Driver shafts under $100-$150

[Mainehacker21]

I’ve been playing a hzrdus smoke black in my epic flash for a while now. I really like it but I like to tinker more and am getting the itch to try something else. Problem is I would love to buy a Ventus or another premium shaft but just can’t cough up that much money. Any suggestions for something to try that’s not going to break the bank? 

[b.mattay]

Grafalloy Blue is pretty darn good IMO!

[dmbrill719]

I've always been impressed w/ the Aldila ATX line and can be had in the $50-70 range.  Green if you want firmer/lower launching and blue if you want something a bit softer in the tip and a bit more launch.

[ThreeBoxers]

I did a little shaft testing over the summer and bought a Tensei AV Blue, Aldila Xtorsion copper, and Matrix White tie each at under $100. 

[hagimihale]

I confirm what @dmbrill719noted above about the Aldila Tour Green. 

 

I gamed the HZRDUS Smoke Black for a while.  The Tour Green has similar feel and launch, and it should fit your budget if you keep an eye on the 'bay for deals.

 

 

[Drivingrangehero]

48 minutes ago, ThreeBoxers said:

I did a little shaft testing over the summer and bought a Tensei AV Blue, Aldila Xtorsion copper, and Matrix White tie each at under $100. 

Ditto on the Xtorsion Copper 🔥 

[Roejye]

I second the Grafalloy blue recommendation if you're looking for high launch/high spin. I put the supercharged (counterbalanced) in my driver. Mainly because A) I felt driver wasn't performing to the best of it's abilities, and B) the club ho urge was building. Rather than buy an entirely new to me driver I decided to try out a different shaft. So far I've been liking the results.

[phizzy30]

It's worth spending 150 to 200 for a used Ventus w/Velcore.  They are not cheap shafts to begin with.  I don't know if you could find a newer shaft that is the equivalent to the Ventus.  

[b.mattay]

2 hours ago, Roejye said:

I second the Grafalloy blue recommendation if you're looking for high launch/high spin. I put the supercharged (counterbalanced) in my driver. Mainly because A) I felt driver wasn't performing to the best of it's abilities, and B) the club ho urge was building. Rather than buy an entirely new to me driver I decided to try out a different shaft. So far I've been liking the results.

The Grafalloy blue is a low/low shaft. The supercharged is a totally different line.

[mcounci2]

If you look hard enough, you can find older premium uncut shafts for pretty cheap.  Fujikura and Mitsubishi in particular... there's a lot of Diamana and Speeder/Evolution and Atmos on eBay around the $100-$150 mark

 

Aldila 2KXV products are great too for $100

Edited February 7, 2021 by mcounci2

[Roejye]

2 hours ago, b.mattay said:

The Grafalloy blue is a low/low shaft. The supercharged is a totally different line.

Thanks, I'm very new to the shaft market and got the blue and prolaunch blue confused.

[hoffa72002]

An older shaft that has a ton of options and can be found for under a $100 is the UST Mamiya VTS line.  With the red, silver, and black versions you can find a feel that fits your preference.

[Nessism]

I'm a fan of the Aldila Rogue line.  The Silver is the more popular and is medium low, and the Black launches higher for those that need a little help.  You can find these shafts for great prices on ebay.  They were all the rage just a few years ago.

[jah7838]

The Rogue Silver and Tour Green are both really good shafts, especially for the prices you can find them for on eBay brand new. I find them to be easier to swing than the Hzrdus line of shafts.  

[cgasucks]

Lots of good shafts can be had for under $100 new.  All are tour proven.  Grafalloy Prolaunch Red, and the Proforce V2 come to mind and the original Adila NV.

Edited February 7, 2021 by cgasucks

[lefthack]

I am looking to upgrade to a Project X EvenFlow Black, looking at about $50 on eBay. Seems like a good option to upgrade.

[RolandofGilead]

9 hours ago, b.mattay said:

The Grafalloy blue is a low/low shaft. The supercharged is a totally different line.

Are you talking about this ProLaunch family of shafts?

