Cyclo Polisher Review

mgm2003

mgm2003

New member
My in-laws purchased a cyclo polisher for my christmas gift and it arrived yesterday. Yes, I am a very lucky man! I S&W'd the tahoe, droped the garage doors, plugged in the heater, and got down to business.

Here's an initial observation after a few hours of use.

Packaging:
Came in a cyclo box from the factory with standard instructions & warranty information. Nothing special...


Performance: Smoooooth as butter. Set your PC to 3 with a polishing pad, and that's what the cyclo feels like. The cyclo polisher is one well crafted machine that has a solid and well balanced feel. There is a cross bar/handle over the pad heads in the front of the polisher and a thick rubber handle in the rear, which lends to the solid feel. On the down side, the cord isn't very long, much shorter than the PC. I found this a bit annoying because my extension plug got in the way. The on/off switch isn't very well labeled either, which is bogus for a $250+ tool.

I digress... let's get back to the review....

Flip the switch, and off you go. This is a one speed machine -i.e. you can't adjust the polisher speed. It runs at 3200RPM, which is slower than the PC set to 6, but in lies the secrets of the 4" counter-rotating heads that 'do the magic'. It was easy to operate over the horizontal and verticle panels. I will admit that I felt a bit fatigued after running it on the verticales for an hour. I found that going around the mirrors was a bit awkward, but managed to get past it.

Cyclo vs. PC: After a few hours of use, I'm thoroughly convinced that the cyclo can outperform the PC for polishing duties, as well as save time. I was curious, so I bolted on my spot repair 4" backing plate/pad to the PC to compare it to the cyclo. With the PC set to 5.5, light polish broke down in about the same time (Tested with Hi-Temp Midnight Express -which I really like on black). For heavier polishing/compounding (Menzerna Power Gloss and Intensive Polish) the cyclo breaks down products much quicker.

Another observation I made...
Using identical pads (4" orange power pads w/intensive polish) the PC left behind light to moderate marring (which FPII x 2 with a polishing pad cleared up). The cyclo left no visable marring. Not a big deal, but a big time saver.

The cyclo doesn't break down products quite as quick as the rotary, but they are fairly close. No, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to put my PC on the shelf and call it a POS, but I probably won't use it for polishing duties any longer. I'm trying to think of an easy way to explain it... If you've ever used a 4" spot repair pad on your PC then you know how much more aggressive it is than your standard 6-7" pad. This is what the cyclo does, but instead of one 4" pad, you have two.

Another cyclo vs. PC obervation: Pad cost are lower.
Keep in mind you need 2 pads on the cyclo, but they only cost $2.50-2.75 a piece. MUCH cheaper than PC pads.

I want to thank Bill D. for his help, insight, and review of the cyclo. It's easy to see why Bill is such a fan of the cyclo!
 
Nice review MGM ;)
If I didn't have a PC I would definately buy the Cyclo. Not that I regret buying my PC, but it would be nice to have a little more bite. From what I hear the Cyclo yields rotary results, with the ease of use of a PC.
 
MGM,

Wow, great review. Told ya, the Cyclo doesn't disappoint :bigups. Glad I was of help in your decision.

Now, if only we could get more vendors to sell existing and come out with additional pads for the Cyclo.
 
Bill D said:
MGM,

Wow, great review. Told ya, the Cyclo doesn't disappoint :bigups. Glad I was of help in your decision.

Now, if only we could get more vendors to sell existing and come out with additional pads for the Cyclo.
Click to expand...

Excellent point. My only reason not to purchase. Wanted to but will not until there will be more pad availability for use. However, it nice knowing that the cyclo has the option of scrubbing carets.

Great review mgm.
 
LC said autogeek was going to start carrying the 4 inch pads for the cyclo in the next few weeks.
 
I'm looking at carrying the LC pads for the Cyclo. The problem is that they would be about twice the price as the regular Cyclo pads.
 
ouch that is a big jump in price, personally I dont think it would be worth it.
The cyclo pads are not bad in my book, it depends on how you use them. Let the polish do the work with the green pads and it does not marr black (thanks Anthony ;) ).
 
Luv-N-It said:
Excellent point. My only reason not to purchase. Wanted to but will not until there will be more pad availability for use. However, it nice knowing that the cyclo has the option of scrubbing carets.

Great review mgm.
Click to expand...

The PC can also scrub carpets. Here is a link: http://www.topoftheline.com/porcabcarbru.html

Infact, they look like the same exact brushes that can be usen on a Cyclo, they must have the same threading on both machines.

I have the carpet brush and love it. It is great for 95% of carpet scrubbing and really cuts down on the arm fatigue. The other 5% are the really bad stains that need the hand brushing with extra pressure.
 
Bob S. said:
The PC can also scrub carpets. Here is a link: http://www.topoftheline.com/porcabcarbru.html

Infact, they look like the same exact brushes that can be usen on a Cyclo, they must have the same threading on both machines.

