Which Pen Company Makes The Best Rollerball Refills?

[Gloucesterman]

Have an old Pelikan 200 roller ball and have used an Aurora fine point refill. Have also used Visconti roller ball refills in Sepia and Turquoise, both fine points. This was a while ago and I do not know if they are still available.

 

For me a .5mm is the maximum size for a point. I do not enjoy writing with a broad ball point or roller ball unless I absolutely have to do so.

[doriath19]

+1 on Pilot G2 refills. Considering they cost about 1/10 the price of Visconti refills and write just as well (or better in my opinion), it's hard to go wrong.

[SUNIL GARG]

I have been using Parker & Waterman Rollerballs. Nothing to differentiate between those, no matter Waterman RB refill

costs 3 times as much in India.

 

The came Pelikan RB in Lozenge Body. The Ink was a darker

black & wrote better but sometimes skipped ( My favorite

Parker never skipped). But, then a Pelikan RB refill costs 10 times as much as a Parker Quink RB Refill in India!

 

Then, some 6 months ago I got a Sailor RB free with my

purchase of a Sailor(PG pen). The EF point is outstanding-

frankly I never expected to be bowled over by a RB.

 

Such high quality RB point in EF! Great!

[Simon Templar]

I like my Tombow better than most others I've tried but it's proprietary.

 

Another vote for Tombow. I have a Havanna and the Tombow refills are the best I've used.

 

They're a pain to find however. At one point I had to shelve the pen for nearly two years before I found refills again.

 

 

 

 

...sT

[lovemy51]

i inject FP ink in most of my RB refills (i dont have many).

[lovemy51]

Pentel EnerGel refills and Pilot g2 refills. Where one fits the other will fit as well. I have a tough time deciding between the two.

are we talking "gel" here? then, yes, i like the energel refills... Pilot, not so much.

[jdivitto]

Another plug for the G2. I used to use the Mont Blanc and found myself without a refill one day. Stopped at a local Office Max and the were out of my normal refills so gave the uber cheap G2 a try. I haven't used anything since. They write beautifully and last longer at a fraction of the price.

[novarider]

Another plug for the G2. I used to use the Mont Blanc and found myself without a refill one day. Stopped at a local Office Max and the were out of my normal refills so gave the uber cheap G2 a try. I haven't used anything since. They write beautifully and last longer at a fraction of the price.

 

The g2 as well as the EnerGel both fit in Montblanc pens incase you didn't know.

[BrandonA]

Montblanc followed by Parker

[torstar]

Tough to find a roller/gel/ballpoint that won't quickly start leaving blob of ink where the pen first touches the page.

 

It goes in the trash the first time that happens.

[novarider]

Tough to find a roller/gel/ballpoint that won't quickly start leaving blob of ink where the pen first touches the page.

 

It goes in the trash the first time that happens.

 

 

Do you mean a small amount of ink more than the lines you create when writing or do you mean a large blob?

 

The g2 as well as the EnerGel don't leave blobs.

[gbee]

+1 for G2 Pilot gel refills. Prior to reeds covering fountain pens I had been using a Waterman Hemisphere RB w G2 refills for the past 3 yrs and nothing else

[exospy]

Which luxury rollerball pens will the Sheaffer fit? How about the Pilot G2 rollerball refill? Are they the same size/shape?

 

I saw that standard rollerball refills go into the following from another post:

Aurora

Bexley
Faber-Castell Ambition
Monteverde Invincia
Monteverde Invincia Black Tie
Monteverde Regatta
Rotring Initial
Rotring 600
Taccia
Visconti
Waterman

 

Anything else?

Edited September 12, 2015 by exospy

[Algester]

for Pilot

http://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Precise-V5-RT-Roller-Ball-Pen-Refill-0.5-mm-Blue-Pack-of-2/pd/2385

for Uni-ball

http://www.jetpens.com/Uni-UMR-85-Gel-Ink-Pen-Refill-0.5-mm-Black/pd/2595 (its good its the same as the G-2 size so I could practically fit it into any pen that uses G2 size from Pilot

[Melchott]

I have been using Parker rollerball refills for more than ten years now, and as it is expected, I love how they work and write, but now I am using the first one produced in France instead of the UK (I had a large stock purchased from eBay) and it feels different to me. It has a more scratchy feeling, and it seems as the inks flows less smoothly. I have already write a post wondering if anyone has observed something like that with the French refills.

 

As I was worried about this worsening of Parker refill (and curious about this blue black refill option that Monteverde has) I decided to betray my dear Parker refills and purchase a couple of Monteverde refills. My first setback was that they only have a fine point option and I prefer the medium point, but nevertheless I purchased them. After being using one of them for a month, I only can say bad things about it, really unreliable, it is difficult to write a single word without passing twice over it. I have tried the other one and it seems that writes better, but I will need some more days to see how it works.

 

These two disappointments lead to me to explore other brand refills, and I am really impressed by two refills:

- OHTO Ceramic refill C-305

- TROIKA rollerball 5888M

 

I think that this last one is actually a SCHMIDT refill renamed by the produce of the pen.

 

I look forward your opinions (I am new in this site).

 

Best regards

• Quote
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[Valkyrii]

@Melchott I have to agree with you. I've tried Monteverde refills for various pens and I find them horribly unpredictable. Some write great for a day then lose color or skip or I even had the ball drop out of one. Sadly this isn't for just one platform either. I've tried the parker style, the schmidt roller stule, the montblanc style, ballpoints and rollers and they simply have no consistent quality.

 

That said I know this thread as a whole is pretty old, but 'BEST ROLLERBALL REFILL' is relative.

