St Croix Legend X rod review

[punch]

Hey all! I haven't seen any real "deep dives" on the Legend X rods out there... so I made one. I go pretty deep on St Croix's overall and I compare the Legend X's action to Megabass & Shimano.

[coreynov902]

Thanks for posting! That was very informative. I went away from St. Croix in the past because I always felt their rods were stiff and over-powered for their rating (MH St. Croix felt more like a H power in another rod). So it was very interesting to see that the Legend X had that really soft tip.

[punch]

Thanks for posting! That was very informative. I went away from St. Croix in the past because I always felt their rods were stiff and over-powered for their rating (MH St. Croix felt more like a H power in another rod). So it was very interesting to see that the Legend X had that really soft tip.

They definitely went a different direction with the Legend X and Legend Elite line with their taper.

[coreynov902]

I'll be curious how good the Legend Xtreme is. I was looking at Bassmaster today and was bombarded with popups about the new Xtreme rods. Curiosity finally got me and I clicked on it. I'm quite surprised that Daiwa is allowing St. Croix, or anyone for that matter, to use their AGS guides. I have a Steez AGS rod that is phenomenally sensitive. It will be interesting to see the performance of those guides on the top-of-the-line St. Croix blank.

[diggy_]

I like your vids, keep them flowing

[punch]

I'll be curious how good the Legend Xtreme is. I was looking at Bassmaster today and was bombarded with popups about the new Xtreme rods. Curiosity finally got me and I clicked on it. I'm quite surprised that Daiwa is allowing St. Croix, or anyone for that matter, to use their AGS guides. I have a Steez AGS rod that is phenomenally sensitive. It will be interesting to see the performance of those guides on the top-of-the-line St. Croix blank.

I'm guessing the $630 price point on these rods is partly due to the licensing fee's for the AGS guides. Daiwa is definitely partnering with them and i'm assuming it's not cheap.

This is pure speculation, but I'm going to assume St Croix spent a TON of R&D money/time into the "skin" handle on the Legend Xtreme series. For a while that rod was the "top dog" in the St Croix lineup. Then they dropped the new Legend X & Legend Elite rods w/ the same blank but with Torzite guides and a regular cork handle. My guess is sales for the Xtreme went WAY down (My local shops stopped selling them entirely). The Legend Elite & X have a far superior guide train (Torzite) than the Legend Xtreme's so why would a consumer not buy them?

This seems like a major Hail Mary from St Croix to salvage the Legend Xtreme line. They are reusing the 'skin handle' design (they already had the tooling & process to make these), and doing a full on marketing BLITZ to show off this rod. What's puzzling to me is the price point. They already had the top-of-the-line guides at $400 with the Legend X/Elite with the SC5 blank, and you could already get the 'skin handle' in the $400 legend xtreme. Where is this additional $230 increase coming from?!

AGS guides don't cost $230 more than Torzite, that's for sure. Infact the new Legend Xtreme rods will have SIC inserts in the AGS guides (only the Tip will have torzite) so IMHO it's actually a DOWNGRADE from the Legend X.

Can anyone explain to me why I should pay $230 over a Legend X for the Xtreme? AGS guides are carbon fiber sure, BUT the guide train on the X is already FANTASTIC and a better insert material (Torzite) top to bottom. I'm not paying $600 bucks for something just because it has AGS, sorry. You can get rods under $300 with AGS (Tatula Elite's).

St Croix has a serious marketing problem on their hands IMHO. I'm super into high end rods and I'm not seeing, on paper, where I'm getting $630 worth of rod.

[punch]

I like your vids, keep them flowing

Thanks! I don't think they are very good but there seems to be a lack of in-depth reviews on stuff.

[coreynov902]

I'm guessing the $630 price point on these rods is partly due to the licensing fee's for the AGS guides. Daiwa is definitely partnering with them and i'm assuming it's not cheap.

This is pure speculation, but I'm going to assume St Croix spent a TON of R&D money/time into the "skin" handle on the Legend Xtreme series. For a while that rod was the "top dog" in the St Croix lineup. Then they dropped the new Legend X & Legend Elite rods w/ the same blank but with Torzite guides and a regular cork handle. My guess is sales for the Xtreme went WAY down (My local shops stopped selling them entirely). The Legend Elite & X have a far superior guide train (Torzite) than the Legend Xtreme's so why would a consumer not buy them?

This seems like a major Hail Mary from St Croix to salvage the Legend Xtreme line. They are reusing the 'skin handle' design (they already had the tooling & process to make these), and doing a full on marketing BLITZ to show off this rod. What's puzzling to me is the price point. They already had the top-of-the-line guides at $400 with the Legend X/Elite with the SC5 blank, and you could already get the 'skin handle' in the $400 legend xtreme. Where is this additional $230 increase coming from?!

AGS guides don't cost $230 more than Torzite, that's for sure. Infact the new Legend Xtreme rods will have SIC inserts in the AGS guides (only the Tip will have torzite) so IMHO it's actually a DOWNGRADE from the Legend X.

Can anyone explain to me why I should pay $230 over a Legend X for the Xtreme? AGS guides are carbon fiber sure, BUT the guide train on the X is already FANTASTIC and a better insert material (Torzite) top to bottom. I'm not paying $600 bucks for something just because it has AGS, sorry. You can get rods under $300 with AGS (Tatula Elite's).

St Croix has a serious marketing problem on their hands IMHO. I'm super into high end rods and I'm not seeing, on paper, where I'm getting $630 worth of rod.

Great points. I owned one of the Legend Xtreme casting rods when they first came out. I sold it after a couple months because it just didn't seem like a $430 (at that time) rod to me. The "skin" handle was just fine, but nothing that really blew me away. The rod was sensitive, but I really couldn't say it was $200 more sensitive than the Falcon Cara T7 I had been using up to that point. In fact, I really couldn't tell much of a difference in sensitivity between the Xtreme and the T7. At the time that was the first high-end rod that I had purchased and I just figured I would be much more impressed than I was.

Part of me thinks that St. Croix is simply trying to put a rod in the same price range as an NRX, Conquest, or Steez, knowing that some people will simply look for the most expensive rod and assume it's the best. I will say that my Steez AGS rod is absolutely, without question, the most sensitive rod I have ever fished with. I haven't fished with an NRX or Conquest to compare, but it's insanely sensitive. And that Steez rod is still coming in at $50 cheaper than the St. Croix Xtreme. I absolutely agree that unless the blank is upgraded (I don't believe it is), there is no way I'd pay an extra $200+ just to get the AGS guides (with downgraded SiC inserts) and the "skin" handle.

[rangerjockey]

If the rod is really good it will sell no matter the price. I will hold off judgement until I, or someone I trust actually fishes it. I personally like the Xtreme handles and the blank is as good as any other top tier rod.

[Big C]

+1 on thanks for the review.

[rcjoutdoors]

Thanks for sharing! Will you be purchasing the new Legend Extreme?

[punch]

Thanks for sharing! Will you be purchasing the new Legend Extreme?

Who knows, on paper I don't see how it's going to be 'better' than my Legend X (outside of the skin handle). I'm guessing St Croix will have them at the Northwest Sports Show in a few months and I'll really mess around with them there.

*shrug*