[Discraft] Cyclone.....Love it or Hate it?

[Zunz]

This seems like as good a place as any to put this (searched and read through the cyclone threads)...

I bought an X Cyclone a couple of months ago thinking it could take the Teebird slot in my bag as everything else in there is shifting towards Discraft. They're next to each other on the Marshall Street chart after all. HAhahahaha!!! Joke was on me! I'm not sure if I got an anomaly (Discraft = The consistency company?) or if Marshall Street and all the other ratings on this disc are wrong... But it's the flippiest disc I've ever thrown. It's harder to keep in the air than the Wolf was! Everything but giant sky anhyzers thrown on extreme hyzer angles that flip up and turn right until they hit the ground seem to turn into rollers. My Cyclone is more touchy than my Comet and that's NOT what I bought it for. I can't imagine I got anything but a bum disc.
It's funny that when I carried a mostly Innova bag I still carried a Buzzz and Drone and eventually shifted from Stingray to Comet completing the Discraft mids, and now my bag is almost all Discraft except the fairway discs (Teebird, Leopard and usually an Eagle). But I digress...
Is my flippy junk Cyclone typical of Cyclones? Or did I just get a dud? At this point, I'm in the hate column. It came out of the bag yesterday and I'm already thinking about who I'm going to give it to.

 

[ranger]

See if the garbage can wants it

 

[Hyzenberg]

My first fairway driver, had a love hate relationship. Felt strange in my hand but flew pretty true. I could never get past the feel and opt'd for a TeeBird, I know bag three Teebirds (Beat DX, G* TB and a Champ TL)

I still throw the cyclone during field work, but I out drive it with every TB mold in my bag. This is all subjective though, I started with all discraft disc and converted to innova. The innova disc's just feel right in my hand as I am sure discraft just feels better in others hands.

 

[Zunz]

See if the garbage can wants it

Tossed it at the can... It turned on its side, missed and rolled behind the couch.

 

[armiller]

I bought an X Cyclone a couple of months ago thinking it could take the Teebird slot in my bag as everything else in there is shifting towards Discraft. They're next to each other on the Marshall Street chart after all. HAhahahaha!!! Joke was on me! I'm not sure if I got an anomaly (Discraft = The consistency company?) or if Marshall Street and all the other ratings on this disc are wrong... But it's the flippiest disc I've ever thrown. It's harder to keep in the air than the Wolf was! Everything but giant sky anhyzers thrown on extreme hyzer angles that flip up and turn right until they hit the ground seem to turn into rollers. My Cyclone is more touchy than my Comet and that's NOT what I bought it for. I can't imagine I got anything but a bum disc.
It's funny that when I carried a mostly Innova bag I still carried a Buzzz and Drone and eventually shifted from Stingray to Comet completing the Discraft mids, and now my bag is almost all Discraft except the fairway discs (Teebird, Leopard and usually an Eagle). But I digress...
Is my flippy junk Cyclone typical of Cyclones? Or did I just get a dud? At this point, I'm in the hate column. It came out of the bag yesterday and I'm already thinking about who I'm going to give it to.

I can't speak to whether you got a dud. I've thrown one Z Cyclone (173g) that I got around 10 years ago and still like to throw. It's a bit of a dinosaur, but definitely not flippy like yours sounds. But I figure if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Unless you're trying to get sponsored by Discraft, why bother switching off of the Innova fairway molds? There's a reason tried and true discs like the Teebird/Leopard have stuck around, while the Cyclone (which was a cutting-edge "distance" mold) has been more or less replaced, even in DC bags.

If you really want to fill the slot with a Discraft mold, have you tried the XL? Some also like the Stalker/Tracker, though I haven't tried.

 

[Zunz]

True, I will probably stick with the Teebird/Leopard/Eagle shelf, I just like trying out new plastic, you might call it an addiction.
I was handed an esp XL a couple of weeks ago... So far it seems to fly almost exactly like my Mantis, longer and less stable than a Teebird.

 

[Dr.Smooth]

First distance driver for me. Loved this disc- had over 20 at one time. It was the disc that broke the mold so to speak.

