Aerotech Steel Fiber vs. Steel Shafts

sleuth

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Hey guys,

I'd like to discuss the Aerotech Steel Fiber shafts vs. current steel shaft offerins. I have not had the pleasure of ever hitting the Aerotech shafts so I'd like some opinions.

I went from PX Flighted 6.0 to KBS Tour S. I just found the PX Flighted too difficult to load and found myself not getting the yardage I did a couple years back. I lost about 5 yards. I went to KBS and got better dispersion and feeling in my attack irons. Not only do I feel like I got those 3-5 yards back, but my dispersion feels tighter. Not only that, but I feel like my accuracy and range has increased with each iron. I can swing and chase after the ball to hit it longer, or do a smooth tempo to take some yards off without losing any feeling (my biggest issue with the PX).

I was thinking about the perfect tinkering/backup set of irons and am heavily considering shafting them with the Steel Fiber option. My goal is to gain yards, without losing the stability.

To the owners out there, how was the transition from Steel to Steel Fiber? And which flex and weight did you go with? The shafts sound extremely light to me but I have also read they play firmer then claimed on the specs chart. I see Kuchar plays i95 S flex, and I know I don't swing my irons as fast as he does. I'm struggling with the idea of dropping to i80 because it would feel so light. The torque looks extremely high for an iron shaft, as well. Does it feel loose at all?

And last question, did you actually gain yards? Thanks.

**EDIT**

Let me add and say that I am looking to increase my attack iron range. I currently hit my 7 iron 170 yards, give or take. My goal is to increase that to 180 yards. Not too far fetched, is it?
 
Sleuth, where in Iowa do you live? I have the Aerotech i80 R flex in my irons. If it's close you could hit them some time at the range.
 
Sleuth, where in Iowa do you live? I have the Aerotech i80 R flex in my irons. If it's close you could hit them some time at the range.
West Des Moines, off Jordan Creek. You anywhere nearby? That'd be very cool if you are!

Could I also ask how you went about testing/playing Aerotech and who you purchased through? No local dealers anywhere around here.
 
Cedar Rapids. No deep testing went on. I was in the Edwin Watts store and they had a slightly used set of Miura irons with these shafts at a very good price. I hit them in the simulator/monitor and liked how they felt and the numbers I was getting so I bought them. After two rounds of playing them they seem very accurate. It's a little early to tell distances compared to my old Burner 2.0s but I'm thinking they might be 1/2 club shorter, but that's probably more due to the face not being as hot. That's fine by me as in my irons I was looking for accuracy not distance. With the 2.0s there was just a lot of inconsistencies that were driving me bonkers. I can say that the pro I get lessons from who creams the golf ball hit about a dozen shots with my 5-iron the other day on the range. He was hitting absolute bullets with them, even though they were regular flex. His last response as he was driving away was "Don't ever sell those irons."
 
Damn too bad you're in CR. I didn't know they opened an Edwin Watts out there.

What shafts are in your Burner 2.0? Would you be able to give me a quick comparison between the two shafts?

And what's your swing speed?
 
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Originally the factory steel 85 or whatever they were in regular flex. Distances were tough to dial in for me. I tinkered over the winter and had put in the Miyazaki graphite iron shafts in the 2.0s in stiff flex. The problem I had with those was it really affected the swingweight which made they tough to control. They went from a D3 to a C10. After I built them up to a D4, I still couldn't dial things in consistently. My swing speed is probably somewhere in the low 90s with my driver (first guy on the internet not to have a swingspeed of 110) and I can safely say I don't hit a 7-iron 170. Before with the 2.0s I hit my 7-iron probably 150-160. With my prior set of Adams A4 Techs it was more like 145-155. Currently my best guess is I'm back in the 145-155 range, which is fine for me. Tough to know for sure considering the wind we've had lately. I want my distances to be the same and only deal with misses right and left.
 
I find the Aerotech swing speed chart a little befuddling. How is it that the i80 R and i95 R are nearly identical? It looks like weight has a marginal factor, if at all, which sort of defy's conventional wisdom.

I'm still wrestling with flex and weight at this point. I know I want to give these a shot and can't find even one single bad review on these shafts. I'm looking to add distance, so the i80 may be my best route.

Going from a 120g to 85g constant weight shaft? Hmmm, good things these would start as a backup, I guess :) Would you happen to know yours swingweight with the i80?
 
Does anyone know how the constant weight shaft and the regular shaft differ in performance and does dropping from a shaft 130grams to 95 grams effect the swing weight or would the club builder counter that some way so it stayed the same
 
I have these now for two months along with my fitter/pro. He is a low handicap 52 y/o who swears by these. He said he is getting about 8 yards more and tighter disperson with his steel shafts on his Muira irons. He is predicting the Tour will gravitate to this shaft.
In the two months I've had them my tenenditis is pretty much gone. I thought the 95g model might be heavy and I don't. I know the 85g model is the most popular in irons.
I have the 95g model in stiff like Kuchar and I only hit my 7i 150-155y. It must be the tipping?
 
