Vibram Discs (don't get caught without your rubber)

[JR]

I really must try these out again, when i'm rested and warmed up so i can punch the late acceleration fully. I'm fully aware that i wasn't pushing the elbow forward initially and warming up and concentrating on getting the elbow farther forward helped a lot. I would think that the great grip would lead to grip locks more easily in summer temps. 46 F today.

[niuvalleycane]

Wow, VP kicks out Champ Rhyno, and Ibex takes out a buzzz, 2 vibrams in the bag!

[Apothecary]

noob.

[smarkquart]

Rocking the all Vibram bag and I have to say that it held its own today at a really tough course and some nasty wind. Not confident enough to use it as my tournament set-up, I am sticking with everything in my Carolina bag which is mainly Swords, TeeBirds, and Rocs, but this Vibram set-up covers everything I need when I am just going out for a fun but competitive round.

[Roottori]

Could somebody give me short review about Trak and Ascent? Ascent seems to be more overstable than Trak, but are there any other differences? I would also like to hear how they compare to other, more-known discs. Vibram discs look interesting, I'd like to know something more about them.

[Frank Delicious]

The ascent goes in and out of my bag depending on the course. There are some courses around here where you need to throw a lot of 330'ish drives on low ceilings which I love to throw the ascent on because it also doesn't skip much. It throws like a shorter, broken in eagle-x. The trak I have less time with because it threw like a leo or slightly beat TL but seemed more nose angle sensitive and I couldn't keep it from turning and burning too much. It is also shorter than a TL or leo. They are both kinda tweener drivers for me in range like a stalker

[zj1002]

Yeah that was my problem. They aren't really big drivers. I think the Ibex because it can range almost as far as those 2 drivers, kinda makes them even less useful. They are great drivers, because the low glide makes them pinpoint accurate. If they can figure out to make the drivers glide, they should be golden

[smarkquart]

I think the Ibex because it can range almost as far as those 2 drivers, kinda makes them even less useful.

I agree fully. I am getting some very good and consistent fairway distance with my Ibex. I still get more distance from the Ascent or Trak, but when going for controlled distance the Ibex can easily hold its own against these two drivers.

[tgm]

Just wanted to throw a little love toward Vibram.

I bought a firm Ascent (173g) last season but didn't throw it much and put it back in for the Fall. I just picked up a lighter granite one (168g) along with a granite Ridge and I must say they're both quite nice. I'm liking the Ridge a lot the last couple weeks I've been playing with it and I did a two disc round last week with just the Ascent and Ridge and shot my second best score on the course (my best score being 2 strokes better the round before). I don't think the Ascent is going to kick out my Teebird (closest to for me) or PD for normal rounds but it holds its own just fine. The Ridge however might be stealing quite a few shots from my Wizard/Roc/Buzzz lineup. I like it because it's quite a bit like a slightly beat Wizard, but flatter like the Buzzz (which feels good to me). It seems to handle being thrown harder and possibly OAT better than the Wizard when I'm really trying to put some power into the disc (I throw about 350ft with my PD). I had a hard time getting it to flip over on me even on bad shots, but it held nice anny lines and in general is just a great straight flier with a small fade if any at the end. Often times I'll approach and overshoot with the Buzzz so it's nice to have something that doesn't accidentally fly past the basket as easily. I even had some really nice putts with the Ridge and so far I haven't had it roll down hills like my Wizard does sometimes.

The Ascent feels like it takes a bit of muscle to get it out there but ends up about the same range as a Teebird for me (which I think is close in flight but easier to throw). Like the Ridge though, I think it handles being muscled quite well.

While there might be cheaper and more versatile discs out there, I think Vibram gets the job done nicely (and they're super cool). All of the guys I played with were interested in the Ridge after they saw me playing with it and got a chance to throw it a bit. I'm anxious to try the Ibex and hope they add a Pred/Firebird kind of disc to the lineup. It'd be fun to play with a full Vibram bag sometimes.

Big thumbs up for the Ridge in my book though.

[BrotherDave]

I still enjoy putting with my Summits a lot. I even tried my old Magics the other week and it was horrible, they felt alien in my hands. It is a really controllable putter for people with tiny fingers like mine. Now if only they can get rid of that raised lettering crap in the middle on the bottom, that shit bothers my fan grip.

[JR]

Could somebody give me short review about Trak and Ascent? Ascent seems to be more overstable than Trak, but are there any other differences? I would also like to hear how they compare to other, more-known discs. Vibram discs look interesting, I'd like to know something more about them.

Both can take moderate winds, but it becomes a matter of reading the wind and praying for lack of gusts in heavy headwinds with both of these discs. Which is kinda sad, because in calm and mild headwinds both are fairly HSS and LSS with Ascent being harder fading and Trak not finishing straight. Both fade way more and are just shy of Leo distances so Glo Z Stalker sounds like a good comparison. A regular Z Stalker is straighter and a little longer than the Glo Z Stalker.

What is great about X Link material is, that when you wash the discs with grease remover properly and rinse them well, they gain a lot in the grip. Major good news for fall and winter and i assume for rain based on pouring water on them from a bottle and tossing them. They are so grippy, that in 10C i got grip locks with them, when i don't with other discs, while using a power grip. Which was great, because i then i could return to two finger grip and not suffer from early slips to the left of the target, like i did with slick discs. Now that it's coder i need to test these again, because winter is exactly, why i got the grip upgrade for.

[veganray]

Who's handled the "new" X-Link Soft. I need to know what I'm getting into before I order a Sole or two.

[Frank Delicious]

How new are we talking? A guy I played singles with the other day had one that's about a month old.

[veganray]

Less than that. New batch just hit Pinnacle Retailers this week. Soles, Ibexes, Traks, & Ascents in the "new" X-Link Soft.

[JR]

It's winter and i have very slick skin and have slipping issues even in putting even in cool summer days if it rains. I bought soft Sole, Ibex and Trak for hoping to get better grip than old grippier first run FLX. Oh man are these gooey discs. I don't think memory of the material matters that much with such soft discs. you won't believe how soft these are until you try them. no gripping power is needed to bend these and mine arrived deformed except for the Trak. I didn't have time and space to throw more than a couple 100' and a few 30' and 60' approaches. With a good follow through i did not notice ill effects throwing in a reported 16 MPH headwind. The wind ruined chances of seeing how they glide and fade. No turning. The Ibex has a good bit of fade at 100' and is not usable as a laser disc at that range. An initial anny might make it usably straight but it's no good in tunnels that don't allow fading wide off the initial line.

I've used grease remover on the discs and got a hair better grip out of them so i need to test the grip outdoors later. The amount of give the discs have in 0C is not proportional to hand felt grip vs other grippy discs. Gateway supersofts on the softer side (leave a sticky feeling in the fingers) are way stiffer and drivable. I'm concerned about the flight and bending of these discs to the point of thinking i can get an unhealthy bend on the discs at full power and minimal OAT making the disc fly through the air flapping its wings. Not sure about it adding D

I'm gonna need convincing from succesfull throws to trust these in powered drives in 0C. Maybe they get stiffer in colder weather and work better. That is a very cold design target but nobody else does anything like that so it's great if it will work out. For winter golfers like me. If only i could do it safely. Hopefully i made it out unscathed from my test round to see where i am in healing. Hurting from not training for weeks if not anything else.

I suspect that reviewing these discs is a chore because they need to be thrown in a wide temperature range and grip on the ground has me slipping and sliding so probably no single throw in itself is a reliable source of data. So it's most likely a matter of seeing general patterns in multiple rounds and that will take a lot of time.