KBS Tour 130 X Shaft Review - Specs, Flex, Weight

KBS Tour 130 X Shaft Review – Specs, Flex, Weight

KBS Tour 130 X Shaft

When most golfers see the letter “X” in the title of a shaft they think, ‘heavy and stiff.’

At least with the KBS Tour 130 X that is a mostly accurate assumption. The KBS Tour 130 X is indeed in the heavyweight shaft class.

While the KBS Tour shafts may not be as popular as Dynamic Gold they are absolutely worth a look if you are a powerful or aggressive swinger.

But there is more to the KBS Tour 130 X shaft than just heft. In the following review, we will be examining this shaft and telling you exactly what it brings to the table.

KBS Tour 130 X Shaft Overview

As the name gives away, the KBS Tour 130 X is a 130 gram, extra stiff shaft.

It is also offered in taper and parallel tip options. As far as looks go, the KBS Tour 130 X sports the classic KBS minimalist style.

Most of the shaft is polished steel with the red and black lettering in a little box in the center.

It looks clean in the bag and clean at address. Most importantly, there are no gaudy graphics or flashy colors to distract you at address.

One of the things that left us flabbergasted about this shaft was how it felt.

We were expecting a shaft in this weight class and in this flex to feel boardy and unmanageable for everyone but the strongest swingers. That wasn’t the case.

The KBS Tour 130 X has an exceptionally smooth feel. Of course, it also feels very stable throughout your swing.

The bend point feels like it’s in the dead middle of the shaft. So while there is a definite kick, it’s smooth and contained in the middle so that the club head remains stable.

In the end, we were very surprised that such a heavy, stout shaft could simultaneously feel active and smooth.

While we still wouldn’t recommend it for slow swing speed players, the KBS Tour 130 X will certainly give fast swingers a boost in club head speed and distance without sacrificing any accuracy.

Why is the KBS Tour 130 X So Popular?

First of all, the KBS Tour 130 X is used by some of the best players in the world.

So right off the bat, it gets a lot of exposure.

But after testing this shaft, we could see how it would be a favorite among powerful swingers who want to avoid a boardy-y unresponsive feel from a heavy shaft.

How Does the KBS Tour 130 X Perform

As soon as you pick this shaft up, you can tell you will have no problem making consistent contact from a variety of lies.

Off the tee, it was very easy for our testers to find the sweet spot. Off the deck, they were easily achieving a nice middle launch with a sweet baby draw.

Of course, that’s all assuming that the player is used to a heavier shaft, which our testers were.

The KBS Tour 130 X actually launches a bit higher than we were expecting. This is by no means a shaft that will send the ball ballooning into the clouds; but it does promote a nice middle launch.

The spin rates were also in the middle/low range depending on the shot. At no point during our testing were we shocked to see intolerable spin rates – even in the short irons.

Shot dispersion was also very tight. We didn’t see any divergence greater than 12 yards. As we mentioned, the KBS Tour 130 X has a surprisingly active feel.

But the tip section is still plenty stiff so you can maintain control over the club head. The butt section also feels stiff, relegating all the action to the midsection.

For most of our fast swing speed testers, this was exactly where they wanted the action.

KBS Tour 130 X Shaft Specs

Specs	KBS Tour 130 X
Available flexes	Extra stiff
Weight	130g
Tip	.355”
Butt	.600
Length	37.5” – 41”

What Flexes Are Available? What Swing Speeds Do They Suit?

The KBS Tour 130 X in particular is only available in extra stiff flex.

This is a good flex if you are swinging 90+ MPH. Keep in mind though that there are other KBS Tour shafts in regular, regular+, stiff and stiff+ flexes.