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KBS TOUR 'C-TAPER' Iron Shafts: First LOOK and Review!


Metalhead

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Installed PICS Added!
Maybe my prayers have been answered .... I have been hunting for years for the ideal ser of iron shafts... You know the 'Ones'... Which have the feel and workabilty of DG's, yet the spin characteristic of PX's... Stay tuned for a full report!......
But today a full set of KBS 'C' tours in S+ flex showed up on my doorstep!
At first glance what struck me the most was the Satin finish... Its amazingly uniform, smooth and has a very clean look... Just shouts Quality! Next I ran each shaft thru my spine finder, which if nothing else tell alot about the uniformity of manufacturing and additionally how big or small the spine of the shafts are.. I'm happy to report 'these at KBS absolutely know what the heck they are doing when it comes to making shafts'.. These were as smooth as it gets.. Super impressed!
Since I got home pretty late I wasn't able to get as far as I would have liked tonight, but I did manage to shaft up one of my favorite irons, the Cobra S3 Pro ( do a search I write a full report with the S3's with PX 6.5's).. So I was shaft the 5i of this set for at least a comparison for tomorrows range
session.. So stay tuned...more pics and report coming...

Mini Review:
First let me say a couple things..first it took me a bit longer to get a Fair bit of play on FIRM ground...as its been far to soggy in the PNW lately...but I traveled over to the eastern part of the state where the ground is firm to duplicate more realistic playing conditions than the mush around Portland/Seattle!

Let me preface what I have been playing prior to the C-TAPERS, I play to single digit handicap, iron play for the most part has been one of the stronger parts of my game. When playing well I like to take a small divot...I have been playing PX 6.5's for a while now and PX 6.0 prior to that for the past several years...with a couple runs of DG x100's just to keep things interesting. I have also spent a great deal of time and money trying pretty much every brand and style of iron shafts that come around...but alway have come back to my steady eddies PX's due to the reduced spin, flight and consistence distances. In fact my good buddies Swanry30, desallie and I did a Trackman shoot out between PX and DG recently and pretty much confirmed what I had seen in the real world for quite some time...DG just spin too much for me and where the PX don't and hence I'm about 1 club longer with them (individual results will vary) but those are mine.

Second, the C-TAPERS are like No other shaft I've ever tested...and in all honesty it took me a while to get accustomed to the differences-in fact the first 5-6 times I initially hit the c-tapers I was quite perplexed as to what I was experiencing due the sound and feel even thou the results were always there and I wasn't confidant in what I was going to write about and tell of my experience until first I got out of the SOGGY pit of the NW and hit some firm ground.

I don't have any Trackman numbers yet (hopefully soon) so most of what I'm relating is by good ole ballflight and distance.. I hit my Satin PX 6.5 side by side the C-Tapers as the comparison.

Feel: The C-Tapers are very quiet in the feel department...meaning they are soo smooth that I really wasn't sure I was loading the shaft this was quite a contast to the PX which has quite a 'pop' to them and the DG's which you really feel the action of the shaft all the way thru the shaft. While the C-tapers are, what I would call as 'Refined' as it gets...the load seems to be transfers through out the shaft almost without notice...which initially I found this alarming but soon understood what was happening as the results were there.

Sound Again I'll use the word 'Quiet', as in contrast to my PX the sound of impact is very muted, soft, yet firm but certainly many decibels lower. Again I found this puzzling combine with the feel- once I became accustomed to it very pleasing.

Ballflight This is where rubber meets the road, I would agree with KBS statement about 5% lower than the competition. I found specifically the mid and long irons (6i-3i) to flight lower than the PX's. And the short irons a bit closer to the PX flight.

Workability The C-Tapers are definitely more workable(or rather feel more) than PX, but DG still is the king on the feel dept. when it comes to working the ball but not necessary the results. I found the actual workable part of the C-tapers could come close to hanging with DG's even thou they didn't necessary feel like they were..make sense? But I would say they are a great bridge between PX and DG in this category.
I had a shot on a par 4(hit my 3w off the tee left on a dogleg right into the trees)...was sitting about 165yards out uphill to the green surrounded by Pine trees...but had a small window to needle thru 3 trees in front of me but had to keep the shot low ...So I have to hit a low hook just to get to the fairway(which was all I was trying to do)..So I set with a 5i and the shot came out perfect and actually went about 2 ft past the green...(for those of you keeping score).I missed the putt for par!

Distance The I would also say KBS statement is likely true again with the 5% gain in distance, this was more evident in the mid and long irons to me..I will also throw this into the distance segment...I choose the S+ set of C-tapers, imo they feel very close to flex of my PX 6.5's Satins, however I think the X flex's would be a better comparison in straight terms of the px.6.5 for distance, as the added spin which allows the the shafts to Be Workable also spins just a bit more and coupled with a 1/2 flex under what I should be playing makes them play just a tad shorter than what I have be accustomed to...I look forward to picking up a set of X flex's in the very near future as KBS C-tapers have all the things I have been looking for in irons shafts.

