I've tried to search about Grommets...but have no information about them. Anyway i was talking to one of a reputable person in badminton and as well some people from Yonex Japan. I asked them about Grommets.. asked them where can i buy them since it is not selling anywhere.. to my surprise , they told me it is given away for free. Everytime they ship rackets to any store.. they will include few packets of grommets and they told me to ask from the shop i buy or from the shop that i string my rackets. I asked how to treat grommets since i strung my racket in high tension. To my surprise they told me just turn the grommets around. They told me , usually grommets have 2 components... the usual ones are just like plastic and the better ones are added with some graphite / carbon powder just to make it last longer. Hmmm something about grommets that i don't know. Oh well after the talk i was given some Armortec GrommetS!!
Here in US, seems nothing is for free, except you have some connection with the shop. Usually, the stringers here will replace the 1st 3 gromments for free, and will charge another 0.50 for each additional one. There are several stores selling gromments, but each the package is way too large (500) for personal usage, or too expensive (10 / dollar). I shared 2 big packages with jwu, and I always replace gromments for free. Overall, helping ppl out is my major intend.
Thats good. Well over here , some shops does give you for free some grommets.. but like what you said.. they will charge you after that.
LB, 1 or 2 free grommets is fine. But in some cases where some rackets are so cheaply made, all the grommets (technically speaking) need to be replaced on the 1st restring, and the grommets i got are 10x better than those cheap, thin, brittle grommets on the cheapo rackets. Lessons for beginner: cheap rackets with cheap grommets dont save you money because cheap grommets mean short string life. A new stringing job with full grommets replacement will cost ya (assuming 50 cts per grommets) around 30-35 USD plus a string job of around 25 USD. So off the bat, u r at 55 to 60 USD disadvantage. If your cheapo racket cost 30USD, the fixes will cost more than your racket. It is a waste to put a good string on a new cheap racket.
I totally agree with the above. Sometimes, ppl bringing in cheap rackets to let me re-string, and I found tons of gromments are badly splited, etc. Even though, those users claimed that they did not heavily used their rackets. I tried to re-use some gromments by "turning" them with an angle, or replace the necessary ones. However, for several cases, seems they can just clear my stock in 1 shot. Therefore, I have to turn down business like that, and since the racket could be really beat up and no way to handle the tension as they desired, I just suggest them to invest on a better one.
