The River

[discspeed]

The River has been a strange disc to learn, but I'm starting to really like it. This afternoon I ripped it dead straight 420' on a tight 520' hole with a mild tailwind. I landed nicely on the fairway as other peoples' distance drivers stalled and faded off with the tailwind. It only looked about 380' to me, but when I walked up to my disc it was even with the short pin @420'. I was impressed that it carried like that, but I wondered if it was a bit of a fluke since I haven't tried to get that kind of D of the tee with my River before. Anyway it turned out that I had to play off for money and start on that same hole. I did the exact same throw for the exact same distance.

So not only is the River as long as my PDs, it's actually a little longer in calm or tailwind conditions. Strangely I've also been using it on all kinds of fairway driver shots and it doesn't act too differently thrown soft than it does when I mash it. It is definitely my least speed sensitive driver. I still don't feel like I really know this disc well and I'm sure it still has some surprises in store for me, but I'm digging it. I've never had a disc that slow go so far.

[mattw]

I have 2 Optos at 172 that fly pretty stable and and are easy to toss for great distance. I decided to pick up a color shift River at 179 to try out. Its not nearly as stable as my two optos. First few tosses flipped over and burned. I started to get the disc under control but its not very consistant. I was pretty suprised at the amount of difference between the two plastic types. Maybe its just a fluke how flippy the disc was. My problem is that I am not sure I want to order more if its a crap shoot on what you get flight wise.

[jgheels1999]

The River has been a strange disc to learn, but I'm starting to really like it. This afternoon I ripped it dead straight 420' on a tight 520' hole with a mild tailwind. I landed nicely on the fairway as other peoples' distance drivers stalled and faded off with the tailwind. It only looked about 380' to me, but when I walked up to my disc it was even with the short pin @420'. I was impressed that it carried like that, but I wondered if it was a bit of a fluke since I haven't tried to get that kind of D of the tee with my River before. Anyway it turned out that I had to play off for money and start on that same hole. I did the exact same throw for the exact same distance.

So not only is the River as long as my PDs, it's actually a little longer in calm or tailwind conditions. Strangely I've also been using it on all kinds of fairway driver shots and it doesn't act too differently thrown soft than it does when I mash it. It is definitely my least speed sensitive driver. I still don't feel like I really know this disc well and I'm sure it still has some surprises in store for me, but I'm digging it. I've never had a disc that slow go so far.

Its length is shocking especially when you come from the mindset of the River being a Leopard competitor as I did for a long time. Its really a speed 6-7 with potential speed 9-11 range. Only the beauty of it is that its not compromised as a fairway disc in order to do those things. I can't get the Valk/Fuse hybrid out of my mind when playing with this disc.

I'm sure only those who like it MIGHT agree with this haha but IMHO, its the biggest breakthrough disc outside of the Ion considering what it can do and how it does it with seemingly ordinary dimensions. I don't know how the hell Latitude made this thing, b/c it is just weird what this disc really is. Not everyone loves the glide, so I can understand some not wanting to bag a disc like it, but its a great disc for me.

[fanter]

I had a chance to pick one of these up at a tourney yesterday, an Opto or GL (identical dome/PLH) both at 176. I've been wanting to throw one, but I neglected to get either because of how heavy they were. I didn't want to have to crush it to get anything good out of it. My drivers are Eagle X/Valkyrie/OLF, and I'm not really looking to replace any of these molds. I've read that the River does some Valkyrie-like things. Would having both be overkill?

[discspeed]

Its length is shocking especially when you come from the mindset of the River being a Leopard competitor as I did for a long time. Its really a speed 6-7 with potential speed 9-11 range. Only the beauty of it is that its not compromised as a fairway disc in order to do those things. I can't get the Valk/Fuse hybrid out of my mind when playing with this disc.

I'm sure only those who like it MIGHT agree with this haha but IMHO, its the biggest breakthrough disc outside of the Ion considering what it can do and how it does it with seemingly ordinary dimensions. I don't know how the hell Latitude made this thing, b/c it is just weird what this disc really is. Not everyone loves the glide, so I can understand some not wanting to bag a disc like it, but its a great disc for me.

