Modus 115 vs 105 Flex?

[Bogeyman_MD]

How does the flex compare between these two? I’m in a stiff in the 105 but would like a little more weight so would like to give the 115 a try but have read different accounts on the flex. There’s still not a ton info out there on the 115 (still not even on the Nippon charts) so looking for advice.

 

Edited January 2, 2024 by Mike412

[PNW]

I've hit them both, just different times and not back to back. I remember them being very similar flex. Same profile obviously. Russ Ryden also measures them the same rating both at 17 total EI curve stiffness. If you like Modus 105 S and want more weight at same weight and profile then 115 S seems like a no-brainer. 

[Pepperturbo]

1 hour ago, Mike412 said:

How does the flex compare between these two? I’m in a stiff in the 105 but would like a little more weight so would like to give the 115 a try but have read different accounts on the flex. There’s still not a ton info out there on the 115 (still not even on the Nippon charts) so looking for advice.

 

Kick point is at the grip in both, with only a slight variance in balance point.  Outside noticing the heavier 118+g weight, most people couldn't tell the difference.

[Bogeyman_MD]

5 hours ago, PNW said:

I've hit them both, just different times and not back to back. I remember them being very similar flex. Same profile obviously. Russ Ryden also measures them the same rating both at 17 total EI curve stiffness. If you like Modus 105 S and want more weight at same weight and profile then 115 S seems like a no-brainer. 

Thank you. Does he have a review where I could read more on it?

[PNW]

@Mike412 yes, on his site golfshaftreviews.com for $10 per year. well worth it. 

[Brentwood]

23 hours ago, Mike412 said:

How does the flex compare between these two? I’m in a stiff in the 105 but would like a little more weight so would like to give the 115 a try but have read different accounts on the flex. There’s still not a ton info out there on the 115 (still not even on the Nippon charts) so looking for advice.

 

I have both in my bag. 3i and 4i are setup kind of like utilities so I went slightly lighter (modus 105) and play modus 115 in 5-pw. I went with the same flex in both 105 and 115 (stiff). Feel is of course subjective but I feel like the 105 flex is relatively softer when compared to the 115 in the same flex rating. 115 just feel a bit more linear whereas the 105 seem to have a little more give in the middle. Not a vast difference, just my observation after gaming them for over a year now. If I were to do it again, I might consider 105 in X flex and keep the 115 in S flex but the point of using 105 was to reduce weight and performance is there so no complaints regarding 105S. Overall, I don't think these observations would warrant different flex shafts. Since you are in 105S, the 115S should work just fine. I would not recommend going with 115 in X flex. 

[PNW]

@Brentwood both the 115 and 105 are a 'flighted' set at 14% set stiffness range, which is fairly high. Meaning the short irons are designed to be a bit stiffer than the long irons. Your 115 5-pw will by design play more stiff than the 3 and 4 105, just as the 5-pw 115 will play more stiff than the 3 and 4 115. 

 

This level of set stiffness range was a particular issue I had in the model when I tested the 115X and I would mix/match in some way similar to how you describe with using 105X in 3-4. I only bring this up because if OP likes this set range stiffness already in the 105 set then it is probably advisable to use only 115S in the full set, assuming they want similar profile and flex but more weight across the full set. Otherwise you're creating a different playing characteristic in the long irons, which these models certainly support well, but would be a personal preference thing. Russ Ryden has some commentary on exactly this in his review of the 105/115/125 family. 

[Brentwood]

1 hour ago, PNW said:

@Brentwood both the 115 and 105 are a 'flighted' set at 14% set stiffness range, which is fairly high. Meaning the short irons are designed to be a bit stiffer than the long irons. Your 115 5-pw will by design play more stiff than the 3 and 4 105, just as the 5-pw 115 will play more stiff than the 3 and 4 115. 

 

This level of set stiffness range was a particular issue I had in the model when I tested the 115X and I would mix/match in some way similar to how you describe with using 105X in 3-4. I only bring this up because if OP likes this set range stiffness already in the 105 set then it is probably advisable to use only 115S in the full set, assuming they want similar profile and flex but more weight across the full set. Otherwise you're creating a different playing characteristic in the long irons, which these models certainly support well, but would be a personal preference thing. Russ Ryden has some commentary on exactly this in his review of the 105/115/125 family. 

@PNW you definitely bring up valid points that I didn't think of before. Not entirely fair to compare, for example, a 3i with 105 to a 9i with 115. I guess I was just trying to say that I had experience with both shafts but you are correct in that mix/match can lead to different playing characteristics across the long/short irons. I might have to check out the golfshaftreview website/subscription you mentioned above, thank you for sharing!

