in a few week to months time i may be getting a new raquet, and if not re-string my current raquet. i play 2 or 3 times a week (on the court) and few more times a week in my living room (if that counts). and trying to play little more. my playing level should be intermidiate, barely not making sub for highschool team. my current raquet is carlton Aerogear 900. I like this raquet because it's quite light and cheap for performance, but seems to be quite short compared to other raquets i've used and very unforgiving in misshits because of it's oval head. and my previous raquets were; Carbonex 7000 which i liked but was little too heavy and head out of shape because i hit it againt the wall, but had alot of power.. isometric 45? (it was red.. that's all i remember) (yonex) which i liked the head shape and lightness but someone perminately borrowed out of my locker... (maybie buy another one of these?) the maximum money i'm willing to spend is around 150 cdn (can push a little more) the company doesn't really matter as long as i'll like it. currently i'm thinking about 1. yonex armortec 150 2. armortec 250 strings: it's first time i'm re strining raquet from it's original factory setting and have no idea which one to choose from. then i'm currently thinking of getting BG 65 ti or just normal 65 (free with new raquet) or nbg 90 if the review from eggroll says it last long as advertised. and thank you for advices in advance. i'll start researching after this week when all my tests are over.
whoops few mistakes... nbg 95 not 90. and perferably something stiff. and there may be problems with my playing style but i prefer to smash more then drop or net shots
Not sure of the CND exchange rate but you could use the racquet selector on centralsports.co.uk for some guidance.
Since you're still using the original factory strings, I would recommend trying new strings before getting a new racket. It would make a noticable, if a not a world of a difference. I'm not sure if it's going to help you with your mishits, but it's worth a try. There are tons of string selections to choose from. If you check out the "Badminton String" section in this forum, you can find some useful information. Also don't forget to check the "String Review" in the "Equipment Review" on the main page.
If budget is limited, I think you have better chance in non-yonex brand, such as Gosen, Yangyang, Winex, SOTX, Fleet, BK, Kason, etc. If possible, demo rackets before purchase.
You haven't really discussed if durability is an issue, but I assume that you will not have big clashes with your partner or the wall. Otherwise you'll have to resort to the aluminum headed rackets, which can stand more abuse. I'd recommend Black Knight's C2C series for exceptionally solid smashes and precise control. The Shadow model is a bit head heavy, while the Ice model is easy to move, and the Nanofire is much lighter and still powerful. They all feature the same racket head design that gives the excellent feel on impact. You should be able to get these within your budget. If you want Yonex, AT250 is probably better than AT150 in the long run, because AT150 will be too flexy. The problem is that head heaviness makes the racket flex too much in my opinion.
thank you everyone for their feed back so far. (few min before start studying again) since i'm not in extreme hurry to buy a raquet, i'll string my 2 current ones with different strings, one with nanology and maybie bg 80 for other one. by the time i break those strings and try other ones i might have more funds for a better raquet. who knows? still thanks everyone for the input so far
Sl-70 If your still interested in getting a new racket, I would recommend the Karakal SL-70. I got it this year because my nanospeed 7000 was all banged up and I find it amazing! I seem to have more accurate shots and better control with this racket than I did wth my nanospeed. I also came to the conclusion through your post that you seem to like light rackets so I would really recommend this one. Also I strung it with BG 80 strings which are way better than the factory ones (I noticed a great difference)
do you recon getting mp 66 is pretty good? because past few weeks i've managed to changed my style of playing and raised little more money (around 170 ish by next week) from my pocket money.
You should just restring your racket, especially the Aerogear. Fresh strings will breathe a new lease of life to your racket. Aerogears are great rackets. I used an early aerogear in the early 90's just before Carlton disappeared from the local badminton scene.
Dunno why but I always agree with Weeyeh, I think great minds think alike ! Carlton Aerogear is a great racquet, I have an old Carlton Airblade AS-Ti, great racquet too, just that it is oval and normal length so need adjusting to, as all my other racquets are iso and long length. Though oval racquets have smaller sweet spot, but when you hit it, the feeling is so good ! And it also feels better at control shots. BTW, Carlton hasn't disappear from Singapore, they are still lurking around, just that not as common as Yonex, you can still find quite a few stores in Queensway selling them. One of my go to racquets now happens to be the Powerblade 9909.
my aerogear broke now, and had mp 66 but that got replaced with nanospeed 5000 under warranty. i did not like ns 5k so purchased cab 30 from mr dinkalot but my brother took it T.T so I've purchased ti 10 (yellow) for myself. Now that one's been destroyed as well..... new suggestions? could get more ti 10 or try mp 100 while there's some supply.
Why not another Cab30ms? If it works good for you and your brother? It is still in production and cheaper than any other Yonex racquet...
well in sp code it's out of production, and only available in states. unless you can hook me up with a good source =p need like 2-3 same racquets soon to share between two of us
The cab30ms... that's my main racket. In fact, it's my only racket until I bought an aerotus 110 today. Just love every moment of playing with the Cab30ms.
Apacs Canada is not too far for you either, and price is within your range. http://www.apacscanada.com/index.php?osCsid=4302ae3a20a8908c68e613f3833324ac.
oh yes price range edit it's been a long time since the initial post and i did get a job. (okay one) as of now i can prob spend 200 -300 to get all the equipments i need.
Have you wonder where Sir DinkALot got his Cab30ms? 300 CAD can get you 3 Cab30ms strung with BG80 with s/h to TOR for you. Seek and ye shall find. (ie PM RSX to see what he can help)