My impressions (my 2 cents) coming later as I need to try to play with the racket again.. It was in storage for quite a while now.. But it is now up for trade, and a friend of mine will trade my Issen with his Shiden... The paint work like my Ryoga Ougi is very detailed, and the signature brush stroke design is present, unlike the Ougi which is missing this design cue. The red base paint has sparkles on it, (pics online shows a solid red), unlike the Ougi, which is a pure black base color.. The rainbow colored sparkles on the base paint is a nice touch though. The racket is current strung with NBG-98, but will be restrung with Gosen R4X Momone at 25lbs so I could compare with the Ougi.. The racket feels rather stiff, and head heaviness with stock grip is in between a VT-60 to a VT-70.. With my usual summertime towel grip, the balance point changes to slightly more head heavy than even balanced... My defensive and net is much better, but it was never slow to begin with when compared to my Voltric Z-Force... The racket is a breeze to use, and this is one of the head heavy rackets I would use in a doubles game as it handles great and fast enough. Pics:
How is it compared to Ryoga Shidden? I read on the specs, max recommended tension for Issen & Tenbu is 21-26Lbs while Shidden is 22-27Lbs. Does it mean Shidden has more durability? I recall some review mention Shidden equals to YY Arcsaber Z-Slash, while Issen equals to VT70/80. I've been meaning to buy one of these Ryoga series, but I'm not sure what to get. I prefer Head-Heavy (Issen) racket but with semi-iso oval head (Shidden). My stringing tension within 28-30lbs with either NG99 or BG80Power. Please advise here.
Both the my Ryoga Shiden and my Ryoga Ougi have max 27 lbs. and the Issen and Tenbu is max 26 lbs. This is mainly due to the fact the Ougi and the Shiden have Zylon reinforcement, and the Issen and Tenbu does not. But HONESTLY, I feel ALL 4 of the RYOGA rackets can EASILY string OVER 32 lbs... The frame on these rackets are some of the strongest I have seen... When you buy a Gosen Ryoga, you really get what you pay for, material quality, and paint quality... I clashed my Shiden with partner few months back (pretty haard clash), his NanoRay 700RP broke instantly, my Shiden just a small paint chip lol... On a side note, the Shiden does not feel semi-oval to me. The sweet spot is more or so like the traditional full on oval frames. I suggest you try the Ryoga Issen (2 color options, the Gen 1 and Gen 2 color schemes), and string it with a thin gauge string, such as BG-66UM, NBG-98, R4x 100, R4x Momone, Zymax 62, NP-66 etc... The Issen is not a racket for control, it is pure smash hammer with a pretty stiff shaft (no where near as stiff as the Shiden though), and the defensive is quite swift for a semi-head heavy racket. Hope this helps.
Your review of the Issen sounds very promising... and interesting. I am using the Tenbu now (an excellent racket for both attacking and defending), and just got a Trivista 800 (which my seller says is an "upgrade" of the Shiden). Would be some time before getting an Issen, but no doubt will have a fun time experimenting it. By the way, how does the Ougi play? And worth the money to purchase?
Trivista 800 is nothing like the Ryoga series... I guess the seller is trying to get a "quick sell" tactics. I have to admit the Tenbu is slightly hard to generate power with (at least in my case), something about the balance and the stiffness that makes it a very hard racket to use... The Issen is much friendly racket in my opinion, one of the most friendly in the Ryoga lineup, it is so easy to adjust to, and offers plenty of punch. Ougi is slightly more playable shaft than the Shiden (if the Shiden is too stiff for you). Also the sweet spot is larger (iso vs oval) than the Shiden. I find it quite good as a general all round racket (think ArcSaber series), but with better feel, control and more repulsion... The Ougi would be the best all round racket from the lineup (Buy this if your local store still have Ougi rackets in stock)
You might be right on the Trivista 800, but I have not tested it yet, so therefore I will reserve my decision on it until then. With regards to the Tenbu, I found the racket to be quite perfect for me. I previously main the 700RP, but found two things quite uncomfortable for me - the smashes were slow (even with a heavily repulsion string), and the shaft stiffness is.... "extra stiff", which hurts my hand. The Tenbu however resolves those 2 problems. It says "stiff" on the shaft, but it feels more like in mid-stiff to me. On the Ougi, I am also thinking of getting it, but very few shops actually sell Gosen rackets in Malaysia. So would have to order online for it.....
Hm... That's weird. The NR-700RP does not feel all that stiff to me. My 2nd gen Tenbu was definitely more stiff than the 700RP. Is your Tenbu new when you compared it or has it been used for long time? (shaft tends to loose stiffness over time due to flex when you do strokes, also the part that connect the shaft to the cone also loosens up.)
The Tenbu is the only Ryoga racket that does not work well for me. I don't really know why, something to do with the racket balance, swing speed and weight... Between the Tenbu and my 3UG5 700RP, I prefer the 700RP more. I guess some rackets really doesn't fit everyone... So try before you buy ^-^
I had try ougi and tenbu which is lighthead, and those racket is nice when use strings like zymax 65 or nanogy 98, if use string like bg66 and zymax 62, u will feel,lack of,power
anyone still using issen? need more comment... currently have 1....hard for me to suit it... is it because of string / grip? what tension and string should i use ? hope to hear from u all. thanks
Could you tell me how the Trivista 800 plays against Shiden? Luckily I'm an owner of the Ougi. I have to say that the Ougi has a little bit bigger sweetspot than Shiden and therefore it's easier to play. In the end it does everything as Shiden does, but everything a little bit better, but not much.