Customer Reviews

Yet another lead holder that doesn't fit a standard rotary lead pointer. it's a nice pencil, the knurled grip isn't as harsh as the 600, has nice weight to it, and it looks nice. those are it's good points, but the bad points seem to outweigh the good. the the interior is plastic. everything inside the pencil except for the jaws are plastic. the male threads that hold the knurled grip to the body are plastic, and that's never good, especially for the price of the pencil. the pencil isn't very responsive, has a harsh click that scraps the body as you advance the lead. the jaws that hold the lead in place seem weak. i placed the pencil in a pierce electric lead pointer and the lead itself would just spin. the jaws don't provide the hold needed to sharpen the pencil. if we look at the staedtler 925, ( which doesn't fit into a rotary lead pointer either ) it does the same job this one does, but a lot better, and for a lot less. all the components are brass, no plastic in the assembly, has a strong clutch and operates very smoothly when advancing the lead. you would think that the rotring would do a much better job considering it's price, but unfortunately it doesn't . unless you want to just buy this piece to add to a collection, i say pass this one by, and jet pens, you should really buy one standard rotary lead pointer at an art store, and test the pencils to make sure they fit before telling your customers that they do.

mariochavez.deviantart.com

The best 2mm lead holder... EVER!!

I love this lead holder. It is heaver than the Staedtler 925-35 -- which I like. It is mechanically excellent, and has never failed to function. The lead sharpener in the cap works, but I prefer to use a dedicated sharpener -- less messy. The grip is standard Rotring.

This is the best lead holder I have ever found (I just bought 3 more just in case they ever stop making them)...

Background info: own Rotring 600 0.5mm silver (purchased from JetPens), 2000 vintage Rotring 0.5mm silver retractable mech. pencil (unsure of the model #), and Uni Kuru Toga (purchased from JetPens), engineer by trade so I take a lot of notes and draw a lot.

Purchased the Rapid Pro 0.5mm black after a lot of research as I was considering the Rotring 800 as I need a good retractable version of the Rotring 600. I love my 600 (and those around me who comment about it) in every way except for the non-retractable tip that scares me when I walk away from my office. Nothing compares to the feel of a good writing instrument.

People complain about the Rapid Pro's lightness (lighter than my 600, but a tank compared to most everything else), the less aggressive knurled grip (no issues as it still is knurled and provides good grip), too much plastic (the 600 has plastic parts internally and the only Rapid Pro plastic that you can touch without disassembly is the red strip. the body is all metal albeit thinner than the 600).

The Rotring 800 was too expensive and heavy...plus to extract the tip required you to twist the top. I prefer just to press down on the top in a single handed motion to extend the tip instead of 2 hands for the 800.

My older Rotring retractable has zero knurling on the grip, so it looks cool, but has zero grip. I wish the Rapid Pro had this type of retractable tip as the extension and retraction are made with simply pushing down on the top where as the Rapid Pro I have to push the tip in manually while pushing down on the top to retract the tip.

The only thing I don't like about the Rapid Pro is the hole in the top of the cap that shows off the eraser. Probably would have chosen the silver version if I knew of that hole. In general I like using it more than my 600 which is now been moved to home office duty...both awesome pencils, but the retractable tip is the trump card for workplace duty.

SparcEE

I've had my Rapid Pro for about a month now and am, overall, quite pleased. I was not overwhelmed by the ink the pen came with. I replaced it with a Parker Gel refill and am much happier with the writing. The pen is a joy to write with. Great weight. Lovely texture. Looks sharp. I have a few minor complaints. The first is that the clicky on the top of the pen feels a bit loose. No real problems with it yet, but it doesn't give the most confidence for long-term durability. The second is that the Rapid Pro is just not as nice feeling a writing implement as the Rotring 600 pencil. I miss the crisp lines and narrow styling of 600. The Rapid Pro is just slightly larger in diameter and the hexagonal shape is slightly rounded at the edge. Otherwise, I anticipate this being a pen that I will use for years to come.

