"Once you get used to the bent shaft you won't go back to a straight shaft."  - I disagree;  never did get to like my bent shaft, a straight works better for my style of paddling I guess.

But yeah, once you start using a ZRE, you don't go back to other paddles - after using it for a while, then switching to my wooden paddle for a rapid, its like I just picked up a length of 2x8.  Worth every penny you spend on one.