 

https://www.truetemper.com/grafalloy/#grouping--1

 

They describe blue as the high/high member of the family. It was too high for me in a 3W so I switched to Platinum and absolutely love that shaft.

 

I would also recommend the Evenflow line from Project X. I demo’d a driver with the Blue a few years back and really liked how smooth the powerful unload felt.

Edited February 7, 2021 by RolandofGilead

[joostin]

Tried some shafts for cheap off the bay to realize I'm pretty insensitive to shaft differences (other than weight and balance point).  Older models like Matrix black/red/white ties, Aldila RIP alpha, RIP Phenom NL, 2KXV.  If you don't mind used, and can take a risk (big risk?) in unknown tipping, Globalgolf seems to have a lot of shafts for cheap experimenting.  Search or go to accessories and filter for shafts.

[golftherapy02]

The shaft you have with the hzrdous black is a low launch low spin. I would keep checking the secondary market. See if you can get someone to split the driver to head and shaft. eBay market is very hot right now for Ventus shafts. I would guess in a month or two many will realize the Ventus trend wasn’t for them and will look to unload. 

[SUITS]

Oldies but good are the classic diamana D+ at $99 new. Used shafts at global golf are steals often times. Seen plenty of speeders and atmos. 

[timmekang]

Not sure if it’s your cup of tea but I would imagine by the latter half of this year that resale prices for Tour AD shafts may reach below the $150 price point given all the market flooding from Titleist TSi premium offerings. 

[phizzy30]

2 hours ago, hoffa72002 said:

An older shaft that has a ton of options and can be found for under a $100 is the UST Mamiya VTS line.  With the red, silver, and black versions you can find a feel that fits your preference.

I agree with your statement.  Had a VTS silver and black.  Preferred the black as it's a low/low shaft.  I found the red to spinny.  I found the silver to not be as stable as the black.  It would hook if my swing was off or I swung hard. 

[nsxguy]

1 hour ago, RolandofGilead said:

Are you talking about this ProLaunch family of shafts?

 

https://www.truetemper.com/grafalloy/#grouping--1

 

They describe blue as the high/high member of the family. It was too high for me in a 3W so I switched to Platinum and absolutely love that shaft.

 

I would also recommend the Evenflow line from Project X. I demo’d a driver with the Blue a few years back and really liked how smooth the powerful unload felt.

 

Agree.

 

As I recall, Grafalloy BLUE has always been the higher launching and spinning shaft of the Grafalloy line.

[Nixhex524]

3 hours ago, Nessism said:

I'm a fan of the Aldila Rogue line.  The Silver is the more popular and is medium low, and the Black launches higher for those that need a little help.  You can find these shafts for great prices on ebay.  They were all the rage just a few years ago.

I would agree with this.  Rogue silver is such a good shaft.  I prefer the 70g for both 3w and driver honestly, but stable as anything out there.  I also have a 60g silver with a G400 tip on it, I don't do as well with the lighter version but it's still very good.

[nsxguy]

17 hours ago, Mainehacker21 said:

I’ve been playing a hzrdus smoke black in my epic flash for a while now. I really like it but I like to tinker more and am getting the itch to try something else. Problem is I would love to buy a Ventus or another premium shaft but just can’t cough up that much money. Any suggestions for something to try that’s not going to break the bank? 

 

Sans swing info you're only going to get very generic suggestions. And shafts can be very personal.

 

And we know the Black is low/low but without telling us what you've got (SS & launch-wise) and what you're looking to achieve, it's hard,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

4 years ago I got a Cally Fusion driver. Being a higher capper's driver it had a high launch and spin shaft (Diamana Redboard) as stock. But I hit it very well albeit too high and spinny. Found a Handcrafted Hzrdus Black (not Smoke) on eBay and it transformed the club. Easily picked up 10-12 yards due to reduced spin and better launch window.

 

2 years ago I got the Epic Flash Sub Zero. Tried all the stock shafts including the Hzrdus Black SMOKE. No dice. But the store had a couple of leftover shafts from the Rogue line in the rack and I tried them.

 

Hzrdus yellow (non-Handcrafted) easily worked best. Bought a head and shaft off eBay and saved almost $200 over new.

