So ive been browsing rackets to buy and found like a gazillion i want to buy but since im not a millionaire that wont happen any time soon... One thing that struck me is the similarity in racket specs, I almost bought a racket yesterday was choosing between victor superwave 32 and karakal m-tec 85 and what was odd is that the karakal was half the price of the victor 39 vs 88 GBP and while watching the spec they seemed to have rughly similar weight +/- a few grams, the same stiffness and so on. Can the victor be worth twice the price or is it the brand youre paying those extra 40 GBPs for? How can you tell if a racket without using it is any good or isnt it possible? Relying on peoples opinions is kinda hard person x will love one racket and think its the best ever made and player y hates it etc. How much of the price on a racket is the price? I assume that you pay more for the brand on yonex then say karakal and can they really be that much better that theyre worth paying twice for?
Whether a racket is good or not is an opinion and to form an opinion you need to experience the racket. The MTec 85 is a supremely good racket but I haven't played with the Victor so I can't compare them for you. If you know the spec of your current racket, you could find something similar by finding a racket with similar paper specs. However, how a racket plays can't always be determined by what the manufacturer says about it so you should definitely try and play with rackets before buying. Personally, I don't think you can get a better racket for the price of the MTec 85 but that is only my opinion so try and play with it first.
yes but thats the deal more unique brands (in sweden atleast) aint available at shops around me anyway. Brands such as karakal, mizuno, victor, SOTX, apacs and so on cant be found so I have to order them online thats why I hesitate and ive come to belive that the m-tec 85 is a good racket but i mean how much can they differ seeing as the price is twice as high, is the racket twice as good?
Victor SW32 is a highly competent racquet but if you can get the MTEC 85 for half the price of the Victor, then I say it is a real good deal as the MTEC 85 should also be a good racquet. I dare not say that it is for sure on par as I only used the MTEC 80 and MTEC 75 but if they are from the same lineage, it shouldn't be too shabby. BTW, performance gain is not directly proportional to the money you paid, there's no linear correlation. Law of diminishing return always come into the picture.
No relation between money paid and quality in badminton rackets!! I know there may be some people that shoot me for this but quite a few APACS rackets are as good as the Yonex rackets they try to imitate. If a pro would use an APACS clone racket instead of the Yonex racket it imitates then that says it all because the APACS clones are MUCH cheaper. I like the ASTEC rackets because they are designed by X-pros, they don't produce clones. All their rackets originated from new ideas. The ASTEC rackets are well priced with all but their most expensive line being much cheaper than Yonex. RSL make rackets that are as good if not better than Yonex but they're more expensive than both APACS & ASTEC, more on a par with Victor pricewise but still cheaper than Yonex highend products. Check the thread on 'other rackets people like' and you'll see these brands popup time and time again. Tim H
Never even heard of or even seen astec in any online shop or real life shops . Where are they distributed ? guessing asia like many other brands ive never seen/used. What makes it difficult is that when i started the only brands available and known where carlton, prince and yonex and now babolat and head aswell. Looked through my old rackets back at the parents place and noticed my old favorite shape, the old prince teardrop shape. Have they completely stopped producing these? Found an axis 70 and that has to be one of the first ever its from back in the 80`s and my old competition racket the prince thunder thunderlite Ti, damnit the best racket ive ever used but its broken in like 3 places and tried to find it yesterday but only found one on ebay wich only shipped in the uk .
price has nothing to do with the quality. it's a combination of marketing, local demand and favorites, sales channels (how many middle man), promotions, and country of origins. this is also why you see and know some brands in your country, but not many other ones. back to your question: "How much of the price on a racket is the price? " this is something none of us as consumer wanted to know. but, to get you excited, the cost of making a racket is about US$15-20 or even lower (including labor, overhead, etc).
"price has nothing to do with the quality" well it has to have something to do with it on some level i mean if not why is like 80% of players or how much yonex have stupid enough to pay twice the cost of a lesser brand?
Yonex has it's wide range of products, reputation, quality control and decent warranty. Therefore, as a combination, it's rather a same choice = you pay extra $$$, and it usually delivers a decent product. For other lesser known brands, surely you can find gems, if you are more experienced, or lucky. If you are not sure what you are looking for, and do not want to take the risk, then Yonex is a safer choice. If you clearly know what you are looking for, and willing to take a bit chance, then, other racket might give u a better performance vs. price, if you end up with the right product.
yea thats why im leaning to just order a yonex seeing as i could try it before i buy it, theres like a gazillion different rackets out there and im getting dizzy just trying to get a decent grip of how they perform . Just recently found the apacs site and that didnt help one bit
APACS please take note of these comments... we need a summary of how the rackets fit different purposes...