I have the carpet brush and love it. It is great for 95% of carpet scrubbing and really cuts down on the arm fatigue. The other 5% are the really bad stains that need the hand brushing with extra pressure.
Click to expand...

AWESOME AND THANK YOU!!
 
Guys, there are plenty of pad options out there, and the pads are under 3$ a piece. I'm not trying to run a cyclo commercial, but it really is an amazing machine.
 
If you can get them, I'd recommend the 4" Lake Country pads, the yellow cutting and the white polishing, mini PC pads :bigups
 
mgm2003 said:
Guys, there are plenty of pad options out there, and the pads are under 3$ a piece. I'm not trying to run a cyclo commercial, but it really is an amazing machine.
Click to expand...

Must have had a brain fart those days or something, but it seemed the sites (forums and suppliers) I used as research there was more to rave about the PC. :dunno
 
Bill D. -Yes, I got a hold of the LC pads, but I like the cylo (not sure what the brand is) white polish and green light-cut pads too. What I really like is the price!

I put in another 10-12 hours in over the weekend using the cyclo and here are a few additional observations:

a) I rarely use yellow cutting pads on the PC, because 99% of the time I produce marring, especially on black. Outside of using a heavy leveler (SSR3 or PG), marring is basically non existant on the cyclo. It's a VERY forgiving tool.

b) I tried mixing menzerna polishes with great results. A few spots I mixed PG with IP, and other areas I applied IP on the lead pad, and FPII on the trailing pad. Eventually, the products were mixed, but the results were very good.

c) Using less polish on the cyclo produces better results IMO. I apply about a nickle size dab on each pad. Compounds, swirl removers, and polishes break down quick.

My neighbor got about 2 hours of seat time, and he's ready to switch too. He really liked the balance of the machine, the fact that it's difficult to produce marring. That said you still run across some scratches that take several passes to level, just the same as you do on the PC, so the rotary still holds some advantages to both of these RO machines.

Luv-N-It: I hear you man. That's exactly why I purchased a PC too. I hope my posts aren't taking jabs at the PC, because that's not what I'm trying to do. The PC is a great tool. I'm just saying you can take things further with the cyclo, and save time too. It really does take polishing to another level, althought it's still not a rotary.

But...... I hear Anthony O. is working on a project with Cyclo that will essentially give the cyclo capabilities equal to a rotary. I hope the project pans out!
 
Cyclo itself manufacturers those pads. Back before I even got my Cyclo, I purchased some of those white and yellow Cyclo pads for spot polishing with my PC and I didn't like them, go figure. The LC ones sure seem to give me the same positive results thier large counterparts for the PC and Cyclo produce.

I'm interested in these orange Cyclo brand pads Anthony speaks of and I'm following closely to see about that Cyclo-rotary capabilties thing.

Out of curiosity,MGM, where did you get you Cyclo LC pads? AFAIK, still you can only get them from LC directly.
 
mgm2003 said:
Luv-N-It: I hear you man. That's exactly why I purchased a PC too. I hope my posts aren't taking jabs at the PC, because that's not what I'm trying to do. The PC is a great tool. I'm just saying you can take things further with the cyclo, and save time too. It really does take polishing to another level, althought it's still not a rotary.

But...... I hear Anthony O. is working on a project with Cyclo that will essentially give the cyclo capabilities equal to a rotary. I hope the project pans out!
Click to expand...

Not at all. Its nice to get threads like this going. :headbang
 
mgm2003 said:
I want to thank Bill D. for his help, insight, and review of the cyclo. It's easy to see why Bill is such a fan of the cyclo!
Click to expand...
I bought the Cyclo after BillD gave it the thumbs up. I haven't even taken it out of the box yet (I'm going to practice on my hoopty when I get a chance, before using it on my new car), but I feel I've bought the superior machine over the PC. Since you own a PC, the good things you said about the Cyclo make me feel better.

I'm not dissing the PC, don't get me wrong. But with its high top speed, and because of reports of pads flying off at such a high speed, and because I don't want to burn my paint, I think the slower, gentler Cyclo is better - for me.

I really enjoyed reading your review.

Charles
 
Thanks Charles. You'll enjoy your cyclo, but I wouldn't worry about either machine 'burning' the paint. I've actually tried to, but failed. If you want to take full advantage of either machine you need to trust it. Get a scrap panel, etc... and try to burn the paint. The only way to damage anything, is if you drop the polisher on your car.

Let us know how you like it.

Bill has to be feeling good about getting others to use the cyclo and share information & experience.
 
I'm glad others are confirming my experience and I'm sure glad I took the chance earlier this year in getting the Cyclo :bigups
 
I just ordered the Cyclo yesterday and I'm excited as hell to use it. I own 2 Porter Cable pcs, a Dewalt pc, a Metabo rotory, and a Makita 9227 rotory. They all have there place in detailing and I like all my machines. Next on the list will be the Makita BO6040. After that, I don't think there's any other polisher/buffer I could find that would help me with my business. Thanks to everyone who helped me make this decision with your honest opinions.
 
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