2021 Callaway Epic Speed, Epic Max, Epic LS drivers (in-hand photos)

[third-times-a-charm]

7 minutes ago, noodle3872 said:

Here’s the EI profile. AV and Raw profiles are the same. The CK Blue is the old OEM shaft. 

 

 

Correct - I'm also referencing the CK Pro Blue (exotic/upcharge, was never an OEM shaft) which is the stiffest one on that chart. The chart also doesnt do a service so how different the EI profiles actually are in stiffness across the shaft and where.

[Warrick]

I am so done chasing drivers....

 

I listed my Speed on here, so took my 2016 GBB out today, will hit this driver until both heads are dead.

 

I liked a lot more than Mavrik, but just not nearly the confidence of my gamer

[SwooshLT]

18 minutes ago, Warrick said:

I am so done chasing drivers....

 

I listed my Speed on here, so took my 2016 GBB out today, will hit this driver until both heads are dead.

 

I liked a lot more than Mavrik, but just not nearly the confidence of my gamer

 

What didn't happen?  

[Warrick]

5 minutes ago, SwooshLT said:

 

What didn't happen?  

Not sure what is, may just have an optimal set up with GBB and Ventus black. We played in 20-25 mph winds today and just hit it almost perfect all day. I even hit what may be my longest ever drive today.

 

I have dual sliders, and play at 46”, pretty heavy, but feels perfectly balanced. I had to put a 17g weight on the back of the speed to match head weight, may have made it spin too much, not sure, but back to old faithful 

[SwooshLT]

33 minutes ago, Warrick said:

Not sure what is, may just have an optimal set up with GBB and Ventus black. We played in 20-25 mph winds today and just hit it almost perfect all day. I even hit what may be my longest ever drive today.

 

I have dual sliders, and play at 46”, pretty heavy, but feels perfectly balanced. I had to put a 17g weight on the back of the speed to match head weight, may have made it spin too much, not sure, but back to old faithful 

 

 

I can tell you that I could easily put gbb 17 back in the bag ....... if I hadn't seen we more own eyes a handful of ridiculous drives........not much has really changed in past 5-7yrs .....but at least you tried.....Rick Shiels showed no significant gains over 17 gbb vs 21 Epics ......my true joy has been from the sense that the Speed is very much a reincarnation of my all-time favorite driver......the R510 non-tp 330cc from 03-04........same exact sound/feel , looks and flight except Speed is bigger , more stable and more forgiving........I'm down 20mph in my swingspeed......but gauging by my recent drives vs the Speed,  I'm definitely seeing gains......

[Warrick]

I loved everything about it, really wanted it to work, but my consistent driving is what just keeps me atop our golf crew that plays together so much.

 

I have a 8.5 and 9 head, also have the OG 17 Epic done in matte black. I will play these  heads for years to come.

[SwooshLT]

12 minutes ago, Warrick said:

I loved everything about it, really wanted it to work, but my consistent driving is what just keeps me atop our golf crew that plays together so much.

 

I have a 8.5 and 9 head, also have the OG 17 Epic done in matte black. I will play these  heads for years to come.

When you know , you know!

[sbjinx]

1 hour ago, Warrick said:

I loved everything about it, really wanted it to work, but my consistent driving is what just keeps me atop our golf crew that plays together so much.

 

I have a 8.5 and 9 head, also have the OG 17 Epic done in matte black. I will play these  heads for years to come.

When you find a gamer you trust it’s hard to switch. I feel the same about my epic flash TD. Don’t know what it is but I have so much confidence with it I can’t see myself switching until I see some crazy improvements from the new stuff. 

[CactusGolf]

On 3/19/2021 at 12:51 PM, CactusGolf said:

Definitely one of the best headshapes I've seen in a few years.  Ended up putting in the order a few minutes ago.  The 50% trade in helps!

 

Decided to go with the Tensei Blue over the Riptide since it is a slightly lower spinning shaft.  

While I was packing my trade in, I found a Matrix Black Tie 6M3 upstairs with an OptiFit hosel already on it!  So if the Tensei doesn't work, I have a Black Tie to use too!

[third-times-a-charm]

Has anyone messed with swing weight and head weight yet?

 

The Mavrik was stock at D2, so is the newer B21 driver, and Callaway used D3 on the Epic series for some reason.

 

I upped my head weight to 200g and have been testing D3 and D2 SW - and D2 in the Max LS is fantastic.

Much better than D3 and the heavier head with lighter SW is much nicer.

