Rotring Initial Matte Black Metal Review

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

If you want something with a Sensa grip, go for the Sensa Meridian. Then, give us a review. It should not matter much because they are essentially the same company.

 

Dillon

[ballboy]

Dillo: so Sensa is owned/made by Rotring for Sandford or something like that? Explains why Lewertowski from France sells them: he's big on Sandford products.

 

Southpaw: how did I not realise you are Trekker> be proud and call yourself that instead of wussy Trekkie> nice pic of a Ba'thleth by the way. A Rotring styled like that would be tricky to write with, if you wanted to keep your fingers

[vision35]

I have an Initial. Don't really like it because with the cap posted it's too top-heavy, as the reviewer noted. Without the cap, it's slick as can be and rolls away whenever I put it down on the table.

 

I do like how the nib is easily replaced...slips on and off.

[U5512]

My first Rotring Initial is a black/silver body with extra fine nib and I like it alot which led me to buy another silver/silver body Initial . The extra fine nib on the Rotring isn't scratchy at all.

[meanwhile]

I've just picked up a black and silver XF Initial too. In a nut shell:

 

- The textured metal grip works really, and the long curving body shape is comfortable.

 

- I'd prefer a screw cap, but the Initial's push-on is very secure.

 

- The pen is bigger than I though - almost 1cm longer capped than my Senior Balance.

 

- I don't write posted with any pen (except maybe the M200 I just bought my gf). But the Initial... my gawd - the cap moves the centre of gravity back about 2 inches..

 

- The XF nib is smooth, not at all dry, and very rigid - from now onwards if I find an especially unbending nail I'll say "Look! I've found a nail that's almost as stiff as a Rotring Initial!".

 

- The shape of the pen combined with the sold construction (even if the mid-section is plastic) and metal ferule on its butt would make it a very effective weapon even without that amour-piercing grade nib being exposed. What is it with Rotring???

[Pendragon]

A fountain pen designed to work in an airplane... What a cool development!

 

After reading southpaw's excellent review I went and got a matte black and silver Initial with a fine nib. At $45, it is a good deal indeed. The pen is quite heavy, even when not posted, but seems quite pleasant to use. The body appears to be made out of brass. Although many here seem to find it unwieldy when posted, I always write with it that way, mostly to avoid misplacing the cap. As others have noted, it is a lot more balanced unposted though.

 

Thanks to all the folks who posted in this thread, and especially to southpaw for the fine review.

[aderoy]

I have just inked my first Rotring Initial, must say it is a pleasure to use. The pen is never posted, good habit in my opinion. Yes it is heavy due to the construction, but not over so if not posted. Have already gone through the first cartridge and looking for more paper to continue writing.

 

The line from the F point has some variance, smooth, hard as a nail. The sweet spot is large , does not matter if you hold it low or high angle.

 

Will not replace a 'highend' pen for class or showmanship, it is a daily workhorse. The grip section is in my humble opinion is of the better designs, do not like the short stubby or slick chrome finger sections. Would not hesitate to suggest this pen as a first time buy.

 

It will be in my daily rotation for work pens without a doubt.

 

The clip will hold onto my pocket unlike the Cross Aprogee which just slips off no matter what. Did anyone every check?

 

The first cartridge was of course the one in the package, and now it has been filled with Pelikan Royal Blue.

[yarek]

You mentioned Skynn here... I have that pen and if the nib is the same as in Initial I don't want to try the Initial. Maybe I just got a defective one... I will buy another one to see wheather it's true or not. Then I will post a review.

 

There is no problem with the grip on the Skynn. And I guess it does not look that strange after all Nib - that is the problem.

 

Sorry for the offtopic, but I just wanted to let you know

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

Most if not all Rotrings are very very smooth writers. Send yours back and they should fix it up.

 

Dillon

[rob7749]

I just received my Initial via mail this past Friday. There was an article in the current Stylus Magazine on Rotring and the Initial is pictured. It looked kind of a neat shape and I thought I would try it if the price was right. Found prices ranged from almost $100.00 online on down. If anyone is interested I got mine from StylusCentral.com

There are blowing them out at just $19.99 right now. Their regular price was $59.99. I got a fine point and find its a very smooth writer. It also has a kind of neat retractable stylus on the opposite end of the pen. When not in use it retracts out of sight with a twist and you don't even know its there. My other pens are a Pelikan 600 Souveran and a Lamy 2000 so this is much heavier than I'm used to but unposted you quickly get used to the weight and it lays down a nice wet fine line. Get 'em while the price is so low.

