Ryoma and Basileus Install Part 1

I’ve decided to take the plunge and try a new Basileus shaft in one of my Ryoma drivers. Basileus is a brand brought to us by Triphas, a new high modulus shaft maker based out of Akihabara in Tokyo. Basileus has not only decided to use high carbon materials but to also use a more complex fitting and shaft profile system to make sure golfers get the right shaft. I’ve talked about high modulus/high grade carbon many times here on the blog but to those new readers and to refresh everyone’s memories:  Shafts are created with carbon fibers weaved together, and these fibers are measured by their modulus of elasticity in tension. Typical golf shafts are around 24t or 30t, the measurement of tensile strength. These lower grade shafts are more flexible and because of this the shaft is slow to regain its original shape on the downswing creating inconsistent impact where a player must rely heavily on timing due to the flexibility of the shaft.

As the tensile strength increases, the carbon weaves are more dense, more rigid and return more quickly to their original shape. The flex and rebound of the shaft becomes more predictable equaling more consistent shots and much tighter dispersion. The higher tensile ratings ratings in golf shafts are also related to the higher grades containing more glass and metal particles which are more rigid while lower grades containing more flexible rubber particles. Higher grade carbon shafts provide more feel and explosiveness, even though they use those tightly weaved, denser carbon weaves, typically high grade carbon shafts have very active and thinner wall sections which lead to very high but controlled elasticity. While the typical shaft on the market is 20t or 30t grade carbon, Baslieus shafts are all 40t and higher, much like Crazy Shafts.

Many golfers and brands focus on shaft flex and CPMs when choosing a shaft, but the truth is that isn’t the whole story on how a shaft performs.  Looking at a shaft’s rigidity distribution gives golfers a far more understanding of the way a shaft bends and flexes rather than just looking at CPM.  The Japanese have always been very technical, and these kind of measurements, looking at the tip, center and butt stiffness, as well as their ratios in relation to each other, have been available for many JDM brand shafts for many years and some of you probably see a smilar style of flex information being used by Miyazaki Shaft outside of Japan as well (they use 4 points on the shaft and follow IFC Flex code).

These numbers can also be used to interpret how a shaft feels ie whippy or boardy. Too many people immediately associate a shaft that feels “whippy” as too soft but many shafts are designed this way for a purpose and depending on their distribution of rigidity.  Fitters here in Japan use these numbers religiously especially the tip , center and butt numbers which are used to fit a lot of golfers here depending on the swing styles ie smooth and easy or hard and aggressive swingers. Hard hitters who need more control and stability are better suited with a shaft that has a bigger C/B ratio vs a slicer who needs the head to square and release who would do better with a lower C/B ratio. C/B is of course center over butt flex and the larger the C/B number meaning the stiffer the center area of the shaft is in relation to the butt and in turn the smaller the number meaning the softer the center is in relation to the butt.  It’s also good to look at the actual flex at the butt point as this is the section of the shaft that is directly connected to our body and thus relays the most feel (or lack of depending on the butt flex). So in the end picking up a shaft and wobbling and declaring it whippy could only mean the butt is pretty darn stiff and the tip is soft so it creates that wobbly feeling.

Shaft fitters also look at the T/C number or tip over center flex which can dictate the ball flight of a shaft. The smaller the T/C number usually the higher the launch and the bigger the T/C number usually the stiffer the tip and the lower the launch as well as more control.  Simply looking at things like R flex or S flex or even 250cpm in the end don’t really say how a shaft feels or performs, its a combination of all these numers including CPM. Basileus realized golfers and even fitters have a hard time understanding how different shaft models flex so they used these T/C and C/B numbers to create their own fitting chart with all their shaft models.

So this chart is very useful for a guy like me who likes numbers and specs. Without trying the shaft I decided on getting the Fiamma 50 shaft as my natural bad shot is a slice (though I can hook the ball but that is more due to trying to over adjust and avoid the slice). The more flex or active tip of the Fiamma wil help the shaft square to the ball and hit that nice draw I want. Its made for distance, with a stiffer center to butt section allowing for the player to feel the head kick and provide a nice launch for max carry.  Its a good replacement for the stock Ryoma FS-1 shaft. Now flexes aside, I wish Basileus and all other manufacturers for that matter would provide actual numbers at each tip, center and butt point (ie as I said above, how many kg it takes to bend that point 2mm). These numbers would give me a better idea of how stiff the Fiamma actually is. For example by looking at these numbers for the following shafts:

Butt: 28.9 Center: 19.3 Tip: 8.9 Crazy Black TJ-80 Stiff
Butt: 24.4 Center: 16.2 Tip: 7.5 Fubuki K Stiff

We can determine that the TJ-80 is stiffer all through its range than the Fubuki K in the same stiff flex. We can also use these numbers to calculate the T/C and C/B numbers. So while I have the actual T/C and C/B ration for the Basileus shafts, I don’t know what flex numbers were used to arrive at those ratios. So in this case I could choose the right shaft characteristics but without knowing how stiff the shaft plays.  I assumed being high modulus carbon it would play on the stiffer side as Crazy shafts do but I didn’t know until I installed it today.

So I checked the CPM and specs of the Ryoma D-1 with its stock shaft before pulling it and it came out to 45.25″, 290g D1 and 226CPM.  This is very a very typical reading for a stock shaft in Regular flex. On the soft side which helps players square up and provide lots of feel. I decided to install the Fiamma 50 Regular with the same 45.25″ length since I’m comfortable with it and it’d be a good comparison for performance.  The shaft is a tad heavier than the stock shaft by about 4 grams so I used a slightly lighter grip by about 2 grams and the final specs were the same 45.25″ length, 292g and D1 with a CPM of 228!! Now this surprised me, I thought for sure the CPM would come out higher with the Fiamma using tightly wound 40t high modulus carbon which should flex and return to shape faster creating higher CPM. However it turns out it is just as soft as the stock shaft (keep in mind that this is for the Fiamma 50, we have not yet confirmed how the other models CPM).  Now once again remember CPM is only a guide to general stiffness, it still won’t say how the shaft performs.  An interesting thing is I used to play an a Crazy LY01 Nero R2 flex (soft Regular) and it came out at around 236CPM with the LY01 regular around 244cpm. CPM aside, if the shaft is stable and strong, I’ll be very happy! We’ll find that out Monday when I take the driver for 18 holes at Katsuura.

From a first impressions standpoint, the shafts are very pretty, Basileus says they use real silver plating (which surely drives up the cost).  I like the look but some may find it too reflective. In the long run we’ll see how this finish holds up to scratches and marks. Stay tuned for Part 2 in a few days but in the mean time you can check out more Basileus shafts in the pro shop!