The Virtue Spire V debuted at NXL World Cup in 2022, but we felt it was time to revisit one of the most dominant loaders in paintball. Why is that? Well, with new paintball guns coming out between then and now, the Spire V has also gotten some updates in that time. And we're talking ACTUAL updates, not just new colors or anything. So with that said, let's dive in on what the newer Spire V's bring to the table.
The differences
From the original Spire V's to the newer ones that are releasing, there are three major differences.
First up is the speedfeed. Virtue Paintball has developed a better and more affordable speed feed for their loaders in the new Crown SF III, and these Fade Spire V's are the first to come with them stock. The Crown SF II is still a great speedfeed, but there were some paint handling issues as the teeth are made of plastic, instead of plastic and rubber. This helps to prevent any kinds of micro cracks in the shell, or even possibly breaking a ball on a dive or something. Both speed feeds kept the spring loaded fingers though, so reloading is super fast.
Secondly is the power button. This is probably the most minor of these updates, but some players were having issues with the button...falling off. And we're talking about the button that's actually on the board, not the loader's shell. Luckily it's an uncommon issues that happens pretty rarely, but Virtue took the liberty to update it so it doesn't happen again.
Lastly is the board itself. This issue only really came up with the release of the Planet Eclipse GEO R5, and we shall explain why. The GEO R5 has an incredibly smooth and soft shot, but that's because the bolt moves slower than most other paintball guns available. With the way the Spire V's feed logic works, it would see that the ball sat in place for a little too long, and wouldn't feed until that ball drops in the breech, so the motor would have a small feeding delay. What this means is that you'll be getting low and inconsistent rates of fire, and you can't settle for that in the middle of a match. Thankfully, Planet Eclipse and Virtue Paintball worked together to solve the issue, and all of the Spire V's are coming with that new board installed. If you're not sure if you have a new board or not, simply power your loader on, and the LED in the power button should be flickering red constantly. I think the only major downside to this is that there's no ability to update your board yourself. This is something I would like to see come back with the next Spire loader.
Closing Remarks
Even though the Spire V isn't a new release, these added updates sure help a ton. With the increasing popularity of the GEO R5, it's a great thing to see both Planet Eclipse and Virtue work something out so that you can use one of the top high-end loaders on any paintball gun you wish to. The Crown SF III is also a massively welcomed upgrade, as it's cheaper than the Crown SF II, and handles paint a lot better!
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