Composite Sticks...

[Rick 0]

This is probably a dumb question but other than my Sprungs everything I have is pretty old school including my Easton Taperwall aluminum hockey shaft. Does anyone use a composite stick for roller hockey? Or should you use a composite shaft with an ABS blade? I play mostly on smooth blacktop in the summer but my winter league is inside on a really smooth cement floor. I have kind of had my eye on a Reebok composite stick the local sporting goods store carries. Also, sorry if this has been covered or is common knowledge but I didn't find much in the archives.

Thanks in advance.

Rick Henry

[gee2626 0]

Get an ABS blade for playing on blacktop. That kind of flooring will just destroy a composite blade.

I've used OPS for smooth cement floor, but I find it weakens the blade more quickly than sport court. It seems I find that there's always a crack on the bottom of my blade after a season on smooth cement.

[Abilectic 0]

You can use a composite stick shaft anywhere you want. But nothing destroys a blade faster than blacktop, get the cheapest ABS blades you can and get them in bulk if possible. When I played on smooth concrete years ago I remember taping only the face of teh blade as tape on the bottom would create drag for the ten minutes before it got completly worn off. Good times.

[Patrick67 1]

Besides sport/ice court type materials I wouldn't advise using a composite blade.

[sdcopp 1]

For the blacktop, use a shaft with a good ABS blade like the Koho crossover, the RBK 1K or something like that. Depending on how rough the blacktop is will determine how long the blade lasts.

For the smooth concrete you can use a wider variety or blades, ops, etc., using something like epoxy on the bottom or the gamma tape I posted a week or so ago will prolong the blade life

[thejackal 46]

for smoother surfaces any CCM Vector blades other than the 10.0 is money.

[camhockey16 5]

i keep two sticks with me at all times, 1 is a one piece composite stick for ice and sport court and the other is a shaft with rbk abs blade. That way i am prepared for anything no matter where i end up playing.

[sdcopp 1]

if you can find older Sher-Wood Axion blades that you like, they are super tough on smooth surfaces. Asphalt might chem them up, but smooth concrete won't be hard on them.

Koho Crossover, RBK 1K, CCM texalium/abs are all good candidates. I've had Eastons that delaminate in a matter of a couple weeks, so I won't touch those again. I'm also using Mission Z2 blades on smooth concrete, of course the bottom lined with the Gamma tape. Not too bad on those.

[DamnLocust 0]

If your hands are relatively soft and you don't take too many slapshots, you can even get away with using wood blades. I've gotten away with using wood blades on asphalt for the past couple of years. I actually get more life out of them than some of the guys get out of their ABS blades.

The feel and weight of most ABS blades is pretty poor. The weight is the biggest issue that I had with them, as they can severely throw a nice light composite shaft out of balance.

[gxc999 7]

I recommend trying the vector 2 or 4.0. It's cheap and holds up pretty well.