Just noticed Bridgestone added these as a special order option for the J40 line.
 
Just noticed Bridgestone added these as a special order option for the J40 line.

OK, that's pretty freakin awesome. I keep pondering these shafts, just nowhere to really try them out. Everything I have read about these is very positive, and I love the idea of the control of a steel shaft but much lighter and less harsh on the hands and wrists.
 
OK, that's pretty freakin awesome. I keep pondering these shafts, just nowhere to really try them out. Everything I have read about these is very positive, and I love the idea of the control of a steel shaft but much lighter and less harsh on the hands and wrists.

I would love to try these out and if Bridgestone had only offered them a month earlier I might have gone this route.
 
Can anyone comment on the feel?

My buddy put them in his Burner 2.0 and he doesn't really like them. He said the feeling is muted. I need to try these the next time I'm back in Chicago.

He also has the UST Mamiya IS900 prototypes in a set of i20's. I must try these as well!
 
Can anyone comment on the feel?

My buddy put them in his Burner 2.0 and he doesn't really like them. He said the feeling is muted. I need to try these the next time I'm back in Chicago.

He also has the UST Mamiya IS900 prototypes in a set of i20's. I must try these as well!

I think they feel great in my irons and better than most graphite shafts. You won't be disappointed.
 
Can anyone comment on the feel?

My buddy put them in his Burner 2.0 and he doesn't really like them. He said the feeling is muted. I need to try these the next time I'm back in Chicago.

He also has the UST Mamiya IS900 prototypes in a set of i20's. I must try these as well!

What about the feel are you curious about? To me, I can't say that they feel muted or really even that much different than steel. I do like what I perceive as consistency in that my distance control is getting much better.
 
Could you give us a mini review of these. It's hard to find info about them.
 
I have played steel my whole life until I put some lightweight Miyazaki's in my irons. At first I liked the Miya's but over time my dispersion just was going all over the place. Short, long, left, right, you name it. And due to the lightweight shaft the clubs felt very light and I grew to not like the feel. I don't even notice a difference between the Aerotech's feel weight-wise compared to steel. And as I said the dispersion has certainly tightened way up. Also, with the Miya's the shots were insanely high. I haven't noticed any real difference in height using the Aerotech shafts.
 
I wonder with some of the press these have been getting lately with Snedeker and Kutchar if more OEMs will pick them up as a custom option.
 
I've been looking for a new set of irons. I play the Tour Burner w/PX 5.0 HL; with some of my limitations (wrist, shoulder, hand) I wanted to move into graphite, but not lose feel. I went to Club Champions (Phila) we went thru several heads and shafts using Trackman. I narrowed it down to Titleist AP1, Taylormade RocketBladez Tour or Mizuno JPX 825 Pro. We found that he i95 Reg. shaft was the correct weight and flex for me (79-80mph 6I) My fitter was also able to add some SW while testing; with i95 shaft @ D3 SW, I was picking up approximately 5-7 yrds carry with a little higher launch and spin; the dispersion was tighter then my PX. (circles got smaller and smaller) with great feel and feedback. All three club heads preformed well with this set up. I'm siding towards the Mizuno, or getting my TM retro-fitted....no decision yet???
 
That's great news. One thing I love about that place is that they have all the exotic shafts in stock and on hand to test immediately.
 
I agree. They also let you test each head in the shaft you are currently using for comparison. Steelfiber i95 stood out above my current, and all other graphites I tested...and yes, those exotic do not come cheap.
 
Am getting fit for a set of Steelfiber's. As soon as I get some reps in I will let you know.
 
Am getting fit for a set of Steelfiber's. As soon as I get some reps in I will let you know.

Very nice! I'm looking forward to your thoughts. These have ALWAYS intrigued me.
 
I've hit these shafts on a number of different heads before. Performance wise, I actually got the same out of them as I did with the nippon ns 950s. I'm not entirely sure they were supposed to add distance (they didn't in my tests). I don't have big swing speed numbers - hence I was hitting shafts in that 95g weight range. They advertise that stability of steel shafts thing and I did achieve comparable shot dispersion numbers as any other shaft. At the same time, they had a little more graphite shaft-like shock absorption like in a hybrid club. They felt nice, perhaps less "feel" though if you're really into that whole feedback from contact thing. I'd get them except for the fact that I'd have to get them aftermarket and that'd cost a lot more.
 
I believe I saw these in Zach Johnson's clubs on the GC last night, they certainly didn't look like normal steel that's for sure!
 
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