chuck4golf Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 I seem to have discovered a whole new realm of pleasure in playing irons with the re-discovery of blades (accompanied by a much more solid swing). I have a set of Recoil 95s in a set of MacGregor 1025M. Incredible feel, dwarfs every CB I played. Assuming they don't add to the tally at the end of the round, I am never turning back. I love the feel and it is a huge part of the emotional reward of the game. Now I am wondering about shafts. Not just MCI in the $500 range, but then there are all these pretty pricey shafts... Roddio, Bangvoo, and several others in the $1000+ range. I am sure there are differences between price points. But what are they? I have sort of come to the conclusion that you get the shafts and then try this or that head on them (within reason, but if you do it right, you can change a shaft out a few times without damage). So I am thinking next step is 'anchor' shafts for blades. Any insight into graphite shafts and what differentiates price points, brands? Thx,.... PS: driver swing low 90's. 8 index on < 6500 yards. < 95 G is right for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supo Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 right htis is very tuff, bec it costs so damn much to try a shaft. its so much about luck and reading other peole experiences with the shaft about the same swing chacater you have. if u want to go that route i advise u buy 1 shaft and try it in 6 or 7 iron, use it extensively for a cpl of weeks then decide, i alway try the 6iron bec its the club i use the most and i can see the flight better with it over a longer distance. im still looking into those MCIs, jus no sure how to best match them up. i thin i migh even put them in a set of blades and hard step them once., its a very expensive route going non steel, do ur reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gus Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Shafts are very personal experience and do not under estimate the role iron heads play in this marriage. I've hated certain shafts in one set and fell in love with the exact same model maybe another weight/flex in different iron all together. Then there's all the factors represented in a fitting, it goes on and on. This is why you see amazing and perfect equipment in the BST, one mans failed experiment is another mans treasure! BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mob Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 I just spent the past 2 months testing graphite iron shafts with my club builder here. I went through: Aldila RIP tour 115 and 95, Steelfiber, Recoil Prototypes, MCI 110, 100, and 90, Arcane, Mitsubishi OT, Accra Tour 115 and 95, and a couple of others. I must have hit around 100 balls with each shaft in each weight option ranging from 90 to 110 grams. I can say that that I am impressed with all the offerings that these shaft manufacturers have produced. Some were a better fit for my swing than others. The Aldila RIP 115 was too stout for my swing. I typically play stiff flex, but in the RIP the regular flex was a better fit. The Steelfibers just didn't suit my swing; I tried all different weights, and ultimately didn't find a fit in this shaft for me. I play Recoil prototypes in my irons, so no surprises there; great shaft. The MCI had a really good feel but were half a club shorter than my Recoils, with no significant improvement in dispersion or ball flight. The Arcane shaft was pretty impressive and surprised me. Unfortunately, the one that suited me best from a dispersion standpoint was the X flex, and I couldn't really feel loading of the shaft which bothered me. The Mitsubishi OT was another really good performer and I liked it a lot, but there wasn't a huge benefit over my Recoils, so I couldn't justify reshafting a whole set of irons. The Accra Tour shafts were the all around best performers; great feel, nice tight dispersion, and good numbers on Flightscope. I shafted one of my Titleist 690 MB irons with this shaft and have hit it on the range a few times. I am thinking of reshafting my Miura irons with this shaft. One interesting finding in this test was how much of an impact shaft weight made to performance. I thought I preferred heavier weight shafts, but the testing showed that my best numbers were produced with a 95 gram iron shaft. I also thought I like a D4 swing weight in my long irons, but testing also showed better consistency with a D2 swing weight. I guess I learned to put aside all my preconceived notions and just going along with the process. A lot of good options out there, but if you go through a thorough fitting process and are open to trying different weights, different flexes, and different brands, you maybe surprised with the results. Best Feel: MCI, Mitsubishi OT, Accra Tour, and Recoil Prototype (a lot of good options out there) Best Dispersion: Accra Tour and Arcane Best all around: Accra Tour and Recoil Prototype Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tae Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 I'm playing crazy cbi 80, crazy stp 85, bangvoo, waccine, thump, baselius, FE dgl, fsp, roddio, mci, steelfiber, recoils, and OT. Can't say anything bad about each shaft. They are all premium shafts and plays differently. As you guys know, they play differently depending on the heads. Although it's not recommended, I had to reshaft them at least 3-4 times to find right combo. For example, modart with roddio was just horrible. But roddio is just heavenly with p2. Yes... It gets expensive to have experiment. If you live in us and willing to pay shipping, let me know. I'll send few clubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjr. D Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Don't underestimate grip choice either. No one ever talks about grips but a hard cord grip is going to feel more harsh than a soft iomic or nowon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gus Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) Great posts fellas and I agree it's indeed all of these factors makes the process fun but time consuming and costly! I've probably driven more than one club tech nuts in my day trust me. When you find the right setup however KEEP IT you will regret any impulse decisions to sell, it's easy to forget how much labor goes into a GREAT well fit set of graphite shafted irons...BB Edited May 27, 2015 by BigBen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck4golf Posted May 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Shafts are harder to evaluate than driver heads which are harder (to me, anyway) than iron heads. Irons, you can see the technology. Heads have it buried and shafts even more-so. I just bought a 435 blackout from TSG after doing a lot of looking and thinking and evaluating - and I really like it. It is as long as I had hoped. So this makes me think careful reading and thinking can accomplish something. But shafts are the great mystery. I have access to (an old version) of a shaft profile software, but it isn't really helpful, especially when such subjective criteria are so important. The other thing is, I have been fitted several times. I have to confess, it seems like a hit and miss process. Just to make things more complex, I end up 'swinging to the club' and there are a lot of clubs/shafts that all seem similar. It's kind of like when I was single - the hardest women to really deal with when dating were the ones that were 'almost right.'. Since I started this thread, I also have realized with this new (and really powerful) infatuation with blades, that the sole grind is a big deal. So I think the next step is not what I said (shaft, then try heads) but maybe land on a good set of heads. Then (crap) do some trial and error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobmontana Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Not really a good use case but I put OTI shafts in two of my hybrids that I rotate and I really love the way it performs. Stable as a Diamana Thump but slightly higher trajectory and feel is actually much better. I have 95 Stiff but probably better off using 85 S in the hybrids and 95 S in irons. Looking to get a set of OTIs installed in irons. I really wish they came pre-tipped for each club and in taper tip size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdGolf Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Do you have a problem shaving it to taper?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 I'm playing Crazy's new carbon stepped patented shaft called STP, I'm playing it in 85g in stiff and its super straight with a nice higher trajectory. Testing against the Japan version C-Taper 95 both are great shafts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobmontana Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Do you have a problem shaving it to taper?? Not really a problem just more work :) I unfortunately don't have a taper tip shaver ... not sure where to get one either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 shaft sanding belt and digital caliper is what most use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobmontana Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 The one shaft I did this took a long time to sand down, fit in hosel, sand down and try again....... very tedious work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gus Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 (edited) A while back when it was rare to find taper tips my club tech built a pretty cool jig that reminded me of a large pencil sharpener it worked PERFECT. Now however be very careful back then the tips where just about solid graphite so no serious structural damage was done now however the technology has vastly improved and the walls are much thinner or muti-material could easily damage the integrity of the shaft. BB Edited May 28, 2015 by BigBen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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