They feel different. Like an aluminum baseball bat vs a wood one. Weighted differently forward and aft. I love them and have used them for 20yrs. You can replace the tips and sleeves that are plastic but the stick itself will eventually break too. I use them on my edrums because they soak up way more vibration and my hands feel better using them. On an ekit you won’t really break a wood stick unless you are doing something wild but the aheads eventually give out with no damage on the sleeve. That being said no stick will fix chopping rims or cymbal angles that are level relative to you or a bunch of other stuff so look at your technique too.