Final thoughts:I really believe KBS has a winner with the C-Tapers, this is by far the best KBS shaft I have tried- they look awesome, the abilities to feel and work the ball is great, the ball flight is consistent and distance is good but I have since determined that the S+ are slightly too soft for my iron game, but loo forward to giving them a go again when I get the correct flex. And after all of that I really think KBS has great product here, perhaps even the best of them all-
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[quote name='desaille' timestamp='1302961144' post='3158979']
Metal, those look hot. But the 6.5 are going to be tough to outperform. Those were some awesome numbers we were getting on the 6.5

Please let them swirl just like the Originals. I'd be in heaven if they do.
[/quote]

okay, what's this talk about these shafts 'swirling'? fill me in on that please..

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[quote name='desaille' timestamp='1302961144' post='3158979']
Metal, those look hot. But the 6.5 are going to be tough to outperform. Those were some awesome numbers we were getting on the 6.5

Please let them swirl just like the Originals. I'd be in heaven if they do.
[/quote]

Well said...it will be interesting to see how these compare. Just a tidbit- KBS sent some paperwork with the shafts which said :[b]" C-taper shaft outperformed our leading competitor offering over 5% less spin, 5% lower launch and 5% more distance without sacrificing playability"[/b] Thats a Party! :partytime2:

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[quote name='JFB' timestamp='1302999023' post='3160409']
S+ is equivalent to what? 6.0 rifle?
[/quote]

it's supposed to be 6.5.. I thought.

I have some too.. sharp looking iron shafts indeed. Remind me of my old school Satin PX's or Ti/Boron Rifle (anybody remember those?)

Woods : Callaway Razr TA, Titleist F3-05
Hybrid : Adams LSP XTD
Irons : Fourteen TC910 3&4I, Nike VRProCombo 5-PW
Wedges : Fourteen RM-11 54/60
Putter : Nike Method 003 Oven

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Ok quick update... Just finished building up the Cobra S3 MB's... Except for putting on the stickers.. Will snap some more pics and hit the range for initial impressions tomorrow!

Yes the X's are supposed to equal the PX 6.5... But I got that info a bit late and went off the STD 6.6 reference... So we shall see how they play out... And yes they look like the Old School 'Satins' but way better...

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Sweeeeeet...

Ping G400 MAX 9° Motore Speeder 757 Evolution Tour Spec S

Mizuno ST-3 15° 3W Ventus Blue Velocore 70S

Tour Edge Exotics EXS Pro 19° 3H HZRDUS Smoke Black 80X
                                                  PXG 0211 XCOR2 Xtreme Dark 5-GW Mitsubishi MMT 80S
Edison 55°/59° DG 115 S200 Tour Issue
Edel EAS 4.0
Camino Sunday Bag
Titleist ProV1
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Yup, I'd agree, those babies look really nice. I'm gonna haveta look into these.

Interesting what you said about the spining. I also spine all of my shafts and found that the spine on DG's were all over the place. It seems since TT took over making the PX shafts, (my preferred shaft), there spines have almost as much variance as the DG's now. I tried last years KBS's and when spining them was amazed at how subtle the spine was in all of the shafts and how smooth they were, almost too smooth for me.

To go back on the big variances on the DG & PX shafts. What I noticed was that after spining all the shafts and putting them into the club heads, they had predictable trajectory and dispersion, well at least I thought so.

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I am staying focused on this thread. I have been looking at picking these heads up. The shaft i have had my eye on .The idea of having a 125 gram shaft . I would love to compare these to my super blues.( which i think is a incredable shaft ). Im sure u got one teaser pic to get us threw the day ;) If u are up north u prolly are not going to have a review for a week cause of these crazy weather.

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Than the 'nearest competitor' - no prizes for guessing who that might be, given who is behind these shafts. I think these shafts could be a big deal and will have some to try soon. laugh.gif

Taylormade M1 440 - Tensei CK Pro Orange TX
Adams VST Hybrid (19) - GD AD-DI X
Tour Edge Exotics CB4 (4 wood) - GD AD-DI X
Mizuno JPX 919 Tour (5-PW) KBS S-Taper S
Mizuno JPX 919 Forged (4) KBS S-Taper S
Taylormade Milled Grind (52 & 58, SB) - Nippon Modus 130 S
Taylormade Spider Tour (red) / Scotty Cameron Button Back Newport
Titleist Pro V1
Feeling sad and neglected: Taylormade P750 (4-PW) / Srixon 765 (4-PW) - Nippon Modus 3 130 S

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