RBK 7K

[hehatemefrisbee 0]

Product: RBK 7k / Pronger / Stiff Flex / Right Handed

Time of use: 2 seasons of inline hockey, playing 3-5 times a week.

My stats: 6'2", 220 LB's, primarily a roller hockey player.

Blade: The feel of this stick surprised me with how good it is. I came from using the Mission Hex-1 and the Inno 1100, which both have great feel, and the 7K was just as good, if not better. The blade is very stiff, and has taken some brutal hacks, but still feels as good as it did the day I started using it. 10/10

Flex: This stick is alot stiffer than what I would usually use, considering I usually use an 85 flex if possible. However, I found it pretty easy to get used to this flex, and my shots didnt suffer at all once i realized what adjustments I had to make with the stiffer flex. After two seasons the stick is still as stiff as it was when I first got it, unlike most other composite sticks. 9/10 (personal preference)

Stickhandling/receiving passes: Well alot of this is similar to the blade section, so it does pretty well in this category. I find with this stick and curve I can catch passes in different ways than I ever could, such as between the legs, and behind my back. I dont know if its just confidence or what, but I feel the stick has helped me.

10/10

Shooting: As I said earlier, this is a different flex for me, so i expected to not be able to shoot as well as usual, but to my surprise I found that after adjusting my shooting technique slithgly, I could shoot the puck better than before. My slapshots and wristshots are hard and accurate. This stick is really good for slapshots, The puck just seems to explode off of the blade. 10/10

Weight and balance: Basically, the only way I can describe the weight and balance is perfect. The stick is sickly light, and the balance feels just right. RBK did a good job with that. 10/10

Durability: Again, perfect. After two seasons of major hacks and slashes this stick is still going strong. The top of the blade towards the heel has some damage to it where the foam is showing ever so slightly, but the blade is still as stiff as ever, and if the foam wasnt yellow, I wouldnt have noticed it. 10/10

Intangibles: I'm not going to lie, I hated RBK when they first came out. I thought there stuff was cheaply made and cost too much. My rep gave me this stick on a promo to try to get me to reconsider, and actually use the stick before i said it sucked. Im glad he did, because this is my favorite stick, and believe me, I have a ton. And the argument that my views would be different if i bought the stick isnt really valid, as I would very quickly ditch a free stick if it wasnt working for me.

Conclusion: RBK has done a great job with the 7K. In my opinion it is the best premium OPS on the market to date. As I stated earlier, I wasnt sold on RBK until I used this stick, and much to my surprise I ditched sticks that i had paid full price for in favor of this one. The 7K delivers the best in both worlds as the durability is excellent, and the performance is outstanding. I highly reccomend people to check this stick out if they are looking in the premium OPS market.

10/10

[mrusse01 0]

Product: RBK 7K Prolite/ Modano/ Stiff Flex/ Left Handed, cut maybe 2 inches

Time of use: 5 sessions, apx. 10 hours of ice time.

My info: 6'0, 185 LB, Winger, used only on ice so far.

Blade: The stiffness of the blade is remarkable and the feel is good. I personally prefer the feel of my old Si-Core, but it is most likely that I am just not completely used to the 7k. However the feel is good, and it certainly seems as though it will last for a long time. 8/10

Flex: The stick is quite stiff, but it is a stiff flex so that's what I expected. Seems to be in line with a 100 flex or so on an Easton, perhaps even slightly stiffer. It may have broken in a tiny bit, but overall the shaft feels great and the release on the stick is perfect. 10/10

Stickhandling/Receiving Passes: The stick is fabulous for receiving passes, even with the really stiff blade RBK has managed to somehow come up with technology that allows to the puck to stick to the blade when you take a hard pass. Stickhandling isn't great for me right now, but again I attribute that mostly to being familiar with my Si-Core (it takes me a while to get used to new equipment). I find the blade to be almost a little too light for stickhandling, but I guess that is PP. 8/10

Shooting/Passing: This is one area where I think the 7k really excels. I've had a few comments from other players that the puck seems to be really jumping off the blade, especially on long passes. I can make all the passes with this stick, and I really love the feel it provides for quick, hard passes. Shooting is also excellent, slapshots are fantastic although the light weight of the stick is causing me to adjust slightly on my wrist and snap shots. When I do catch them though, these shots are lasers and very accurate. I expect within the next couple of sessions I have with this stick that my shot will improve even more and exceed where it has been before with any other stick. 10/10

Weight/Balance: This stick is wickedly light. Every single person I've handed it to had commented on the light weight of it. I'm not in love with the balance though, I personally find the blade end to be slightly too light, although with less tape on the knob than I usually use, and more on the blade, it has evened out a bit. Perhaps this is just the nature of high end sticks like the 7k, but it does take some getting used to.

8/10

Conclusion: Like the previous reviewer I was skeptical of RBK products before I bought this stick, and to a degree I guess I still am a little bit. Although, it is tough to deny that this stick exists in the absolute highest segment of the OPS market segment, and is probably just as good as anything else out there. The slight grip on the stick is a nice touch, and I personally love the styling of it. I have a feeling that if anything is going to break down on this stick it is going to be the shaft before the blade, but with such a light weight I can't really expect this stick to last forever. All in all this is an excellent OPS, and considering I found it at a LHS on sale @ 189.99 down from 299.99 (where it still is everywhere else) I have to say that for the price I paid I am very happy with the performance of this stick.

