Reebok Ribcor

[Gefiltefish 9]

Reebok Ribcor Grip

Flex: 100 and 85 (own both), both extended about 5 inches

Curve: P46 Bergeron

Height: 6'
Weight: 270
Postition: roller Defenseman.

Time-frame of use: Oldest stick is now about 5 months old.

Recently Used Sticks (past 12 months): Reebok 20K, CCM RBZ, Warrior Covert DT2

Intro: To start, I am a ROLLER HOCKEY player, I want everyone to know that before they read too in-depth. I had been in Warrior or Easton sticks for years, but wanted to give the P46 pattern a try. I did so with a 20K and opted to upgrade to the Ribcor after a month or so using the 20K.

I also want to say that I switched from 100 flex to 85 flex on my own accord. It was NOT because I felt the stick was too stiff (a common complaint for Reebok users).

Aesthetics: I am very happy with the looks of the stick. The paint job is not flashy. Primarily black with some darker grey writing and lime-green graphics. The bottom of the stick has a white stripe as well.

10/10

Weight and Balance: This is a fairly light stick. Some think too light, but it feels like a good transition from my 20K (which I transitioned to from a DT2, which was also very light). If coming from a heavy stick, this may feel very light to you. I personally think its just right. Fairly well balanced as well. I think it is fairly even with the 20K in balance even though Reebok proves it is more blade-light.

10/10

Blade: If there was a single "downside" of this stick, it would be the stiff blade. I personally like a fairly rigid blade as I like to shoot and am not really a dangler (odd considering I play roller!). When catching a hard pass, the puck will bounce off the blade. Again, I am playing with a roller puck. Requires a little touch to catch it perfect. Good new is that I rarely feel any deflection when shooting. I do feel that a bit with the 20K, but that may because it is getting soft on me...

8/10

Shaft/Shooting: This is the call-out feature of the stick, and IMO - its not BS. Maybe I am drinking the cool-aid, but I do feel a bit of a better/quicker release on this stick compared to the 20K. I really notice a better shot on quick shots that I don't have time to lean into or wind-up. Qucik shovel shots or snappers seem better with this stick. When I do load the shaft up, it does not seem as noticeable. I think that may be my hand placement a bit though since they are usually outside of the "Optimal Loading Zone" as printed on the stick. I use a overly-long stick for my height and my final bottom hand placement is slightly above that zone.

9/10

Stickhandling and Passing: I am not a dangler, so I am not going to comment on the stickhandling moves. The only comment I have is that the stick allows me to make one-handed moves a bit easier than others I have used in the past. It might be me, it might be the stick. I can't tell.

N/A

Durability: I originally bought a lightly-used 100-flex and used that stick several dozen times before noticing any chips in the finish or blade. My new'ish 85 flexes are only used once a week and look brand new after about 5 uses each. I don't notice and other cracks in the blade or any internal issues.

9/10

Conclusion: Ever since my S19, I kinda got out of the "shooters" stick. I was using SE16's, Dolomites and Mako's before getting back into the DT2 and now the Ribcor. If you liked the S19 (IMO one of the best shooters stick ever), I think you will like the Ribcor. I am very happy with this stick. Yes, the blade is kinda stiff - but the shooting you get out of it makes up for it. Really hope Reebok/CCM continues this line and evolves the product for years to come.

9.2

[rawkstar 45]

Reebok Ribcor Grip

Flex: 85, cut down to 55" (91 flex as shown on the shaft)

Curve: P87A Crosby

Height: 5'10"
Weight: 180
Postition: Forward

Time-frame of use: About a month.

Recently Used Sticks: Warrior DT1, True 5.2, Reebok AI 7, Bauer Nexus 4000, Inno Thunderdome, CCM CS shaft with APX blade.

Intro: I've been playing hockey since around 6, I'm now just doing beer league and random stick time/drop ins. I've heard a lot of good things about the ribcor so I picked one up on sale. I'm not attached to any particular stick brand, I've tried a bunch, my usual go tos are the sticks right below top of the line or the top of the line mark downs. As for playing style I'm your typical defensive liability forward, I'll get in the zone and try to beat the d, if I can't I'll opt for a shot. I take a lot of quick wristers and snappers from just about everywhere. I'm not super dangly, but I'll pop a toe drag every once in awhile. I cut my sticks short and I do the candy cane tape job all the way down the shaft for extra grip and leverage on shots, I tend to hold the stick quite loosely and the tape helps secure that bottom hand on shots and load the stick better.

Aesthetics: This stick looks awesome, really slick and the little green E ribcor logo looks really nice, very pro look, not too flashy. I really liked the look.

10/10

Weight and Balance: This is not the absolute lightest stick out there, which was a little bit disappointing considering this is the top of the line reebok stick. Its by no means heavy but certainly not as light as the top of the line bauers and sherwoods. That said its got great balance and still feels quite light in your hands, perfectly usable, I just expected it to be maybe a little bit lighter.

9/10

Blade: The blade is a bit pingy, but I never found that to be a problem. Puck feel was nice, not amazing buttery soft like its glued to your stick and you can feel it moving around, but not dead and bouncing off, just kind of snappy and lively and in a good way, certainly not something I had to fight against.

9/10

Shaft/Shooting: So yeah this is pretty much the reason to buy this stick. I've never had the puck fly off a stick with quite the same velocity as I did with the ribcor. Wristers and snappers are just absolute bombs. I remember the first time I just kind of gently lobbed the puck at the net in warmups and it just rifled it top shelf. It was definitely a harder shot than I intended. One thing I found with shooting this stick is the less effort you put in and the more you let the stick do the work the more you're rewarded. Overall I would say its by far the best and hardest shooting stick I've ever used.

10/10

Stickhandling and Passing: I'm a shoot first and ask questions later kind of guy, this stick works very well for that. Stick handling was fine, I had no complaints the combination of weight and balance with the pinginess of the blade, it worked fine. I didn't quite feel like it elevated that part of my game quite the same way as it did with the shooting, but it also wasn't something I was fighting against. I had a couple of pucks bounce off the blade accidentally when receiving a pass, but it was nothing significant. Stick handling and passing felt decent, but I always felt like this stick just wanted to do nothing other than shoot.

8/10

Durability: Soo, I've had the thing for about a month and used it maybe 6-7 times tops. Throughout that time it was used in games and practice, some of the teams we played were quite chippy and I was quite impressed with how the stick was holding up. It was totally rock solid, not even a scratch. I'm not going to lie I was totally babying this thing, if the other team would get out of hand and start slashing I would just switch to my backup stick. So that said I was taking the puck out of our zone and loaded the stick to pass it out to the wing, when i let go of the puck the blade snapped off at the hosel and went bye bye. There were no cracks around that area and it wasn't anything strenuous that caused the break. Freak accident maybe? Anyways that said it was by far the cleanest looking broken stick I've ever had. I sent it in to reebok and they were really great about it and sent me a replacement right away, which is really great of them and which really bumped up this score quite a bit

5/10

Conclusion: So in conclusion I would say this stick lobs total bombs. Its not great at much of anything else, its totally serviceable for passing and stick handling, it'll get the job done, but its not anything to write home about. Puck feel is ok, its not super light, overall its fine. What it does well is shoot, its primarily a shooters stick, and it wants to shoot all the time. If your game is built around shooting wristers and snappers then this is definitely the stick to have. I hope my one stick sample size is not an indication of how durable these things are and that it was just a freak accident that caused it to break so soon, I hope the CCM version of this stick that I got as a replacement will hold up longer. Its not a perfect stick thats great at everything, rather one that does one thing much better than the rest.

8.5