Xcaliber Pro X Iron Shaft Review Thread

Chef23

2023 Srixon Experience
Albatross 2024 Club
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I was fortunate to get Tapped by JB to test the Xcaliber Pro X shafts. My plan is to have the lies adjusted on my Srixon 545s to match the Ping i200s I hit very accurately then remove the Recoils from the Srixons and put the Xcalibers in. When looking at the specs I see that the Xcalibers are .370 and I would imagine the Srixon heads are .355. Is there a safe way to make the XCalibers fit in my Srixon? I do some clubfitting but needed to go to someone to have the lie angles adjusted so I was going to have them put the shafts in then I would grip them myself.

Let me know your thoughts. I will use this as the thread to track my review but I am out of town all week so it will be next week before I can begin to put things together.
 
If you can find Popeye on this board, he is the Xcaliber expert on here.
 
I was fortunate to get Tapped by JB to test the Xcaliber Pro X shafts. My plan is to have the lies adjusted on my Srixon 545s to match the Ping i200s I hit very accurately then remove the Recoils from the Srixons and put the Xcalibers in. When looking at the specs I see that the Xcalibers are .370 and I would imagine the Srixon heads are .355. Is there a safe way to make the XCalibers fit in my Srixon? I do some clubfitting but needed to go to someone to have the lie angles adjusted so I was going to have them put the shafts in then I would grip them myself.

Let me know your thoughts. I will use this as the thread to track my review but I am out of town all week so it will be next week before I can begin to put things together.

Hey Chef -
Robin here. It just so happens I designed these Kool Kats...

One misconception on the difference between .355 ID <inside diameter> heads and .355 tip OD <tapered> shafts is that in reality the heads and shafts alike have an exit ID/OD of right around .370 - the OD of a typical parallel/graphite shaft. Arguments abound performance-wise about either tapered or parallel shafts which I'll leave to another thread...;)...

The bottom line is this - one has 2 choices when trying to get a parallel shaft into a head designed for a tapered shafts:

1. The amount of total OD reduction of a .370" shaft is 0.015" - OR - .007"/side which is roughly a single ply of carbon fiber/prepreg material. Now that may sound like a lot, and may cause concern for durability (breakage) but all the material that is removed is INSIDE the head and I've never encountered a clubmaker worth their salt who's had any problems with durability from carefully sanding down the first 1" of a parallel shaft <typical insertion depths of a tapered head is 1.25">. My advice here is to find a master club maker who can easily adjust the parallel tip to fit a tapered head.

2. The other option is to bore out the heads themselves to .370 ID. Some folks are purists who would advise against it, but in my years of player testing I've never seen a noticeable difference if performance or feel using a similarly designed taper vs a parallel shaft in the exact same head. The advantage of keeping the heads at .355 is one may have additional options from the steel goons (whom I lovingly call that as Kim Braly for example has been a close friend for over 25 years...). On the flip side, having a .370 head gives one a lot more options using graphite shafts.

Hope this helps! Good luck and keep us all posted on your testing!
Robin
 
Congrats on the shoulder tap.

That is some great info by the shaft designer. Looking forward to following this review.
 
Hey Chef -
Robin here. It just so happens I designed these Kool Kats...

One misconception on the difference between .355 ID <inside diameter> heads and .355 tip OD <tapered> shafts is that in reality the heads and shafts alike have an exit ID/OD of right around .370 - the OD of a typical parallel/graphite shaft. Arguments abound performance-wise about either tapered or parallel shafts which I'll leave to another thread...;)...

The bottom line is this - one has 2 choices when trying to get a parallel shaft into a head designed for a tapered shafts:

1. The amount of total OD reduction of a .370" shaft is 0.015" - OR - .007"/side which is roughly a single ply of carbon fiber/prepreg material. Now that may sound like a lot, and may cause concern for durability (breakage) but all the material that is removed is INSIDE the head and I've never encountered a clubmaker worth their salt who's had any problems with durability from carefully sanding down the first 1" of a parallel shaft <typical insertion depths of a tapered head is 1.25">. My advice here is to find a master club maker who can easily adjust the parallel tip to fit a tapered head.

