Reputable restringing service in Central London

Discussion in 'Badminton Stringing Techniques & Tools' started by techno79, Nov 1, 2011.

  1. techno79

    techno79 Regular Member

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    Does anyone know of a reputable restringing service in Central London that have a front end store. My Googling has only revealed a few websites that offer this service as a collect/drop one. I am very weary of these services because without a front end store, I have no idea where my racket is going, what equipment they are using and the quality of workmanship they will be putting into the restringing. If there are any issues (e.g. the racket breaks during restringing) then there is no recourse.

    TIA
     
  2. R20190

    R20190 Regular Member

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    This is always a difficult one. As a stringer myself, I know the risks that a stringer takes on and it's not always down to the machine, technique and experience of the stringer that can guarantee against breakages. Whilst I have never broken any racquets so far (touch wood), I know that very often racquets break because of a number of other reasons. As racquets become used, they will inevitably sustain damage from clashes, mishits, mistreatments, bad grommets etc.

    Even if a racquet may look immaculate and intact from the outside, it may have very tiny fractures under the paintwork that cannot be seen - particularly around the grommet areas. These areas are very susceptible to breaking under the stress of a restring regardless of who strings the racquet.

    Six-point machines do help but only in the right hands, it takes care and good technique to minimize the chance of breaking racquets. So, what I’m saying is, unless your racquet is brand new and unstrung, no stringer can give a 100% guarantee that they will not break your racquet – particularly if you want tensions in excess of the recommended range.

    Also, a lot of the reputable stringers I know (I’ve been to many before learning to string) use 2-point machines, for speed. It’s their bread and butter, so they’re looking to string as many racquets as possible in the time available. If you’re that concerned about breakages, stringing quality etc, imho you’re better off finding a fellow badminton enthusiast that has the right equipment, skills, patience and time to do a good job rather than someone who has an egg-timer over his head.

    HTHs :)
     
  3. techno79

    techno79 Regular Member

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    I appreciate what you're saying and I guess I can fully understand that rackets can break when being restrung through no fault of the re-stringer or the equipment. If my racket breaks during restringing when I know it has gone to a reputable place and I can see they are using decent restringing equipment then I can accept that.

    However, many of the restringing services hide their process, equipment and the people doing the actual work by only offering a collection/drop off service. For all I know, they could be using a couple of hand pliers to restring the racket and that is what I feel uneasy about.

    I guess I'll have to go on recommendations from other players at my local badminton club; although my initial enquiries didn't yield any worthy info. Thanks for the help.
     

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