Earlier this year, I made someone a promise. I told him that, in all fairness, I would try the ELITE brand of equipment, and give it a fair shake.

 In addition, I also said that I would update this forum, or any other they might choose, with a weekly update of scores, performance critiques, pictures, and possibly a video or two.

 Well, after having had my appointment with my driller cancelled (which I had had for two weeks), I was still able to get holes in my ECHO and ESPIONAGE at the last minute, but not getting to even trial them until league started.

 Having not bowled at all this summer, I am very rusty, and my timing is horrendous, but I was still able to get some decent results from the first session.

 My pap is 4 1/8> 1/2^, so my drilling wont "look" familiar to some, but I went with a "5 X 4" drilling on both of the balls. The ECHO is a pin up (smaller VAL angle), and the ESPIONAGE has the pin in the middle finger (larger VAL angle). This plays into the strengths of the balls.

 Left them at box finish (ECHO=box says 4000 but looks polished---ESPIONAGE=2000). Unfortunately, we drew lanes 1-2, which are the two lanes that always seem to have the most drastic difference between them, which showed up pretty quickly.

 Being a rev dominant player, I tend to struggle with dryish conditions, and that is exactly what reared it head on lane 1. During warmups, the ECHO was CLEARLY the choice here. Even though the lane started out on the dry side, I was still able to get really good, clean length from the ECHO. As long as I stayed firm with the ball, it would clear the fronts, and make a decidedly strong move on the backends, clearing the deck EASILY, and had as good a rate of carry as any other ball I've ever thrown.

 Lane 2, however, was a totally different story. Tried the ECHO on a swing shot, but it was too over/under for that. Played tight with it also, but not enough surface to read the condition properly, so out came the ESPIONAGE.

 Actually had enough conditioner on lane 2 that I could pla a small swing shot with the ESPIONAGE, but had to be soft with the speed if I played tight. Since it is a much "rollier" ball and drilling than the ECHO, I was able to move in a bit and swing it to the dryer boards without having it read the break and come off the corner nearly as sharply. Make no mistake, even though it wasn't "snappy", it was a very strong, hard arcing finish. Ball hit the pins really good, and the carry was also good, as long as I stayed soft and let it set up properly.

 As a first test, these two balls more than met my expectations of them, and, in fact, impressed me quite a bit. Had several guys ask me "What the he** are you throwing?" when they saw me hit several of the hits that I got to carry. The ECHO can really throw some messengers around at times!

 Here are a few pics I got of these two. If things go well, I might even be able to get some pics/vids of them in action soon!

billdozer,

Venture out, variety is the spice of life!

Where would your area be?  PM me if you don't want to post.

im from michigan city indiana..i bowl all over north west indiana

Echo and Treason are in the latest BTM.  PM me your email address and I'll send you the reviews.

Juggernaut,

When you get enough oil, I can almost guarantee that you'll love the control and hitting power of the Espionage. I used one for about 2 months on the Kegel Beaten Path pattern 2nd half of last season, raising my average 5 points in the 2nd half of the season. I put the pin in the middle finger, which is in the 5.5 -6" pin PAP range.

This year we're getting the Route 66 pattern, which is harder. I'll start with the same Espionage and see how it works. I may drill a 2nd using a higher pin (smaller VAL and stronger pin-PAP). (I liked the first enough to get a 2nd of the same ball.)

 Jeff,

 With my pap coordinates, the pin also ended up in my middle finger hole, but that puts the pin at a 5in distance for me.

 The ball is very rolly, but really seems to need a bit more surface than the OOB finish that is on it. Right now, there just isn't enough distance between it and the ECHO, because I can use them on the same shot, with the ECHO reading the breakpoint harder because it is further out into the dry when it does.

 I think I am going to alter the surface on the Espionage down to 1000 ab and see what happens. Hopefully, it will create more space between it and the ECHO. If I need to, I can always add an X-hole to help with either more, or less, flare

Try hitting it with a fresh 2000 pad.  Coming out of the factory you don't know if you get the first or fifteenth ball finished with a given set of pads.

Elite is making VERY VERY good balls right now. I know sometimes is hard to spend your money on something that is not a national brand like storm/columbia/brunswick, but if your on the fence id say jump on over you won't be disapointed by your decision.