2. The other option is to bore out the heads themselves to .370 ID. Some folks are purists who would advise against it, but in my years of player testing I've never seen a noticeable difference if performance or feel using a similarly designed taper vs a parallel shaft in the exact same head. The advantage of keeping the heads at .355 is one may have additional options from the steel goons (whom I lovingly call that as Kim Braly for example has been a close friend for over 25 years...). On the flip side, having a .370 head gives one a lot more options using graphite shafts.

Hope this helps! Good luck and keep us all posted on your testing!
Robin
Thanks for the feedback. I will probably sand down the shafts as it will preserve the value of the heads if I decide to put the recoils back in and sell them at some point. I have a clubmaker in mind to do the work.
 
That's kule. An experienced club maker can easily "git 'er dun..."! Good luck!
Robin
 
I am trying to decide if I should buy a swing weight scale and do the work myself. I have built clubs in the past (my dad took the scale to FL) and am pretty handy about this kind of stuff. I still have the shaft puller so I can remove the old shafts pretty easily. I have a set of calipers so I can gently sand the shafts down to .355. I will still need someone to adjust the heads for me so I still need a clubmaker for that. I have been traveling all week so I haven’t had time to call a couple of places about doing the work so I am not sure of the costs but I would imagine I am looking at 30-40 worth of work per club at a minimum not including grips.
 
Installing the Pro X in a 355 hosel just needs a small area worked on. It's not all that much material to remove. I roll the tip on the bench grinder and it doesnt take more than about two rotations and it will bottom out on the head.

When you do the shaft pull take a good look at the removed shaft. You can barely notice the taper in the shaft. Essentially you are matching the Pro X shaft to the tapered shaft pull. There is more than enough material in the shaft that you will not hurt the shaft in any way or weaken the shaft by tapering the tip. It can take some trial and error to do it quickly but once you get the hang of it it's as quick as prepping the rest of the shaft tip.

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I have been slow to get started on this due to having barely been home for the last two weeks. I made the decision to take the clubs to a local guy who I have never done work with but in talking to him seemed knowledgeable and competent and had good reviews online. I am going to pick them up tomorrow and spend a little time dialing in the lies. I will try to get some simulator time in over the weekend (the weather looks crappy for Sunday and Saturday is booked) and maybe get them on the course next week if there is a warm dry day I am not too busy at work.

I decided to have the heads reamed out. I had 5 shafts and put them in 6-PW. I have the 5 iron still with the Recoil shaft in it. I had all of the lies adjusted to where I think they should be but we are going to check things out on Friday afternoon and make sure they are right. If I like the shafts I am going to need at least 1 more for the 5 iron.

I am looking forward to it. I hate that it is getting cold in Massachusetts.
 
Looks like you might actually have a decent week of weather to hit some balls in.

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I picked the clubs up today. I spent a little time with the clubmaker making sure the lies were right. The clubs are all at D2 and the lengths are the same as my Pings. I hit each of the 5-PW and really liked the way the shaft felt. I was able to find the center of the clubface consistently. Once we got the lies settled right I spent a few minutes hitting the 7i as I had numbers from a recent fitting. I was hitting the 7i 152-153 consistently. When I got fitted I was mostly hitting the 7i 147-148 so it seems to be about 5 yards farther.

I am going skiing tomorrow so no golf but there may be a chance to get out for 9 next week and get them on the course. More than distance I am very interested in accuracy. If I don’t get a chance to get on the course I will go find a spot to get some simulator time and try to compare them to my Pings.
 
I am not sure I ever put any details on my game in. I am 53 years old and currently a 3.8 handicap. I played between scratch and for quite a few years including local competitive stuff (state level amateurs and four balls). I don’t have nearly the swing speed I used to (I have some gym work trying to recover it) which has left me searching for some different clubs with a little more distance. Right now my swingspeed with a 7 iron is around 83mph and I carry that club about 148 yards. Driver SS is about 10 mph faster. Distance is an issue that is holding back improving my game. I do want to start to play competitive golf again but I do need a little more distance in my game for that. If a course stretches to 6600+ yards I wind up hitting a lot of long clubs into greens which puts pressure on my game.

