shaft a few times, you’re half way there! I’ll eventually try a different tip down the road but for now, I’ll stick with the Komet Break tip.
First 2 pictures on red felt are the 1st tip failure. Next 2 pictures are the Komet tip failure. Last 2 pictures are of the new Konet tip next to the Komet tip that came off.
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I owned both and I like the Rhino much better. To each his own.
I have a small “pro shop” in a local pool hall, I’m not a great player (485 Fargo) and have ordered/sold/tried most of the cf shafts available.
Before I continue I have to say that everyone has a different opinion on what they like/dislike, try as many as you can before making a decision.
With that being said, what is currently in my case is a cynergy and an OB cf shaft. I like the hit and “feel” of the cynergy, love the interchangeable joint on the OB (which is the same as the Spartan and Whyte cf shafts). I wasn’t impressed at all with the rhino, especially the tip. In my opinion only, it fits the old adage “you get what you pay for”. Is it a good starter cf shaft? For the price it isn’t bad, but it isn’t one that I would stick with. I would lean more toward bull or spartan for a starter due to the joint options, better hit and feel (purely subjective) and adapt over if you change cues.
Before I continue I have to say that everyone has a different opinion on what they like/dislike, try as many as you can before making a decision.
With that being said, what is currently in my case is a cynergy and an OB cf shaft. I like the hit and “feel” of the cynergy, love the interchangeable joint on the OB (which is the same as the Spartan and Whyte cf shafts). I wasn’t impressed at all with the rhino, especially the tip. In my opinion only, it fits the old adage “you get what you pay for”. Is it a good starter cf shaft? For the price it isn’t bad, but it isn’t one that I would stick with. I would lean more toward bull or spartan for a starter due to the joint options, better hit and feel (purely subjective) and adapt over if you change cues.
TipWilson
Well-known member
Needed a backup shaft so I ordered a uniloc Rhino CF for $170 otd.
Put 4 hours on the new Rhino 11.8 shaft today. Perfect fit on an older Predator SP. Super slick, feels and hits much like my Revo 11.8. Straight and true, no complaints.
My opinion after some non technical comparison/evaluation play...
More deflection than my Revo 11.8, but less than my Z1 wood shaft.
It's a keeper for sure. Great value for the money IMO.
Put 4 hours on the new Rhino 11.8 shaft today. Perfect fit on an older Predator SP. Super slick, feels and hits much like my Revo 11.8. Straight and true, no complaints.
My opinion after some non technical comparison/evaluation play...
More deflection than my Revo 11.8, but less than my Z1 wood shaft.
It's a keeper for sure. Great value for the money IMO.