This bow was recommended to us by a musician friend who travels with this bow. Though my daughter was against carbon fiber-she loves her wooden bows, we decided to give it a try. We just got it a week ago but so far it's been working great, heavier than the wooden one but she seems to like it a lot. It has become her practice bow. Also, the price is unbeatable for a good quality bow like this, very good value.

Great Price - My son recently upgraded to a full-size violin and the bow that came with his new violin was warped. His violin teacher recommended a carbon fiber bow so we ordered this one. Both my son and his teacher are impressed with the quality of the bow.

After having read so many good reviews on this bow, I decided to purchase this as an upgrade to the old, cheap bow I already owned. I have not been disappointed in my decision to purchase from this shop.
As a beginner, I don't have much to compare this bow to, but even with my lack of experience, there are noticeable differences in the construction of this bow compared to my old one. The stick is straight, and the frog stays solidly in place, rather than wiggling back and forth such as on my previous bow. Those are the most obvious differences that can be spotted by a beginner. I have not experienced any issues with the use of this bow thus far, and am assured that if any arise, Fiddlerman would be willing to help.
The customer service from Michael at Fiddlershop has been excellent. In my communications with him after receiving my bow, he has been extremely helpful and did everything possible to make sure I was satisfied with my purchase. This transaction has been a pleasant experience and I would not hesitate to buy from Fiddlerman here or at Fiddlershop in the future.

Okay, first of all I have to admit I ordered this bow with a great deal of skepticism. I've been playing the violin for...gosh, over thirty years now, and my degree is in music ed. Bows, while admittedly a mixed lot, tend to be a "you get what you pay for" kind of thing, and a decent bow at this price range tends to be scarce as hen's teeth, as they say. I was pleased when I first pulled this bow from the box with its appearance--the black carbon fiber is very sharp-looking, especially with the clean fittings. But when it comes to bows, looks aren't everything--or even the most important thing.

I compared this bow to three other bows, and admittedly some of the comparisons weren't fair. I used a student-level Erich Steiner bow, an intermediate Josef Schuster pernambuco bow, and a fine pernambuco bow. The results were not what I expected. This bow outperformed the Steiner bow, hands down. What surprised me was when it outperformed the Schuster bow as well--I did not expect that. This bow had less bow hiss, and better handling. While a good bite could be gotten from either bow, it was easier with this bow.

The fine bow did outperform this bow. That I would have expected. I was surprised to realize that, unless you are willing to spend several times what this bow costs, you are probably better off with this bow. I used this bow only for several days' worth of practice, and found that when I returned to my fine bow, I could handle it better, and it was easier to achieve the sound and techniques I wanted.

The only negative I found with this bow was that it arrived with broken hairs--somewhere between 3 and 6 if memory serves. I just clipped them close to the ends and didn't worry too much about them. If the bow continues to lose hair, I'll adjust my review accordingly.

For any student, this bow is a step up from what likely came with your instrument. This also makes a great backup bow, practice bow, or bow for outdoor or otherwise unpredictable performance venues where you wouldn't want to take your fine bow.

Update 6/10/2016--This bow has been in daily use since its arrival, and has become my go-to bow for most practice sessions. I haven't had any further trouble with hair loss. I have also noticed that the bow tends to hold rosin longer than my other bows; it doesn't need to be rosined as often and produces less dust when it does. Still happy!

This bow has a nice feel it is only my second bow but I'm very happy with it. I had a violin instructor use it and her opinion was "very nice".
The weight of this bow came in at 61 grams the hair is of nice quality. The sick is straight, all moving parts move easily. Hope this helps.