Cyclo or Rupes for my first polisher?

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azkeith

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Complete newbie here. I purchased a 2015 Cadillac that was a rental car. Reasonably low miles, and no significant dents, dings or nicks. There are a lot of swirl marks, likely from the automatic wash the car rental company used.

This will be my first polish (I've usually paid someone to polish and seal my prior cars but now I want to learn). I'm considering the Cyclo or the Rupes 15. I was impressed by the video on the Optimum Hyper Compound and Hyper Polish, and would likely finish with the Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Coating.

My questions. Does the Cyclo have enough power to correct the heavy swirls in the paint? Everyone says it is safe, but most seem to lean toward Rupes or Flex for heavy correction?

All the Rupes videos I've watched emphasize that Rupes is a system and you should use their pads and polishes. I'm assuming that using other products with Rupes is OK, but are the results really better if I go all Rupes?

Thanks for your help!
 
I would defiantly look towards the new (Rupes mark 2) 15mm w/ 500 watt and 30% with more efficency for correction and curved panels, and there is also the new (Griots garage The Boss) that has a 900 watt motor and does well on curved panels and both of them have there own pads and polish system. I've heard the cyclo is possible to burn threw the paint but I'm not fully sure. I know rupes has 1 year warranty and griots has a lifetime. There both outstanding performing tools and can't go wrong with either. And rupes just came out with one step polish and pad system that I think works great. Rupes and griots are the 2 best orbital on the market and as a rookie I think you would perform professional results with rupes or Griots with either decision you make. You will be happy camper!
 
The cyclo is a great machine to maintain your own personal cars.
 
why not get a traditional PC-style DA for your first polisher? the GG6 packs plenty of torque/power and with the plethora of different pads & polishes/compounds out today, it can pretty much tackle just about anything you can throw at it...
 
Cylco is a no to me, big bulky expensive machine, if you just want to polish.

Go with the gg6 it has all the power you need to maintain your car without the steep price tag
 
I've never worked with a cyclo so I would have to rely on the comments from others on this forum. That said, I have owned a PC and currently own a flex 3401, GG 3" and a Rupes 75 mini. I also just ordered the Rupes 15 Mark II. I really like how the Rupe's 75 mini operates and cannot wait to get the 15 Mark II.

I've used different polishes with the mini but always used a Rupes pad. With the 15 Mark II I plan on trying the Buff and Shine pads designed for long throw machines along with the Rupes polishes. I am a big fan of LC pads but want to expand my experience beyond LC and Rupes pads.
 
Cabrio said:
I've never worked with a cyclo so I would have to rely on the comments from others on this forum. That said, I have owned a PC and currently own a flex 3401, GG 3" and a Rupes 75 mini. I also just ordered the Rupes 15 Mark II. I really like how the Rupe's 75 mini operates and cannot wait to get the 15 Mark II.

I've used different polishes with the mini but always used a Rupes pad. With the 15 Mark II I plan on trying the Buff and Shine pads designed for long throw machines along with the Rupes polishes. I am a big fan of LC pads but want to expand my experience beyond LC and Rupes pads.
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The rupes pads are really nice on long stroke orbitals I use them on my Boss, and I like the yellow and white pad alot
 
azkeith said:
Complete newbie here. I purchased a 2015 Cadillac that was a rental car. Reasonably low miles, and no significant dents, dings or nicks. There are a lot of swirl marks, likely from the automatic wash the car rental company used.

This will be my first polish (I've usually paid someone to polish and seal my prior cars but now I want to learn). I'm considering the Cyclo or the Rupes 15. I was impressed by the video on the Optimum Hyper Compound and Hyper Polish, and would likely finish with the Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Coating.

My questions. Does the Cyclo have enough power to correct the heavy swirls in the paint? Everyone says it is safe, but most seem to lean toward Rupes or Flex for heavy correction?

All the Rupes videos I've watched emphasize that Rupes is a system and you should use their pads and polishes. I'm assuming that using other products with Rupes is OK, but are the results really better if I go all Rupes?

Thanks for your help!
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If your willing to spend the 400$ for a cyclo go with.

The following recommended machines.

Boss G21
Boss G15
Rupes mark II 21
RUPES MARK II 15
Flex 3401 vrg
Griot's Garage 6 inch

The cheapest is the griots garage 6 inch however it can still do heavy lifting of work as it has 850 watt motor and the Boss G21 has 900 watts so ya it's packing plenty of power.

Larry Kosilla Aka AMMONYC polished a 1 million dollar Ferrari with single stage paint with this machine and a optimum Microfiber pad.

