I recently got a very good deal on a brand new Black Knight 2008QC. Comparing it to the one that I already have (yes, I have two of them now), the new racquet felt significantly lighter than the one I have been using. In particular, the new racquet seems to have a much lighter handle, and the racquet head feels lighter too. For the record, both racquets have only one layer of overgrip on them, and they have the same grip size. I don't have a scale that is accurate enough to measure racquet weights, but a closer inspection and a bit of measuring confirmed my suspision: the balance point of the new/lighter racquet lies at ~279mm, while the old/heavier one is balanced at ~305mm. I understand that no two racquet will weight and feel exactly the same, since there are bound to be small variances in the manufacturing process. However, having a noticible difference in weight and about an inche's worth of difference between the balance points really surprised me. Was it just BK's quality control getting out of whack? Or did they change the design without telling anyone else? Anyone have similar experiences with their "supposedly identical" racquets? -Rick
OMG, you had a 2008 balance point at 305 mm? That pretty high, my 2008 balance point is 284mm and my friend's 2008 balance point is 280mm. It could be because of string or overgrip or maybe Bk just paint a 2012 in green and sold it to you hehe.
You guys are pulling my leg here, right? You don't actually expect me to believe that, do you? I originally thought that maybe they used a denser type of wood for the handle of the older/heavier racquet. However, that alone would have contributed to a lower balance point, and it doesn't explain the heavier swing weight. Maybe I really got gipped and bought a dud the first time? Hmm... a cloned BK racquet? -Rick
Maybe it's a re-design? Like MP77, the new and old versions also have noticable difference in balance point.
whenever BK updates a model, they keep the model name but change the model number. But the model names for the 20xx series *IS* the serial number, which suggests that there is no revisions for the 20xx series. Different revisions also have different paint designs.
I have 2 Carlton Airblade AS1 just back from stringing. Both with BG-68Ti. Both similarly gripped with towel grip from the same 20m roll ( I can't guarantee I gripped them 100% exactly the same though). balance points are 254mm and 259mm. Some quick (and rough) calculations lead me to estimate that an extra 1g at either end could move the balance point about 3-6mm depending on how near the butt or tip it was. So the static balance point is hugely affected by what and how much grip you put on. Not so much dynamically though, because the grip is very near the axis of rotation when you actually swing (if you accept that forearm pronation is where the majority of power comes from)
I bought 4 AT700's from (what according to the serial no's thread) the same batch only to have one replaced about 2 weeks later but this new replacement was from an earlier batch (1 day before to be exact) It feels different to the other three, as far as Yonex are concerned they are all within tolerable limits (4U) this is why they have weight ranges and not as Carlton do and produce specific weights. For each of these the balance point is slightly different. The weight ranges give Yonex a degree of error for various things in the manufacturing process but Carlton advertise their rackets as a specific weight. Although different manufacturers probably use the same/simmilar ways of production Carlton and I would assume Black Knight seem not to factor the same margins as Yonex into their procedures which is why there may be differences but it is easier to notice them.
My friend had a couple Karakal SL-70s that were VERY different in almost all characteristics. The weights were different and so was the balance point and colours. It's usually just an updated model that changes the characteristics somewhat. Sometimes it's a decision by the manufacturer, sometimes it's just really poor QA.
That why yonex say 85g-88g, it mean some racket is 85 and some are 86, even though they are both the same racket.