 

We each like something different for different reasons. Some people love fine point, others medium and so on.

 

I happen to be a fan of Pilot G-2 and Pilot Juice refills. I feel the colors are solid and consistent and the quality is 8/10. I shaved a few points as occasionally the ink shifts in the reservoir. I prefer medium point for most projects however their bold is fantastic...if you like bold. These refills fit in MANY BUT NOT ALL rollerball pens that take Schmidt roller refills. If you have to forve it eventually something is going to break on the pen.

 

The new Uniball 307 ink writes very well. Better than the 207s imo. The black is deeper and the ink flows smoother on most production notebook paper.

 

For parker style refills, I prefer the Delta brand refills although hard to get. Keep in mind I like medium refills and hate fine point. The Parker brand are ok, but I have had bad experiences with leakage. The monteverde are terrible.

 

The parker roller refills have improved a lot, but they are not for everyone. Actually one of my favorite combos is a Ranga Bamboo matt green pen with a parker roller refill. The pen itself is warm and has character that is accentuated by the line quality of the parker which can vary sometimes depending on pressure and angle.

 

I don't really like any capless rollers. The Lamy capless writes well but has horrible longevity. The Schmidt do not deal well with highlighters. I have recently ordered the Montblanc Schidt style capless to see what it fits and how it writes.

 

Cross is another brand that has improved greatly. I use their blue roller refill frequently. I use it in schmidt style pens though as I'm not a huge fan of Cross's latest pens.

 

Then there is Montblanc. They tend to be controversial in some circles maybe because of price, I don't know. I have a Starwalker loaded with a broad fineliner (my daily carry,) a Generations loaded with a purple roller and an Alpha Prometheus loaded with a black medium roller. I like their inks. They write well and they hold up on a page.

 

As for the Schmidt style, there are a lot of choices. Many I haven't even tried yet. Schmidt itself tends to be fairly reliable even if mostly unremarkable.

 

What kind of pen do you like.

What kind of refill do you like (medium, fine, xtra fine, broad)

What color do yo like (many mfrs have great blacks and horrible blues, and so on.)

Are yo upatient and can order via internet or need right away

etc etc etc

Edited January 6, 2016 by Valkyrii

[Zookie]

There are 3 refills that I've found suit my needs perfectly. I'm cheap, so price has been a big selling point.

Avant gel refills from staples. They are cheap, very smooth, and fit an awful lot of pens. Color and size are limited however.

Signo 207 refills, which are being phased out, and Pentel Energel (lots of colors, very smooth).

I haven't had much luck with the G2 refills, maybe I got a bad batch.

[Valkyrii]

There are 3 refills that I've found suit my needs perfectly. I'm cheap, so price has been a big selling point.

Avant gel refills from staples. They are cheap, very smooth, and fit an awful lot of pens. Color and size are limited however.

Signo 207 refills, which are being phased out, and Pentel Energel (lots of colors, very smooth).

I haven't had much luck with the G2 refills, maybe I got a bad batch.

 

Good call on the Avante refills. I do like how they write although I have had a few leak on me. Sorry to hear on the Pilot G2s. I've had exceptional luck with those and almost never a bad one.

[elysee]

Based on the comments, many like Parker rollerball refills. However, I find Parker rollerball refills to be VERY scratchy. Sadly, Parker does not even have a broad/bold rollerball refill; Parker does not make a broad/bold gel ink refill for ballpoint pens (only medium and fine) either.

 

While I find my many Parker Duofold rollerball pens and Parker Sonnet rollerball pens to absolutely beautiful, the Parker rollerball refill (as well as the Monteverde refil for Parker rollerball pens) detracts from what should be an enjoyable writing experience. I am currently working on a way to fit a Parker style ballpoint refill to my Parker rollerball pens (creative use of pen springs and removable space filler) so that I can use the broad/bold refills (Parker style ballpoint refill options) available from Schmidt, Schneider, Visconti, and Monteverde in these pens.

 

In regard to my other rollerball pens such as my Elysee, Waterman, Montblanc, Caran D'Ache, Cross, Cartier, ... rollerball pens, I use the following refills, some with added tape to create the necessary missing "bump" and others with added pen springs:

• Schmidt Safety Ceramic Roller 5888 B (broad) refill,
• Pilot G2 gel ink Bold refill,
• Cross Select Tip gel ink refill, and
• Monteverde Broad gel ink refill for Pelikan rollerball pens.

All of these are great writers, providing a smooth, enjoyable writing experience with beautiful ink curves.

 

Those of you who own Dunhill Sidecar rollerball pens may be surprised to know that the Parker style refill (gel ink or hybrid ink, of course, for greater writing enjoyment) can be fit to the rollerball by simply adding a short rollerball spring to the end of the refill. Prior to my adding the spring, I had used a bit of tape to create the needed "bump" but the spring works even better. Since I did not like the short rollerball refills (they were scratchy) and since these refills were not available in broad/bold, searching for other options was a necessity so that I could enjoy my beautiful Dunhill Sidcar fiery red rollerball pen.

 

Of all the rollerball refills that I have used, I would say that the two (2) rollerball refills providing the least enjoyable writing experience are those made by Parker and Waterman as each are scratchy and their ink does not flow smoothly like the inks in the above mentioned Schmidt, Pilot, Cross, and Monteverde refills. Of course, the lack of the broad/bold option in these refills is an added negative.

Edited January 8, 2016 by elysee

[Shaggy]

I absolutely love the Uniball Signo 207s, especially with the .5 mm tip size. I hadn't heard they're being phased out...is the 307 an improvement, does anyone know?