Hey fellas, Just for fun, I'm considering getting a new racket or two. Honestly, I have enough rackets to last me a lifetime, so getting any more will be a) frivolous, and b) A good reference on the current market for rackets in my preferred spec. My 'go-to' racket is a prototype of my own specification, made by a well known taiwanese/chinese manufacturer. The specs are - 87g dry / 89g wet (strung and with Karakal PU super replacement grip. 304mm Balance Point BG66UM @ 24x25lbs Stiffness - 'Medium+' This is my 'golden spec' - an absolute perfect match to my strengths and playing style. So I'm curious what other rackets are one the market at the moment that are similar and might be worth having a dink with? Some I was thinking of might be... - AU spec Bravesword 11 - ArcSaber 11 - Victor TK8000 - Adidas Precision 88 (Probably won't be able to get one for a while) Anyone got any other suggestions or recommendations?
304 strung or unstrung? Makes quite a bit of difference seeing as the 305 for ARC11 is strung which puts it at ~295 unstrung and stiff (ARC10 territory), not quite 304 and medium+ ...
Nah can't get RKEP, no resale vale. 304 strung and replacement gripped. Arc10 ain't too stiff. Only Yonex I've ever felt was too stiff for me was the AT700/900P and the ZF.
XP70 and XP80 indeed would be excellent ones to try. 87-88g bp300mm dry specs. Half the price of a Victor, and you won't have to worry about resale because you'll like it so much you won't part with it.
M'kay. Local prices. Local dude has everything in stock, which is amazing. BS11 (Au code, old spec, yessss) - $170 TK8000 - $175 Arc11 - $195 Adizero Pro would be on this list if I could get one. Maybe Kwun will sell me his?
304 all done up and only 2 grams heavier than stock, means your replacement grip is probably lighter than the stock as well so your dry bp might even be closer to 290mm which offers loads of rackets including many of the Adidas' but we can probably wait till we weigh an ounce before we actually see one. And on a Victor scale an ARC10 probably is a medium+ . Adizero Pro only weighs 80 gram give or take ... A Precision Pro or Adipower Pro/Tour/P800/P750 depending on what stiff and medium in Adidas terms mean are more around the 87 and 290-295 mark ... Li-Ning N80 perhaps as well, don't exactly recall the specs or N55, N77-II but the brand doesn't seem to be as hot anymore when keeping re-sale in mind. Your beloved NR700RP in original paintjob is one sale everywhere in the UK and is around the 290 bp mark as is a Ti-10 gen 2 ...
Yeah I'd realised there was a mistake in my old calculations. Stringing and replacement gripping adds 6g to the dry racket, not 10 like I thought. Maths is not my strong point So string hovers around 4g (for 0.68mm), and my replacement grip adds 2g. On one of my prototypes I actually cut the cone off and that drops another 1g. After you've done that, you wonder why rackets even have cones. You can grip all the way to the shaft without any annoying bulges. Demolidor - I do like the looks of the NR700RP, but there's no way it would get over 300, but I'm confident the Arc11 will, so that leaves that option out. Li-Ning? Hard to get excited about them these days, isn't it? It's like their big 'trick' was poaching Chinese players away from Yonex, giving them all rackets as reward, and now everyone outside of China doesn't care anymore. Which from a marketing perspective is fine, because as I learned yesterday, China represents 87% of the market. I'm actually leaning towards the Arc11 because it has the best chance of good resale, and because I haven't had a Yonex racket in so long, I've forgotten what they're like. Frankly, if I don't like it, I can sell it in a months time for the price of a Victor anyway! Anyone got any other suggestions? I was tempted by the Kason F9, but the C7 shat me towards the end so I'm not sure I could go there, but I did love the TSF500 so there's always - completely have to ignore resale, of course - the idea of the TSF300 Ti.
Victor MX 60 Victor Superwaves 37 but LI Ning did much more then give racquets to the CHN team! They're ervery where now! INA, DAN, THAI, IND... Wake up!
So you're saying they not only gave rackets to the Chinese team, but also sell them everywhere now? Thanks, that helps me a bunch. I've already had the MX60 and SW35 and 36, so not really keen to try any more Superwaves.
Somehow it didn't register you used the Karakal Super PU the first time around and with that you certainly won't get a 700RP up to 305 . On the other hand it does mean the N70-II is in the picture for example or Voltric 70. Just saw a new colour SW37 (SW37n), since SW37 was mentioned. Not sure if it's out or not but Forza Kevlar (CNT-Power) 8.0 could be something but hard to re-sell probably and hardly "exotic" ... Recall you have already had a MX60?
Yeah man, MX60 is one of my top 5 rackets. I've already done the whole MX range (except JJS) so dunno if I can be bothered going there again as I know what I'm getting. I could almost do an N70II. Friend has a VT70 so I should give that a try, although that's probably more like 310?
I recon it should end up close to 305. Directsportse have it at 307mm and ARC11 at 306 strung and stock grip ... You'd probably want one a bit more towards 310 strung and stock grip to end up at 305 (or close to 300mm dry).
Am curious with your experience with the C7, what's your take? I find it to be a top job by kason, its as stable and maneuverable like the arc7 but faster, head heavier and a more durable frame(for high string tension) but just a bit too light for my liking.
I didn't find it stable at all, and the shaft flexibility and small sweetspot became really annoying by the end. When you played with it after playing with the TSF500, you're left wondering where they went wrong with the C7. If you like the specs and play of the C7, you should take a look at the AT900T instead.
Yes the at900t and the ti10 both has similar attributes with way better stiffness in the shafts.... If only the at900t frame doesn't sink at the 5,7 o'clock position and ti10 crack at the 12 o'clock position....