racquet selection: no victor

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by jwu, Sep 17, 2002.

  1. jwu

    jwu Regular Member

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    From majority of the post, seems like majority of the people all use yonex racquets and not much of anything else.

    Is this simply because Yonex is more famous? or it is really that much more superior than the other brands?

    Personally I have a victor discover VII, given to me as a gift, and I have actually never bought a racquet before in my life. I seem to be the only person w/ a victor racquet.

    I don't really know that much about the various brands, maybe someone can help me out here. Is Victor really that bad of a brand that no one would use it?
     
  2. Winex West Can

    Winex West Can Regular Member

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    jwu,
    There are a lot of good brands on the market. For a selection, check out www.badmintonwarehouse.com, www.badmintonalley.com.

    Yonex has a very big chunk of the market hence, a good majority of the players uses Yonex. Is Yonex better? Well, it depends on the racquet models and so on.

    Brands like Victor, Forza, Winex, Fleet, Ashaway, Carlton, etc are trying to take a bite off Yonex but it is a slow going process. I would say that about 8 out of the top 10 players uses Yonex.
     
  3. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    Actually, I think Yonex are very popular because many top elites are using them (got sponser contract). It is extremely popular in Asian market.

    Actually, I never used Yonex before, even though, I been playing for about 8,9 yrs. The reason is, I think we should pick a racket base on our own need (ex: weight, tension, offensive/defensive, smash/drive/drop, single/double, etc) As a defensive double player, I've used ProKennex Kinetic ULX, YangYang 8500 for long time. Both of these 2 gave me pretty good results.

    Therefore, I 100% sure that a racket fit for your "own" style is always better than a "popular" racket but not really fit for you.

    By the way, 2 of my friends are using Victor, both of them are good in my club. So, you are not the only one... :D
     
  4. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    There's definitely nothing inherently wrong with Victor racquets. Yonex dominates the market, but that doesn't mean they have better products -- only more aggressive marketing. Yonex is definitely #1 amongst international top players (because they can offer the best sponsor deals). At national or local level things are often different, though. For instance, here in Sweden, perhaps 30 % of the Swedish elite players are playing with Yonex. And in Denmark, Forza has over 50% of the badminton market, leaving Yonex far behind. As to Victor, I know that it's quite big in Germany.
     
  5. mokkelbo

    mokkelbo Regular Member

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    Mag - so what are the others in Sweden using. Fukuda is Swedish isn't it? In Norway Fukuda was very popular, but these faded out some years ago. U can still buy Fukuda in Norway, but I think its only two types of rackets.

    In Norway Yonex got it all. No Pro Kennex or Victor. U can get Winex if u try hard. Forza, which I sell trough my newly started firm Racketshop (soon to come www.racketshop.no) I really hope will be a big sucsess.
     
  6. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    Here you'd expect to see Yonex, Babolat, Carlton, Forza, Fukuda, Prince, Victor, ProKennex. Roughly in that order, I'd say.

    I've only ever seen one single person use Winex, and that happens to be a guy in my club.

    And yes, Fukuda is a Swedish brand, although it's not so common here around Stockholm. The company is based in Limhamn near Malmö, so further south it's one of the most common brands. With Kenneth Jonassen on their "team" they are trying to target Denmark more I think. Actually very good racquets, but rather expensive.
     
  7. modious

    modious Regular Member

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    I'm actually interested to get Babolat, Victor, Mizuno and Gosen rackets.
    But they're not available in Singapore.

    One thing you'll have to note is that it's extremely easy to find Yonex racket anywhere. Not so for other brands....
     
  8. mongoose

    mongoose Regular Member

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    My spare racket is a Victor Sun Jun 2000.
    Excellent racket.
    1U weight. Very stable. Very stiff.
    Feels like an MP100 without the MP bumps.
     
  9. jwu

    jwu Regular Member

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    Thanks everyone for the replies. I guess my style of play would be more offensive than defensive. Have a good enough smash to end most rallies or set-up for a kill next shot. I am using Victor Discovery VII w/ Yonex BG45 string at ~24lbs. Before getting this racquet as a gift, I've actually never heard of victor brand either so yeah I guess Yonex is just a big name out there. Thanks again.
     
  10. ivan

    ivan Regular Member

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    just one more question here guys... If I recall correctly there are actually two victors mainly distribute in two different country which are Taiwan and German. They offer totally different racquets, hence, anyone know is there any relation between them two? and who is the first inventer?
     
  11. jwu

    jwu Regular Member

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    sigh...don't know my roman numerals, the racquet is victor discovery IV, not VII. Wondering if I should purchase a Victor Fung 2000 racquet, any advice out there?
     
  12. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    The logo is the same for both. I've always assumed that it's the same company, but with different lines for European and Asian market. Some products, like shoes and shuttles, are the same I think.
     
  13. jwu

    jwu Regular Member

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    Victor Rackets Ind. Corp is based in Taipei, Taiwan, where the factory for victor shuttles is also located. More info here: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/badminton-central/about/how-is-shuttle-made.php

    Agree w/ Mag's post, there are different lines for European and Asian market in victor racquets, but everything else is the same. Shuttles are mainly made in Asia since that's where the factory is.
     
  14. ivan

    ivan Regular Member

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    Victor shuttles no longer produced in Taiwan except the very high end one. Most of them are them produced in China (cheaper labor and such).

    Ps. Thanks for the clearfication on the two Victor product line
     
  15. jengsen

    jengsen Regular Member

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    i have been using Victor's Racquets for 23 years; one of the them i still use sometimes is the Victor 990 (yes, i have this piece for 21 years). If you ask around for the old player, they will tell you that there is the expensive Yonex, and there is the Victor that as good as the Yonex but cheaper in price. Almost all the other badminton manufacture in the world right now are descending from Victor, if they were originated from Taiwan. Just take a tour to this web site

    http://www.bonnysports.com.tw/english/cata-b1.htm

    one of the other racquets companies in Taiwan that used made Carlton (i own two pieces from them for 19 years; now my sons, 9 and 7 yrs, are using them). But, once you play double, your racquets will not last for sure : )

    Like one of the guy posted here, Yonex has the best finish (done in Japan with precision cat/cam painting equipment), but the inner body may has been manufactured all over the other countries of the Asia, i think; because the molding, cleaning, filling and finishing jobs are so labor intensive.
     
  16. JChen99

    JChen99 Regular Member

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    WHOA! that racket is crazy man!!!
     
  17. jengsen

    jengsen Regular Member

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    Ok, i think i am too old to remember what i have just said. The vistor racquet i still use is the model Al-9500, not 990. i love its orange color T-joint.
     
  18. Yodums

    Yodums Regular Member

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    Heh, pure graphite and no coat sheesh. You'd have to becareful where you're swinging that :)

    After trying a Forza racquet, I think my next racquet will be Forza or possibly a Yonex Swing Power but I'm having second thoughts about Yonex since their quality isn't that great.
     
  19. Grufey

    Grufey Regular Member

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    Goood!

    I currently use Fung-2000, not sure if it's the new or old version. But it is a good overall racket, mine's currently stringed with bg-85 at 21pounds, it's got really nice control and u dun lose too much power when u smash. You should look up the thread that LB posted earlier about the racket being at a new low price. Check it out, it's worth it!
     
  20. Pecheur

    Pecheur Regular Member

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    I think this is the main reason, but also it's self perpetuating. I mean I won't buy a racquet that I haven't tried myself yet, if there are only Yonex racquets around to try ...
     

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