That is the best bang for your buck.

And makes the most sense if you just want to correct it once then maintain your vehicle this fits the bill perfect.

If you want a long throw orbitals well worth the money , and if you learn how to machine polish they won't cost you money they'll make you money.

The first paint correction you do, you will almost get all your money back or a large portion of how much you spent on the machine.

And they correct paint alot faster then traditional style da polishers such as the Porter Cable and Griot's Garage 6 inch.

The cyclo is a good machine however, the price point is so unattractive to me, I have one and, a member of this forum made a video of a cyclo staying in one area for 10 mins without damaging the paint.

That might be a good thing for some but that just tells me that the machine can just improve gloss, and not correct and cut much. And for 400 dollars no thank you, I can do that with a Porter cable for a portion of the price.

The Boss orbitals are on sale right now and it would be wise to take advantage! A kit with all the pads microfiber and pad cleaner for 399 or 365. That's like getting the pads free and microfiber free as that's basically the cost of just the machine.

Hope I helped again this is my 2 cents and my opinion and my view from my experience
 
long throws are great machines, but you will also need a machine that can use smaller pads to polish tighter areas. If I were to have only one, I would buy a GG6. It's the most versatile machine out there. You can run pads from 3" to 5.5" easily with the right back plates. It has enough power to do some serious correction and can get into places a rupes or cyclo can't, and there isn't anything a rupes can do that a GG6 cant (although the rupes will correct large areas faster, but not necessarily "better").
 
If you plan to do cars on the side make it a Boss, Rupes Mark 2 ior Flex 3401

If just for personal
GG6 or Rupes Duetto
I never used a cyclo, though still interested.
Only way I'd buy one to use it more then a wax spreader is to buy surbuf pads, tuf buff pads or wool pads
Then use MF or foam pad to finish with

It's funny I always read cyclo isn't good for correcting, but never heard of anyone using anything more aggressive then a MF pad
 
I have a Cyclo and love it. Having said that I also have a PC, and the Griot's Garage machine. I would recommend you get the Griot's machine with the optional longer cord. There are areas the Cyclo just won't fit in where the Griot's will. Also you have the option of different size backing plates & pads for really difficult areas to access. Back that up with a lifetime warranty and you are good to go.
 
Fantastic video! I actually watched it last night as I was trying to do more research. Thanks!
 
Thanks. I know the price for the Cyclo is high but this machine is built to last. The design has been around since the 50's. I've had it apart before and you can just tell it's something that is easy to work on if needed. I always start my newest employees on it with complete confidence that they can't screw anything up. I love that with the twist of the wrist I can go from polishing a 4" path to an 8". The brush attachments have also been handy. I've never used the Rupes so I don't have an opinion on it, but it sounds like you can't go wrong with either.


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I may be slow, but I do poor work.
 
Have you considered a traditional d/a style machine, like the PC, or GG6?

What I like about those is that I can use anything from 3" - 6" pads with them, as well as brush attachments. Their versatility is one of the features that keeps them in my favor.

I like the simplicity of the PC, but that GG6 has some really nice looking features, and has a reputation for having great power alongside an unmatched warranty. Fortunately, I'm pretty good at small machine repairs, and can usually takes care of most problems that might arise with the PC.
 
dlc95 said:
Have you considered a traditional d/a style machine, like the PC, or GG6?

What I like about those is that I can use anything from 3" - 6" pads with them, as well as brush attachments. Their versatility is one of the features that keeps them in my favor.

I like the simplicity of the PC, but that GG6 has some really nice looking features, and has a reputation for having great power alongside an unmatched warranty. Fortunately, I'm pretty good at small machine repairs, and can usually takes care of most problems that might arise with the PC.
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Yes, based on all the great feedback I'm leaning toward the GG6 now. Thanks!
 
I have never used the cyclo but I love my Rupes 15 I picked up a few months ago and have used a lot already. I started out with a HF which I switched over to my small pad tool until recently getting the flex kompakt which is an awesome tool for small jobs using 1 2 or 3 inch backing plates.
 
I have the GG6 and its a great machine. Maybe not what I would use for production work, but it only gets used twice a year and is great.

For the same price or less then the rupes you could get the GG6 and the Flex PE8 for tight areas.
 
It will put on a great shine but is lacking for any type of correction work.
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HMMM.....I used mine for all paint correction for almost ten years so I beg to differ. Now, did it take damn near forever to do so? Yes it did and I went through a lot of orange pads. I was a one man band so I can see that it just wouldn't work for a shop where time is critical.
 
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