[Latitude] River Woes

[Shimmer]

Hey everyone,

I recently purchased an Opto River, went with a heavier weight (177) due to what folks were saying on here that the heavier weight held tighter lines for wooded shots. I'm still in the process of working on my form throwing Ions 200-220, Buzzz 270ish Teebird and Leopard 300-330.

For whatever reason I cannot throw the River to save my life, maybe 220-240, then a huge meat hook. I'm not sure if it's because I don't like the feel of the Opto plastic and its hard as a rock from the cold weather or if it's found a hole in my form. Has anybody else had similar experiences with their River or have any ideas why I'm having this problem?

Thanks!

 

[curveball4]

My distance is probably pretty close to yours & 177 would be WAY to heavy for me. I throw GL Rivers but they are mid to upper 160's. Opto is usually more stable, like Champ compared to Star. I would look for lighter if I were you, I could see a 177 Opto being super, super stable if you don't have a huge arm

 

[gcr_russell]

Yeah a 177 Opto is gonna have closer to Eagle Stability than Leopard. If you dont need it anymore I can take it off your hands.

 

[Technohic]

If its the same weight as your Leo and Teebird, check for excessive flash. Other than that, trade for a lighter one or sell is. Always someone looking to buy Lat stuff.

 

[plastic cannon]

I throw a 171 GL river and it finishes straight for the most part. A heavy opto river will be alot more stable then a lighter GL one. Get your self one of the light GL Rivers and you'll love it.

 

[Dsplayname]

Get a lighter GL River and work your form more. Rivers should never be meathooks.

 

[Clempson13]

i have a pink opto river 169g, very overstable. kinda disappointed me as i wanted it to replace my leopard.

so far all i have learned about lat64 trends is stay away from opto. it never does what you want it seems :/, love all my GL discs

 

[Triflusal]

its cause rivers are overrated inconsistent pieces of cow doo doo. I tried three different optos and they ranged from worn in eagleish without the wind fighting ability to a 150 DX leopard understable. The one that was in between (and how I think the river was meant to fly) would turn when I wanted it to hold the line, and fade significantly hard when I wanted it to turn. I gave up and now I use Beat eagles for that shot, and occasionally a leopard depending on the course.

 

[plastic cannon]

The trident is the only lat64 disc I like in opto. Other then that it's all GL for me.

 

[Rocaholic74]

I have a 169 Opto River and absolutely love the disc. I try not to really put tons of power into it but a good amount of snap and this baby just soars..Make sure you're giving it enough speed to make it do what it's supposed to do....which is to glide straight and then drift a little to the right and finish back left again at the end of its flight...exactly like a Leopard but with more glide....

Here is what you do to that Opto that is too stable.....stand in front of a tre and take four to five good throws straight into that tree....then take it right out to the field and I bet that baby will flip and glide like never before...

 

[plastic cannon]

That's a good idea. My river got beat way prematurely due to it being ran over by a car. But after it was hit it was a completely different disc that I love now. You could also take it to a field and thrown hyzer bombs like 70 feet up and let it crash real hard.

 

[OcDiscGolf]

I've had the same experience with my Opto Rivers - no consistency and a lot more stability than advertised. I haven't thrown them in over a year now.

 

[plastic cannon]

I've had the same experience with my Opto Rivers - no consistency and a lot more stability than advertised. I haven't thrown them in over a year now.

Have you given a gold line river a try? You may like it better then the opto.

 

[jrawk]

Opto in cold temps gets very overstable. Cold plastic constricts (shrinks) and causes that parting line to move higher.

GL isn't a whole heck of a lot better. FWIW, The old non-waxy DX plastic seems to work well in winter.

 

[discspeed]

Opto in cold temps gets very overstable. Cold plastic constricts (shrinks) and causes that parting line to move higher.

GL isn't a whole heck of a lot better. FWIW, The old non-waxy DX plastic seems to work well in winter.

I don't think cold affects the plastic that much. I'd have to see some PLH comparisons to believe that. For one thing, plastic is hygroscopic (absorbs water), so a given amount of mass in each disc is water weight. When this freezes it will expand, which may counteract any amount of contraction that the cold causes in the plastic. For example, I once found a first run XS under the snow that had a CRAZY huge dome...It rose like 4" above the disc. It was frozen stiff (that plastic was like a precursor to X and was soft and grippy normally). After it warmed up for a couple days in the back of my car the dome dropped like 3 inches back to the normal shape.

 

[Connor Jones]

Heavy optos are way more stable,almost teebird esque.


If you're not throwing a low 170's gl,you're doing yourself a disservice.

 

[BrotherDave]

My Opto was like that at first. Just hit some trees with it and wear it in. Make sure you don't have a lot of flashing on there either. Mine is now like an untamed stallion, goes for days when I throw it just right. Don't throw it right and it kind of has a mind of its own.

 

[optidiscic]

I don't think cold affects the plastic that much. I'd have to see some PLH comparisons to believe that. For one thing, plastic is hygroscopic (absorbs water), so a given amount of mass in each disc is water weight. When this freezes it will expand, which may counteract any amount of contraction that the cold causes in the plastic. For example, I once found a first run XS under the snow that had a CRAZY huge dome...It rose like 4" above the disc. It was frozen stiff (that plastic was like a precursor to X and was soft and grippy normally). After it warmed up for a couple days in the back of my car the dome dropped like 3 inches back to the normal shape.

I could see the plastic becoming harder and more stable in cold weather and thus slicker (molecules packed tighter together) after all this is why champ is faster than star and then pro and then dx....but I don't understand the PLH changing? Also discs perform more stable in winter as the air is denser.

 

[jrawk]

i will perform some sort of controlled analysis this weekend. stay tuned.

 

[New013]

i just got the disc pass and there's an 171 opto river in it. i like it a lot better than the other two i threw a month ago, they were definitely more OS than i expected. the glide is killer, might keep it and use it for my distance disc.

still prefer TL's for precision shots.