roadrunner

whoa that sounded like something on the Easton's Message Board

Love the gloves yglod11

Redlite XN10 S Reviewer: 5"10 175lbs LW mostly ball hockey, some ice hockey Blades used: Jovanovski F4, Z-carbon Initial Impression: When I bought this from Eazy_b97 he said it was a bloody feather and indeed it was. The paint job is the best I've seen from TPS color and finish wise. It's attactive. 8/10 Stick Feel: This shaft feels great when sitting in my hands. The concave shape gives me good grip and control despite the finish being so slick. Paired with both the blades listed it gave good feel. The combos yielded an incredibly light fixture,balance was decent. 8/10 Shooting: This is the aspect of the shaft that disappointed me. After hearing all the hype about XN10 dropping bombs. It wasn't my Z-Bubble. Honestly, I blame it on the flex. Stiff may be a bit to much for me. I also felt that the feather-like weight was hindering my swing speed. My bread & butter wrister is non existent with this shaft, it doesn't have the taper that I'm a custom to. 4/10 Personal experiance. Durability: It looks like this shaft can take a beating. Its taken some slashes but nothing really harsh. Paint chips off rather easily. 9/10 Conclusion: I would say this is a leader in the standard shaft market. Lightest senior shaft on the market. Looks tough and maybe a different flex may have helped my cause. If your thinking about it now is the time to buy it for a low price on certain sites. Great shaft but doesn't even come close to performance when it comes to my Z-Bubble. That's why I'm trying to get rid of it. I would think its a great D-man stick though.Overall for me 7/10

Easton Z-Bubble Background: 5' 9" 175lbs. Shaft: Z-Bubble 100 Flex Test Blades: Z-Carbons, Nike/Bauer Woods, Koho/CCM 1052, Ultra Graphites Options: Senior 85,100,110 flex and grip. Junior 50 flex Initial Impression:I originally bought this shaft due to a great deal. Sports shop was going under, so I got it for 100.00CAD. At the time I was currently using a T-Flex but didn't like the wood only options. This was about 4-5yrs ago. As I held it with a Nike Ignite blade, it felt lighter than anything I had tried at the time. I'm not picky on the colors or look of shafts. Weight/Balance: It's advertisd at 280grams. When I pair it with Z-Carb this stick weighs in at 435 grams. It is lighter than any other OPS or combo I've tried. As for balance, only feels good with z-carb out of all my test blades. However, you can certainly tell where the hossel is cause of the flare. It doesn't pose a problem when playing but you can tell the balance point is like 12 inches higher than a tapered shaft. 7/10 Shooting/Passing/Stickhandling: This is the reason why I keep coming back to this shaft. With a z-carb shots are like rockets and accurate. I took a while to adjust to the quick elevation of the puck at first but I've learned to keep 'em low now. I do find however that with tapered shafts or OPS I did get more consistent accuracy than I do with the Bubble. My main shots are wristers and this is where I rack up the goals. I think that the reason why my wristers are so hard with this shaft is because the taper starts alot earlier on the shaft than any other shaft. Passing is crisp as well. Although I am able to adjust my shooting and passing to almost any tapered shaft, stickhandling is the key. With the Z-bubble-Z-carb combo I can move my hands faster than any other combo I've tried. It feels like a probe skinny and agile. This gives me confidence to go up against 2 D's at a time and try any move knowing that I won't lose the puck because of lack of feel or a poke check. However paired with any other of my test blades, this shaft is useless to me. With Z-Carb 10/10 Durability: This has been my go to stick for almost 5 years. Played Ice with it for 2yrs at once a week as well as Ball and Roller at once a week each during the span. I'm not playing ice anymore but I take alot of slappers. I don't hack much and try to avoid the hacks as best I can. I have a brand new one that hasn't been touched due to this ones longevity. On a different note, two years ago I purchase a Z-Bubble Grip. Playing Ball Hockey only with it, it managed to break after 2 months use. I'm very proud of the longevity of this shaft and also give credit to the Z-carbs, I believe that the "Focus Flex" on the blade really takes the brunt of the impact before it hits the Focus Flex on the shaft, minimizing the impact where Z-Bubbles normally break. This green Bubbles 10/10 Overall including MM Bubbles 8/10. The grip ones are junk for me PP. Conclusion: As of yet I have not come across a better combo and I've tried almost everything. I don't know why I keep trying to find something better when I'm 100% satisfied with the Bubble. When this shaft breaks I will definately buy another one. Like I stated before this shaft is nothing without the Z-carb or maybe even a PTC or Inno high end blade. Wood feels pretty good but it weighs down the shaft. Overall this shaft is all about performance. For me personally I have no complaints about this particular one so I give it 10/10.

Bauer Vapor XV Shaft Background: 5’ 9†165lbs. Shaft: Bauer Vapor XV 102 Flex Compatible Blades: anything tapered Options: Senior only 87 or 102 flex both with stick-um grip. Initial Impression: I was initialy attracted to the Vapor XX as I handled it at the shop it felt flawless, however, I learned from my mistake of buying a one-piece and bowed never to buy one again. I came across the XV and it felt identical. The long taper is what caught my eye. They say 20" but who knows. The paint job wasn't my cup of coffee but nice, it would of been better if the kept it simple and black like the XX. Stickhandling/Passing/Shooting: The stick-um feel is probably the best grip I've ever used, its just enough when you need it but doesn't get in the way. It does a tremendous job when perfroming these duties. Passing is crisp and clean, there's no vibration when stickhandling and due to the long taper it responds quick and lively. Wristers, my prefered shot has suffered with this stick when I paired it up with a synth blade. I have since switched to a hybrid and I immediately felt a better release. Slappers is where the grip came in handy, like only the Flyweight before it, I was able to rip laser like shots and keep'em low which has eluded me my entire career. The concave edges was easy to adjust to and is a nice adition. (8/10) Weight/Balance: It says 285grams on the shaft but is seems decieving It think its a bit more. However, I held it up against a Grip Synergy and It was much lighter, I would compare it to a Flyweight. The most impressive part is the balance of this shaft. It sits perfect in my hands and feels equally balanced all the way through be it with a synth or hybrid. It makes it effortless when stickhandling. (8/10) Durability: I've only had it for a month and a half playing 2 games a week. I've never broken a shaft but it feels very sturdy. The grip is a very thin film and starts peeling on impact. I'll give it another 3 months and it'll be gone. (9/10) Conclusion: Though I'm still in the midst of getting used to this shaft, its a winner. Through my experiance I would not recommend it with a comp blade, put and R2 in or any other wood blade. Just like with the Flyweight, it makes a better match for some reason. Just my opinion. Definately a good buy but with all the competition out there I don't think this shaft will get much recognition L2, Synthesis, XN10R2 all have better paint jobs and have a proven track record in the tapered market. Overall (8/10)