KBS $Taper to What Graphite?

[DNice26]

Anyone move from KBS $ taper to graphite?  

 

$taper stiff/Stiff + has been my go to for some time now and want to try some graphite maybe....   

 

Thoughts?

[ScooterMcTavish]

I have some bad news for you....

 

Went from the KBS $-Taper Lite (100g S) to graphite this summer, and could not find anything that felt the same.  None of them seem to have the butt-soft loading feel KBS built into the $-Taper range.

 

I also have some good news for you....

 

Once you get used to the feel, you may find a few things I did:

- The overall lighter static weight of the club gave me extra clubhead speed

- The overall lighter static weight of the club saved damage to my right shoulder

- The likely lighter swing weight combined with the lighter static weight will provide better clubhead control, leading to better contact

- The stiff handle will force you to replace feel (which was part of my sequence) with a more repeatable mechanical swing.  This will make you less timing dependent. 

 

Can't say I'm 100% in love with my Recoils.  But after enough practice, I'm making excellent contact, and my unreliable draw has been replaced with a straight to baby fade trajectory.  Two-way miss is now gone. 

 

It came at the expense of feel, but pretty much everything has been a positive.

[is1ander]

5 hours ago, DNice26 said:

Anyone move from KBS $ taper to graphite?  

 

$taper stiff/Stiff + has been my go to for some time now and want to try some graphite maybe....   

 

Thoughts?

 

I had KBS Tours long ago and moved into SteelFiber. They were pretty awesome. Very consistent. Like Scooter said, there's really no direct comp for steel to graphite. Graphite is a totally different beast often requiring a bit of additional length and swing weight to maintain feel IMO. The good thing is that your distance will increase, effortless short iron shots, etc. I think it's def worth it but be ready to adjust and grind out the process. Try MMT 105 soft stepped, SteelFiber 95s or TGI 95. I think Axiom 105 .355 is starting to go into fitting bays. Those are all top shelf options.

 

[Yankees18]

I moved to LA golf L series from $ taper 130x.  I suffered from over draw left miss with the $ tapers.

 

also tried the accra TZI irons that i liked but were not as good as LA golf

 

to me the LA golf are a little more linear / stout throughout but still great feeling and much better ball speed and flight for me

 

 

[DNice26]

1 hour ago, Yankees18 said:

I moved to LA golf L series from $ taper 130x.  I suffered from over draw left miss with the $ tapers.

 

also tried the accra TZI irons that i liked but were not as good as LA golf

 

to me the LA golf are a little more linear / stout throughout but still great feeling and much better ball speed and flight for me

 

 

 

LA golf is on my radar for sure.  I may purchase a test shaft.

[CTG77]

I've spent a lot of time in the X100s over the past 2 years.  I am now fully committed to graphite due to wrist / elbow injuries. Testing is ongoing to see what that entails long-term, as my current set is too heavy (probably both shaft and club head) for me to be really consistent with it shot after shot.

 

I've got 1 of the Accra Proto 105cw TI mesh shafts in a club head testing right now.  I also have a Proto 110 shaft that came in too short because I can't read in another club with a "franken-extension" of an MMT-125TX top end" in there to get it to the right length (because a regular extension would have broken to get it to a 4" extension).

 

I need to find the TZI shafts to test them too.  I'm also on the lookout for a cheap SteelFiber i95cw X-stiff shaft 6 iron shaft and a i110cw stiff flex 4 iron shaft I can tip down and butt cut (as needed) to make it a 6 iron shaft and see how those both fare in my 3 current test heads:

 

1.  Toura JCB Cut raw carbon steel CB 6-iron (1° weak @ 29°) - Currently has the Accra Proto 110 fraken-shaft stiff to start but probably playing x-stiff

2.  Miura CB-501 6-iron (unknown loft / lie - leaving it to get checked tonight) - Currently has the Accra 105cw x-stiff Proto TI (Untipped / butt cut)

3.  TaylorMade 2022 P7MB 6-iron (unknown loft / lie - leaving it to get checked tonight) - Currently has a SteelFiber i110cw X-stiff in it

Edited January 14 by CTG77

[Champ2430]

On 1/13/2025 at 3:58 PM, DNice26 said:

Anyone move from KBS $ taper to graphite?  

