Is it me or has it been that Yonex has not been focusing making new and better oval shaped racquets?

Going through the list of what the pros use its mainly cab 20's or cab 21's. Yonex has since come out with the cab 23 and cab 30 (new?)

it makes me believe that the newer racquets just do not offer anything of use to the players and the overwealming majority of them are using Ti-10's or MP's

I'm interested seeing what good oval racquets there are out there, personally i have been living on HiQua's for the past few years as my budget is always low and i dont have a good idea of how the new Yonex ones are really. Im just seeing if it is worth it to go back to a reliable brand name or to stick with the racquets ive been using for the last while

and on a personal note i loved my cab 21's.... before i busted them

it is true. the only new cabs that Yonex has in the past two years are the cab20 Muscle, cab23 and now cab30 muscle, there is also the cab13 but i think that's only available in the Japan market.

it depends on where you are located, the cab21 is still available in many SE Asian countries, it is a great racket and if you do like that racket, why not get a few more before they take that out of production?

what racket the pros use is not neccessarily an indication of what is the best. many are paid to use the newer racket to give the impression that the newer ones are indeed better. thus you see a lot of pros using the latest and greatest, however, there are still pros who use a nearly 20 years old racket (the cab20) and refuses to change tells us that there is something good about the cab20 that the new ones do not offer.

i never knew that the cab 21 was still available

sadly i live in canada and all of my relatives have moved over across the ocean to be here also. So it is very difficult for me to get things from asia.

the one thing that i didnt like about the cab21 however was the lack of the widebody design

my last one was a JP version and pretty much just ended up warping in my hands after a couple months of playing (and this was when i was a junior)

the last couple of years i have been using a HiQua Ti-10 which i recently busted, i replaced that with a HiQua CX-5 but either i havent gotten used to the racquet or it just lacks the feel that i want

that made me want to explore how the brand name oval racquets are like

are they just out of style? not only do they not come out too often yonex does not seem to make much of an effort to promote the racquets either,....

Hey Clownboat,

This is what they called "progress"... technology upgraded to make equipment more user-friendly. Isometrics are popular because it's easier to hit with the enlarged sweetspot, whereas ovalheads require some time to get accustomed. I, myself, lament too the reduced development in Yonex's Carbonex series. Despite recent introduction of CAB30 Muscle, there's really not much innovation in Carbonex series that's not already being added to Yonex's other lines. Nothing makes the series distinct besides its frame shape.

If you're a stubborn ovalhead user like me, you should check out other brands like SOTX, Carlton and Victor... they have a sizable selection of traditional frames to choose from and their racquets are decent to boot. Though there might still be some old skool carbonex 21/20/22 floating around Asian markets, it may not worth the effort to seek them given your situation. Better to move on:(

clownboat, how long ago did you have your cab21? in the early 90s when the cab21 first came out, the cab21 had some serious durability issues. one cab21 crumble in my hand every 3 months, i have since stopped using it after a yr. however, recently i have met friends who have owned cab21 from the mid 90s and they claim that they are bomb proof. so i think Yonex may have revised their production since then.

i plan to get a cab21 next time i go home for old times sake as that's really the racket i started my badminton life with.

yup

it was a couple of years after i started playing badminton, the first one my dad bought was pretty much when the cab21 was new, that one lasted a while as we were careful with it. When we got our 2nd cab21 it was probably a year or two after, and that one broke in a matter of months, it just warped. Shortly after that the other cab 21 broke as well.

Whereabouts would I have to look to find one? i believe yonex has stopped production correct? I would be interested on getting my hands on one, just for old time's sake really and maybe to start using it again.

IMO cab 21 was one of the best of the carbonex lines, Im kinda upset that it hasnt been one of the cabonex series to be updated (ie the cab20 muscle/tour, cab8 tour)

you are the first person i know who has the same experience as me regarding the poor durability of the early cab21.

they are still making the cab21. user maranello posted the serial of his cab21 as being : 4184281 170133SP. so that means it was produced in Jan17 of 2003. you don't see them because they don't sell them in all countries. they are probably less marketable as it is an old model from old series, however, it is still a very fine racket.

the variants of the old cabs are not exactly "updates", these tour / muscles / special / power version don't feel like the original. so if you are looking for the feel of the original, buying a variant doesn't really help you. so you should really be looking for the original one.

you can find a friend who goes back to SE for visit. i think in places like Mongkok, the cab21 are still widely available.

IMHO though, most of the cab rackets nowadays are very solid and bombproof, much more so than the Iso/MP series.

Originally posted by clownboat
Whereabouts would I have to look to find one? i believe yonex has stopped production correct? I would be interested on getting my hands on one, just for old time's sake really and maybe to start using it again.
[/B]

Recently, I just get two cab21sp from HK. It is very hard to find them in Taiwan,too!
From the digital code, they are made in 2002 and the country code is sp. I think you can still get the cab21 in HK.

Originally posted by kwun


IMHO though, most of the cab rackets nowadays are very solid and bombproof, much more so than the Iso/MP series.

Supported. I've strung (and also own) that many MP and Cab rackets and I can testify the strength of Carbonex range.

In fact, my Cab21 has had 3 major racket clashes in 3 years where one MP77, one Fleet 5000 and a Carlton Airblade 500 all folded, while the Cab21 only sustained major paint chipping.

I baby my Cab rackets now as I know they will still be around when all my MP rackets eventually break.

Originally posted by huijun
Recently, I just get two cab21sp from HK. It is very hard to find them in Taiwan,too!
From the digital code, they are made in 2002 and the country code is sp. I think you can still get the cab21 in HK.

whereabouts in hk did you get it? how much was it?

my gf's dad is actually going back to hk soon for a visit, if im nice i could try to talk him into picking up something for me...

ask him to go to Mongkok. Fa Yuen Street is where all the stores are. also read the Equpiment FAQ, Cheung has listed some of the more elite stores. the cab21 isn't hard to find so anywhere will be fine.

there are still a whole bunch of cab20sp and cab21 here in the philippines. almost all sports store i went to carry them.

in KL,Malaysia./..


cab21 Special is widely available....





but not cab21 original...

what is the difference between the cab21 and the cab21 special?

any major changes?

Originally posted by coandrew
there are still a whole bunch of cab20sp and cab21 here in the philippines. almost all sports store i went to carry them.


how much are they? and in which sports stores? i haven't been out lately and not up to date anymore...

Originally posted by clownboat
what is the difference between the cab21 and the cab21 special?

any major changes?

You can find the answer in review section.