Hi fellow Singaporeans, I recently brought in a racket from China and basically, it's a SOTX Woven without ANY branding or graphics on it. It's slightly head-heavy, 83g (4u), stiff racket. I've played with it for 5-6 doubles games and my kakis have tried it out and we agree that it's a rather fantastic racket to play with. It's MUCH better than the Apacs Lethal 8 and I would say the feel is similar to a mid-high end Yonex. I'm planning to bring it in again and I'm wondering if anyone would be interested to play with such a racket. Current estimated price would be around $50 or so. I'll post photos up when I get my camera back but in the meantime, please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
btw I strung it at 25lbs with a 0.66mm sized string. don't know whats the max tension so I wouldnt recommend going over 30 (seriously if u play at such high tensions..... get more expensive rackets )
sotx is a good racket badminton if i like..the racket........ branding isnt that important.... as long price is rite..
How do you know it is SOTX if there are no logos? Does the seller claim that the racket come from the same factory just not branded? In that case, the question becomes whether you believe in the integrity of a seller. Some get lucky and get authenic rackets while some unlucky and end up with crap when buying from unknown sources. Yeah, SOTX is a good brand and they have been around a long time. But personally, if the racket does not look good, I will not buy it, regardless of performance or price.
cool. I respect your views bro but allow me to say my piece. Well for me the most important thing about a racket is price-performance ratio. But also the racket must not look too bad lah. For that kinda pricing, I'm not complaining. The one I brought in, entire racket (shaft and head) is just plain woven carbon fibre. I even brought in an unglazed version so that can see if it's painted on or not. So far so good. If I'm bringing in more, it'll be from the same supplier.
No doubt the price is very good, particularly if you play doubles aggressively and break rackets from time to time. Here is a thought, if a supplier is willing to do custom paint designs, it would be epic and I will pay a lot for it. My line of thinking is that for most of us, we can afford multiple rackets, but you only have one playing hand and can only play with one racket at a time. So you need it to look good and play good. Time is the only irreplaceable resource.
there are loads of these woven rackets on taobao. They all claim this and that. Basically, from experience, they are probably just make by the dealers local badmintion racket manufacturer and nothing related to sotx. The last time I check the prices range from 90rmb - 300rmb. Main problem with the rackets as far as I can tell is the actually spec will probably have a bigger range. I bought one of the slightly pricier ones as a gift for some kid's birthday (200rmb). That racket actually felt great and played quite well. excellent beginner's racket.
yup i got the more expensive one also. It really does feel quite awesome right? I wanna bring in sumore so asking if any bros here want as well. Ship tgt save $
U have any photo for it? Actually for rackets made in China, there r really alot in the market. To really stand out will Be rare. Good luck boss
I bought SOTX "Woven *something" from Racketshop in HK and brought it to London with me. first impressions was that it was even balanced with a bad grip and string. Got it restrung and gripped but the head caved in after a match with a rather heavy feathered shuttle. I was thinking that the racket is at fault but now i think it maybe a case of excessive tension
what was the tension? Usually sotx woven are designed for upto 28/30 lbs without much problem. However, the higher the tension, any racket is more likely to break. from being badly strung, mishit, manufacturing faults etc.
TO ADD TO THIS POST, WOULD YOU BUY A Oliver racket? No shops here in UK sell them but somebody say they are popular in Germany, one of the top guys in my club have 4 Oliver Energetic K4. They feels very light.
How is that related to this topic ?? Oliver is a well established brand, not some unbranded stuff from Taobao random sellers ... On topic: e78 also has unbranded/their own brand woven rackets
Yes, I will try other brands if the price is right. For a long time* ( I only start playing 3 years ago), I only use high end(all made in Japan) Yonex racquets. Then I come across SOTX, It's a good value racquet. I've SOTX 7i,8,9a. 7 for single, 8 and 9a for double. I've since sold most of my Yonex racquets (about 15 racquets) and temporary using APACS racquets which is also a good value racquet. Tempting to get back in Yonex 'cos of Z-Force but the retailers here don't seem to offer discount like those from HKG and S.E.Asia. So, I wait or buy online.
