The Vapour Trail Elite is by far the stiffest racket I have ever owned / played with. I just had them both newly restrung with BG-65ti at 25lbs.
Sorry for resurrecting an old thread. Has anyone tried the 2011 and 2013 versions of the Carlton Vapour Trail Tour? Got the 2011 version cheap (sportsdirect) and wanted to get a second one, but it's no longer available at that price. Now tempted to get the 2013 version, but will miss the shininess.
The 2011 version is a damn nice racket. Don't know how the 2013 version is though. Directsports still has the 2011 for under a hundred bucks though.
Lillywhites in central London has VTT 2011 and VT S-lite at clearance prices of gbp 45 and 32 respectively. Some bigger Direct Sports owned shops may have similar stocks too. Elite and Razor 1.1 are around 55. Carlton has come up with replacements for almost their entire line plus the three new Kinesis - may explain these prices on the old models.
The usual practice of Carlton is to gradually downgrade their ranges when they introduce a new series. Aeroblade >> Powerblade >> Fireblade >> Vapour Trail >> Razor >> Kinesis over the years. My colleague has bought the VT Elite recently, I will try to have a few hits with it.
Yes, that's where I picked up my VTT for £42. I went back to search through the back of the racks for more without any luck. Also, I've searched through High Holborn, St Pauls and Oxford Plaza sportsdirect too . VTE are £49.99 and Razor 1.1 are £59.99 and can still be purchased through their website. As a comparison directbadminton has the VTT 2011 for £67, which isn't appealing after what I paid for mine. Also, with the freebies for the VTT 2013, it makes it almost similar in price to the 2011, so in the event I cannot find another VTT 2011 in sportsdirect, I will probably buy a 2013 version instead. Anyway still got a couple more sportsdirect shops to go!
Back from my lunch break, bought a VTT Elite from Oxford Plaza Direct Sports )) 49.99 - pure impulse buy, or even worse, I tried it before and wasn't that convinced. Thought it was like a Victor MX80 with a higher swing weight. Very difficult beast. But at this price it's worth another chance or perhaps just a hook on the wall. I love the looks of this racket!
Yeah, I'm loving the look of the older VT series. I also took the chance to look at the VTT 2013 whilst in Lilywhites. There are triangular patterns of clear coat in the shaft, where you can see the woven vectran. Good luck with the VTE, at least if you love it, there's plenty around to buy a second one!
I think airblade 37 is more stiff than VT Elite. if you have chance please try them on the same time.
Rimano, have you had a chance to play with VTT 2013? I wonder how it compares to the 2011 version. I played with the VT Elite a few times, very demanding but has huge potential. Despite swing weight of 44.5 it feels very fast and the power is awesome. The minuses (for me) are: still too slow in defence, hard to get out of trouble and lift effectively (due to extreme stiffness) and I'm not sure about the short overall length, feels a little weird. I am now moving between mx70 and VTT2011 as I find mx70 too difficult sometimes. VTT 2011 is effortless and easy in defence and gives me a lot of confidence. I'd like to have a look at VTT2013 but I'm not sure if they changed the stiffness from borderline flexible to stiff - if that's the case, it's a different racket. I'm planning to go to Lillywhites to have a feel but I'd like to hear some reports from people that used it. Thanks!
Yes I have both rackets now. In terms of stiffness I can't really tell the difference. But my 2013 is about 3 grams lighter making It more ideal for me. The shaft is also slimmer by 0.1mm to 0.2mm. Other than the weight, I'm probably not good enough to tell the difference.
i am looking for a new racket since i own only one single racket and played the VTT yesterday for on double and one single game i never would have tried a carlton because i thought they are crappy but accidently i ran into this one and it completely changed my mind i was exalted right off the start it was exactly what i was looking for, clears were effortless and stable/accurate and it was so maneuvrable.. i had a very good touch at the net also i didnt smash a lot so i cannot tell about that area, but since my smashes are pretty weak any i cannot judge that..but if clears are working effortless smashs cannot be that bad right? very fun to play with i think it made me also more self-confident any shoulderpain etc. should never happen with this racket which is also nice so i will try out a few more rackets but i highly doubt i will find anything which suits me that good, especially if you consider the price advantage over some other brands