I'm looking to get this racket but difficult to find in the UK, one vendor selling it but they are pretty overpriced. Any vendors who will ship to UK that are known and sell Victor rackets?
badmintonshoponline.us is where I got mine, shipment to Germany was really, really quick (once it got out of Hong Kong, 2 days). If you want to choose weight/grip, e-mail them first if it's available, the mail address is the one shown as msn contact. They usually respond within 24 hours on working days. It's released in Germany as well now, so if you can read German, you could get it here as well. Price is not very different, I think bso is a bit cheaper, but doesn't have 3UG3 in stock, whereas that's the standard we get here.
Played singles with my MX80 all night last night. Went 2-1 for the night. I found the MX80 to be stiffer than my Yonex VT80. I was not able to draw out enough power from my MX80 to make my smashes comparable to my VT80. I was quicker in defending against smashes and drives with the MX80. I was slightly better at net play also with the MX80. I think I will stick with my VT80 (smashing) for singles and MX80 (quickness and accuracy) for doubles. Played with AS30 again. And again the feathers last only 1 game. But the bright side is that I'm almost finished up the tube. So onto the next brand to try...RSL Classic Tourney.
If AS30 weren't durable enough, Classic Tourneys will disappoint you rather strongly. I was delighted with their flight, but could never get one to last more than 1 game. Even in singles where the hardest smash was probably only 100kph For me, there are 2 shuttles I like to play - Oliver Apex 100, not because of their nice durability or quality, but because we get them for 10€ per tube in our club (we have a contract with Oliver, I think), or AS40 when I want the shuttle to last and fly better. Some days, you just have bad luck and pull 3 Apex 100 fresh out of the tube and they all wobble...anyhow, don't get your hopes up too high for those RSL I got an interesting problem - I just restrung one MX and re-gripped both of them, but just as I was about to use them, I ran out of grip powder. So, with the towel grip fresh and slippery, I can't test the new string at all (NBG98@28). D: Waiting for the grip powder are the longest 3 days of badminton so far, I was never so unsure which racket to use Doesn't help that the BS10s string snapped after less than 40 minutes. Seriously, the NBG98 feels great, but is just as brittle as the BG66.
Do you steam the shuttles 2 days before playing? They tend to survive better in our cold dry north American climate.
Haha, if you want dry and cold, try Calgary. You'll literally cry as the shuttle disintegrates before your eyes with every hit. The conditions there are brutal on shuttles, steamed or not. I gave the MX-80 I ordered through you a real run this week. On Monday, after I broke the strings on the other one, I was able to use it for about 1.5 hours. Because the strings (VS-850) were still pretty much at the ordered tension (28 lb), all the shots felt crisp, strong and precise. This racket was a little lighter than my other one and there was a better feel with the maneuverability. Still no complaints about the power at this point. Using the same racket, yesterday started well. Again shots were crisp and feedback was as I expected. 2 hours later, the tension had dropped noticeably and the feel was softer and more muted. I seemed to be increasingly mistiming my shots and clears were not reaching the back (based on my normal swing). After a while I stopped smashing altogether. So it's true what they say about the VS-850 string and the tension loss. Fortunately I got the other MX-80 (slightly heavier one) restrung so can go to it again.
No. Straight out of the tube. Might as well be consistent with all of them. I'll start to keep them in the bathroom (ie. like kwun does) once I settle on the shuttle.
No, still best to do it this way, 2 days before using. Boil water in kettle. Open both ends of a tube of shuttles. Place one end over the exhausting steam for 2 mins. Close the tube both ends and store for 2 days in cool place for 2 days. Guaranteed to last much longer!
@madbad: Try prestretching vs850 before you give it to your stringer, it'll hold tension better. I prestretched mine by 7 inches and it only lost 2 lbs over 6 weeks of intense play. I prestretched another by 9.5 inches, will be picking up today to try out tonight! The feel and repulsion of the string is just too addictive!
I agree with you about the feel and repulsion of this string. Way too addictive! Let me know when you will be putting in the next RKEP order. Strings are on the agenda. Thanks
Haha! As a badminton fanatic, I've trained my wife enough over the years that by now she doesn't bother me anymore when I practice my swing, practice my serves, do shadow footwork, etc around the house.
Shouldnt power increase with lower tension? Next week I will test Mx 80 @10.5KG bg 66 vs Mx 80@12KG bg 66 Maybe high tension helps me, too.
Its amazing to me, that if you increase the length of the string by 2% you can make it only lose about 6% of it's initial tension. What are you doing to a strings' characteristics by pre-stretching it? My intuition tells me that you'd be making it less of a 'spring', essentially 'unwinding' it, but I have a few months on a set of non-prestretched VS850 that started its life at 25lbs and has now dropped and settled down significantly lower - yet no real lack of repulsion and certainly much better transitioning. Hrm. I have a packet of blue VS850 sitting here. Might try pre-stretching it.......but alas none of my rackets would look good with blue strings, so I might have to buy an MX70!
Careful with the 12kg BG66. Only smash if you're warmed up and won't mishit too badly - Wednesday, I snapped my 12,5kg NBG98 after 35-40 minutes of play, and the NBG98 is a bit more durable than the BG66. I don't know about max power, I think slightly lower tension helps you there, but clears FEEL easier with higher tension. At least to me. When I had my BS09 strung with a 11kg ZM67, it felt...dull. Not much power, and feeling wasn't too great. Strung it up with a 12,5kg NBG98 and it plays godlike again. Smashes are of course not as powerful as with my go-to racket, but everything else was spot-on. Really tempts me to get another one (BS12 would be nice as it looks better, but would cost me 45€ more....and I'd be back to my old problem of having no back-up^^)
Care to show us a pic LD? I just had my first sesh with my MX80 and I gotta say...tis simply awesome!