Overall : 9/10

UPDATE: broke the stick after about two months, which doesn't sound bad but I bought the stick during exams when I was really busy, so it probably saw maybe 20 hours of use. However, it was a very strange break, looks like someone with a v shaped mouth took a big bite out of the top of the blade, I'm not sure how it happened most likely it was stepped on in my inline game. The blade is still really stiff though, and I could probably even still shoot with it as the bottom half of the blade is fine.

All in all its a shame cause I really thought the stick was going to last me a long time, looks like a freak accident more than anything, and I'd still give the stick 2 thumbs up.

Edited May 31, 2006 by mrusse01

[gxc999 7]

Stick/Product: Rbk 7k Pro-lite pro stock Datsyuk Curve, 40kp/85 flex

Time of Use: 5 games, 8-9 hours

My size: 5'11 148, Inline Hockey Player, Forward/Defense

Blade: It's very stiff and lively. It feels excellent and only feels super alive when shooting, not receiving pases.

Flex: 40 kp, which is equal to around 85 flex on the Easton scale. It might be a little bit stiffer than that

Stickhandling/Receiving Passes: EXCELLENT. This stick receives passes as good or better than any other stick I've held. Stick-handling? Also superb. The puck feel, IMHO, has yet to be beat. It is as good or better than my XN10's, which I'm now going to try and trade for more 7k's. Rating 9.5/10

Shooting/Passing: The slappers on this stick are better than any other stick, including the XN10. Backhanders are superb and wristers are also quite good. I definitely feel like this stick gives me more accuracy than any other. 9/10

Weight/Balance: One word describes it, perfect. Everyone I let hold it, even for just one second, loves it. It feels extremely light but not like it's going to fall apart on you. The weight is listed as around 400 grams and it seems like exactly that.

Durability: As for as this area is concerned, I've played 5 games with it and it feels brand new. The blade seems to be about the same as day 1, I can tell no difference. I also get into a lot of stick-play but the shaft still looks brand new to me.

Conclusion: I bought this stick by accident on ebay, and nearly backed out of the purchase. I decided to give it a go, and within 10 days after receiving the first, I ordered a second. I'm going to be selling my XN10's in order to get more of these.

Overall: 9.9/10

[15yearsofhistory 0]

Stick/Product: Rbk 7k, Datsyuk Curve.

Time of Use: 1 tournament (4 games), about 10 practices.

My size: 6' 150lbs. Inline center and offensive-defense.

Blade: Very crisp blade. It's way stiffer than the blade on my 6.0, and I thought that blade was made of bricks haha. 9/10

Flex: Regular, which equates to around 85. Doesn't seem very stiff compared to CCM flexes.

Stickhandling/Receiving Passes: Very good feel for the puck with the 7K. Reminded me of using a wood stick. I didn't have to worry about looking down at the puck because I knew it was there. For receiving passes, it could be better. When I would receive them they seemed to bounce off a little bit (I receive passes with soft hands, so I'm almost positive it isn't me). 8/10

Shooting/Passing: The highlight of this stick by far. Slapshots are far superior with the 7K than any stick I've ever used. My wrist shots kinda got weaker, but snapshots increased in speed and accuracy. 9/10

Weight/Balance: Wonderfully light stick that is balanced throughout. I thought the weight might throw off the performance but it's done the complete opposite. 10/10

Durability: Still in one piece. The blade is lively as ever, shaft still feels like it has its true flex. Only thing I can complain about is the paint chipping on of about a foot from the blade. There is almost no paint left; it's just cosmetic damage though. 9/10

Conclusion: I've heard this stick was great, so I though I'd give it a try. So far I love it and would definately purchase another. Definite recommendation to anyone.

Overall: 8/10

[xaero604 0]

Stick/Product: Rbk 7k pro stock Affie Curve (short length, deep toe curve), 40kp/85(?) flex, spray grip

Time of Use: 3 stick and puck sessions and 1 pickup game

My size: 5'7 148, 1.5 years ice pickup experience, Forward/Defense

Blade: It's very stiff, making hard passes a little easier to receive. It doesn't open up on slappers so accuracy is pretty good. It feels like slapshots come off really heavy, which is a good thing in my opinion. Rating 9/10

Flex: 40 kp which in my opinion is definitely stiffer than 85 on easton's scale. I cut the stick down quite a bit though so it's really stiff (more like 100 flex).

Stickhandling/Receiving Passes: Receiving passes is great with this stick because of the stiff blade. Feel is pretty decent too. My only gripe is that the curve is not to my liking. The blade is too short for me to stickhandle decently. I really like the spray grip on this stick. I'm sure it's the same as retail and it reminds me of the CCM type. Rating 9/10

Shooting/Passing: My wristers suck with this stick since it's so stiff but slapshots come off as lasers. Shots don't flutter at all. Looking at slapshots alone, I give this stick 10/10

Weight/Balance: Balance is good and it's lighter than my z-bubble/z-carbon combo. I'm not sure if the balance is due to less material in the small blade to even out the stick, though. Rating 10/10

Durability: It feels like a tank during slapshots. A very solid feeling. I'll probably hold onto this stick even though the curve will drive me insane.

Conclusion: I was interested in trying out a toe curve and unfortunately, I striked out. Maybe if the blade was longer, I'd like the stick more. However, personal bias aside, I think this stick is very well rounded and a gift in those who can use it properly.

Overall: 9/10