Ashaway bird2

Discussion in 'Shuttlecock' started by dbswansea, May 30, 2013.

  1. Mike1337

    Mike1337 Regular Member

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    I would concur with Rimano. After 3 sessions approx 2hours each, and lending out the shuttles for people to try, the 5 remaining shuttles now have wobbly corks.

    I would suggest this is possibly due to rigid (black) skirt of shuttle. On feathers the skirt is very close to the edge of the cork, while on the plastics there is an approx 4mm gap from where the skirt goes into the cork and the distance to the edge of the cork.

    Because the skirt does not collapse like normal plastics, striking the shuttle causes some force/leverage on the rigid skirt vs the base of the cork. Over time I think hard strikes of the shuttle are causing the skirt to loosen from the cork.
     
  2. alvino

    alvino New Member

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    For those in North America best to contact Alan at black knight Canada.
     
  3. Jchowdhury

    Jchowdhury Regular Member

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    One of the club members brought it to the session and handed them out to each court for a test run.
    Everyone agreed that the shuttle felt very nice on hit, very similar sound and feel to a feather. But one thing we noticed is the shuttle carried speed very well, almost too well, where most feathers die out in speed in a flat smash (not a steep one) the bird2 carries on for at least 1 meter more before slowing down. I think thats due to the shuttle possibly having more weight on it than conventional plastics/feathers, which is understandable. I do agree about the cork becoming loose, after about 20 minutes play the cork base started wobbling, glueing it to the skirt would solve the problem I imagine.
     
  4. Gordon Willis

    Gordon Willis Regular Member

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    Thanks for feedback, all products now have glued bases. We have also reduced the weight of the medium slightly.

    Gordon from Bird Design
     
  5. mark_i

    mark_i New Member

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    I tried these for the first time today, played a solid hour, and no cork issues. The club I used to play at goes through loads of boxes of feathers per season, and for me I actually enjoyed playing with this shuttle a lot better than feathers and any other synthetic shuttle that I have tried. Don't get me wrong though, I love playing with feathers, but really cannot stand playing on with a few rallies after the feather should be replaced, feathers becomes quite inconsistent to play with very fast. The Bird 2 was a joy to play with, and I will probably never buy another type of synthetic again, unless of course a better product comes out. All 4 players today that I played with were impressed by the feel and control. Well done :D Cheers Mark
     
  6. Jchowdhury

    Jchowdhury Regular Member

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    Thanks! When will these updated versions be released? Im interested in picking these up if they replace the current ones in online stores.
     
  7. Gordon Willis

    Gordon Willis Regular Member

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    Anything sent out from Central Sports after 4 September is new stock with bonded bases.

    Gordon.
     
  8. -s!Gm4-

    -s!Gm4- New Member

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    Hello Gordon,

    any advice on how to get the Bird2 in Frankfurt, Germany? I'm very curious to try this shuttle out.
    I tried contacting Central Sports for an international shipment three times now and did not receive any answer at all - very disappointing.
    In parallel to this post I'll try contacting the goode-sports address you suggested few posts earlier, although I assume that you only sell via your retailers, don't you?

    Cheers and many thanks
    Dennis
     
  9. Ashaway1824

    Ashaway1824 Regular Member

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  10. Jchowdhury

    Jchowdhury Regular Member

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    Thanks! Is there any plans to change the Black base of the skirting and change it into white?
     
  11. Gordon Willis

    Gordon Willis Regular Member

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    There are a number of technical manufacturing reasons for the dark grey (some of the early batches were too dark but not black); mainly due to durability additives. Most ceilings are white and research showed that the the flight section gave a large enough area to pick up light from hall lighting and the dark stem section formed a contrast with the ceiling and lights and gave better visibility. The feedback we are now getting suggests that, after an initial reaction to the different appearance, players find it is an improvement on all white shuttles, so we will not make an all white product.

    Gordon
     
  12. Mark A

    Mark A Regular Member

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    I think the black-and-white is a good idea, myself - you'll get good contrast no matter what colour the ceiling and walls are.
     
  13. blumorrell

    blumorrell New Member

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    Hi there,

    First time poster here but have been a regular visitor.
    I came across this thread after seeing the Bird2's advertisement on Central Sports.

    Ordered one dozen on Thursday 3rd Oct, arrived Saturday morning 5th Oct, so very good delivery time from Central Sports there.

    Initial impressions from myself and my fellow players - excellent! Best plastic we've played with and emulates the flight path of a feather much more accurately.

    HOWEVER, and this one big however... After no more than 30-45 mins of matches and two shuttles broke in the exact same way, as illustrated below in the photos.



    A third shuttlecock, also shown, is on its way to breakage at the same point.
    As you can see, the weak point is clearly where the two colours (and therefore two pieces) join.
    Circumstances of breakage? The first shuttlecock died when I played a hard drive from the rear of the court, but the second was just a simple return during a knock-up rally.

    Shuttlecock 1
    [​IMG]

    Shuttlecock 2
    [​IMG]

    Shuttlecock 3
    [​IMG]

    All three
    [​IMG]

    I was extremely surprised and disappointed because these are by no means cheap, even when compared to AS-30s or higher. These are supposed to be more economical than feathers...and I paid a whopping £22 (inc. £3 delivery) for one dozen.

    PS. There was no obvious loosening of the cork as previously mentioned in this thread.
     
  14. Gordon Willis

    Gordon Willis Regular Member

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    we haven't seen this before, it is obviously a problem with the conditioning of a batch of Stem mouldings, not the joining process or the design concept as thousands have lasted well without damage at this point. contact central to arrange returns, we will look into it straight away.

    Gordon

     
  15. Shinichi

    Shinichi Regular Member

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    Ashaway need to fix this problem right away
     
  16. -s!Gm4-

    -s!Gm4- New Member

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    Hey,

    Got basically the same problem as blumorell.
    Another shuttle's plastic base (black part, inside the skirt, where other manufacturers glue their company sticker) literally broke.
    Will post some pictures asap.

    I'll contact you guys via email.

    ------

    Other than that, players from my club (including me) found the shuttle very satisfying to play with.
    As it's mostly Asians I play with, they still prefer the touch and feel of real feathers, but all admitted that the bird2 had something very pleasant to it -ranging from the flying behaviour to the looks (visibility) and sound.
     
  17. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    Anyone used these in the US? If so, where are they available? I'm looking to test some against the 2000 shuttles that we use. I'm also really more interested in yellow variety than white, but I'd like to test them even if all that's available at the moment is black/white.
     
  18. dominikk1985

    dominikk1985 Regular Member

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    cool stuff. is there a reason why synthetic shuttles still use a skirt and not single synthetic "feathers"?
     
  19. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    Perhaps cost and durability? Either too costly or the durability creeps closer to feathers, offsetting any advantage of "feathers" flight.
     
  20. Rimano

    Rimano Regular Member

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