I own many different 600, 800 and also Rapid Pro. I really can’t understand how somebody can say that the 800 is superior to the Rapid Pro. The 800 has a nice grip, nice quality, heavy stuff. But the tip of the 0.5 of the 800 compared to the tip of the Rapid Pro is “butter”. The 800 has this great “pocked safe” feature. But it is only great to save your pockets. When you can draw and/or write simultaneously with the 800 and the Rapid Pro you can really tell the difference. The Rapid Pro in my opinion is the best Rotring pencils available at the moment. Very stable, very comfortable, really a pleasure to use. Far superior from the 0.5 800. I am giving 4 stars because of the price. Please notice that the RapidPro price is 24.9 euro in Europe (less than 33 dollars). If you purchase them in stock you can get for sure a better price. I think that a selling price of 40 dollars should be fine.

I have to disagree with some of the reviews written here. This mechanical pencil, in my limited opinion, is WAY superior than the Rotring 600. I had the two of them, and I fell this one superior in almost every aspect. At least for my tastes this is a better pencil. Is longer, wider, and lighter than the rotting 600, AND it's pocket safe. I written a full head to head comparison in my site, feel free to check at nnil.es

The only negative point is the price, other than that, I can't recommend enough this puppy. But black of course!.

I just wanted to make the comment that on CultPens.com this pencil is not half-price. It is less than 28 pounds, which at the current exchange rate of 1.62 USD to 1 GBP makes the pencil about $45. Standard shipping to the US is 10 pounds, so the total price would be about $60. While it can be found for slightly less (I think pixie mall sells it for $49), rating an item low just based on the price is not standard practice. Feel free to include comments about price vs. quality, but please don't make that your only comment. It is not helpful. Review the actual product.

i just got this pencil today and it writes very good. it looks cool,it feels great>overall i would recommend this pencil to a lot of people.the only bad issue i have is that the cap has a big hole that shows off the eraser.all in all,i'm very happy with my buy.way better than the rotring 800.

I love this 0.5 mm pencil. I even purchased the Rapid Pro 1.0 mm ball point pen and the 2.0 mm lead holder (all silver). I bought a beautiful leather 3 pen case from Fountain Pen International (New York) and put together, what I believe to be, the ultimate set. For me anyway, the Rapid Pro is the perfect instrument from Rotring.

I love this, it's wonderful, it feels fantastic and it's perfect with one problem. It doesn't fit in the Staedtler lead pointer. I tried a million different ways, all to the breaking of leads. Does anyone know if there is a lead pointer that will fit it? Please tell me if you do. If there is a lead pointer that it fits, then it's beyond perfect and you shouldn't even hesitate to get one!

By far the best 2mm lead holder I have ever owned! This thing is fantastic. Good weight. Good balance. Never jams. Lead never slips. Only negative is no little ring to remind you what kind of lead you loaded into it. Closely matched with the 0.5mm version so you can switch back and fourth without needing to adjust your grip. I keep three of these and one of the 0.5mm ones in my drawing kit. Very highly recommended.

I purchased this pen about 3 months ago, and since then it has become the pen I go to for everyday writing. Prior to this pen, I was using the Retro 51 Hex-o-matic Black Ballpoint pen. My main complaint about this pen was that it felt scratchy when I moved the pen across the page. This is not the case with this pen.

The ink quality is smooth and bold. The weight is perfect, and the textured grip feels great between my fingers. My only complaint is that it takes a moment for the ink to start flowing. Whereas, the ink immediately began to flow from the Retro 51 Hexomatic.

The speed at which the ink begins to flow from the pen is less of an issue with me as is the feeling of moving the pen across the page.

I confidently give this pen 5/5 stars!

Buy this pen. You will absolutely love it. Ive had mine for about a week. I have a tried and true waterman I have been using for a while. Gave it up for daily use for this baby, although its slightly longer, the knurled end helps you write easier. You can control it quite well. Buy it. You will love it.

Worst waste of $57 dollars. Should've gotten a 600. Compared to my rotring 800, this pencil is crap. The page says its heavier than the 800 (rapid pro 1.85oz, 800 1.2oz), yet when I got my rapid pro, I thought was significantly lighter than the 800. Also, is the barrel plastic or something? I thought the rapid pro was supposed to be all metal? Anyways, I think this pencil is way overpriced for its quality. Its grip, barrel, and overall sturdiness is far inferior to the 800. I'd recommend either getting the 800 or the 600 over this pencil