Reshafting my driver

[Alohaed]

Hey all,
As you can see by my equipment, my driver is around 7 years old, yet still in great shape. On good days I can drive the ball around 245 yards. And this is with an incorrect, stiff flexed shaft. I would rather use my money for new irons. Besides, I sort of like my driver. Couple of questions. Since new drivers go for $300 and up, are there any really decent shafts out there for less than $100? I just want to get the correct flex, and gain some distance and, more importantly, accuracy. I am more concerned with my short game, this is why I will keep my driver. Also, any advantages over sticking with graphite over steel, or visa versa? Also, since I need about 1+" longer irons and wedge shafts, would the same apply for my woods? The reason I ask this, is because I was wondering if I could get away with a stock 3 wood, which I would want, or should I get fitted for one?

[Cussin hacker]

Yes you can get a nice shaft for under 100$. Adilia NV-NVS, UST V2, GD YS6 or 7, are some examples. I had the same irons you have and traded them for some TM R7's. man what a diffrents in distance, feel and accuracy. Might be a thought for irons. Good luck. Buy the way you can find some great deals on a new driver for under a 100$ also. Make sure you use a ligit golf site. There's a lot of fake clubs out there.

[chilly]

Absolutely, there are tons of good shafts online for under $100. I like fiddling with equipment and I usually pick up shafts on Ebay for around $25-30 to stay below the spousal radar.

I bought a Proforce V2 65S for $35 shipped, I found a killer deal on a Graphite Design Pershing 65x for $5 plus shipping, and I've bought Prolaunch Red for $24.99 shipped, Purple Ice Taylormade TP shaft for $20 (the Taylormade TP shafts are same as aftermarket and are generally priced cheaper then the OEM shafts on Ebay), and a few more...and they were all brand new shafts. If you can handle using the manufacturers past generation of shafts, versus the lastest offerings, a lot of times you can find them for ridiculously low prices. There are tons of pros still using "older" shafts...off the top of my head I know Stricker and Davis Love still use the Proforce V2 and I've seen plenty of others I can't recall right now.

[drglew]

If you want to experiment with shafts, both flex and brand, you might want to check out the Nickent Evolver 4DX which can be had at Rockbottom golf for <$60 (minus wrench), as well as lots of other shafts/packages on Ebay. I was skeptical of interchangeable shafts/heads when they were > $300, but bankruptcy has its advantages to the consumer.
I switched from an '07 Burner on a clearance whim, and now am loving the Nickent (hitting it a bit farther and much straighter). With these clearance prices, i picked up another head also (i.e. have both a 9* and a 10.5*), and have 4 shafts. It's my own "tour van" in my basement, and a whole lot easier to swap out shafts with a wrench--i can do it on the range in 15 seconds--unlike a vise, heat gun, and epoxy!

[Gilly]

...I like fiddling with equipment and I usually pick up shafts on Ebay for around $25-30 to stay below the spousal radar.

^ Words to live by!

Like mentioned above, you can find a lot of good shafts out there for under $50 let alone $100. I would definitely recommend you demoing a bunch of driver/shaft options. There are so many good manufactures out there. It would be even better if you had a shop near you with a doppler setup in their fitting area. That way you can see club head speed, ball speed/spin, trajectory etc.

[Up & Down]

+1 for the Nickent 4DX Evolver

I was in the same boat last year with the fixed version of 4DX driver. Everybody over the internet was telling me that the 4DX head is top rated but the stock UST SR3 shaft is bad. So I made the jump to Evolver with the V2 shaft. The difference is really night and day. Now I can try all the shafts with different brand, flex to suit my game. Since Nickent went under, the price is pretty cheap and you can get the evolver with a couple shafts for under $100. I am stocking up shafts and even heads right now so I can have my driver taken care of for the next several seasons.

[TinCupTampa]

-1 for the Nickent Evolver.

Dont get me wrong, I play a Nickent 4dx and love it... but since Nickent is out of business... good luck getting replacement shafts in the future and god forbid you have to replace the hosel or anything else with it.

Also... the wrenches are getting pretty hard to come by.

[drglew]

I'd agree that falling for the Evolver (or any Nickent product for that matter due to bankruptcy) may be like a summer fling -- aka Travolta falling for Olivia Newton-John in Grease or something. However, i'm "hopelessly devoted" to the Evolver! (ok, no more corny Grease references). I've just come off my best driving days of my life over the past 2 weeks, finally figuring out what shaft/head combo works best for me; it's been a fun process tweaking loft & shaft over several range sessions (and I have the "CYG" hosels so i can adjust face/lie angles too). The Evolver is so cheap right now one can stock up on enough supplies to get through many seasons. Plus, if I wanted newer shafts in the future, the hosel tip could be removed at a golf shop & then replaced with any other golf shaft with .350 tip.

Yes, you can do the same thing at a fitting or demo day, but they're probably going to end up selling you a $300+ driver--which you then can't alter 2 weeks later if you realize your swing or wind conditions changed. At current prices, you could probably get 4 or more Evolver heads/shafts for that price! Yes, i'm stocking up to neutralize the lack of potential for warranty repairs (although i've ever used any golf manufacturer's warranty service come to think of it). To get 4 of my current shafts i even purchased a righty package (head/4 shafts/wrench) even though i'm a lefty!

The wrench issue is a good point though -- annoying as the triangular tip doesn't match any "real life" tool of which i'm aware, unlike the Taylor Made ones which can be changed using a Torx screwdriver if needed. And the deals (at least at Rockbottomgolf) don't include a wrench, although they can be had on Ebay. I'm planning on trying to find a matching size socket screw with a Torx tip instead (for flexibility in case i lose my Nickent wrench, but then could rig something to remove the Nickent screw and then replace with a Torx using an old Taylor Made wrench). If i find a matching but more user-friendly screw I'll definitely post that!

So anyway, i'm completely thumbs-up for the Evolver 4DX!