[PNW]

@Brentwood generally you can compare say the 3 and 9 in a set but this one is somewhat unique in that there is a noticeable difference in stiffness between those two in the same model family. This fact is why I didn't love them for me, but I still really liked the profile feel of them. The only other iron shaft model that gets softer to this degree that I can think of is PX LS. I suppose the advantage is that it opens up more precise fitting opportunities across weight/flex/stepping, almost like a parallel set. 

[Bogeyman_MD]

2 hours ago, PNW said:

@Brentwood both the 115 and 105 are a 'flighted' set at 14% set stiffness range, which is fairly high. Meaning the short irons are designed to be a bit stiffer than the long irons. Your 115 5-pw will by design play more stiff than the 3 and 4 105, just as the 5-pw 115 will play more stiff than the 3 and 4 115. 

 

This level of set stiffness range was a particular issue I had in the model when I tested the 115X and I would mix/match in some way similar to how you describe with using 105X in 3-4. I only bring this up because if OP likes this set range stiffness already in the 105 set then it is probably advisable to use only 115S in the full set, assuming they want similar profile and flex but more weight across the full set. Otherwise you're creating a different playing characteristic in the long irons, which these models certainly support well, but would be a personal preference thing. Russ Ryden has some commentary on exactly this in his review of the 105/115/125 family. 

Thank for your input. I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the shaft reviews site you mentioned. He spoke of creating basically a flighted set by mixing the flex’s within the same model. I could always use a touch more launch in the long irons but I’m pretty happy in the short irons. He mentioned X in short, S in mid, and R in long. I’m a little leery of the X, as I’m happy with my short iron performance. Do you see any issue with going S 6-GW and R 4-5? I’m speaking about the 115’s.

 

Edited January 3, 2024 by Mike412

[PNW]

@Mike412 no reason you couldn't do that. The 115 4 and 5 are already softer then the short irons but you could move to R if you like the softer flex. You could also stick with 105 S for 4 and 5 too, especially if you get decent strike consistency already with the 105 S in 4 and 5. Softer flex won't necessarily mean higher ball flight if it creates strike inconsistency. I probably say figure out weight preference for 4 and 5 first, then stick with Stiff. The long irons are designed to be softer anyway.

 

I will just add that the 115X short irons were very stiff, especially at 118g. Felt very linear and about as stiff as DG X100. I need more weight in a shaft to work at that stiffness for myself. The 7 and 8 115X were soft of a goldilocks for me in terms of stiffness. 6 was softer than I wanted and 9/PW were too stiff. I hope I'm not talking myself into buying a set of 125 S or X to try now as I type this haha

[Bogeyman_MD]

26 minutes ago, PNW said:

@Mike412 no reason you couldn't do that. The 115 4 and 5 are already softer then the short irons but you could move to R if you like the softer flex. You could also stick with 105 S for 4 and 5 too, especially if you get decent strike consistency already with the 105 S in 4 and 5. Softer flex won't necessarily mean higher ball flight if it creates strike inconsistency. I probably say figure out weight preference for 4 and 5 first, then stick with Stiff. The long irons are designed to be softer anyway.

 

I will just add that the 115X short irons were very stiff, especially at 118g. Felt very linear and about as stiff as DG X100. I need more weight in a shaft to work at that stiffness for myself. The 7 and 8 115X were soft of a goldilocks for me in terms of stiffness. 6 was softer than I wanted and 9/PW were too stiff. I hope I'm not talking myself into buying a set of 125 S or X to try now as I type this haha

Good stuff, thank you!

[Puttersaurus Rex]

Very informative thread, thank you!

 

105s are too light for me at the moment, and the 115 to 105 in the short irons was a no-go.  Also helps to explain some of the different "feels" when experimenting with swing weights in short vs. long irons.

 

Now I am thinking of soft-stepping 115x and flowing into 115s...

[gemo]

On 1/3/2024 at 11:22 AM, Brentwood said:

I have both in my bag. 3i and 4i are setup kind of like utilities so I went slightly lighter (modus 105) and play modus 115 in 5-pw. I went with the same flex in both 105 and 115 (stiff). Feel is of course subjective but I feel like the 105 flex is relatively softer when compared to the 115 in the same flex rating. 115 just feel a bit more linear whereas the 105 seem to have a little more give in the middle. Not a vast difference, just my observation after gaming them for over a year now. If I were to do it again, I might consider 105 in X flex and keep the 115 in S flex but the point of using 105 was to reduce weight and performance is there so no complaints regarding 105S. Overall, I don't think these observations would warrant different flex shafts. Since you are in 105S, the 115S should work just fine. I would not recommend going with 115 in X flex. 

@Brentwood I'm in a similar boat and would like your thoughts:

 

Do you think having the 115s soft-stepped in the 5 or 5&6 iron would make the transition smoother?

