Epon 701/702 & 501/502 is newer better?

[sjdavies47]

All,

The RF-551 thread and the impending new AF models got me thinking and I'd welcome your thoughts. Are the AF-*02 irons any better than the AF-*01 irons? Given the strength of the older Epon designs (as shown by the RF-551) how much of an improvement can the latest deigns be?

Personally I game the 701s and have also owned the 501s (wish I'd kept them now). I've not mention the 301/302 irons as they are too much for my feeble game!!!!

[Spoon]

case to case basis. depends on the player.

i have friends that prefer the 501 over the 502

i also have clients that prefer the 701 over the 702.

the jump from 702 is not as big as the 501-502.

the 502 is a totally new engineered head with alpha gel.

some guys say it deadens feel, i on the other hand like it

very much indeed.

with the 702 they tweaked the design a bit, different placements

of weights to manipulate CG as well as having an Asroll face( i still dont

fully understand how this works) if you ask me though i like the 702 better.

bottom line is you have to try these irons in order to form your own opinion.

dont base it on what others say.

[gocchin]

As spoon said its very much a personal preference.

I for one prefer both the 501 and 701. They were superb irons and the new models were not better in any way... in my opinion that is.

[EPONfreak]

I have never bagged any of the 500 or 700 series but certainly tested all models extensively to assist with recommendations. IMO the 702 is better that it's predecessor but I can't swing either of them, too big. The 501 is/was a beautiful iron, a bit clicky compared to the 300 and tour models but a very nice iron. The 502 is interesting, rediculously easy and just stupid long, really really long. Size wise, a bit larger than what I prefer to look at, but the performance is insane. The trouble I had with these is that at the scoring end of the bag I didn't have a short iron to hit because the 9 iron went so damn far. I can totally see why a 502/302 combo would work for many if you could tweek them to get the yardage gaps right.

[Spoon]

I have never bagged any of the 500 or 700 series but certainly tested all models extensively to assist with recommendations. IMO the 702 is better that it's predecessor but I can't swing either of them, too big. The 501 is/was a beautiful iron, a bit clicky compared to the 300 and tour models but a very nice iron. The 502 is interesting, rediculously easy and just stupid long, really really long. Size wise, a bit larger than what I prefer to look at, but the performance is insane. The trouble I had with these is that at the scoring end of the bag I didn't have a short iron to hit because the 9 iron went so damn far. I can totally see why a 502/302 combo would work for many if you could tweek them to get the yardage gaps right.

i totally agree. i have even built 502-302 and 302-aftour combos for some of

my clients. anything goes provided you know what your looking for to improve

your game