After reading up on the technology involved in the latest Predator shafts and all the mixed reviews and opinions of forum posters I decided to pull the trigger for a Revo of my own. I bought the 12.4mm Uniloc shaft from Seyberts as soon as they became available for purchase and I received the shaft a couple days ago. I had the tip changed to a Zan grip hard by Seyberts as that is what I have used on my previous shaft, a 314'3 before and have liked it well.
To start off here is a picture of what you get when buying a Revo.
So you get a Revo shaft with a JP, some wipes and patches and in my case some Seyberts related stuff that is seen on the picture. There is also a pamflet of sorts that tells you about the shafts maintenance, warranty info and a small form for tip replacements and the thickness of the red silencer pad under the tip. Not really necessary in my case as I can change my own tips but it is there none the less
I tried my best to keep an open mind to a new product without any expectations regarding its feel or characteristics to be able to get an honest opinion about the shaft without falling for the hype or hate of others about it. Up on receiving the shaft the first thing that caught my eye was the surface finish on the shaft. I expected to see a little smoother, more polished surface but it has these small grooves on it that is shown in the pictures below. More on that later on. The second thing to cross my mind on the first few strokes was the sound the shaft makes as it glides in your bridge hand, it makes this subtle but noticeable noise as it goes moves across the hand but it is something that I got used to within the first few racks playing with it. The surface finish most definitely plays a part here, the texture makes a little noise but it sure makes up the sound by being extremely comfortable and slick feelwise. Smoothest shaft ever to play with without a glove, thumbs up for Predator for that. Another noticeable characteristic of the shaft is its static stiffnes. It is very stiff when applying sideway force by bending it against the table for example. I like this feature a lot, it gives a nice comfortable feel to shots where you need to bridge over balls or play with a very long bridge. The lack of a ferrule was weird for the first day of playing but I soon forgot all about it when I started to get a hang of it. Shaft stays clean well and is nice to play with or without a glove. Still havent opened any of the wipes as it is as smooth and slick still as it was fresh of the wrapper. Hit of the shaft is surprisingly natural and pleasing even with the hard tip that I had put on it. I like the hit better actually than the 314 and that is a lot said as I prefer the feel of 3rd gen 314 over the likes of Mezz for example. More feedback with the revo and a feel that is just gives you a confident feel when the ball is struck well and pure. Reacts well to extreme english aswell, it doesnt make a buzz or a nasty feel but the same solid feel that you expect from a center ball hit. Long story short, I like the feel a lot.
Here is a closeup picture of the shafts surface that I wrote about earlier on:
Playwise it is a little different than the 314 I was previously used to and it took me a few hours to get a grip of the Revo and to get my game going with it. Deflection is lower than a 314 by quite a lot and shots with extreme side took a little practice to get right. However the time spent getting to know it was surely well worth the effort. The revo is by far the most powerful and straightest shooting shaft I have used to date. By powerful I mean the immense energy transfer of the shaft, easily noticeable when breaking with it. I love the stiff hit of the shaft and the feel of pure power when breaking with it. Sorry BK2, you are taking the backseat for a while now By shooting straight I refer to how much compensation is needed from shot to shot when the force of shot changes. The difference of compensation needed from soft to medium hard shot is minimal and it just makes me feel good about my game, gives a nice confidence boost and makes for one less variable to think off when taking a shot. I took a short video to give a taste of what the revo sounds like when hitting a ball with it. The same shot takes with a 314'3 w/ the same tip is also shown in the video for comparasion
Apologies for the poor audio quality, the video is taken with a phone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmRLRJ3kat4&feature=youtu.be
And some more pics for your viewing pleasure:
To sum it all up in short;
The Revo shaft is a radically different take on cue building and shaft technology that will be something one likes and the other one hates. It is clearly not directed for the traditionalist but more to the new generation of players that have interest in new technology. With the price point being what it is not all players are willing to spend the money on one but I still think that money spent on a Revo is well spent. It is something new, something different than we are used to and I appreciate Predator for spending the time and money coming up with a carbon shaft.