 

Recently my local store made me an offer a number of offers I couldn't refuse while clearing out a lot of their fitting equipment.

 

HC Hzrdus Yellow for $75, Graphite Design Tour AD TP for $149 (a true impulse purchase that's working very well), GD Tour AD DI for $100 (High launch low spin ?), and an EFSZ Triple Diamond w/Tensei Blue for $200.

 

Currently testing the 3 "new" shafts with the 2 different heads and really can't make up my mind.

 

The Tensei Blue is not in the running because it's a 75 weight shaft and I find that shaft a little "sluggish" with my puny 95 MPH swing speed.

 

Anywho, with more info comes more suggestions ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

 

[b.mattay]

3 hours ago, RolandofGilead said:

Are you talking about this ProLaunch family of shafts?

 

https://www.truetemper.com/grafalloy/#grouping--1

 

They describe blue as the high/high member of the family. It was too high for me in a 3W so I switched to Platinum and absolutely love that shaft.

 

I would also recommend the Evenflow line from Project X. I demo’d a driver with the Blue a few years back and really liked how smooth the powerful unload felt.

No I mean the update to the OG Grafalloy Blue. Not Prolaunch anything-that is a different series.0 Attached a pic.  

Edited February 7, 2021 by b.mattay

[dcm325]

I’m an EBay hawk ... always looking for deals on golf equipment. Over the last year, on auction I’ve been able to snipe 3 LEGIT Tour AD’s (DI, BB and MT)... I game all 3 in rotation. 2 were uncut, and the DI was used but I just swapped the tip on to match my driver. 

All 3 shafts were bought between $100-$145 shipped. 
 

Ebay sniping is fun as hell! 
 

Just make sure the seller offers returns, because you need to check to make sure the Tour AD shafts aren’t counterfeit! 

[nsxguy]

25 minutes ago, b.mattay said:

No I mean the update to the OG Grafalloy Blue. Not Prolaunch anything-that is a differenr series.0 Attached a pic.  

 

That's pretty funny actually.

 

For whatever reason I flashed back to that exact shaft, the white one with the blue label. For some reason I thought that shaft was the exception to the Grafalloy Blue "rule".

 

Turns out it's not (really ?) so. https://www.golfgalaxy.com/p/grafalloy-blue-60335-graphite-wood-shaft-ss13grflyblu60g/ss13grflyblu60g

 

Note the chart at the bottom. Mid/Low bend plus Med/Soft tip equals mid-high launch and spin.

 

So maybe, @ mid/mid(?), somewhat lower than the OG but still not low/low.

 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2021 by nsxguy

[bvanlieu]

2 hours ago, timmekang said:

Not sure if it’s your cup of tea but I would imagine by the latter half of this year that resale prices for Tour AD shafts may reach below the $150 price point given all the market flooding from Titleist TSi premium offerings. 

 

That would be evil to see them dip below 150 (150 here goes fast, 175-225 seems to be most listings). I am trying to not shaft 'ho. 

 

While not super new tech, the YS-6 Reloaded can be had new for 99 or less on sale. I just snagged a new X flex for an experiment 🙂

 

- b

[b.mattay]

59 minutes ago, nsxguy said:

 

That's pretty funny actually.

 

For whatever reason I flashed back to that exact shaft, the white one with the blue label. For some reason I thought that shaft was the exception to the Grafalloy Blue "rule".

 

Turns out it's not (really ?) so. https://www.golfgalaxy.com/p/grafalloy-blue-60335-graphite-wood-shaft-ss13grflyblu60g/ss13grflyblu60g

 

Note the chart at the bottom. Mid/Low bend plus Med/Soft tip equals mid-high launch and spin.

 

So maybe, @ mid/mid(?), somewhat lower than the OG but still not low/low.

 

 

 

They screwed up on that chart. It's definitely not. Cobra site had it rated for launch/spin in 2016 as between the ATX Tour Green and the Kuro Kage Silver TINI. I still have a couple and they are 100% a low/low profile! 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2021 by b.mattay