I just got back from the range for some time with the new shafts on Srixon 545s. I brought my 7 and 9i from my Ping i200s (Steelfiber I-95 stiff) as a control. Unfortunately the conditions were less than ideal as it was 47* with some wind and there was solar glare with flat light so it was hard to see the ball hit the ground. I could see it in the air almost until it landed.

Without knowing how far everything really went I like the way the shafts feel. They felt stable and pretty smooth. Not sure if it is the stiffness or fixing the lies but my left miss seems to be gone. I was consistent and accurate with the shafts. I definitely feel like I hit the ball higher with the Excalibur shafts. The Srixons are 1* stronger in loft pretty much through the bag but I still seemed to hit them higher.

I don’t know if my hands are that sensitive but I don’t find the Steelfibers boardy. I didn’t sense a huge difference in feel between the Ping/SF and Srixon/XCaliber. I was playing off mats in the cold with range balls so it is hard to tell.

I am not sure when I am going to be able to get on the course. In the next couple of weeks I will definitely get to a simulator and see how the numbers look. The first range session was encouraging.
 
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I got another range session in on Wednesday and you could see the ball land this time. The XCalibers feel solid and smooth. I brought my Ping 8 and 6 irons with me for comparison and the XCs are a little smoother. Accuracy wise I think I tend to set up with the Srixons a little closed which led to some left misses. I believe that is a clubhead issue vs the Pings not a shaft issue.

Unfortunately it is snowing as I update this. I am going to try to find some simulator time this week and try to get some numbers.
 
Where in Mass are you? I'm in Boston harbor today and its horrible. Back home we are getting lots of snow in Pa. Looks like it will be all simulator time for a while.

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Where in Mass are you? I'm in Boston harbor today and its horrible. Back home we are getting lots of snow in Pa. Looks like it will be all simulator time for a while.

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I live about 20 minutes west of Boston. What brought you to Boston?
 
I live about 20 minutes west of Boston. What brought you to Boston?
I run a tugboat out of NY and we are riding out the storm off the airport. We have a load of ethanol for Quincy. I'm in Boston all the time. We mostly go to Revere.

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I run a tugboat out of NY and we are riding out the storm off the airport. We have a load of ethanol for Quincy. I'm in Boston all the time. We mostly go to Revere.

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That is really cool. If you ever stay over and want to try and play let me know.
 
I run a tugboat out of NY and we are riding out the storm off the airport. We have a load of ethanol for Quincy. I'm in Boston all the time. We mostly go to Revere.

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wouldn't be reinauer by chance
 
wouldn't be reinauer by chance
Yes it is. I just had the Haggerty Girls into Citgo Braintree with a load of ethanol.

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Live in Quincy and golf around there. Feel free to check in if you're staying in the area
Sounds like we need to THP informal get together.

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So about the shafts... Would you say these kick decently through impact or are firmer?

I think they kick decently through impact. They definitely don’t feel as firm as the Steelfibers. I need to get some simulator time in to see how the dispersion compares to the Steelfibers.
 
I had two people this week hit the PRO X and both are having thier clubs reshafted with them.

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Just came back from some time at a new indoor place called XGolf in Wayland (for those of us in Mass). The irons seemed pretty stable and I liked the way they felt. I decided to play a round rather than just hit balls. I would like to go get some time on a straight launch monitor (which I can do at the PGA Superstore but it is a bit of a ride). Ideally getting outside on a course with them because for me that is the real test of a club. It may be a couple of months before that happens though. I am thinking I like the shafts enough to order another shaft so the 5 iron matches the rest of the set.

Sorry I can’t get a real comparison to the Steelfibers or Recoils it is hard given that I haven’t been able to get outside with them.
 
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