I watched part of the video and I don't think his smashes were slow by any means. How many of us here would be able to defend against his smashes?
Thanks for the review. I'm just wondering if you happened to have tried the Nano Ray series such as the Nano Ray 800? I wonder what the difference is between these two rackets beside the weight? Also, where did you bought it in Canada and how much did you paid?
I own a badminton store, so bought it from Yonex Canada. I sell them for 239.99$, string included (BG65, VS800, ZM70). I've tried the NR series (the 700s and the 800) and didn't like them that much. The FB was superior in every way imo, better power, better repulsion (even if the NR800 is supposed to be the "King of drives"), better control, better defense. Maybe if both rackets had the same weight, the NR800 would be more maneuverable.
Question isn't how we would fare against him, it's whether his smashes were up to his usual standard. And from what I saw (before the sickening quality and horrible sound chased me away) they weren't, often needing two or three from half-court to set up MB....and let's face it, the British defense isn't even in the same league as the Koreans' [Ko/Lee, Kim/Kim] which he penetrated quite well in the KO.
5U, 78g variant will be available by the end of March 2013 http://www.yonex.co.jp/news/2013/02/1302181300.html
The video quality was pretty bad, but during some of the replays, I was able to verify that the FB was used in that match. It wouldn't really matter to me whether his smashes were up to his usual standard or not. I think it does convince me that this racket is indeed a capable racket. It's most likely not for everyone, but at least there are options out there for people who may be able to take advantage of this racket.
That might just end up a very different animal from the 6U ! Either more head-heavy, or even-balanced, depending on the distribution of the excess fat...
Current weight is 81g after strung with NS30 @ 26lbs and applied AC102EX over original grip. BP measured around 305cm, surprising ~ was expecting around 295cm at most
I have to agree that a 3U (and even a 4U) racket really is something else compared to a 6U. Here in Canada, most of the Black Knight rackets players have are from the superlight serie that weights around 75g. So there's definitely a market for that kind of racket. BTW, I bought my 700FX from you guys and really like it (4U version).
Salutations! NanoRays are definitely good for fast and aggressive players, they're just not for me. I'm just the kind of player that you want to have in the back of the court for aggressive smashing, which is why I'm surprised that I like the Photon and the FB so much. Yonex entering that 6U market just means that the rest of the world will get to experience it and we'll see if we're just weirdos for liking light rackets or if there is a real demand worldwide
Bonjour à vous! That's the kind of player I was before hurting my shoulder (too much enthusiasm after a 3-4 week pause and no warm-up)... The Photon has so much success here, I'm sure the FB will find some adepts (even though the BK costs less, it isn'T available around the globe).
After one session with ArcSaber FB, my thought on this piece is pretty much same with yan.v & vajrasattva. Quick, responsive and packs a punch though is light. Only thing is the learning curve for it's light weight swing speed. In my case, smashes doesn't felt weak and comparable to my time with BS LYD and N80. Will have more session with it and see how it goes.
So........ there is obviously some real new technology or process or combination of both that has gone into the making of this racquet. From what the reviews indicate so far, it wold be fair to say that this racquet clearly punches above it's class, and consistently at that!
