Protege in Comparison to 05 Ego

[fierymartel]

Just looking at pros and cons for each. I understand much of this will be subjective...

[Hobbes]

The Protege requires more tuning to get working right. The 05 Ego should largely just work. But I'm a sucker for glossy anno so give me that sweet sweet Bob Long action.

[flyweightnate]

I loved the shot quality of the Protege, and it's far quieter, but opening the frame reveals an awful mess of hoses and wires.

I sold mine because I simply hated working on it. My 07 Cyborg shot even better, but was easy to tear all the way down.

Egos work, but I never appreciated the "ping" to the shot. They were always a bit rough to me (back in the 2005-2009 era). Only gun one guy on our team couldn't break, though... although his 05 did hit 435fps when he adjusted the reg the wrong way.

[fierymartel]

So, TBH, I have both. I just bought a house and am trying to downsize. I haven't really worked on either. Picked them up at the end of the season. I have always liked egos. The protege seems so smooth though. I even picked up a spare ram sleeve and cocker qev's to see what that'll do for the ego. But man, I just ran out of time for the next year. So I'm selling one...

[JohnB]

I feel like the protege is on par with like a 07 08 ego and the 05 is wider and heavier. Ego relatability and bob long smoothness. I had an 06 ego and a protege, I liked both but got the protege after the 06 and felt like it was an upgrade.

[latches109]

we used to have proteges come into the shop leaking all the time, I found the quality lacking. so maybe plan on buying an selling a few to get a good one. I agree ego 7 would be a better comparison since it was released in 07 iirc.

[fierymartel]

Gotcha. I have concerns about availability of ego parts for the 05. Had an 06 for a bit. Pretty much the same as the 05. I had an sl8r i loved. Regretted selling it. The 11 was ok. But that protege is my first and it's so smooth. Granted I haven't ran it afield for a day or months

[tyronejk]

I found my buddy's Protege to shoot much better than Egos, even Ego11s.

[Spaghetti Overdrive]

Protege:
- MUCH lighter
- more ergonomic
- more efficient
- more consistent
- quieter
- much smoother
- solenoid is much cheaper, sturdier, and replaceable
- uses schrader valves
- microswitch trigger on a faster board
- more battery efficient

Ego
- more forgiving tuning envelope
- you can put cocker valves in it lol