Hi, Just wondered if anyone has had any hands on experience with the Carlton Air Rage Tour? I currently play with a Yonex Amortec900T and after a bit of time i have got used to it (moving from Arcsaber 7). But after losing a fair few rackets from clashes and bumps i only have 2 rackets left (my 900t and an orginal Ti10) i need to get a new one and i cant decide if to just get another 900T or try this Air Rage Tour. The Carlton is cheaper but is it any less good? I am a fairly good player with a decent smash and defense and touch but drives arent my strong point Help please!!
Can't say I've tried it, but on paper at least, they're different in pretty much every way possible... Weight: 3U vs 4U Balance: Even vs Head-heavy Flex: Medium vs Stiff Length: 670mm vs 675mm Might be better, might be worse - depends what you want from a racket.
you should probably get another armotec 900 Technique so you won't have to keep getting used to the rackets.
"Vapour Trail?" really? nobody comes up with anything original anymore. This is an album from the Canadian Rock band "Rush" called "Vapor Trails" But anyway, I would try to stay away from "Carlton." there not really top of the line equipment. I have broken a friends Carlton racket just testing a shuttle. The shaft shot right out of the cone. I always had funny arguments with a friend about FZ vs Carlton.
You are joking right? If you'd said that they copied the "Fireblade" name from Honda, then maybe, but I seriously doubt they copied the "Vapour Trail" name from an album by some '70s rock band. Besides, it's a good name for a racket (evocative of speed through the air, maneuverability, etc) - better than the meaningless and lame-sounding crap Yonex come up with (Voltric! Z-Slash!). Also, you should be aware that Carlton rackets are not the same everywhere. In Europe, Carlton position themselves as quite a premium brand, while in Asia they mainly sell different, cheaper models (eg. Powerflo series).
Rubbish. Some top players are sponsored by carlton. Also, you cant make any judgement from a friends racket that could be in any condition. Fyi: Carlton is actually what they're called. No need for the quotes.
I have the Air rage tour.... such an easy racket to use. Its very forgiving so i pick it up when im not playing my best and also it is super quick around the net and for defence, and i mean SUPER quick! It also packs quite a punch
There is ONE player on the world circuit sponsored by Carlton. Dicky Palyama from the Netherlands. There is also a player sponsored by Dunlop. Last time I checked, Dunlop makes tires. You can't go by "who is sponsored by who." Carlton is a cheap brand for people not serious about playing the sport. it's for players that play for fun. Just like Head and Wilson badminton equipment.
That is completely not correct. My first full carbon racket was a Carlton (18 years ago), and if you been playing badminton long enough you should remember that even in Asia Carlton was the premium brand along side YY. OK I admit that since then its market in Asia keeps going down everyday, also admit that currently I own only 1 Carlton racket (VTT), so in a way I missed out what Carlton have been producing in between my old full carbon Carlton and the new VTT. But the Vapour series are really good, and if anyone claiming otherwise, I must ask which planet do they come from? To some extend I think the Air Rage series wont be too far behind at all, and at least can match the likes of YY Victor LN etc etc. So the short answer to "The Carlton is cheaper but is it any less good?" is NO. But that said, its not for me to say that Air Rage Tour is better than AT900T, it really comes down to each of us.
Your first point is simply not true. Yes, they mainly focus on British/European players, but then they always did (probably because they're a British company and that's where their market is). And like you said: "you can't go by who is sponsored by who" anyway. The comment about Dunlop is beyond idiotic. I'm not saying they're good - I never tried them, but I suppose you think Dunlop tennis rackets must be bad too, even though they're used by top players like Andy Murray? And that Yamaha motorbikes are bad, just because they also make keyboards? Unless you've actually used one of Carlton's high-end models (preferably one with the right sort of weight/balance to suit your game) for a reasonable length of time - not just borrowed a mates cheap racket he lent to you because he knew you'd only break it - I suggest you stop spreading this misinformation.
lololol At leat you live up to your name. You certainly ARE a funny guy. Maybe you should shorten it to 'troll', though?
Yamaha Doesn't count because they make everything. But again, there is a reason why only one player in the world circuit is sponsored by these companies. if Carlton or Dunlop went to any other player offering them a sponsorship, they would refuse. Do you think Roger would except a sponsorship from Dunlop? Do you think Lin Dan or Peter Gade would except a Carlton sponsorship? Other then Dicky who is sponsored by Carlton? who? and when you find his name, how high is he in world rankings?
Errm Nathan Robertson (#10), Eric Pang (#38), Yao Jie (#18), Wong Choong Hann (#32). Robertson & Emms when they won all their medals with Carlton. No player would refuse a sponsorship if the money was better than the next ... they generally aren't in that luxurious a position. Olga Konon I should add (#31 atm), don't think she is elligible to represent Germany at the Olympics so wouldn't expect a rush for a qualification spot and with Schenk up that high a hard task anyway ... I think Carlton have a lot of catching up to do and they are mainly focusing on UK and Benelux first in terms of sponsorships. And Viktor Axelsen became world junior champion two years early playing HEAD. Obviously Yonex have offered him a better deal now .
Wong Choong Hann is the player with dunlop. Eric pang is lower then Dicky and is also fro the Netherlands. Yao Jie again Netherlands. It seems the national team is sponsored by Carlton which means they don't have a choice but to use it.
Sho Sasaki just beat Lin Dan and Chen Jin playing Wilson ... Wrong again, clearly you have no idea what you are talking about ... I will say only a few models seem to be popular (Elite, Tour and Air Rage S-lite presumably because it has pink in it )
I'm sure they would accept sponsorship from whichever company offered them the most money, within reason. Li Ning are a pretty good example of this - why do you think all those top players were so quick to leave Yonex, to join a company with zero badminton pedigree? Because it pays better, obviously. They're doing the exact same thing in other sports too (eg. Usain Bolt). Carlton choose not to compete with Li Ning / Yonex to sponsor the top players, and instead focus on maintaining a presence in their largest markets - specifically the UK and Europe. For example, they sponsor Nathan Robertson. He's a top-10 ranked mixed-doubles player (bear in mind that here in the UK, doubles is far more popular than singles), and he's by far the most famous current British player (probably more well known than the likes of LD/LCW here). If you want to sell rackets in the UK, there's no better player to sponsor. You see, it's just business, plain and simple. If your main market is Asia, you sponsor Asian players; If your main market is Europe, you sponsor European players. Some other brands focus on sponsoring younger up-and-coming talent. Yonex even appear to have a policy of sponsoring all the hottest female tennis players - Anna Kournikova, Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Kirilenko, etc - which makes perfect sense from a business point of view. You're really very naïve if you think otherwise - but then I guess it's because of people like you that sponsorship deals are so lucrative...
Everything said about Carlton, Wilson and HEAD would apply to Forza just as much if not more. I mean there is only ONE Forza player in the top 50 of men's and women's singles combined (make that TWO with a late entry at #48 but not for much longer). Even Tine Rasmussen doesn't play Forza anymore ... does that make Babolat a better brand than Forza? At this rate Forza doesn't even pass as a toy ...
I am clearly not wrong about Wong Choong Hann. I am just guessing about the national team, but you can't prove me wrong. Did you watch the Sho Sasaki vs Lin Dan match? Anybody with a racket could have beaten lin dan the was he was playing in that match.