Phillip,

Yes, I was fitted by Tom Spargo, tried all shafts offered, and settled on the MRC KuroKage TiNi 65, Regular Flex. Most steel shafts felt heavy to me. As info, 63 years old, GHIN 9 index, driver swing speed 88-94. Ordered my AP2's 1/2 long, Standard Lie, and Lofts 1 degree strong. Have had good weather to spend some range time, and have played 3 rounds with them. All I can say is WOW, they are more forgiving than 714 AP2's, they seem to launch higher. Have not noticed any distance gains, but the soft feel and forgiveness is unbelievable. Would definitely give graphite a try. Good Luck !

Philip,

I ordered a set of 716 AP2's with Aerotech Steelfiber 95 shafts, and I can tell you they are awesome.  I previously played the 714's with Steelfiber 110's.  The Aerotech shafts are a blend of steel and graphite, so they're a good compromise.  They don't feel anything like traditional graphite.  For me, this is the perfect shaft.  A number of the tour guys are playing this shaft, but I chose it to help with some soreness issues from tendonitis.  I would certainly encourage you to give them a look.  Good luck.

Ben

How did the swing weights come out with the 95 Steelfibers?  I am interested in ordering with the Steelfibers and would like to know if it is possible to get a D2 swing weight if requested? Thanks 

Don

Don,

Sorry for the delayed reply.  I've been out of town and just getting to all of my messages.  The swing weight was also a concern for me, as my 714's had SF 110 in them.  I talked to Cathi at Team Titleist and she told me they could get them very close to D2 for me.  They feel absolutely great and I am very happy with them.  I'll add that I ordered my irons +1/4" and with MCC Plus4 grips.  That may have helped with the SW.  My advice would be to talk with Cathi or one of the other fine folks at Team Titleist and let them help you out.

Good luck,

Ben

Thanks!

My bias toward Steelfibers is that they provide vibration dampening while maintaining the stable feel of steel.  I have demoed UST Recoils but only in the lighter weights and they just didn't suit my quick transition..  After some through testing time with the individual irons I am having built with the i95 and i110 shafts, I will also give the Recoil 110 a go if I can find one.

TC,

I hear your concerns about the weight change in shafts. I too had similar concerns when I considered going from steel (Nippon NS Pro 105T, 115 grams, in a 714 AP2)) into a graphite shaft. I also have a quick transition and quite a bit of lag in my swing. I was worried a graphite shaft couldn't match up with my swing.

Well...the short story is that I am going to the new 716 T-MB's in a Recoil 95. I hit both the Steelfiber and the Recoil. Liked both. Recoils were just better feeling and actually responded well to my swing. 

I tested both the Recoil 95 and the 110. I even hit the Recoil Prototypes in the same weights. The Recoils handled my strong lag, transition, and attacking swing without any concerns. I had a tight dispersion with each shaft. As far as weight goes, I was surprised how the 95's performed. My spin rates were actually better with the 95 as opposed to the 110. 110 was a tad bit too low in spin and too much run out. I feared the 95 wouldn't work, but it seems to work best (at least for me). The numbers and eye test proved it for me. Plus, late in a round when getting tired, I think I'll feel better with a lighter shaft.

Of course, one's story is not everyone's story. Each person is unique. Wanted to share my story just to say that a 95 shaft (recoil or steelfiber) can be a good one. But you can't go wrong with either weight.

Best of luck. It's fun to test and try, isn't it!

Paul

Thanks guys; this is amazing info.  Very helpful.

Cheers.

I was looking into the 716's with the Aerotech Steel Fiber shafts as well.  But I see in the Titleist Custom page that they only offer the 95 & 110 version.  I was interested in the i70 and i80 version, as I am getting older and the swing is just not very fast anymore.  

Cathi ... can these be ordered or do I just have to suck it up and deal with the i95 Steel Fiber? 

Thanks 

I have the 716 AP2s with the Steelfiber 95s in Rflex they are awesome.  The slight distance I lost going from a GI iron to the AP2s I got most of back with the steel fibers.  The feel is great and every bit as consistent as steel.  Probably one of the best shaft head combos I have ever hit.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff.  Can I ask what weight of shaft you had in your previous irons? After consulting with Aerotech, I am pretty sure my choice will be Stiff soft-stepped 1x regardless if I go 95 or 110, but the significant weight reduction has me a bit freaked out either way!

Todd

Todd,

    I was playing KBS Tour 90s so for me there was no drastic weight change.  I will caution you on one thing the steel fibers play a bit on the stiff side. I normally would play a stiff soft stepped once but with the steel fibers I went with an R flex hard stepped.  If you are going to go with the steel fibers you should definitely get fit.  Once you find the right steel fiber shaft you will never want anything else.  One other point I was originally worried about the launch angle of the steel fibers especially hard stepping but the launch angle is great nice and high but never balloons. 

Jeff

Hard step & soft step ... what's the difference and what would it do to the ball flight?  

95-98 mph swing speed, natural high ball flight, 150-155 yard 7-iron

that being said, what results would I see different?  Any increase in distance? 

If I understand the process correctly soft stepping will very slightly increace launch angle and hard stepping will slightly decrease launch angle. There are basically 3 steps between each flex so if you soft step a stiff shaft two steps you actually bring it pretty close to an r flex, the opposite is true of hard stepping if you hard step an r flex shaft twice you bring the flex closer to a stiff. When I was fitted for the steel fibers I was right in between flexes so since the steel fibers tend to run a bit stiff we went with the r flex hard stepped once and it is perfect. To be honest I learned a lot going through the Titleist fitting. Jeff