 

I ask because I've got a 3-PW set of heads, and a 3&4 iron shaft in 105s, as well as a 4-pw set of shafts in 115s. Obviously there's several possible combinations but I was thinking:

3-4 (105s) 5-6 (115s ss1) 7-W (115s)

 

This would leave me with an extra 6i 115s shaft

 

Just curious as to your thoughts as you are playing a similar setup, and open to anyone else's ideas and thoughts as well.

[Brentwood]

38 minutes ago, gemo said:

@Brentwood I'm in a similar boat and would like your thoughts:

 

Do you think having the 115s soft-stepped in the 5 or 5&6 iron would make the transition smoother?

 

I ask because I've got a 3-PW set of heads, and a 3&4 iron shaft in 105s, as well as a 4-pw set of shafts in 115s. Obviously there's several possible combinations but I was thinking:

3-4 (105s) 5-6 (115s ss1) 7-W (115s)

 

This would leave me with an extra 6i 115s shaft

 

Just curious as to your thoughts as you are playing a similar setup, and open to anyone else's ideas and thoughts as well.

@gemo I am going to tag @PNW as he originally highlighted the fact that these shafts are "flighted" and could maybe provide some opinion/insight as well. Given that they are flighted, you are definitely able to get creative and likely achieve a smooth transition between the 105s and 115s via stepping like you suggested. However, it might take a bit of tinkering to solve for that perfect combination. In theory, your proposed setup makes sense to me but it will be subjective whether or not the transition is smooth enough. It's kind of like putting together a combo iron set. Determining that breakpoint isn't trivial by any means.

 

With all that said, I have been playing my setup for awhile now and think its important to highlight the nature in which you use your 3i and 4i. Lately, I have been tending to use my 3i almost exclusively off the box but use my 4i around the course as well as off the box from time to time. Therefore, I think I would've been just fine with doing the 3i with 105s as my sort of "utility/driving iron" setup by itself and then immediately go into the 115s starting with 4i. A reason I mention this is that I noticed you said you had 4-pw in 115s. A very simple candidate combination could be 105s in 3i and 4-pw in 115s. There will be a difference in feel between 3i and 4i in that case but if you, for example, only use your 3i off the tee then maybe that transition isn't a problem. Kind of like how some people use graphite with their 2i or 3i as it is usually a tee shot only kind of club but have steel iron shafts (obviously the difference between the 105s and 115s won't be that drastic).

 

Are you pretty set on using both the 105s in the 3i and 4i? If so and you want to do the soft step, it appears that its just a matter of picking which irons (if any) in addition to the 5i you'd like to soft step. Maybe you'd only need to soft step the 5i? Maybe you want to soft step 5, 6, and 7? If I had more experience with soft stepping my irons and the resulting feel, I would definitely fill you in. I will say that there is a noticeable difference in terms of feel between my 4i (105) and my 5i (115) as there is no stepping. That difference isn't necessarily a bad thing though as I thoroughly enjoy my setup and I'm simply used to it at this point. 

 

Hopefully someone will provide their ideas as well. Happy to throw more thoughts out there but to me it seems like you are already on the right track. 

[Pepperturbo]

10 minutes ago, Brentwood said:

the fact that these shafts are "flighted" and could maybe provide some opinion/insight as well. Given that they are flighted, you are definitely able to get creative and likely achieve a smooth transition between the 105s and 115s via stepping like you suggested. However, it might take a bit of tinkering to solve for that perfect combination. In theory, your proposed setup makes sense to me but it will be subjective whether or not the transition is smooth enough. It's kind of like putting together a combo iron set. Determining that breakpoint isn't trivial by any means.

I have two sets of Nippon shafts, though both are heaver, nowhere have I read on the Nippon site 105 or 115 are flighted?   Are you used the term flighted out of context?

 

I have 95s in 3i & 4i, and 105s in 5-9i.  Works very well for me, don't even notice the weight difference.

Edited July 12, 2024 by Pepperturbo

[monty09]

I use the 120s and didnt like the 115s... i tried the 105s for a month and felt too light.. I have 120R in 5 and 120s in 6-GW and love... 

[Brentwood]

1 hour ago, Pepperturbo said:

I have two sets of Nippon shafts, though both are heaver, nowhere have I read on the Nippon site 105 or 115 are flighted?   Are you used the term flighted out of context?

 

I have 95s in 3i & 4i, and 105s in 5-9i.  Works very well for me, don't even notice the weight difference.

To avoid any confusion, the flighted term reference I was using comes from the golfshaftreviews website by Russ Ryden. He uses this term in the context of sets characterized with significant stiffness ranges. @PNW pointed this out earlier in the thread but it basically means the short irons play relatively stiffer than the corresponding long irons. Hope I'm not butchering it and that it makes sense!

