Aldila 2KVX NV Driver Shaft
By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas
A new generation of carbon fibers, that boost the strength of the material used in the construction of golf shafts are boosting strength while reducing the weight. Applying these new material to classic designs is changing the game. Advances in head design are helping us hit the ball further, advances in shaft design are keeping those longer balls in the fairway. The Aldila 2KVX NV is the third iteration of a classic design. Who can forget the original lime green Aldila NV. Of course, it was introduce such a long time ago many younger golfers have never seen it. I looked in the 2016 GolfWorks catalog and it is still there. The official second generation design, the RIP NV was reviewed here, a few years ago. When you have a design that works, and new materials, the old designs get updated.
Aldila was one of the first shaft companies to use thinner layers of material in shaft design. It was called MLT, Micro Laminate Technology, and I believe the original NV was the first shaft to use it. We are now in an time when a lot of new high density, high strength materials are being used in golf shafts. The new fibers are thinner with the same strength. The prepreg, the sheets a shaft is made from, have more fiber and less resin. This denser material is redefining how a golf shaft can be made. A new dimension of what started as MLT is evolving. What we are seeing is torque numbers going slightly higher to restore a conventional feel to high density shafts. As you compare the torque numbers of the 2KVX NV to older designs and see larger torque numbers, do not be alarmed. It is happening everywhere high density materials are used.
What impressed me most when I measured the 16 shafts sent for review samples was the radial consistency. The average stiff to soft stiffness consistency was 99.6% with a 0.2% standard deviation. Not one of the 16 shafts had more than 1.86 CPM difference hard to soft plane. This is new for production line shafts from Aldila. I normally don’t spend much time in reviews talking about this aspect of quality. But the club builders and fitters reading this should know, these shafts are ROUND. You can trust the one you ordered to be the same as the one you are fitting with. While I am on the subject of shaft quality, the profiles of both the NV Orange and the NV Green are consistent between the 65 and 75 gram versions. There is no difference as there had been in earlier designs. The profiles you see in this review are the same through out weight and flex. They move up and down on the charts based on weight and stiffness, but they do not change. And they are as consistent as I ever see. And that is saying a lot for a shaft that has a street price of $190.
When I looked at the profile of the Aldila Tour Green and Tour Blue I see the 2KVX NV profiles. The Tour Blue is much like the 2KVX Orange. A very steady loss of stiffness, exhibiting a soft mid section. The difference is torque. If you tried the Tour Blue and found it brittle, the NV Orange will take care of that.
Looking at the 2KVX NV Green, I see the classic return of the original NV. A stiffness bump, tip reinforcement, around 20 inches from the tip. The same profile is seen in the Tour Green, the difference, torque. 
These are high balance shafts designed for the heavier heads that dominate the market. The designs are classic Aldila. They loose stiffness toward the tip. If you want to tip trim this shaft to make it stiffer, you can do so. The quality and consistency of these are a new highwater mark for Aldila. For the golfers and fitters that are familiar with the NV, you are in for a treat with shafts of this quality at this price point.