Rotring Rapid Pro Mechanical Pencil, 0.7 mm, Silver

Great pencil. Use it for school work and writing. However, the eraser is not very reliable. Very smooth and sturdy.

Love it

I’m a designer and very picky with my instruments and love the balance of size and weight of this very easy to use tool.

Bought this and tested 800 simultaneous. This is 'the pro'. Fit and finish...Bauhaus, Ja.

The sharpener doesn’t work on the 2.0 but I cannot reccomend the 0.7 enough it is absolutely amazing

If we eschew thinking about the price, this would easily be a 5-star pencil. But at typically $30+, a just review ought to be appropriately fastidious, if not downright nitpicky, so lets get into it.At the outset, the Rapid Pro seems to share a lot in common with the 600/800 series of mechanical pencils from Rotring. It's a a bit longer and thicker than the 600/800, and most other drafting pencils for that matter, but still pretty slender and compact. The first thing you'll notice picking it up is the weight: hefty, but not obnoxiously so. Dropping at two or three inches on to a desk will make quite a loud noise, thanks to the metal construction.Like the 600/800, the Rapid Pro has a upper hexagonal metal barrel. It has this powder-coat finish probably the best finish I've ever felt on anything really. It's both grippy and satiny, and hides scuffs well. But unlike the 600/800, the hexagonal shape does absolutely nothing to stop the pencil from rolling, since both the cylindrical knurled grip and the parts of the clip that wrap around extend farther outward than the barrel (this is not the case on the 600 or 800). It's a bit disappointing that the hexagonal shape does not serve any meaningful purpose besides aesthetics.The knurled metal grip is nice. The knurling is very fine, yet thanks to the precision of the cut, it's still very grippy without being uncomfortably abrasive. I do appreciate the length of the grip, as it's longer than most drafting pencils. The length of the forward conical section past the grip is acceptable, keeping the view of the sleeve unobstructed, but the forefingers close enough to the paper.Up top, the aforementioned clip is affixed tightly on there, and is very tough to remove. It's not going to rotate or come off easily, which I consider a plus for my usage. The clip presses tightly to the body at the end. There's no lead hardness indicator up top or anywhere else like the 600/800, or most drafting pencils, so keep that in mind. The eraser cap comes off with ease, but I haven't had any issues with it coming off on it's own. There's a little play between the edges of the cap and the body, but there is no rattling during writing. The top of the cap is open, revealing the eraser. However, the eraser is sunk pretty far into the cap that I haven't encountered any problems with the eraser being dirtied or damaged. The opening is also pretty comfortable to press your finger against when advancing lead. The eraser is standard drafting pencil fare: small, and to be used sparingly.The advance mechanism itself is solid. The lead advance plunger is firm and lets out a muted yet precise click. The lead is held tightly. There's a lead cushioning mechanism which slides the lead back a little under pressure and returns it. I find this system to be a bit too soft and easy to trigger.This pencil has a retractable 4 mm sleeve. I find the "retractability" somewhat disappointing. Unlike the 800 or even the Pentel GraphGear 1000, this sleeve does not have automatic retracting mechanism. Extending the tip simply requires advancing lead. The advance is slightly inconsistent on first press, so it might take another to get the sleeve all the way out. While 800 has a twisting dial to retract the tip, and the GraphGear is spring loaded, with a catch release in the clip, the Rapid Pro requires you to jab the tip while holding the lead advance. This is problematic for two reasons: [1] jabbing the delicate tip onto a surface seems pretty counterintuitive when the whole point of retractable tips is to protect the sleeve. I've gotten around this by pushing it with my finger, which is kind of silly and [2] the sleeve really isn't "fixed" at all. What I mean is that both the 800 and the GraphGear 1000 don't retract at all when the lead approaches the sleeve, whereas on the Rapid Pro, the sleeve simply shortens. This is not ideal for drafting in my opinion. I want the length of the sleeve to be consistent, and I want it to be rigid so that it doesn't slide up when I use the pencil at an angle and rotate to use a sharp side of the tip. It makes use with fine edge rulers not as easy as I would have hoped, either. I don't understand why they even bothered with the drafting tip at all.One final point I have concerns the titular "red ring" between the barrel and the grip. On other Rotring drafting products it's painted on raw brass. Not here. On here it's this cheap plastic component that has some dull molding in an attempt to smoothly reconcile the hexagonal shape with the cylindrical grip. The plastic has an unattractive sheen. Worst of all, this plastic piece contains the threads that join the grip to the body. All this metal construction and arguably the most crucial structural element (especially considering how the lead advance works, which puts tension across this component) is a piece of plastic!I think the red ring itself is a good summary of this pencil. This pencil seems mostly concerned with making an impression over providing the best function. I was initially confused at the "Rapid" moniker, usually reserved for casual writing instruments. In casual writing, this pencil excels. But as a drafting pencil it tries to disguise itself as, it falls a little short.

I have been using Rotring products for many years and appreciate their general strength and finishing. However, when I came across the Rapid Pro 0.7 I had to try it. It is next level. Definitely a little bit pricey, but it is a quality product - well made, good feel, strong, well balanced. They need to advertise this product a little better…

I love how well it writes! The lead is secure enough it doesn’t break very easily. Love the feel of the grip. I think the price could come down a little bit. But it is great quality!