Sunday 24 May 2009

Bic Triumph 537R

So a couple of months back I went to Staples looking for nothing in specific and found some somewhat expensive Bic pens. I decided to think about them and come back later, mostly because of previous dissapointment with Bic pens (including the Z4 leak back in 7th grade). I grabbed a 4 pack a few days later and tried it out.

This is one of the few refillable Bic pens (probably the only one unless you consider the 5 cents a piece stic pens, which are indeed refillable, but refills aren't sold -they must be sourced from another pen :|) and after trying it out I decided that it wasn't bad after all. It doesn't have the nice feel of Pilot or Uniball pens, but it doesn't feel like a Bic either.

Some people complain of ink bleeding, I was using them on regular bond paper (20lb 92 brightness, 30% recycled, Staples brand) and didn't notice anything bad, but if you are using 20lb notepads things might be different.

I still have to try the 730R ones, but that will be later, once I throw away some 3 or 4 (and an upcoming trip home means I will come back with ziploc bags full of pens)

In conclusion, not a bad pen, a departure from what we think when we hear "Bic". I'm not sure if I would buy another one though, I like more Pilots and Uniballs, so I might just go thru this 4-pack, maybe try the 730R and that will be it.

On a side note, there are many pens advertised as refillable, but aside from the Pilot G2 and Uniball Signo (regular, 7mm ones), refills are hard to come by unless you order them online, possibly in a big order (to avoid paying $2 for a refill and $7 for the shipping) and selection is sometimes limited.

Pictures will come once I find a pen (3 of them are sitting inside a box in my storage unit, the remaining one has been flying around my truck for the past week after I wrote down some coordinates while traveling on a dirt road and didn't put it back in my pocket

11 comments:

Unknown said...

I got a couple of these (0.5mm size).. they're so similar to the Pilot Precise that I think they're basically more or less the same pen, possibly even licensed from them, just with maybe a different ink. Whatever the case, it's similar enough that I don't mind writing with it, but different enough that I'd rather have my Pilot Precise in my hand.

Unknown said...

I was VERY disappointed with the Bic Triumph 537R. I splurged at Staples on a 4-pack ($6.99) and was blown-away at just how bad the bleed-thru is when used with my Piccadilly notebook. Just horrible. Back to the Razor Point or Sharpie Pen.

Felipão G said...

I did notice that there is significant bleeding on 20lb paper, it doesn't bother me since I don't do double sided writing.

And the original Z4 was 10x worse, so it wasn't that bad.

Unknown said...

I bought 2 of the 537R (Blue) at my local CVS. I like the way the ink flows and yet does not smear. I usually write on 20lb copier paper, 3M type sticky pads and in notebooks like the 714493 1AMS5 by American Scholar Inc, Bay Shore NY. I did not have any problems with bleed through.

Anonymous said...

I absolutly LOVE this pen! I use the 0.7 point. I'm not sure if there is another size or not but this is what my pen has written on it. This pen was given to me and I Love the smooth writing and the flow of the ink! My only complaint is that they are not refillable and they are expensive for my budget. Before using this pen, my favorite was the Pilot Precise and now I can't find them anywhere. I think they got discontinued. Al in all, this Bic 537R IS MY NEW FAVORITE!!!!

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ThirdeYe said...

I bought a pack of 2 today on sale at Walgreens for $2 and it seems a little thick for a .5mm, I compared it to my Pilot Precise Grip Extra Fine (same as the Precise V5, except with a grip) and the Precise has a much finer line, even though both claim .5mm.

namirk said...

I bought a two pack of these 2 months ago at officemax. I used them heavily at work for about one month. both began to leak from the tip, leaving my hand covered in ink and often marks on the paper as well. the tip fell off one of them. ok for occassional use, not for everyday all day kind of reliability.

JMP said...

I'm a fountain pen nut but bought a 2-pack of these from CVS tonight for $2.03 to replace a Pilot V5 Precise. While the tip/point/nib seemed exactly the same as the Pilot (though dishing out a sloppy ink) the barrel/section of the Bic is much greater diameter and much less comfortable to hold. I should've paid full price for the Pilot's and am taking these BACK to CVS tomorrow!

Unknown said...

I bought a pack of these and the barrel cracked around the threads on all of them...other than that it was a nice pen, no more for me though.