Guys, for reference here and I think I made the point already... Only Central Sports are allowed to sell Victor goods online although it will be interesting if an existing supplier decide to take their stock online whether there will be a problem. The Victor-sport.co.uk website now belongs to Victor whereas before it belong to the UK distributor. The transfer only took place late last week. Victor intend to develop the front end of this site and connect it to their existing international site. Personally I'm not comfortable with this strategy as their is a lot of product on this site which will not be available in UK. How Victor will manage this is unknown but they do wish to have the site up-and-running in around 4 weeks, all being well I assume. There will be information about the retailers who stock their products in UK, but I don't expect to see a lot of names. As I understand it, there are 2 names in north west and possibly one of two in the south. Central Sports will continue to dominate although they do not carry the full range. I don't know what Victors policy will be with regard to sponsorship of players or how they intend to market to players this year, bearing in mind the Central Sports connection. If I was Victor I would have a one page advert in the next addition of Courtside Magazine with a picture of LYD/JJS winning All Englands and some connection to winning with Victor racquets especially the LYD signature racquet. Thanks guys for your comments on what brands players are using. Where I am I see little Carlton, a bit more Karakal, some Ashaway and some Victor. I haven't seen a player using a Li Ning racquet in the clubs or at county junior squad. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
I haven't seen an RSL racquet in around 10 years. The good news is I got Meteor 60 to test/review today. So now I have 60 and 70 to review along with 6/7 other Victor racquets. I also saw the 9000 Ace shoe which looks brilliant! It was worn by most of the Korean and Victor sponsored players at All Englands. Sadly it's expensive and therefore won't be seen much in UK. RRP is £130 per pair but I expect someone will retail around £110. Don't think they will sell well because there are too many good Yonex and Asics shoes on the market for a lot less money. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
Meteor I am looking forward to reviewing both racquets. I hope there is enough difference between them and Meteor 80 although from what I've read Meteor 70 is almost identical to Meteor 80. I also have 5 or 6 more Victor racquets to test such as athe new Flumetecs. Whilst I don't like the name, the racquets look good. It takes a while for me to test a racquet so expect me to post a review on my blog in two weeks or so. I'm not on court this week so have to wait until I get on court the week after for my first session with the racquets. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
Hi Paul, I had the mx70 for a week. My mx80 has lost a lot of tension and feels spongy while the new one came strung at 25lbs with bg66UM and feels hard. Mostly for that reason, I'm not sure how they compare. With mx80 discontinued I trust that mx70 can become my racket of choice - simply because mx80s is bound to be unavailable soon. Having said that, it's now back for sale in the Victor range at CS...
BWS Sports bought a few last week and quickly sold them. I think Victor ~Europe still have some in stock so they will continue to be available although they are not part of the current catalogue. Once stocks are gone its unclear what will happen. If demand is still high they will order more. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
Trying to get back on topic, it's going to take Victor some time to develop their offering in UK bearing in mind they do not have somebody full time developing the retailer network. That said, there will be one or two shops around the country who may offer demo racquets. Your role is to support these retailers to ensure they continue to invest in demo racquets, therefore allowing you the best opportunity to test racquets and make a good buying decision. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
Victor would be extremely daft if they killed the MX80. Most of their range seems to have collapsed into a featureless grey smear of anodyne "medium-stiff, medium-balance" nonsense, and the MX80 is the only racket sticking its head out. Can't they be brave and do something extra-stiff and headheavy, or extra-stiff and headlight? Hang on - they did the former with the SW35... then killed it after everybody in the world bought it. If I end up testing the new ones I hope they don't play it safe again...
Mark I think we're going to have fun testing the new batch of Victor racquets I have. Once we get easter holidays out of the way, we'll settle in for a morning testing session and have some fun. Usual venue and bring the pens! I'll also have the other big name racquet to test and review at the same time. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
Back on form again after suffering a bout of sickness. looking forwward to testing both Meteor 60 and 70 next week. I heard from Victor today that they expect to launch a new UK website in June/July. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
Testing sesson is booked for next Saturday so I'm looking forward to comparing Meteor 60 and 70. As I'm away whilst testing I'm hoping to have a little more time to do some writing therefore will be doing my best to get the reviews on my website very quickly. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
After several failed attemps to buy from a UK company, i have finally decided to buy a Victor Bravesword 11 from a German website. Victor uK is really hopeless.
i did have a look at their website. it's a too simple website not much information and option for buying (i.e no way to choose a string to go with it etc...) .... so i didn't buy from them and they are not cheap
i know. but i like to play the new racket straight away when it arrives. I don't like to get the racket then have to go down to the stringer (he is always busy) and wait several more days for him to put the string on. If the website offer people the choice to pick the string and tension also the grip etc then the racket will be ready as you required when you received it and you can just pay it out of bag. Most of the people will be happy to pay for the service.