The Miken NRG 500 has a new shape meant to maximize strength and flexibility throughout the barrel to produce the industry’s largest sweet spot. It is also available in both a traditional balanced or “Maxload” end load weighting. It is approved under the ASA’s 98-mph maximum exit speed standard.
The NRG 500 is a 100% composite bat featuring Miken’s “ESD” and “E-Flex” technologies. The handle features new exclusive “X-Tack,” a textured coating, to provide superior grip for added bat control.
ESD – or Extended Sweetspot Design – features a redesigned shape complete with a longer barrel, shorter taper and thinner handle than in previous Mikens. The 14-1/2” barrel is the longest barrel Miken has ever made. By extending the barrel, Miken has extended the sweet spot. By shortening the taper, the neck and handle have more whip, even though the barrel is balance weighted.
E-Flex technology, which has been part of Miken bat design since 2001, involves a special way of laying the composite fibers at optimal angles for the most allowable trampoline effect (hoop flex). This design also expands the sweet spot by improving the flex of the barrel in areas where flex might not otherwise occur. E-Flex consists of two special technologies:
The “Advanced Carbon X” shell is 100% composite and combines strength and performance. The composite fibers run in directions determined to prevent breakage without interfering with pop.
“Helix Technology” features a continuous inner weave process to allow consistent barrel (hoop) flex. The composite fibers run in directions determined to respond to batted ball impact regardless of that impact’s placement along the barrel
The NRG 500 is balanced and has a urethane end plug. The thin handle has a cushioned synthetic leather grip.
The NRG is the first Miken line that offers a 26-ounce bat in every model; it is also the first slow pitch line that offers a 25-ounce bat for men or women.
It is available in 25-30 ounces.
We hit the 27 oz. version.
For Miken lovers, this bat was a different experience.
The NRG 500 has many of the traditional Miken features – the long barrel, the great hoop flex and the large sweet spot. But it has as many or more differences from its predecessors.
The shape is revolutionary. Already known for having the longest barrels in the industry, Miken’s NRG 500 has a new 14-1/2” barrel – the longest barrel ever in a Miken bat. That is combined with the thinnest handle ever in a Miken bat. The two extremes are connected by the shortest taper ever in a Miken bat. This shape makes the NRG feel like a hitting stick more than just a softball bat. It feels quicker and whippier (it is) and the barrel seems thicker than the standard 2-1/4” (it isn’t, but it is great for confidence).
It sounds very different too. The ball seems almost muffled on contact; there is no sharp crack like in previous models. That doesn’t disturb the pop however. The ball flies as far as it did with the 2006 Maniac or Camo 484, and it seems to do so more often.
The combination of these things makes it feel different from previous Miken lines.
But in this case, change is good. Every bat Miken has made since coming out with the Ultra in 2003 – a bat that prompted new and much lower performance limits – has been compared to that bat. That comparison was unfair; by rule no new bat could possibly measure up. But the look, feel and sound of the Freaks and Maniacs were so familiar that the comparison was inevitable and it likely hurt the general perception of those bats.
The NRG 500 is a new beginning and it looks like a good one, based on Miken’s long-time philosophy – more sweet spot – and everything they have learned in a decade of making high-performance bats.
Still, our guess is fewer players will like this particular bat than any of Miken’s previous models. That’s not a rib, rather it is by design. With the making of four models for 2007 – the NRG 500, the NRG 500 Maxload, the NRG 600 and the NRG 600 Maxload – players no longer have to settle for a bat that is great and fits most of their criteria, they can hold out for a bat that is great and fits all their needs. So hitters can get balanced or end loaded and now they can also get all weights in all sanctions (last year’s Mikens were available in 26 oz. in BPF 1.20 models, but not in ASA-approved models) including a new 25-oz. model.
It is a good move toward a more custom feel for hitters, which will likely become a larger part of determining the best bat for a player as all the companies get their top-of-the-line models nearer the edge of performance limits.
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