I read the article by Rich Forhan in the library and he mentions:

"Fuji's new "J" ring series, sizes 6J, 7J, 8J, & 10J have a shorter eye-to-leg distance which makes for a much stronger guide."

I have looked through some catalogs to find them and ran across inconsistent labeling... some labled J in one catalog and not another, etc. Can you tell me which specific guides he is referring to?

I'm also interested in the Titan guides, if any one has feedback on how they are.

Thanks,

Keith

The "J" series are the Fuji "Concept" type guides.

Mike

As Mike pointed out, most of the guides Fuji markets as Concept Guides have a "J" suffix; the "J" refers to a new style of guide ring . There are a couple of exceptions: LC surf guides (at least in all of the sizes sold in N. America) and the (W)DB Power Oval guides (Fuji has another suffix for these guides because the rings aren't circular).

In all cases below, the examples given are Fuji guides with SIC rings and stainless steel frames.

What does "J" mean? According to Fuji, a "thinner and lighter ring" (rough translation). That would be comparing apples to apples: i.e., an LSG7J fly guide should have a thinner and lighter ring than an SG7 fly guide. According to a comparative diagram on Fuji Japan's homepage, thinner means both a smaller outside diameter and a smaller width. Fuji does not provide a size chart for the new J rings, so I can't say for sure.

To address Rich Forhan's article: I believe he was referring to LSG guides versus SG guides (although only the size 7 and smaller LSG guides have a lower height than the equivalent SG guide, according to Fuji). However, the decrease in frame height here is mostly because of a different frame style, not a different ring style. For example, the newer YSG spinning guides have J rings, but any YSG guide has a higher frame than the equivalent size old style LVSG guide.

Eric