[arvadajames]

This is one of the many things I love about fountain pens! I bought Rotring Initial about a month ago, and I absolutely hate the pen. The shape, weight, feel, balance, cap posting, you name it - I can't find anything that I like about this pen. But, on the other hand - some people love it. I am just so glad that we have such a wide variety of FP at every price point.

[Bernie0104]

Hi all! I'm new to the site and just thought I'd add my 2 cents here! I owned one of these Rotrings - a nice pen in my opinion. Unfortunately, I dropped it and the resin barrel broke! However, I was thinking of buying a replacement from Lewertowski, as he has the newer aluminium-barrelled version in some nice colours. Check them out out here if you're interested:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROTRING-INITIAL-BLUE...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

He has them in both medium and fine nib widths, I think.

[blak000]

Just got the initial in the mail today. Haven't had a chance to try it with a converter yet, still waiting on the bottled ink to come in the mail (I'm a recent FP convert). I can't really comment on the quality of the pen, because, before it, I was using a Parker Vector and an old Sheaffer school pen. Not a big fan of the Vector, too skinny for my fingers, but love the Sheaffer. Compared to the Sheaffer, the Rotring is HEAVY. It's got a very good balance, though, and feels good in the hand, but only unposted. Whenever I try to write with it posted, it's like I'm fighting the weight of the pen just to write; extremely uncomfortable. Oh well, a small flaw in an otherwise great pen (as far as I can tell, anyways, LOL).

[KG4KAH]

Good Day Southpaw,

 

A great review, and a great pen. Let's hear more reviews from you, you have a gift.

 

Regards,

 

Wade

 

Edit: I recently bought another Initial from the Fountain Pen Hospital. The pen was on sale, and I was worried that the brand might disappear. At $45 dollars, the pen is truly a bargain. I really like the way this pen writes. To me, it is not at all heavy, and it is extremely smooth. My only complaints are:

1) The pen does not come with a converter. You have to buy this item separately.

2) The nib is extremely stiff, so takes a little getting use to.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2007 by KG4KAH

[Splicer]

Just got the initial in the mail today. Haven't had a chance to try it with a converter yet, still waiting on the bottled ink to come in the mail (I'm a recent FP convert). I can't really comment on the quality of the pen, because, before it, I was using a Parker Vector and an old Sheaffer school pen. Not a big fan of the Vector, too skinny for my fingers, but love the Sheaffer. Compared to the Sheaffer, the Rotring is HEAVY. It's got a very good balance, though, and feels good in the hand, but only unposted. Whenever I try to write with it posted, it's like I'm fighting the weight of the pen just to write; extremely uncomfortable. Oh well, a small flaw in an otherwise great pen (as far as I can tell, anyways, LOL).

 

Similar experience here. I never had a problem with my Initial until I switched my grip from a two-finger-plus-thumb grip to a one-finger-plus-thumb grip. Now it's comfortable if I don't post the cap, but I generally prefer to post the cap.

 

My Initial is the "data point" version, with a PDA stylus at the end opposite the nib. It's surprisingly unobtrusive, revealing just a small hole if the stylus tip is retracted. The designers may very well have come to a compromise about balancing the weight so that it would be comfortable writing with the opposite tip and the pen capped.

 

For some reason the Initial is one of the best writers of all my Rotrings, but not a good sketcher. I'm really not sure why this is. Maybe it's the balance, maybe it's the flexing characteristics of the spade-shaped nib... really I just don't know why, but I've found it very comfortable for writing and less so for drawing. Most Rotrings are either just as good for either or else more suited to drawing.

[blak000]

Interesting, Splicer. I'm not completely sure, but I think I've seen your avatar before. You don't, perhaps, have a blog? If I remember correctly, you reviewed some fountain pens on there, for drawing purposes? I'll feel a bit stupid if it was on this board, lol.

