Pretty Lucasi of plain Viking?

Would you buy the Le-16 Lucasi for $140 (gorgeous cue), or a Viking that's not as pretty for $125? Both of these are on eBay and are both awesome deals.. I'm having a hard time deciding.

[sonnic]

all depends on you... do you want quality or beauty? I can tell you this i was in the same boat as you a year or so ago and i spent 175 on a viking it was kinda plain but i was happy with it. I am now debating weather or not to spend about 5-600 bucks on an even better quality cue.

Its all personal preference.... Id recomend you go with quality.

[audiopro]

If you want something pretty get the Lucasi. If you want something that performs and will last you for many years, Viking....

[New Kid In The Hall]

Quite honestly, the Lucasi will perform too and if you like Predator products, you get the readymade Uni-Loc joint with the Lucasi.

Viking is a US made cue, Lucasi is made in China if you care. They both play well, I own many of each.

Yay thanks New Kid on the Hall. Mr. Audiopro was making me seriously regret my decision for a second there :-P

I got the L-E16 on eBay for $127.50 + $12.50 shiping. I couldn't be more excited!!

[audiopro]

Well Sorry!!!! :-P

As I said in one of my other posts, in the end, it is good to experiment for yourself and see what suits you... I hope you enjoy your Lucasi and I apologize for making you feel bad about your decision. Just trying to give my honest opinion.. ;)

Cheers!!!

So, I got the Viking in today! I must say--AMAZING!! It looks 5x better than it did in the pictures, and I am even close to saying it looks just as good as the Lucasi with all its points and everything (it's a little too "flash" i.m.o.)

Here are my impressions... I haven't hit the balls yet with the Viking but the shaft doesn't quite feel as slick as the Lucasi's. The Lucais's feels a little like plastic and is sliiiiiiick as butter while the Viking's shaft feels a little like rougher wood. :-/

So, I got the Viking in today! I must say--AMAZING!! It looks 5x better than it did in the pictures, and I am even close to saying it looks just as good as the Lucasi with all its points and everything (it's a little too "flash" i.m.o.)

Here are my impressions... I haven't hit the balls yet with the Viking but the shaft doesn't quite feel as slick as the Lucasi's. The Lucais's feels a little like plastic and is sliiiiiiick as butter while the Viking's shaft feels a little like rougher wood. :-/

I also noticed that the Viking's shaft had a strange taper to it--it seeemed like for the bottom couple of inches it tapers in dramatically and then straightens out (pro-taper, I know, but it seems like it's so "blunt" that it looks like a triangle with a cylinder on top.

Like:

| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
/ \
/ \

[New Kid In The Hall]

That's just the cue wax that Lucasi puts on it when they give it that final turn on the lathe. It makes the shaft glide...

Thanks New Kid. I thought it was some sort of wax or something. Either way... it's amazing! Would it wear off after a while? If it did, I may even buy more wax.. if this is something people do...

Check out this link to see my comparison of the two cues.

http://www.seyberts.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1763

BTW, should I chalk both sticks and see how I like them that way? So far I have only evaluated the "hit."

[CJK]

You can use cue wax, but it's hard to duplicate the feel that a factory or professional job has. As long as you don't clean the shaft with abrasives, the finish will last an amazingly long time. I had a Lucasi 2010 for about a year, and never had to re-wax it, even though I played around 8 hours a week.

Just so you guys know.. I'm selling my Viking now. Here's some much better pictures to it (scroll to the bottom). I'm asking $175 shipped. Thanks!

http://www.insidepool.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=7681&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=&vc=1