Carlton Fans Club

**sautom88** · 03-30-2012, 02:56 PM

Purnama's VT 9.1 is Carlton's Asian edition, I saw it a few days ago n it looks OK but did not try swinging it. Anyone knows Carlton's Asian edition website? Their products offering in Asia is a bit different from Europe's versions.

Purnama, can u give us a mini review on yr racket? How does it compare to other racket you already own, preferably a popular racket so we can estimate how the racket feels. Thanks.

**Derek S-H** · 06-16-2012, 01:32 PM

Just a quick heads up on the Carlton Razor 1.0 price. It's now dropping thanks to the imminent release of the Kinesis, this is the best price I've found:

http://www.directsportseshop.co.uk/P...mSearchPage=No

And I've just bought one!

Derek

**SORROWTULIP** · 06-21-2012, 03:39 AM

Dear Friends,

Do you know any shops in Bangkok, Thailand where they sell racket Carlton VAPOUR TRAIL TOUR? In my country (Vietnam), there is no one sell.

Thks for your suggestions.

THUY

**Alexch** · 08-03-2012, 03:01 AM

ya, powerflo 807 is my must go for racket, deliver tons of power....

**thuycotto** · 08-10-2012, 02:56 AM

Dear Benwilluk

Thanks for your effort to set-up this forum. I'm the FAN of Carlton :-) but actually I have no chance to share emotion and experience with other in my hometown since no one knows about it ('cause I live in Ha Noi City, Vietnam).

I'm really interested in Carlton racket and actually I got 3 ones. Unfortunately, they were all broken and cracked :-(( I bought those ones in Bangkok, Thailand and now I cannot find any shop in Vietnam sell them.

I often visit www.carltonsports.com to satisfy my dream to see my favorite one. Poor me! And I love KINESIS seri even I know that I cannot buy it in Vietnam. I wish I can buy it in someday.

If someone travel in Ha Noi City, Vietnam kindly help me to take it together, I will agree to buy at highest price ^_^

Regards

THUYCOTTO

**bishopli** · 09-30-2012, 05:07 PM

Hi all I am new to this forum, but was interested to get opinions on the Carlton Razor v1.1. I am generally an offensive player and this racket seems ideal for my style of play, does anyone have reviews or feedback on this racket. I have played with Carltons before and generally find these to be great value for money in comparison to those of other brands.

**gundamzaku** · 09-30-2012, 11:36 PM

the last time i bought a few Carltons were pre 2000, in Hong Kong. since then i've only bought a VT Vanquish. it was a quick headlight racket but the weight distribution was decently enough that if i hold the handle at the butt i can decent power

recently i bought a VT Tour, Razor v1.1, and Kinesis. Razor and Kinesis actually just became available two weeks ago here in the Bay Area at badminton alley. when i bought the VT Vanquish, the VT Tour wasn't even available yet.

between the main brands here, Carlton seems to be underrepresented. even after the new millennium i was told that Carlton didn't have a distributor in the US?

**sautom88** · 10-01-2012, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by thuycotto

Dear Benwilluk

I often visit www.carltonsports.com to satisfy my dream to see my favorite one. Poor me! And I love KINESIS seri even I know that I cannot buy it in Vietnam. I wish I can buy it in someday.

If someone travel in Ha Noi City, Vietnam kindly help me to take it together, I will agree to buy at highest price ^_^

Regards

THUYCOTTO

Actually u can order them through HK or Malaysia n have them sent to u using EMS, it should not take more than a week and probably cost like US$20 for 2 rackets. Try www.e78.com.hk. He doesn't have every model of carlton but he might be able to get them for u.

**gundamzaku** · 11-21-2012, 04:19 AM

just got a few more newer models, not high end, but decent rackets, the ignite rapid and ignite fusion, as well as the newer version of the air blade.

ignite series rackets has a tapered frame, so it gets pretty wide at 6 and 12 o'clock, but gets thinner at 3 and 9 o'clock. there's less vibration thru the frame. rapid is head light and quite fast, fusion is head heavy and carries a punch. unfortunately, because of the tapered frame, it's very sturdy but not fast enough, even for the rapid which is again, a head light racket. prestrung with carlton force 65 strings which actually played very decent.

warning: for some reason i always think that carlton prestrung strings are still very good strings....both the xelerate 67 and force 65 felt decent on my carlton rackets.

the newer air blade has a circometric frame instead of the optimetric frame on the vapour trail series and isometric head shape on the ignite series. to be honest it looks more like an oval head shape racket to me, no matter what you call it. strung with xelerate 67 and again, it hit decently well. it's even balance with medium stiff shaft. i tend to play best with even balance rackets so for the air series i chose the blade and instead of the rage. air rage is head heavy.

so far here's the list

powerflo 85g
airblade as-1
airblade 2000
airblade 1000
aerogear 800 (only 2u carlton i have)
vapour trail vanquish
vapour trail tour
razor v 1.1
kinesis
ignite rapid
ignite fusion
air blade

everything up till airblade 1000 is pre 2000 and rackets till aerogear 800 has all been retired. for some reason the older rackets have pretty much the same balance. not only till the last maybe 10 years when companies started to differentiate the balance points of rackets in order to expand the market. so all those old oval rackets felt even balance to me.

favorite is still the vanquish, maybe because it's strung with real strings, vs850.

btw, i bought a set of xelerate 67 and strung it on a racket, tension dropped within the hour, no prestretching. it's so bouncy it's unplayable at 24lbs. maybe i need to up the tension.