Edited March 23, 2021 by third-times-a-charm

[SwooshLT]

12 hours ago, third-times-a-charm said:

Has anyone messed with swing weight and head weight yet?

 

The Mavrik was stock at D2, so is the newer B21 driver, and Callaway used D3 on the Epic series for some reason.

 

I upped my head weight to 200g and have been testing D3 and D2 SW - and D2 in the Max LS is fantastic.

Much better than D3 and the heavier head with lighter SW is much nicer.

 

 

LS came in at D-4.5 for me on Tensei Blue AV 65R.......moved into Speed and a more reasonable D1.5

[third-times-a-charm]

6 minutes ago, SwooshLT said:

 

 

LS came in at D-4.5 for me on Tensei Blue AV 65R.......moved into Speed and a more reasonable D1.5

 

Wow D4.5 was stock?

[SwooshLT]

1 hour ago, third-times-a-charm said:

 

Wow D4.5 was stock?

 

I hit it in demo but this was on the Tensei..  ..yeah, weird

[third-times-a-charm]

16 minutes ago, SwooshLT said:

 

I hit it in demo but this was on the Tensei..  ..yeah, weird

 

The Callaway site now shows split SW specs for 60g and 70g class shafts. Wonder if it was a Tensei 75 on the driver.

[CactusGolf]

On 3/22/2021 at 9:01 AM, CactusGolf said:

While I was packing my trade in, I found a Matrix Black Tie 6M3 upstairs with an OptiFit hosel already on it!  So if the Tensei doesn't work, I have a Black Tie to use too!

Looks like there's a pretty long backorder going on right now due to my shaft selection.  Just logged in to check my order status on Callaway and looks like 5/24 to 5/28 was the date now showing.  Sounds like the Tensei is the issue so I called today and swapped it out for the MMT 60 and if that doesn't work, I'll have my Black Tie to fall back on! 

 

They made it super easy to swap out the shaft.  Hopefully I'll see a quicker delivery date appear shortly.

 

Can anyone tell me what the length of the stock shaft is in the Epic Speed when taken off the head?  The Black Tie I have measures 43 7/8" from the tip of the adapter to the butt-end of the grip.  Just trying to figure out if I were to use that shaft, how long the driver would play.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited March 23, 2021 by CactusGolf

[kwainio]

Ordered my Epic Speed w/ Ventus Blue 6x on 3/14 and it came in 3/19. I don't know if I'm getting lucky w/ avoiding backordered parts but Callaway's turnaround time this year is unbelievable.

 

Oh and couldn't be happier with the setup. Insanely stable, forgiving, looks great, and launches higher than the TSi3 I had w/ similar spin and ball speed.

[SwooshLT]

3 minutes ago, kwainio said:

Ordered my Epic Speed w/ Ventus Blue 6x on 3/14 and it came in 3/19. I don't know if I'm getting lucky w/ avoiding backordered parts but Callaway's turnaround time this year is unbelievable.

 

Oh and couldn't be happier with the setup. Insanely stable, forgiving, looks great, and launches higher than the TSi3 I had w/ similar spin and ball speed.

 

LOVE hearing this ........very much what I'm finding myself 

[jeffrey r]

20 hours ago, third-times-a-charm said:

Has anyone messed with swing weight and head weight yet?

 

The Mavrik was stock at D2, so is the newer B21 driver, and Callaway used D3 on the Epic series for some reason.

 

I upped my head weight to 200g and have been testing D3 and D2 SW - and D2 in the Max LS is fantastic.

Much better than D3 and the heavier head with lighter SW is much nicer.

 

I was actually just messing around with this last night.  I played this past weekend with a 16g weight in my Max head with Speeder 661, for D2 SW.  I put in a 17g weight to give a go this coming weekend, which puts me around D2.5.  For me, it's always a balancing act of getting a bit more pop with a bit more SW, as long as it doesn't diminish my ability to turn the ball over too much (or in some cases together with a shaft combo, maybe cause me to turn the ball over too much...).  Anyway, we'll see how it goes with the heavier weight.

[SwingBlues]

1 hour ago, jeffrey r said:

 

I was actually just messing around with this last night.  I played this past weekend with a 16g weight in my Max head with Speeder 661, for D2 SW.  I put in a 17g weight to give a go this coming weekend, which puts me around D2.5.  For me, it's always a balancing act of getting a bit more pop with a bit more SW, as long as it doesn't diminish my ability to turn the ball over too much (or in some cases together with a shaft combo, maybe cause me to turn the ball over too much...).  Anyway, we'll see how it goes with the heavier weight.