On a sidenote I have high hopes for a carbon composite break shaft aswell.
Feel free to ask anything by commenting or by PM, I will do my best to answer if something comes up :smile:
Hopefully you enjoyed the read!
- Kimmo
To start off here is a picture of what you get when buying a Revo.
So you get a Revo shaft with a JP, some wipes and patches and in my case some Seyberts related stuff that is seen on the picture. There is also a pamflet of sorts that tells you about the shafts maintenance, warranty info and a small form for tip replacements and the thickness of the red silencer pad under the tip. Not really necessary in my case as I can change my own tips but it is there none the less
I tried my best to keep an open mind to a new product without any expectations regarding its feel or characteristics to be able to get an honest opinion about the shaft without falling for the hype or hate of others about it. Up on receiving the shaft the first thing that caught my eye was the surface finish on the shaft. I expected to see a little smoother, more polished surface but it has these small grooves on it that is shown in the pictures below. More on that later on. The second thing to cross my mind on the first few strokes was the sound the shaft makes as it glides in your bridge hand, it makes this subtle but noticeable noise as it goes moves across the hand but it is something that I got used to within the first few racks playing with it. The surface finish most definitely plays a part here, the texture makes a little noise but it sure makes up the sound by being extremely comfortable and slick feelwise. Smoothest shaft ever to play with without a glove, thumbs up for Predator for that. Another noticeable characteristic of the shaft is its static stiffnes. It is very stiff when applying sideway force by bending it against the table for example. I like this feature a lot, it gives a nice comfortable feel to shots where you need to bridge over balls or play with a very long bridge. The lack of a ferrule was weird for the first day of playing but I soon forgot all about it when I started to get a hang of it. Shaft stays clean well and is nice to play with or without a glove. Still havent opened any of the wipes as it is as smooth and slick still as it was fresh of the wrapper. Hit of the shaft is surprisingly natural and pleasing even with the hard tip that I had put on it. I like the hit better actually than the 314 and that is a lot said as I prefer the feel of 3rd gen 314 over the likes of Mezz for example. More feedback with the revo and a feel that is just gives you a confident feel when the ball is struck well and pure. Reacts well to extreme english aswell, it doesnt make a buzz or a nasty feel but the same solid feel that you expect from a center ball hit. Long story short, I like the feel a lot.
Here is a closeup picture of the shafts surface that I wrote about earlier on:
Playwise it is a little different than the 314 I was previously used to and it took me a few hours to get a grip of the Revo and to get my game going with it. Deflection is lower than a 314 by quite a lot and shots with extreme side took a little practice to get right. However the time spent getting to know it was surely well worth the effort. The revo is by far the most powerful and straightest shooting shaft I have used to date. By powerful I mean the immense energy transfer of the shaft, easily noticeable when breaking with it. I love the stiff hit of the shaft and the feel of pure power when breaking with it. Sorry BK2, you are taking the backseat for a while now
By shooting straight I refer to how much compensation is needed from shot to shot when the force of shot changes. The difference of compensation needed from soft to medium hard shot is minimal and it just makes me feel good about my game, gives a nice confidence boost and makes for one less variable to think off when taking a shot. I took a short video to give a taste of what the revo sounds like when hitting a ball with it. The same shot takes with a 314'3 w/ the same tip is also shown in the video for comparasion Apologies for the poor audio quality, the video is taken with a phone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmRLRJ3kat4&feature=youtu.be
And some more pics for your viewing pleasure:
To sum it all up in short;
The Revo shaft is a radically different take on cue building and shaft technology that will be something one likes and the other one hates. It is clearly not directed for the traditionalist but more to the new generation of players that have interest in new technology. With the price point being what it is not all players are willing to spend the money on one but I still think that money spent on a Revo is well spent. It is something new, something different than we are used to and I appreciate Predator for spending the time and money coming up with a carbon shaft.
On a sidenote I have high hopes for a carbon composite break shaft aswell.
Feel free to ask anything by commenting or by PM, I will do my best to answer if something comes up :smile:
Hopefully you enjoyed the read!
- Kimmo
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