 

[mavsfan]

Yeah when you consider what the disc has become in the age of the Warp-Speed Driver it is probably amazing there are still 2 varieties of plastic in regular production. My first round was with a Lightning P-38, but the Cyclone in black TP was the 1st disc I bought. I would carry a heavy (167-170) and a light (150 class) version of TP Cyclones & X-Clones and laugh at the West Texas wind when my game picked up a bit...

And then I lost both Cyclones. I picked up an Elite X Cyclone a couple of years ago and it was immediately my tunnel shot specialty disc. It is no longer in the bag but I still carry a Z-Cyclone for my "longer Buzzz" shots.

 

[Ted Bratton]

Love em, one of the first discs I threw was a nice esp cyclone. Love the mantis more though.

 

[Three Putt]

Just posting this to deflect to Cyclone hate from today; it was ruining my equilibrium.

 

[Zunz]

Unless you're trying to get sponsored by Discraft, why bother switching off of the Innova fairway molds?

I was thinking about this today while I was at the disc store and out throwing afterwards. I believe the answer is consistency. Discraft is supposed to be putting out a more consistent product.

I have 5 Avenger SS's and they all fly pretty much the same (except the 151g pro-d experiment that I've had for several months, it's WAY flippy (as is my 150g Pro-D Nuke)). I used to throw Sidewinders but their stability (even when brand new) seems to be all over the map, I have one in star plastic that flies like a Destroyer! Speaking of Destoyers, I have a 172g G* Destro that flies like a Roadrunner (and a 168g Destroyer that is a meathook for me). I want to know that when I lose or break one of my discs that there is a pretty good chance the new one I buy will fly like the one I lost. It's been my experience that those results are pretty likely when buying Discraft whereas Innova is more of a crapshoot.

 

[armiller]

Just posting this to deflect to Cyclone hate from today; it was ruining my equilibrium.

Haha! I'm sorry for anything that could be construed as Cyclone hate! Nice pic.

Zunz, maybe see if you feel good with a Z Stalker.

 

[Dan Ensor]

I'm planning to add Cyclones to compliment my Eagles. I've tried Leopards, but they just don't hold on and glide out like Cyclones. It's just so sad how hard it is to find the right Cyclone anymore.

 

[Three Putt]

I'm planning to add Cyclones to compliment my Eagles. I've tried Leopards, but they just don't hold on and glide out like Cyclones. It's just so sad how hard it is to find the right Cyclone anymore.

It's kinda like a tale of two discs...Comet was only available in X, kinda headed for the dust bin of disc golf history. They make an LE ESP run and people noticed. The bring it back in Z and it sells. Now it is back in full force and people are throwing it again.

They Cyclone was in production in D, X and Z. The Z's sucked and were discontinued, but a few years later the disc came out in ESP. The ESP's were really, really good Cyclones. Nobody cared, they didn't sell. Now the ESP's are OOP and you are left with the X's (which I never though had the glide that a really good Cyclone should have) and the D's (which are pretty flippy and not very durable.) Now the Cyclone is the disc that looks headed to the dust bin of disc golf history. I've already stocked up on ESP's to go along with the stack of Tournament Pros I have left from the 90's, so I'm set. It's hard to recommend it to anybody now, though. Finding good throwers now isn't as easy as it should be.

 

[Twmccoy]

Hate it. I used a Cyclone a bit as a beginner with 300' power, but once I started throwing harder the Cyclone became obsolete. It's too slow and finicky in the wind to be of any real use. Teebirds and Eagles are both better and have better flight lines than the Cyclone.

The Z Cyclone is like throwing a brick. Zero glide.

 

[mavsfan]

I actually feel like there are 3 discs here, and thus if falls into a knock on the Discraft staple of strength (consistency). So the tale of 3 clones...

The original Tourney Pro was an incredible disc. It was THE distance machine in the early-mid 90's and had a VERY strong finish. It did eventually get flippy but not like the baseline plastic characteristics of today.

Then Discraft went into multiple baselines and the Cyclone went all over the place in terms of consistency as a result. I like the disc in X (not as much as TP), though I do not bag that version currently and I feel like this version also wears more quickly than the original plastics. I also have a few in Pro-D but only the 150 class Pro-D ever made my bag, but it is no longer there.