[Pepperturbo]

2 minutes ago, Brentwood said:

To avoid any confusion, the flighted term reference I was using comes from the golfshaftreviews website by Russ Ryden. He uses this term in the context of sets characterized with significant stiffness ranges. @PNW pointed this out earlier in the thread but it basically means the short irons play relatively stiffer than the corresponding long irons. Hope I'm not butchering it and that it makes sense!

No, I understand what's being suggested.  None of the Nippon Modus shafts that I've experienced are flighted in that respect.  Outside of weight or flex tolerances being off the charts, never heard of graduating stiffness ranges.

 

I have a few sets of Nippon Modus, and had Tour130 in play for a short time.  I also have actual flighted shaft sets, PX Flighted 6.0, and AMT, shaft that appear flight but are not, such as MCA Tensei AV AM2 Blue and Tensei AV AM2 White Stiff shafts which I have played for a few years.  Referred to as ascending mass from long irons, each shaft graduated in 2 gram increments affecting launch down to firmer feel in short irons; all in storage now, but they are not actually flighted.   

[svlido]

4 hours ago, Pepperturbo said:

I have two sets of Nippon shafts, though both are heaver, nowhere have I read on the Nippon site 105 or 115 are flighted?   Are you used the term flighted out of context?

 

I have 95s in 3i & 4i, and 105s in 5-9i.  Works very well for me, don't even notice the weight difference.

 

I've been playing Modus shafts for a long time and have never heard of them being flighted.

 

I've got the 105 in my 4 and 5 irons and 115s in the rest and they feel the same to me.  I'm a pretty low handicap but I've never been very sensitive to how a shaft loads other than just knowing if I like it or not.

 

The only difference I really feel is the butts of the 105s are a touch fatter than the 115s so I just use one less wrap of tape under those two.

[Puttersaurus Rex]

Looking for some user experiences with 105x. 

 

Where does it fit in between 105s and 115s?  Significantly stiffer than 115s?  Is 105x closer to 1150s?

[PNW]

On 7/12/2024 at 3:41 PM, svlido said:

 

I've been playing Modus shafts for a long time and have never heard of them being flighted.

 

I've got the 105 in my 4 and 5 irons and 115s in the rest and they feel the same to me.  I'm a pretty low handicap but I've never been very sensitive to how a shaft loads other than just knowing if I like it or not.

 

The only difference I really feel is the butts of the 105s are a touch fatter than the 115s so I just use one less wrap of tape under those two.

 

I played 115X a few months and the mid section get progressively softer through the set as they get longer. PW-8 felt almost like Project X whereas the 6 iron had a distinct mid load feel similar to PX LZ. 

 

Russ Ryden has measured them at 14% set stiffness (I think meaning the 4 iron is 14% softer than the wedge) which is relatively high. 

[TayTaySlam]

Which nippon is closest to the dg mid 115 x100 feel wise . I think I want to go back to nippon and get more height than these dg I hit them a little low . Could it be modus 105x 

[monty09]

whats the main difference in 115 and 120?

[Puttersaurus Rex]

29 minutes ago, monty09 said:

whats the main difference in 115 and 120?

Bend profile.  120 is softer in the handle.

[Arlin964]

Very different profiles between 115 and 120.  120 is very unique and if it fits you, it's great.  If it doesn't work with your timing, you could really struggle.  115 will feel more linear without a pronounced bend point.

 

120

 

115

[monty09]

10 minutes ago, Puttersaurus Rex said:

Bend profile.  120 is softer in the handle.

 

thank you!!!  

 

i use 120s and love.. 105s .. i couldnt get the timing right 

[svlido]

1 hour ago, PNW said:

 

I played 115X a few months and the mid section get progressively softer through the set as they get longer. PW-8 felt almost like Project X whereas the 6 iron had a distinct mid load feel similar to PX LZ. 

 

Russ Ryden has measured them at 14% set stiffness (I think meaning the 4 iron is 14% softer than the wedge) which is relatively high. 

 

Modus 115 is a constant weight in the set with the same step pattern above the tip section from shaft to shaft.  It would surprise me very much if they could achieve that much through wall geometry and thermal processing.

[PNW]

2 hours ago, svlido said:

 

Modus 115 is a constant weight in the set with the same step pattern above the tip section from shaft to shaft.  It would surprise me very much if they could achieve that much through wall geometry and thermal processing.

 

 Give them a try and see what you think. 

[svlido]

1 hour ago, PNW said:

 

 Give them a try and see what you think. 

 

I've been playing them since they were a prototype.