**meteor** · 12-03-2012, 11:43 AM

Are there any owners of Carlton Air Rage, Air Edge or Air Sonic that can share experiences? Seems like there is very little information on these. And I haven't found a review yet on any.

**meteor** · 12-08-2012, 05:55 AM

Ok, I know these are relatively unknown rackets. I saw them in a shop recently and I was intrigued by the box frame of the Air Rage - a racquet that is rated as fast and powerful. It's like a box with sharp edges. Air Blade has an octogonal type profile like the Victor MX series.

**gundamzaku** · 12-09-2012, 11:52 AM

The only info I can find in a quick search is whatever's on the Carlton website

**meteor** · 12-11-2012, 11:34 AM

^^Yes, no info anywhere. And there's no review or mention of Air Rage on this forum. In fact there's little talk of Carltons in general. I believe the Razors and Vapour Trails deserve more attention. I went through those threads and there's very little.

**gundamzaku** · 12-11-2012, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by meteor

^^Yes, no info anywhere. And there's no review or mention of Air Rage on this forum. In fact there's little talk of Carltons in general. I believe the Razors and Vapour Trails deserve more attention. I went through those threads and there's very little.

that is a very unfortunate fact. also, there's only one store (known to me at least) in the bay area who sells carlton products to the extend that they carry their strings as well. it's not too well know in the US possibly because it's from Europe where most people travel to asia to make badminton related purchases, so the lesser known brands in asia are more popular.

if you have more info on other carlton rackets, please share!!!

**meteor** · 12-11-2012, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by gundamzaku

if you have more info on other carlton rackets, please share!!!

I have VTT and Razor 1.3 and use them for doubles. They are both excellent racquets but I need some more play time to get to know them better before I start reporting my impressions.

**gundamzaku** · 12-11-2012, 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by meteor

I have VTT and Razor 1.3 and use them for doubles. They are both excellent racquets but I need some more play time to get to know them better before I start reporting my impressions.

vtt seems like a heavier version of the vt vanquish, and i love it, and the silver shiny paint scheme makes me love it even more.

i have the razor model that's head heavy, forgot the model number. shaft is the stiffest of all the carltons i currently play with. hitting the shuttle feels weird because the string loops outside on the longest cross.

kinesis is a very light weight, even balance flexible racket. i love whipping it around the court. for such a light racket i was surprised that i could generate that much power...but my swing was immediately off because of the light swing weight and it took me almost two hours to readjust my swing to the racket.

i also have the air blade as well as ignite rapid and ignite fusion, but those are lower end rackets but they are still very good. carlton head heavy rackets like the ignite fusion and one of the razor tends to have stiff shaft, which even balance or lighter rackets have medium stiff shafts...interesting.

**meteor** · 12-12-2012, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by gundamzaku

vtt seems like a heavier version of the vt vanquish, and i love it, and the silver shiny paint scheme makes me love it even more.

i have the razor model that's head heavy, forgot the model number. shaft is the stiffest of all the carltons i currently play with. hitting the shuttle feels weird because the string loops outside on the longest cross.

kinesis is a very light weight, even balance flexible racket. i love whipping it around the court. for such a light racket i was surprised that i could generate that much power...but my swing was immediately off because of the light swing weight and it took me almost two hours to readjust my swing to the racket.

i also have the air blade as well as ignite rapid and ignite fusion, but those are lower end rackets but they are still very good. carlton head heavy rackets like the ignite fusion and one of the razor tends to have stiff shaft, which even balance or lighter rackets have medium stiff shafts...interesting.

Good, so you own the Kinesis as well? I'm interested in the Kinesis. The two racquets I mostly play with at the moment are BS12 and VTT and although I haven't yet made up my mind which is going to be the "go to", I find the VTT more satisfing to play with. It's a lot lighter than the BS12 and feels efortless with great control. BS12 is similar but the extra weight somehow clouds the performance.
I imagine the Kinesis like an upgraded VTT with better power and impoved mobility.
My VTT by the way is the older 84g version. The later model is 86g and has blue (cyan) text.
How would you compare the Kinesis with the VTT?