Choosing a new stick

[newmusic11 0]

Hello,

I've been out of roller hockey for almost 2 years - i am getting back into it and wondering what stick i should buy.

my last stick I used for a very long time and I was very impressed with it at the time: RBK Crosby 7k - 85 flex. I love wrist shots, dangles and the crosby curve - although that doesn't matter much if the sticks below don't offer that.

I am now looking at:

-Reebok Ai9

-Reebok 11K

what is better between the two?

[ArrogantOwl 7]

Ai9 is a traditional mid-kick stick while the XK series is a low kick point, if that influences your decision.

[newmusic11 0]

Ai9 is a traditional mid-kick stick while the XK series is a low kick point, if that influences your decision.

If you could explain the differences in these so I could better understand you. Do you mean when you shoot, the Ai9 generally releases from the midkick area, whereas XK releases from the lower area of the stick?

[ArrogantOwl 7]

If you could explain the differences in these so I could better understand you. Do you mean when you shoot, the Ai9 generally releases from the midkick area, whereas XK releases from the lower area of the stick?

Yes, the Ai9 will load from where around your bottom hand is placed while the XK series will load around the tapered part of it.

[AENutrition 1]

I've got an Easton Stealth RS and a RBK ai.9 and love both of them, although I am preferential to the RS for inline and the ai.9 for ice.

That being said..I really like the feel on the ai.9 over any other RBK stick i've used.

[ochockey 0]

If you liked the 7k and the wrist shots then you would like the 11k for a very quick release. On the other hand the A.I.9 would be more responsive for slapshots and all around power.

[sickwilly 37]

I'll qualify my post by saying that I'm not great at estimating the flex of sticks. My 11k shaft felt way stiffer than most other high end sticks/shafts I've used in a similar flex/length. (I used it as part of an 11k 2 piece setup, and am not sure how much the 11k OPS and 2 piece combos are similar in flex). I had great luck with the durability, but actually liked both the 7k and especially the 8k shafts better than the 11k. As a guy who takes a lot of wrist shots (generally with 100 flex stuff), I found that the 11k wasn't a great match for me. The 11k was great for slappers when I had a chance to really lean into it, though.

Overall, I didn't care for the 11k setup, primarily because of the ridiculously tacky grip and (what felt to me like) higher than rated stiffness. If I ever bought another 11k, I'd go with a lower flex than I usually use.

If you like a lot of RBK stuff, I actually like the 8k shafts from a couple years ago a lot better than the 11k. I think they were lighter, and played closer to what I was expecting from a 100 flex (and maybe even a little whippier).