gocchin Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Threre's a relatively new source of review info in Japan called RatingGate, a free independent golf club review source with a team of about 5 JPGA players who review gear. This is the first place I've ever seen review the Epon Technity driver and it got fantastic reviews for feel, finish and performance. They attempt to rate clubs for the average user all the way to scratch golfer and compare performance, and quality of the club especially to manufacturer claims. Here is their recent driver top 3 rankings in perfomance and quality for different clubspeeds: 86mph~ or less 1. GeoTech 455RM 2. Callaway Hyper ERC 3. MacTec NV NX 87~95mph 1. Epon Technity 460ZR 2. GeoTech 455RM 3. Callaway Hyper ERC 96-104mph 1. Epon Technity 460ZR 2. GeoTech 455RM 3. Burner TP 105mph~ and up 1. TourStage X-Drive 460 2. Epon Technity 460ZR 3. Burner TP This is based on in depth reviews done by RatingGate on the following drivers: TourStage X-DRIVE460 TourStage X-DRIVE 435 TourStage NEW ViQ MX J33R 460 Srixon ZR-600 Srixon W505 Sasquatch 460 Sasquatch SUMO2 Square Burner TP r7 425 TP r7 460 TP Kamui450 Mactec NX MacTec NVG2 TOUR 907D1 907D2 905T 905R HiBore JPX E500 MP-003 JPX E310 FT-i HYPER ERC X18 CF ERC III GPM TOUR 420 GT455RM GEOTECH450RM GPM415 TOUR RM GP455 PRGR T3 502 Silver Epon Technity 460ZR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Thats amazing, I have never heard of this place before but after checking it out they are brutal on each club explaining the best and worse aspects of each one. Its exciting to see Epon toe up in the most critical tests against the biggest brand names! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EPONfreak Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Interesting, and congratulations to Epon and Tourstage for producing a clearly outstanding product, but what kind of pro has clubhead speed that slow? Most single digit amateurs swing a 5 iron faster than that? Is there ratings for 115 mph? That would be more useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBone Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 GeoTech? Component company correct? Tell me more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted October 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Interesting, and congratulations to Epon and Tourstage for producing a clearly outstanding product, but what kind of pro has clubhead speed that slow? Most single digit amateurs swing a 5 iron faster than that? Is there ratings for 115 mph? That would be more useful. The reviews are done by pros as well as low handicap volunteers. The ratings above are just their recommendations for those swing speeds based on their evaluation of the driver performance, forgiveness etc. I'm not sure why there are not higher speeds, I will ask them about that. Yeah GeoTech is the component... some of their stuff is in the tokyo Golf Show forum... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted October 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Also one other thing is that the reviews are meant to give an unbiased opinion to the "Average" golfer which makes up the largest proportion of golfers in Japan. The recreational golfer or mid - higher handicap player probably has a large large percentage that swings under 105mph.... me included.... way under (^_-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landshark Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 can scott get his hands on any of the geo tech components? would be a nice alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 I don't know who scott is but I sure can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajaykkr Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 (edited) Glad to see that the Epon 460 and the tourstage 460 are in the rankings.... wonder where the Mp Craft would have ended up...three of the best drivers currently Edited October 1, 2007 by ajaykkr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landshark Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 sorry. not sure how i came up with scott. if you could pm me pricing, i'd appreciate it. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLI Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 I agree with the ratings for 105mph+. I've recently acquired an X-Drive 460 and it's the best driver I've ever had! Texsport Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blader-X Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Nice to see Epon getting some recognition outside of TSG!! I still have yet to hit a better driver. In fact if I never find one better that's just fine because Epon is really the end all - be all for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1 Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Gochin, do you know what loft and shafts they used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EPONfreak Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 The reviews are done by pros as well as low handicap volunteers. The ratings above are just their recommendations for those swing speeds based on their evaluation of the driver performance, forgiveness etc.I'm not sure why there are not higher speeds, I will ask them about that. Yeah GeoTech is the component... some of their stuff is in the tokyo Golf Show forum... Oh, I see. I misunderstood that the above was the result of actual test data. Was wondering what kind of pro swings at 86mph? whilst this is still useful, its subjective information. Actual test data would be interesting and I'm sure would confirm the high praise the Epon & Tourstage receive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 They have very good reviews in Japanese with charts that even comment about shafts, here are a few: Taylormade TP Burner: Callaway FT-i