 

Well, I couldn't wait for my bottled ink (Private Reserve Midnight Blue). I caved and picked up some Parker Quink at the local Staples. Loaded the Initial up, and started writing away. I had already flushed out the pen previously, just in case there might be some factory grease/oil inside the feed. Here are my initial impressions of the pen:

 

I'm kind of in the same camp as Splicer: writing unposted is more uncomfortable, but I tend to prefer writing with the cap on. I tend to switch between the two, actually, just doing whatever I'm in the mood for. Writing posted tends to shift the center of gravity a bit, forcing the pen to tilt more parallel to the desk. I've found that the pen feels smoother when this happens, but it gets a little tiring after a while. Writing without the cap is more akin to writing "normally" for me, since it feels much lighter (the Initial is heavier than any pen I've used, and that's WITHOUT the cap). However, I think I'm going to gradually try and get into the habit of writing posted. Hopefully my forearm muscles will strengthen enough to the point where I won't notice the weight anymore.

 

Anyways, for the most part, the pen is really smooth. I love the way it feels when I'm writing with this pen. There have been a few times when it didn't start up right away, but it was really momentary. Not a big problem, but a little annoying. My Sheaffer (which I mentioned in an earlier post) is not as smooth as the Initial, but it ALWAYS starts up instantly. Of course, it's also a wetter writer, so that might be part of the reason for this. I guess the only other complain has to be the weight, but, like I said, it's something I hope to get used to eventually.

 

I noticed the Parker Quink tends to feather slightly with this pen. It's not a huge deal, but you can notice it if you look for it. However, I think this is just an anal complaint on my part; overall the writing looks fine.

 

After spending a day with the Rotring, I must say that I'm very pleased with my purchase. It's definitely a step up from the fountain pens I was using before, and fulfilled the expectations that I had for it. I bought it for $43 (shipping, tax, and converter included) off of ebay. Pretty good price, in my opinion; maybe a few bucks cheaper than what they're selling for on FountainPenHospital.com?

 

I think next I'm going to try and get my hands on a Lamy Safari! I start summer school in a month, and it looks like a good "school" pen. I think I'd be in a really bad mood if something happened to my Rotring in class! :embarrassed_smile: I'm thinking of getting the fine nib. I've read people saying that the Lamy's run wide, but someone here ended up getting the X-tra Fine for that reason and found it to be too fine. Any opinions as to what I should get would be greatly appreciated! My Sheaffer was a medium, and although it was OK... I find that I much prefer the Rotring's fine nib.

Edited June 1, 2007 by blak000

[altoclef]

Thanks for the review!

 

I've been using an Initial for about a month now, with a fine point and black laque on metal finish. It is very smooth and rather dry. I tried it with PR's Lake Placid Blue first, but after getting really pale results I've switched to Noodler's Black, which is a much better fit. The weight is fine, but it pretty much rules out carrying it in a shirt pocket. The balance is another thing entirely. It's taken a while to get used to writing with such a tail-heavy pen. Posted or not, it's a pretty strange feel. Actually, I have taken to posting most of the time because the matte laque finish doesn't move as freely over my hand as the metal cap does. Still, it writes the first time, every time, and allows smaller, more legible writing than any other FP I own.

 

My question:

Has anyone had experience with both the metal/lacque barrel and plastic barrel versions? Is the balance the same, or does the plastic barrel shift the balance toward the nib?

 

I'd be interested to know the answer, and to read any other thoughts or suggestions.

 

Cheers,

Andy

[hrjunior]

The innovative APC (Air Pressure Compensation) system of the fountain pen prevents ink leakage and ensures smooth writing, even during flight.[\quote]

 

This feature really works? Somebody already tried?

[bbs]

Received my Initial last week, and really like it - except for the section! Mine seems to be plastic - whatever it is, it looks horribly cheap and spoils what is otherwise a really nicely designed pen. I've got the matt black version, which looks great with the silver metal of the cap and end of the body ... and then there's that nasty cheap silver bit inbetween ..... Ah well, it's still a good pen for the price.

[Sixgunner]

I just ordered this pen and I'm glad it's has some positive reviews. I can't wait to recieve it!