 

$taper stiff/Stiff + has been my go to for some time now and want to try some graphite maybe....   

 

Thoughts?

Profile wise the closest and most similar would be the LA L series. Feel handle and gets a little softer in the tip section. Other than that, there’s not many other graphites that would be super similar. 

[jeffrey r]

I really cannot speak to profiles and such. I did really like the C-Taper Lite back in the day, but it killed my arms and shoulders.

 

From a graphite standpoint, here are my favorites: Steelfiber i110 R straight in; Steelfiber i110 S (soft-stepped twice); MMT 105 S straight in; UST Recoil Dart 105 F4 straight in; MMT 105 TX (soft-stepped once or twice); Steelfiber i95 R straight in.

 

KBS makes some really good graphite shafts, but they tie stiffness to weight, so you cannot for example, play a 110g KBS TGI shaft that is not re-bar. I even found the KBS TGI 100 to be too stiff. From a stiffness standpoint, I need to go down to the TGI 90, but then I am lower than my preferred shaft weight, and my game suffers. YMMV.   

[Golf Pig]

I was a long time KBS Tour 120 S user. Switched 3 years ago to the $-Taper 120 S which was a seamless transition. Late last summer I decided to try graphite for the first time and went with the TGI 80 S. While the weight is drastically lower on paper, it took no time at all to get use to them. They feel great which isn't surprising because they're designed with the same EI profile as the KBS Tours. My advice is to not be turned off by the weight difference - you might be surprised by the results.

[Pepperturbo]

On 1/13/2025 at 1:58 PM, DNice26 said:

Anyone move from KBS $ taper to graphite?  

 

$taper stiff/Stiff + has been my go to for some time now and want to try some graphite maybe....   

 

Thoughts?

Agree with @ScooterMcTavish regarding feel.  You won't find graphite, even more expensive shafts, feel like steel. 

 

You probably know, the express purpose of graphite is to remove vibration, possibly increase SS, and that can be done relatively inexpensively.  However, if you still want some vibration talking to the hands, spin control and trajectory control, it's most likely going to cost more, but that all depends on your game & expectations. 

 

FYI: never overlook the 10g rule.  KBS $Taper and KBS Tour are 120g, so shafts lighter than 110 gram will likely take adjustment, of course, that depends on your attention to details.  I am a fanatic about how my clubs feel - it's taken me quite some time to adjust.

 

A blade player for most of my golf life, and played PX 6.0 for 15+yrs before shifting to composite - Steelfiber i110cw S in 2i-P.  I have been playing composite for the last six+ years now.  IME with KBS $Taper and KBS Tour, finding the soft handle and mid-bend and stiff tip profile will be the challenge.

Edited January 15 by Pepperturbo

[Golf Pig]

53 minutes ago, Pepperturbo said:

FYI: never overlook the 10g rule.  KBS $Taper and KBS Tour are 120g, so shafts lighter than 110 gram will likely take adjustment, of course, that depends on your attention to details.  I am a fanatic about how my clubs feel - it's taken me quite some time to adjust.

 

That's exactly what I expected when I made the switch. I'm a scratch golfer and have always been very particular with my equipment specs. I was shocked that it took so little time to get used to my TGI 80s.

Edited January 15 by Golf Pig

[Pepperturbo]

36 minutes ago, Golf Pig said:

 

That's exactly what I expected when I made the switch. I'm a scratch golfer and have always been very particular with my equipment specs. I was shocked that it took so little time to get used to my TGI 80s.

I hear ya... You must be a swinger that was primed and ready... LOL. 

 

Early last year I tried a set of TGI 80, lasted a month, nice shafts, though.  Sad they don't get much promo.  For whatever the squirrely reasons, being a hitter, has forced me to find as close to high bend shafts as possible, then I found the Pro Series.

[DNice26]

I see the Axioms are now available in taper tip.   The 125X is tempting now that i can soft step them and build them out myself.  

[PNW]

2 hours ago, DNice26 said:

I see the Axioms are now available in taper tip.   The 125X is tempting now that i can soft step them and build them out myself.  

they're actually just the same parallels but Fujikura does the tip trim and prep to 355 for you