Stopped by the proshop where I bought my AI back in April 2005. The shop has a new owner and I was asking about replacing my AI with a new AI or maybe a TI. He said that he recommends Lane1 balls because they last longer. He explained that Lane1 balls have somewhere between 11 to 13 pounds of resin were as most ball companies use only 4 to 5 pounds of resin. That is why they tend to lose reaction even if you take proper care of them. (Clean after every use, de-oil / bake them out and resurface). He claims that a Lane1 cost about $20 more. I can't believe this is true as all the Lane1 balls on the web cost at least $40 or more dollars than the newest BigB balls. Can he be right about the resin? By the way he is a Lane1 rep.

CaptZap

the coverstock weighs next to nothing compared to the filler and core

so for there to be 13lbs of coverstock

you have to have a very light core

and since lane 1 prides themselves on their cores being way better

this would condradict that

and there wouldnt be much of a purpous for a core

so my bet is no, they use what everyone else uses


except for visionary, who uses coverstock all the way to the core

(edit) - maybe it was insight, not visionary....

well its one of the two

--------------------
the word gullible is not in the dictionary



Edited on 1/30/2007 5:09 PM

The pictures I've seen of Lane 1 balls (even Joe's that are cut in half) don't show that they use any more or less resin than most companies.  There's a core, surrounded by filler, wrapped with a coverstock that's around a half-inch or so deep.  Some companies use thinner shells, some thicker, but around 3/8" to 1/2" for the most part.

If you want a ball with a lot of resin (for whatever reason), look for balls that don't use a filler.  Not many are like that nowadays.  Dynothane's high-end balls except for their asymmetrics are core and cover only.  Lanemasters balls are core and cover only.  A lot (if not all) of Visionary's, many Storms, and the low-end Roto-grips are cover and core only.  In Storm's and RG's cases, the balls without filler generally have very large cores (X-factors and Paradigms, Fire line, Planets).  Other balls with more modestly sized cores have filler material.

I'm not 100% convinced that longevity is because there's so much resin.  Brunswick makes (made) Lane 1 balls for a long time, and Lane 1 put PK18 and Activator on almost all of their balls for the past few years.  PK18 and Activator are two of the longest lasting covers around, but there isn't any more on them than on original Big B equipment.  Sounds like your pro shop is full of carp, or he just wants you to spend the extra money for Lane 1.

You could always ask why Lane 1 is more expensive in the Lane 1 forum, but I wouldn't do it.

SH