In the advent of Premium plastics the Z hit and apparently missed. I was out of the game for an extended period of time (most of which these iterations took place) but I truly love using the Z as a LONG MID with a very wind resistant profile. It is my current Clone in the bag and I aced with one late in 2015.

ESP was probably the most "critically acclaimed" version since Tourney Pro and IMO is the most similar plastic as far as grip, durability, and flight characteristics. So place this one and TP in the same category. I have about 3 in reserve but again I am not currently bagging this version because the Z does exactly what I need for Mid/Fairway hybrid.

My HOPE is that there is enough demand from Tournaments to keep the disc available - I recently picked up a pair of ESP-FLX X-Clones from a 2015 Tournament so even out of production molds get some love from DC sponsored tournaments. I'd love to try a Z-FLX Cyclone or even an ESP FLX because overall I LOVE the Cyclone, still go to it for specific roles a LOT!

 

[GripEnemy]

Just posting this to deflect to Cyclone hate from today; it was ruining my equilibrium.

:thmbup:

 

[Dan Ensor]

Hate it. I used a Cyclone a bit as a beginner with 300' power, but once I started throwing harder the Cyclone became obsolete. It's too slow and finicky in the wind to be of any real use. Teebirds and Eagles are both better and have better flight lines than the Cyclone.

The Z Cyclone is like throwing a brick. Zero glide.

Guess I'm lucky I don't throw as hard as you



Are the 150s really OOP??? Maybe that's why they came out of the bag to begin with ...

 

[Three Putt]

I actually feel like there are 3 discs here, and thus if falls into a knock on the Discraft staple of strength (consistency). So the tale of 3 clones...

The original Tourney Pro was an incredible disc. It was THE distance machine in the early-mid 90's and had a VERY strong finish. It did eventually get flippy but not like the baseline plastic characteristics of today.

Then Discraft went into multiple baselines and the Cyclone went all over the place in terms of consistency as a result. I like the disc in X (not as much as TP), though I do not bag that version currently and I feel like this version also wears more quickly than the original plastics. I also have a few in Pro-D but only the 150 class Pro-D ever made my bag, but it is no longer there.

In the advent of Premium plastics the Z hit and apparently missed. I was out of the game for an extended period of time (most of which these iterations took place) but I truly love using the Z as a LONG MID with a very wind resistant profile. It is my current Clone in the bag and I aced with one late in 2015.

ESP was probably the most "critically acclaimed" version since Tourney Pro and IMO is the most similar plastic as far as grip, durability, and flight characteristics. So place this one and TP in the same category. I have about 3 in reserve but again I am not currently bagging this version because the Z does exactly what I need for Mid/Fairway hybrid.

My HOPE is that there is enough demand from Tournaments to keep the disc available - I recently picked up a pair of ESP-FLX X-Clones from a 2015 Tournament so even out of production molds get some love from DC sponsored tournaments. I'd love to try a Z-FLX Cyclone or even an ESP FLX because overall I LOVE the Cyclone, still go to it for specific roles a LOT!

This is pretty true.

The Cyclone was designed to be run in Tournament Pro. One thing you can actually see if you hold up a cactus Cyclone to a Cyclone made in any other plastic is that Tournament Pro was the shrinkiest plastic you will find. It just didn't pack out the mold like the denser Z and ESP plastics. A Tournament Pro Cyclone has a visibly smaller diameter and sharper nose than other Cyclones. This makes those faster and might account for some of the flight differences.

Z is the densest plastic Discraft has, so those Z Cyclones packed out the mold. The diameter is larger, the nose is blunter...it's really a different animal. Slower, more overstable. In 1990's terms it flies more like a Viper than a Cyclone.

The D, X and ESP's all molded up differently from the Tournament Pro's as well, just not as dramatically different as the Z's. They all fly differently. The ESP's are the closest to the originals, but still not the same.

Of course if you want to shoot holes in the "Discraft is consistent" myth, the Cyclone is not your disc. It is pretty consistent inside plastic lines. If you want a Discraft disc that is all over the place consistency-wise, you want to look up the Flash.

 

[Dan Ensor]

Proline Flathead Cyclones would be the shiz.