 

Where did you get the heavier weight? I need to find at least a 17gm weight for my Max LS, it's D0 right now with my shortened Ventus. Sigh

[t4t3r]

Thinking about trying a Max LS with the trade in bonus going, but I really am very happy with my SIM still. I took a demo of the Speed and regular Max out today and preferred the sound/feel of the Speed but the Max gave me better results even though the Max seemed to be spinning a little too much. Afraid to knock off too much spin with the LS even though some videos/testing have shown the Max and Max LS to be pretty similar there - just some apprehension since past low-spin drivers from Callaway were VERY low spin (EF and Mavrik for example) and I’m not a super high spin player to begin with. 
 

Going to continue reading through the thread for some more opinions.

[jeffrey r]

44 minutes ago, SwingBlues said:

 

Where did you get the heavier weight? I need to find at least a 17gm weight for my Max LS, it's D0 right now with my shortened Ventus. Sigh

 

I had some 2017 Epic driver sliding weights around from those days.  They fit and slide well.  Like this one:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1x-3x-Golf-Weight-for-Callaway-Great-Big-Bertha-GBB-EPIC-Driver-GBB-EPIC-Star/363027020349?hash=item548618ba3d:g:000AAOSw36tdEvI9

[CallawayLefty]

2 hours ago, kwainio said:

Ordered my Epic Speed w/ Ventus Blue 6x on 3/14 and it came in 3/19. I don't know if I'm getting lucky w/ avoiding backordered parts but Callaway's turnaround time this year is unbelievable.

 

Oh and couldn't be happier with the setup. Insanely stable, forgiving, looks great, and launches higher than the TSi3 I had w/ similar spin and ball speed.

 

Ordered mine on 2/16 with Ventus Blue 7x....currently shows backordered until 4/19 to 4/24.  Guess I should have gotten a 6x.  

 

[third-times-a-charm]

27 minutes ago, t4t3r said:

Thinking about trying a Max LS with the trade in bonus going, but I really am very happy with my SIM still. I took a demo of the Speed and regular Max out today and preferred the sound/feel of the Speed but the Max gave me better results even though the Max seemed to be spinning a little too much. Afraid to knock off too much spin with the LS even though some videos/testing have shown the Max and Max LS to be pretty similar there - just some apprehension since past low-spin drivers from Callaway were VERY low spin (EF and Mavrik for example) and I’m not a super high spin player to begin with. 
 

Going to continue reading through the thread for some more opinions.

the Max LS is nowhere near as low spin as the sub zeros and much more forgiving 

[SwingBlues]

14 minutes ago, jeffrey r said:

 

I had some 2017 Epic driver sliding weights around from those days.  They fit and slide well.  Like this one:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1x-3x-Golf-Weight-for-Callaway-Great-Big-Bertha-GBB-EPIC-Driver-GBB-EPIC-Star/363027020349?hash=item548618ba3d:g:000AAOSw36tdEvI9

 

Huh! So the Epic Flash does not fit but the old OG GBB Epic does! Wow, thanks for the tip 😉

[jeffrey r]

47 minutes ago, SwingBlues said:

 

Huh! So the Epic Flash does not fit but the old OG GBB Epic does! Wow, thanks for the tip 😉

 

 

[third-times-a-charm]

1 hour ago, SwingBlues said:

 

Huh! So the Epic Flash does not fit but the old OG GBB Epic does! Wow, thanks for the tip 😉

epic flash weights fit just fine 

[tomg1969]

3 hours ago, kwainio said:

Ordered my Epic Speed w/ Ventus Blue 6x on 3/14 and it came in 3/19. I don't know if I'm getting lucky w/ avoiding backordered parts but Callaway's turnaround time this year is unbelievable.

 

Oh and couldn't be happier with the setup. Insanely stable, forgiving, looks great, and launches higher than the TSi3 I had w/ similar spin and ball speed.

What was the upcharge for the Ventus shaft?

[SwingBlues]

3 hours ago, third-times-a-charm said:

epic flash weights fit just fine 

 

Ok....why did noodle said it didn't? See...

 

 

 

 

[kwainio]

9 hours ago, tomg1969 said:

What was the upcharge for the Ventus shaft?

 

$300 CAD I believe.

[third-times-a-charm]

7 hours ago, SwingBlues said:

 

Ok....why did noodle said it didn't? See...

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure. I tried them and they work.

 

The old weights, though, dont get the full rotation in the track since theyre shaped differently. So you dont get the full adjustment, just 90% of it. Maybe thats what people mean.

Edited March 24, 2021 by third-times-a-charm