Good stuff Easy Tiger. I'm looking forward to your review of the racket as I'm considering buying a pair too.
FYI I ended up getting them from Wisdens of Hastings, which is a sports shop in the UK. They're on ebay.co.uk and their service is excellent. From the UK to Australia in 5 working days! The price isn't the cheapest out there, but seriously, they're the only place that can actually sell to overseas customers. Newitts and Central are utter rubbish.
Hi guys, my Vapour Trail Elite Just Arrived !!! It looks AMAZING !!! I cant wait to testi it out tonight ! I will give a review about it tommorrow I am a county player, so i will try and give an honest (semi-professional) review.
Okay, had a chance to put in two hours on the VT Elite. To sum up, it's a nice feeling and fast racket! Fast to the point that initially I was striking the top of the frame regularly because my timing was out being now used to my Armortec 900T, which feels a little like a battleaxe compared to the VT! It's a very well balanced racket being very light in the hand and very maneuverable. I'd say it was headlight- in feel. I adapted to playing with it pretty quickly as it seems to have a similar balance and speed to my Head M8kT. One thing that baffles me though is the stock strings, which at about 22lbs (if that) would be good for beginners, but the ink that Carlton uses for their stencil literally glues the strings together and leaves for a very mixed feeling racket. You can actually tell when you hit the ink (or should I say paint) and it's very disconcerting. Just a tad ironic considering the Carlton marketing spiel on the V12 Grommets is all about the strings being able to move. My fault really for not dumping the stock strings straight away and replacing them with my regulars. Anyway, difficult to say what I think until I replace the strings. It's really a very well balanced, light and fast racket that would probably suit doubles players and those with more finesse than power because I didn't find it particularly powerful although new strings could transform it. From an 'establishment' perspective, being even to headlight it's probably more like a Nanospeed or ArcSaber in feel, so if you like those sort of speedy, light in feel rackets (although I didn't find the 9900 as fast as they say it is) then I'd say the VT Tour is well worth looking at. I'll refrain from saying any more until I've had it restrung, but at this stage "highly promising" would be the keyword.
Hi Easy Tiger, I am currently using "Carlton Powerblade Titanium"....Its kinda heavy-head thus stiff but the feeling is somewhat better than T1-10.... Can you comment about this racquet?
Sorry, I haven't played with a Powerblade Titanium. The VT Tour is even to slightly headlight and has medium flexibility, so I'm guessing it would feel nothing like the Powerblade. If you're keen to try a VT I'd maybe look at the Elite?
Okay, played with it some more and I'm not sure head-light rackets suit my style. Been playing with my AT900T and I just seem to fit with that racket. Still trying to decide whether I should persist with the VT Tour or not....
no offense guys but have you seen the carlton airblade 33 specs....hahahaha... weight : 78 grams maximum
no offense guys but have you seen the carlton airblade 33 specs....hahahaha... weight : 78 grams maximum tension : 28lbs balance : 285-290 mm
nope...not yet...but...uhmm...i based my judgement from the specs that u gave...wahahaha...but if ever u tried the airblade 33..please correct me if i'm wrong...'cause i still think that the specs of airblade 33 is better than the new ones...i'll be waiting for your reply..thanks!!
Interestingly Dunlop (same company as Carlton) have a new series - Aerogel4D Tour and Elite models: http://item.taobao.com/auction/item...8f8385e5165098177.jhtml?cm_cat=50023628&pm2=1 http://item.taobao.com/auction/item...dd23d71cad0b120d5.jhtml?cm_cat=50023628&pm2=2
Yes, I have seen the Dunlop range in Bangkok, it looks similar to the Carlton Vapour trail but doesn't seem to have the Optimetric head.
It is very likely that they are produced in the same factory in China. Dunlop/Carlton Europe are the same company anyway.
hahaha that's quite a funny statements to me as I'm playing with powerblade 9902 and airblade 33 too bad, i couldn't find europe series around here