Valk/Fuse hybrid is an awesome description, especially since my GL Rivers are the same exact plastic as my Fuses (orange). I've already hoarded 5-6 identical backups to avoid consistency issues. I agree too that this is a breakthrough disc...I've said before that it would have broken the distance record as it stood before the Valk came along had it been released back then. I don't know how Lat64 makes pretty conventional looking designs fly so well. In fact, Lat64 discs are the only ones I've brought to MVP and said "figure out how they did this and use it in future designs".

[turso]

I have found that the lightning blue or whatever blue GL's are exactly the same as they were right when rivers came out, lost one today again so gotta get some more...I do love this disc sooo much.

@discspeed
What did you use to deflash the rivers? The flash is annoyingly not at the very bottom of the rim and it's turned outward so it's pretty hard to gouge out without harming the rim itself, or at least I have that problem.

[discspeed]

@discspeed
What did you use to deflash the rivers? The flash is annoyingly not at the very bottom of the rim and it's turned outward so it's pretty hard to gouge out without harming the rim itself, or at least I have that problem.

I don't ever use a blade. I take a towel (usually microfiber, but any will do) and fold it in half a couple of times, then take it to the flash like I'm playing speed metal on guitar. It comes right off without any chance of effing the disc up. Opto is a PITA, but I find the GL flash comes off much easier.

[JR]

This is a disc i definitely need to revisit. I have a blue Opto don't remember the weight from close to the introduction of the disc. It faded harder and earlier than Leo but after noticing form flaws and trying to correct them (not anywhere near finished) i set new personal bests in distance with FW drivers. So it is definitely interesting to see how my River flies now. How would one get a more HSS and less LSS River than early Opto Blue? I seem to recall that the weight mine was in in blue color was less HSS and more LSS than most Rivers when the mold was new. According to those who had thrown more River variants. I think mine was like 169 but can't say for sure without weighing it. Stickers and moisture plus wind...

Leo in calm conditions line drive record 370', rear wind 400'. For me those are nice improvements and it begs the test out of a River to see what happens now. Fading out earlier and dropping for me needs a more wind resistant disc and i have a heavy SEX on the way. Because my 166 SEX wasn't reliable in all winds on all throws at that power. Unfortunately for me those distances are max field session distances. On course D suffers from not being so warmed up and usually not in the zone for max D generation power and form wise. It is another thing to throw for hours in a field than single shots every now and then on the course.

[turso]

How have the heavier colour shifts been stability-wise?

[discspeed]

I can't speak to that ^^^^, but I just got a pink 170 Opto River that is one of the straightest discs I've ever thrown for fwy diistance when thrown flat/slight hyzer.

[turso]

Damn, I hope someone can, the electric blue ones are in short supply everywhere over here.

[Fightingthetide]

I'm trying to get a feel for the range of stability between Opto and GL, and in terms of dome height. Does anyone have a rundown of how these are flying across ranges of dome/PLH as well as Opto vs. GL? I've read through most of the pages here, but what I have seen seems a little inconclusive.

[discspeed]

I'm trying to get a feel for the range of stability between Opto and GL, and in terms of dome height. What I think I understand so far is that Optos tend to have more dome and thus have more turn and fade, making them harder to control, whereas most GL's tend to have less dome amd are easier to control with less turn and less fade. Is that the case for Opto vs. GL? Or is that strictly dependent on dome and PLH?

Most consider discs that turn and fade easier to control....I haven't thrown a ton of Rivers, but I can say the FRs had a lot of really domey Optos and the GLs were all over the place. I'm happy to say the latest run seems more consistent across plastics. I haven't thrown any Rivers that were real flippy though. I've found the biggest difference to be weight...The ones around 170 require less power for the super glide than the heavies that work the same with a stronger throw.

[bill]

i let a buddy with 500' power throw my 169 gl river last weekend. he was crushing it flat and still not turning it over. he was impressed with it for sure but still stuck on the innova/discraft or it can't be that good mindset.

[mattw]

The issues I was having with the 178 color shift River was all me. Spent some time with the disc ironed out my form issues. Now I am getting great S shaped flight patterns and getting some of the longest throws I have ever had with any disc. Being a low power player this disc sure helps strech out my drives. Some of the longer holes on the courses I play are usually a bogey hole for me but I have been getting par on those holes and that has realy helped the score card.