Review: Cross Bailey Light — You don’t need to flex to achieve line variation.

钢笔评测：高仕佰利轻盈——不用劈叉就能有笔幅变化的钢笔

People who followed me on Instagram may notice that I’m going over a Taobao shopping haul. I bought a lot of pens and inks from China in the past 2 months, and I finally received the package recently. And yes, the package includes a special pen that I want to talk about in this post.

在ig上有关注我的朋友可能也注意到了，我最近都在发淘宝的购物分享。这两个月我买了不少钢笔和彩墨。转运的快递最近终于收到了，里面就装着我特别想来分享使用感的一只钢笔。

First, I want to acknowledge that the Chinese distributor of Cross Company has contacted me and sent me this pen for review purposes. However, all opinions expressed here are my own.

在此之前，先来澄清一下，高仕在国内的品牌商找到我并发来这只钢笔用于评测。但是本条博文里内容全是基于本人的使用感而写的。

The pen I received for review is a Cross Bailey Light in Burgundy color. Apart from its modest and elegant appearance, I want to focus more on its writing experience. It really stands out from the steel nib fountain pen crowds that are in a similar price range, such as Lamy, Jinhao, Kaigelu, or Moonman. And the secret is in its nib.

而收到的这只钢笔来自于佰利轻盈系列，色号是酒红色。这只钢笔复古优雅的笔身我就不想太过仔细说了。我想着重说一下它的写感。它的写感在一众差不多价格的钢尖品牌（凌美，金豪，凯格露，末匠之类的）中是真的很突出。写感的特别来自于它家的笔尖。

Bailey Light series uses #5 nib size.  One thing you may notice at the first glance is that the nib slightly curves down. According to the distributor, the design is to help maintain a consistent ink flow, though I find it write a bit dry in writing. Other than the curvature, the shape of the iridium tip also looks quite different than our regular F nib. It is much larger. The shape of the iridium tip resembles a Naginata nib in a much blunter way. This is what gives the nib the ability to express line variation without any flexing.

佰利轻盈系列用的是5号尖，也是国内说的26号尖。一眼看过去的时候注意到的是，这个尖是内弯的。品牌商说的是这个设计能够有效很控制出墨，不过我个人觉得这个笔的出墨是挺节制的。而第二眼可能会注意到的是，这个笔尖的铱粒对比普通的F尖钢尖来说，大很多。仔细看的话，形状有点像钝了非常多的长刀。这个铱粒的打磨形状就是高仕这个尖不劈叉就能表现出笔幅变化的秘诀。

When the nib is gently touching the paper, it creates a thin line as only a small amount of the tip is touching the paper. But when you put down a bit more pressure on the nib, a larger surface of the tip is now touching the paper, which creates a much thicker line. During the whole process, line variation is simply caused by changing the amount of surface area of the tip that is touching the paper. The effect is similar to writing on a leather writing mat, so the nib can dig/sink into the paper while you write. This also changes the surface area of the tip touching the paper with pressure. It did not involve any flexing as the nib is so stiff that it does not even flex at all.

当笔尖轻轻接触纸面的时候，写出来的线是非常细的。因为只有前端的铱粒接触到纸面，这个接触面非常小。但是当你适量加大压力的时候，铱粒接触纸的面积会增大，这时写出来的线就粗很多了。这个原理和使用书法垫是十分相似的。在整个过程中，因为笔尖内弯导致笔尖非常硬，是完全劈不了叉的。笔幅的变化是依靠铱粒的接触面变化而来的，

The distributor told me that this pen is a great fit for English writing. I agree with that, not in the sense that it is the best fit for daily notetaking because it is a bit feedbacky. I think it is more suitable for calligraphy practice. From my writing experience, this pen can achieve a line variation from hairline (Japanese EF) to European M, which seems subtle compared to a flex nib. It is still noticeable and adds flair to the handwriting.

一开始品牌商告诉我说这个钢笔特别适合英文书写。我是很同意这个说法的。但是这个钢笔因为有阻尼的原因不太适合做英文笔记，更适合的是英文手写或者书法练字。我个人使用下来，笔幅变化能从日系EF尖变化到欧美M尖。对比弹尖来说的变化不太大，但是肉眼看还是明显的，而且这个笔幅变化也令英文手写也美不少。

Additionally, it is also great for Chinese writing whether it is for Script practicing or notetaking. Although it has a bit feedback, it is still relatively smooth. I quite enjoy using this pen for Chinese writing as it adds a lot of characters to my handwriting than most monoline-style nibs.

另外，这个笔也适合中文书写。练字或者日常记笔记都行。对于其他钢笔来说，还是有点阻尼的，但是大体上还是满顺滑的。我自己就挺喜欢用这个笔写中文。没有书法基础都容易写出锋。对比其他顺滑的笔尖来说，这个笔尖写出来的字更有风格。