Cleveland High Bore XL Titleist D1 Epon Technity 460ZR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted October 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Just to clarify for people what factors they are measuring are, I translated the points: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K2_2 Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Thanks Gocchin, I was going to have to email a friend for a translation lol. So you are looking for the largest area in the hexagon, preferably leaning towards the areas where you want to get a little more out of your club? If that is the case, the Epon really stands out, and the Cleveland does okay to. Have they done a similar test with the X-Drive GR or ERC Hyper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubHoUno Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Sorry....maybe I'm not quite following this scheme, but what kind of shafts have been used in this test - standard shafts or a wide range of shafts ? A lot of people tend to forget, that shafts play a VERY important role in the performance of a driver. A driver head with the wrong shaft can feel like cr_p to one person, while feel like heaven to another player - even if the two players have swing speeds within the same range. Golf magazine tests are in my view not really worth that much, because they very seldom - if ever - do test based on different shafts. This would be far too expensive to do such a test, and consequently I almost never buy golf magazines anymore. They are filled with literally 100's of anti slice tips and pretty useless golf gear tests...... Golf forums like this and others are much better at helping with proper advice to what will suit a certain golfer with a certain swing speed and swing tempo the best. Anyone know if the new Epon driver sits SQUARE at setup position and if the face is deeper compared to the old 460ZR ? Not sure if this have been covered in another thread, but tried to do a search and didn't find any information regarding this Thanks for helping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted October 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 I don't think people forget that shafts are perhaps the most vital component of performance. If you look at ALL the Japanese publications they are very thorough in testing. The will gather 40 drivers and use the exact same shaft model in all of them and then to top it off use a robot hitter that swings with the exact speed everytime to test. They also use pros who are humans of course (^_^). I think you need to read some Japanese Magazine gear tests before you come to that conclusion C. the tests they do is out of this world. (^_^) In this case, it appears that RankingGate tests all lofts of a model thoroughly, all stock shafts thar are available are tested. It's what an average user can buy at the shop. If they factor in all kinds of upgrade shafts, it's just too difficult to test as they are a small independent tester. The epon for example was tested with 9.5 and 10.5 lofts and three stock shafts available 3041 5350 7080 all from Mach Line. The results were based on several testers all with different swingspeeds. 5 of them belonging to the JGTO. Besides the chart they give detailed writeups, on the club makeup, including manufacturing, materials, workmanship, and then cover feel, performance and all kinds of factors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubHoUno Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 (edited) I don't think people forget that shafts are perhaps the most vital component of performance. If you look at ALL the Japanese publications they are very thorough in testing. The will gather 40 drivers and use the exact same shaft model in all of them and then to top it off use a robot hitter that swings with the exact speed everytime to test. They also use pros who are humans of course (^_^). I think you need to read some Japanese Magazine gear tests before you come to that conclusion C. the tests they do is out of this world. (^_^) In this case, it appears that RankingGate tests all lofts of a model thoroughly, all stock shafts thar are available are tested. It's what an average user can buy at the shop. If they factor in all kinds of upgrade shafts, it's just too difficult to test as they are a small independent tester. The epon for example was tested with 9.5 and 10.5 lofts and three stock shafts available 3041 5350 7080 all from Mach Line. The results were based on several testers all with different swingspeeds. 5 of them belonging to the JGTO. Besides the chart they give detailed writeups, on the club makeup, including manufacturing, materials, workmanship, and then cover feel, performance and all kinds of factors. Hey Gocchin I mean this seriously, when I say, I'm sorry I can't read Japanese - I hate it when I enter into an interesting site just to find out, that it's all in Japanese. They also have a lot of high tech sites, I wish I was able to read. I will seriously consider taking up Japanese at the University here in Copenhagen, Denmark. I need to be able to read some of the high tech stuff from the Golf gear world and the Computer High Tech world ! The danish, US, Swedish, German and UK golf magazines are lousy in my view. I can't speak for the Japanese golf magazines, I only wish I was able to read them. How come you can read Japanese, are your parents from Japan (I know your wife is) ? Can you also speak the language ? Somehow the Japanese mentality fits well into the Scandinavian I think - at least when it comes to quality and craftsmanship. I see more Japanese tourist in my country than any other country, and to think they have to travel around the world to visit my country, that doesn't even have a hot climate......there must be something else to it........ Edited October 2, 2007 by Claus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted October 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Hey Gocchin I mean this seriously, when I say, I'm sorry I can't read Japanese - I hate it when I enter into an interesting site just to find out, that it's all in Japanese. They also have a lot of high tech sites, I wish I was able to read. I will seriously consider taking up Japanese at the University here in Copenhagen, Denmark. I need to be able to read some of the high tech stuff from the Golf gear world and the Computer High Tech world ! The danish, US, Swedish, German and UK golf magazines are lousy in my view. I can't speak for the Japanese golf magazines, I only wish I was able to read them. How come you can read japanese, are your parents from Japan (I know your wife are) ? Can you also speak the language ? Somehow the Japanese mentality fits well into the Scandinavian I think - at least when it comes to quality and craftsmanship. I see more Japanese tourist in my country than any other country, and to think they have to travel around the world to visit my country, that doesn't even have a hot climate......there must be something else to it........ Hehe I guess the language factor does put people at a disadvantage doesn't it! You are really missing out then on the electronics and computer magazines and sites then! The Japanese do indeed love Scandinavian countries. First of all they do love to travel but as you said the love the design and workmanship found in many products in Scandinavia, I think especially the design factor, everything from architecture to little art works. I've seen several Japanese documentaries on going to Sweden, Denmark, Finland... etc to look at design! My wife is Japanese born and raised. I'm a Canadian born but I have limited Japanese skills. (^_^) I need to communicate with my in laws and have always loved Japanese culture and gadgets. So I try and put my skills to use here. I'm going to pick up a new scanner this afternoon since my old one is not vista compatible and scan some awesome tests to show you. (^_^) there's this one test that was so thorough testing the aerodynamics of driver head designs, specificially the sumo squared ahd FT-i... very technical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBone Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 I think everyone is waiting for more information on these tests...I would like to see at least the Top 3 to Top 5 detailed from each swing speed category. Since very few of us actually have the opportunity to test drive JDM Gear, this would be extremely helpful and in my view, would lead to more purchases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubHoUno Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Hehe I guess the language factor does put people at a disadvantage doesn't it! You are really missing out then on the electronics and computer magazines and sites then!The Japanese do indeed love Scandinavian countries. First of all they do love to travel but as you said the love the design and workmanship found in many products in Scandinavia, I think especially the design factor, everything from architecture to little art works. I've seen several Japanese documentaries on going to Sweden, Denmark, Finland... etc to look at design! My wife is Japanese born and raised. I'm a Canadian born but I have limited Japanese skills. (^_^) I need to communicate with my in laws and have always loved Japanese culture and gadgets. So I try and put my skills to use here. I'm going to pick up a new scanner this afternoon since my old one is not vista compatible and scan some awesome tests to show you. (^_^) there's this one test that was so thorough testing the aerodynamics of driver head designs, specificially the sumo squared ahd FT-i... very technical. Looking forward to see the scan pics, Gocchin. What kind of scanner did you buy ? I prefer Epson and Canon. OT I installed Vista on my fathers PC in January, 2-3 months after it's official release and I thought it was "better late than never". I found out it was too soon.....I'm a High Tech geek I had to literally throw my fathers scanner, memory card reader and Hp color laser printer out the window. My father is from the older generation and can't understand why you throw something new and fine working stuff out. I told him it was back to Win Xp or buy new stuff. I worked for days to try and find drivers and support from HP and Canon, but they didn't make drivers to the old stuff. Heck, the Color laser printer war barely 2 years old - and still works fine. I sold it for him and bought a new one with a Vista driver that worked. It sucks that the big companies won't make drivers to their older products. Even I have trouble explaining to my father, why a 2 year old perfectly working great color laser printer has to be sold and a new one bought for it to work in Vista I think Vista is somewhat slower than Win Xp pro, even though I have a very fast PC and fast Graphics card and 4 GB of fast ram - it definitely is slower than Win Xp Pro. On the other hand I think the gimmicks and graphics looks better, but I had to skip a lot of the old programs and buy new. But it runs stable so far - only had 4 blue screens in 5 months.....so this is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexwrx Posted October 10, 2007 Report Share Posted October 10, 2007 (edited) The GeoTech sure looks like and interesting option: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=e...cial%26hs%3DbdM Edited October 10, 2007 by rexwrx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted October 10, 2007 Report Share Posted October 10, 2007 Geo Tech is very affordable, We carry the entire line up so PM me if interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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