It seems micro guides are finally starting to take hold on the mass produced rod market. Here is a pic from rodbuilding.org that shows one of the new Carrot Stix

http://www.rodbuilding.org/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/10386

http://www.kistlerrods.com/fishing-rod/plugins/forum/about5815.html

I"m sure you've all seen the Kistlers versions as well. I'm pretty happy to see them taking off, as I've been using them in my custom builds for over a year now. Good times!

what are the advantages of micro guides?

I thought the "New, New Thing" was Recoil

Guides introduced by G. Loomis?

Spiral wraps....

Lighter than alconites, less line slap, increased casting distances....

  They don't handle some knots as well, and they don't like line with really bad memory

http://www.shockwaverods.com/guides

http://www.kistlerrods.com/p/KR/c-/McMag70MHC.html

http://rodbuilding.org/read.php?2,317904,317916#msg-317916

http://rodbuilding.org/read.php?2,309891,309972#msg-309972

http://rodbuilding.org/read.php?2,308077,308124#msg-308124

I thought the "New, New Thing" was Recoil

Guides introduced by G. Loomis?

Bah, Recoil guides suck 

dang im going to be $200 poorer this new year. ;D

I've read that Kistler will rewrap current rods with micros for a fee.

I was casting one of the new Carrot Stix yesterday.  I was trying braid w/ some different knots to the fluoro leader.  It doesn't like any of the knots if you just drop the lure/weight, but a double uni knot will cast through the guides.  Since I didn't have the same rod with larger guides, I couldn't tell exactly how the micro guides compared for casting performance, but I did seem to be getting plenty of casting distance.  For me, the micro guide thing is still in the "hmmm" category (neither for or against them).

I've read that Kistler will rewrap current rods with micros for a fee.

Kistler will do anything for a small fee. 

I think the recoil guides are crap. They're the noisiest things I've ever used, especially with braid. I have quite a few carrot stix (LTX, Gold and even an old Duckett gold), and will be getting a Micro Guide real soon. I cut up 7' MH gold baitcaster and sent back for an upgrade. I never used it too much, personally I feel more comfortable with Daiwa baitcaster rods. Carrot stix baitcasters never quite did it for me. But I do love my 4 carrot stix spinning rods. I'll be sure to let you know how these stack up. Right now I think the Daiwa Zillion rod is a much better rod for the money than a standard carrot stix.

I thought the "New, New Thing" was Recoil

Guides introduced by G. Loomis?

Bah, Recoil guides suck

Not if you like to hear your rod whistling when casting.

I agree. Not a huge fan of the recs - much prefer micros.

I thought the "New, New Thing" was Recoil

Guides introduced by G. Loomis?

Bah, Recoil guides suck

Not if you like to hear your rod whistling when casting.

I agree. Not a huge fan of the recs - much prefer micros.

I'm not a fan either and they look cheap IMO. The only practical application I've found is where icing is an issue, like a steelie rod.

Is the guide spacing closer on these rods? If not Im concerned that the line will rub on the rod a lot easier when the tip is bent. Unless they are spiraled which kistler, carrot stix are not. Still up in the air. 

Is the guide spacing closer on these rods? If not Im concerned that the line will rub on the rod a lot easier when the tip is bent. Unless they are spiraled which kistler, carrot stix are not. Still up in the air.

I find that micros do require closer spacing and 1-2 more guides when built on top, but still save weight and improve accuracy. A size 4 guide should pass a well tied uni or albright knot.

When looking at the new rods with Micro Guides take a close look at the foot and the thickness of material between the foot and the guide. Up to this point the micro guides that have been on the market for the past few years are lacking some strength and the foot is a little small. Both result in problems when fighting larger bass. (Bent guides and feet that slip even when a locking wrap is used.) The only rods that I've found that have addressed these problems are the new Duckett rods. They have redesigned their micros by beefing them up a little, increasing the size of the foot and then adding two barbs on the foot to prevent slippage. Not to mention the ceramic inserts are locked in. IMO they are far superior to any other production micro on the market right now and you can't beat the price.