Victor shoes are about half a size bigger than Yonex, sometimes one. I need 46 in Yonex shoes and can wear the 45,5 Victor....they also have the best sole I've ever worn, with good dampening yet they are very flat and direct. When I changed back to Yonex shoes I had knee and ankle pain for about 3 weeks - despite the sole being thicker (both SHB86 and SHF1M) the feel is much harder and the thicker sole makes for a less direct contact....but Victor Europe is really crappy, they ordered a whole 12 pairs of the 9000 for all of Germany in December (for the next quarter). :/ I was somewhere at No 18 or 19 in the pre-order list....needless to say, I cancelled that order. That being said, back to topic - I couldn't fight my GAS [gear aquisition syndrome] and ordered 2 XP70s as a kind of Christmas present to myself....here's hoping to a speedy delivery, after all I would love to test them before our next matches (would need 2 weeks for that - 1 week to test, 1 week to get used to my usual rackets again). As always, dispatch was rather speedy and I love the confirmation mail on dispatch which includes pictures of the order. Very cool. Keep up this kind of service and -if the rackets are satisfying- you might earn a lucrative customer (the 25$ postage are a pain though).
Well I think the maximum size they have is 11.5, so with what you said, it could be 12 to 12.5 at best, which is still taking a risk unless I find someone to sell them to afterwards.
I think kwun or one of the moderators should change the name of this thread to "RKEP Rackets" since Eric's range has been expanded beyond the PRO6000 and 9000.
Short review: XP70 (85g bp295mm) with bg66um 26lb after 4 hrs doubles First of all I must say that Eric is one of the best stringers I've encountered. His one piece job tensions are always right on the nose when I check with a frequency app. Tension retention is great that even with strings like vs850 that are infamous for tension loss, there's only a drop of 50hz after 2-3 months, which amounts to only 1 lb drop. If shipping were cheaper, I would ship rackets for him to string! Now to the racket. Swings noticeably faster than MX series, almost as fast as BS series. Not surprisingly then, frame cross section is like a mix of MX and BS series. Head wt feels very light when dry swinging, possibly because of its speed, but once I started to hit birds, it's got a substantial heft to it. Very interesting. Great in defensive shots, blocks and drives. Tad more flexible shaft than MX70, which gives it a good whip for power. Smashes are penetrative and clears are deep, despite being a racket that is lighter and with lower swing wt than what I usually play with (P Pro 87g bp295mm). Over the next few weeks, I'll have to restring it with my usual zm62 to compare more directly with my current rackets.
Oh... almost forgot to compare with the Pro 9000. Exact same specs. XP70 is better in all aspects. Faster, more maneuverable, better defence, more powerful. So all in all, a very good racket. I'll have to get a heavier one to try in the future...
A lighter yet softer racket might achieve that if you didn't get the fullest out of the previous one...
True, but Visor comments that XP70 is superior to pro9000 in every aspect when the specs are exactly the same. I interpret this as same stiffness and weight; and probably BP and string type and tension.
XP70 shaft is a tad more flexy than 9000 (which feels like same stiffness as MX70), as it feels whippier. Accuracy didn't seem to suffer much for it though. J4ckie, I'd like to hear what you think of the XP70 as compared to your BS9 and 10.
Stiffness is usually not included. Specs in this case indicate that they're the same where he had a choice (i.e. weight&BP)
"Head wt feels very light when dry swinging, possibly because of its speed, but once I started to hit birds, it's got a substantial heft to it. Very interesting." I am really curious how this works. Why is the reason a racquet would have the same spec (or ligher) but would have different swing feel (heavier in this case). I really hope this is not proprietary and eric and share what he did to have such effect. Side note: I have a racquet of 295mm at 4U and it felt so heavy and sluggish on the game that I cant use it anymore. I am refering to fleet woven 1000 II compared to woven 1000.
well... the way it cuts thru the air almost like the bs series is very fast... almost can't feel any air resistance unlike my mx70 and pro 9000... thus deceiving my arm into feeling it to be light and low swing wt but once birds are struck, the solid heft on contact is reassuring and removes any previous doubts about its power despite it feeling light in the hand... the slightly flexy shaft definitely helps in easily accesible power
93.3g bp295mm strung with bg66um, gripped with my usual white rkep elite g09. Compared to my pro 9000: 94.8g bp292mm.
Sounds very interesting; close to the specs I'm hoping will be the correct for me for doubles. My X70 85g/295mm is at the stringer atm. Probably wont get to try it until thursday though.
I just tried my XP-70 yesterday. It is a 83g,295bp,Zm65-24/26lbs with RKEP Power master grip. Before I am using the Pro9000, 83g,300bp,Zm62-25/27lbs with power master grip. Visor is right. The XP70 is definitely better in all aspects. Faster, more maneuverable, better defence and more powerful than Pro9000. Yesterday my friend fed the shuttles for me to smash. The power, sound and feeling is great. But yesterday one thing I didn't feel good is the timing. During the game sometimes I didn't hit the sweet spot, a little bit off, probably this Xp70 is faster than my Pro9000. I will have another game on this Thursday, I think this time will be ok.
Here are my thoughts on the RKEP XP80 (specs are 83g + 295mm + ZM65 @ 24lbs) Rackets I have used (and enjoyed to some extent): RKEP Pro6000, Fischer Infiniti Hades, Fischer Black Granite Tour, Yonex VT80, Victor MX60 Speed This is the racket's main strength. It's fast. Both in defence and attack. Despite being 295mm (and maybe 91-93g wet weight), the racket just feels swift. The RKEP Pro6000 was no slouch but the XP80 is amazingly fast. A fast racket is a must for me to be able to intercept and finish off points from the front of the court and the XP80 fits nicely. It is also quick enough for consistent counter attacks, where you turn defence into attack at the right moment. Power Being the most flexible racket in the RKEP XP range, the XP80 won't necessarily be the most powerful. I have not tried the other 2 rackets in the XP range but from my experience with rackets from other brands, the XP80 does pack a punch. With the right technique and timing, it CAN kill off points and with ease. It doesn't have the head weight of a Yonex VT80 but then the VT80 is a slower racket. Feel + control When first picked up, the racket can feel a bit too light in the head. Initial swings would give the impression that the racket lacks any solid feel. This can be the case for some players (depending on what rackets they have used or what rackets they prefer). For me anyway, net shots are fairly easy to play with the XP80. The feel is there and the same can be said about the accuracy of the racket. I think this will only improve as I play more games with the racket. Overall I think the XP80 is an easy racket to use and it would suit a wide variety of players (all the way from beginners to intermediate. More advanced players may prefer the XP70 or XP60 which have stiffer shafts). The good thing about the XP range from RKEP is that the 3 rackets offer different levels of stiffness. If you find one that suits you and at the specs that you prefer, then you can be sure that you will enjoy the racket. It does have it drawbacks (e.g. lack of feel at the start, timing needs getting used to etc) but with enough time with it, I am optimistic that it will turn out to be a great buy.
