Thinking about whether I should get the Elite or the Tour. I already have the Firebalde Elite, so I may actually want to try the Tour since I play more and more doubles these days.
Alrighty, so I called up centralsports.co.uk and got some guy on the other end of the phone that seemed to not be aware that it says on their website (or anything else for that matter): "We are currently only processing online orders for delivery to the UK & Channel Islands but we do deliver internationally so please call or email for a quote." Which I thought was funny because I've emailled them 4 times in the past 13 days asking for a quote.The guy was completely clueless, so I just went online and placed an order anyway, with shipping to my Aunty in the UK. He said that wasn't possible because the Mail-To and Bill-To addresses have to be the same, but their online card processing system didn't seem to care about that. So, If it all works out, in a couple of weeks I will have scored a couple of Vapour Trail Tours with BG80 and Karakal PU grips for AUD190/USD155/SGD223 a pop.....and if not I'll probably spend the next year of my life getting my money back! Watch this space....
well, i wish you good luck with that. you got a pretty good deal on it i believe, considering that the Fireblade Elite retails for about $199 here where i live.
Okay, we have an email! So, be warned - CentralSports CANNOT process credit cards not from the UK, so if you live outside the UK, the only way to order from them is to get a relative or friend who does live in the UK to send them to you. So I cancelled my order... ....and bought two VT Tours from a powerseller on eBay instead! Price is a smidge higher, but they will ship globally via DHL, and hey, at least you can actually buy from them! I'll report back again once they arrive. Quoted time is 4 days....
Carlton Vapour Trail Tour Hi I'm really curious as to how this racket feels. I've always been a Yonex fan and bought many top of the range YY rackets. But recently I bought Carlton Fireblade Elite (oval head) and fell in love with it instantly. It feels so light and powerful yet controllable I've abandoned my Arc 10, NS9900, Cab 21s and bought 3 Fireblade Elites. Now this optimetric head shape seems to me like an in between isometric and oval head shape. Isometrics have a 33% bigger sweetspot whilst in my opinion oval head shapes have much less drag and a smaller BUT more powerful sweetspot. Does this mean that the optimetric headshape represent the best of both shapes? If anyone has this racket please can you post your review?? Many thanks Wai
Hi Thanks for the comprehensive review. I have the Carlton Fireblade Elite (oval head) would you know how the Vapour Trail Tour compares against the Elite? Thanks wai
Excuse me? What does FFS mean? Hope it doesn't mean what I think it does. I would like to know how the VT Tour felt like in comparison to the Fireblade Elite, NOT the VP Elite, unless I've missed something, I don't it's on previous pages. If you genuinely want to help you can kindly direct me to the page if not, you need not get yourself irrate and be disrespectful, it'll only reflect badly on yourself.
Respect is earned, and ah well, you need to be more accurate in your product descriptions. "would you know how the Vapour Trail Tour compares against the Elite?" can be easily 'misinterpreted'. There is a VT Elite too you know. Be more succinct. I'd recommend you look at the VT Elite specs back on page 2 I think, and see how that compares to the FB Elite. Good place to start eh?
If you read my previous post properly you'll see that I did state I have the Fireblade Elite, hence why would I want to compare a racket which I didn't say I have (ie VT Elite) with the VT Tour? I think you just need to switch your dimmer switch up a bit from dark (ie no clue) to dim, then you might've got it. Also, why you recommending me to compare VT Elite with FB Elite? I don't care about the VT Elite. I've read on the specs of the VT Elite and its nothing like the FB Elite in any case, so it's pointless. A good place to start is on your head, get it checked out for any remote chance of the capacity to show logical reasoning. You know you really are more than you're worth.
"why would I want to compare a racket which I didn't say I have....with the VT Tour?" You're asking me to exhibit logic? You were not clear which "Elite" you wanted to compare, and now you're trying to tell me that people only want comparisons between a racket they own and one they don't? Like people never ask for comparisons between two rackets both of which they don't own? Anyway, despite being that you live in a city where you can actually go into a shop and buy the ****in' things and the rest of us don't, I'll do your homework for you. You know, because I'm a caring, generous individual - Vapour Trail Tour Weight (unstrung): 84 grams Flex: Medium stiff Balance: Medium balance Vapour Trail Elite Weight (unstrung): 89 grams Flex: Stiff Balance: Head Heavy FireBlade Elite Weight (unstrung): 84grams Balance: Head Heavy Flex: Extra Stiff Length: 670mm So buggered if I know where you get the idea that the VT Elites are "nothing like the FB Elite" because they look on paper to be the same concept - head heavy, stiff singles biased rackets. colekwok on page 7 of this thread suggests the naming regimen of the 'Blades' is continued in the 'Vapour Trails' and this seems the case. Kwun has played with both the VT Elite and Tour - scroll back a few pages and read what he reckons.
This is what I was thinking too since the VT Elite is, in my opinion, a little on the heavy side at 89g. I think lighter rackets are better for faster swing speed albeit that it might differ most to the FB Elite in terms of the Tour's flexibility.
Okay Carlton lovers, my racquets just arrived! Here's my initial reactions. I won't get to play with them til Wednesday, so these are just visual and first impressions. Opimetric Don't be fooled, 'Optimetric' is NOT something inbetween Oval and ISO. It's simply a short-head ISO. What it looks like they've done is moved the sweetspot up the racket, which is pretty clever because it means you'll have more swing leverage and a more usable stringbed, because let's face it, who ever hits the shuttle down near the T-Joint? So what that means to me in theory is that the head area is smaller than ISO, but I think it will have the same amount of usable area. We'll see when I have a hit. Stock Strings Strung at about 20-22lbs I reckon. Strings are thin and heavily textured. They'll probably have good feel and adequate power but I'll change them out pretty soon for my stadard BG80 at 24lbs. Graphics. If you're shy, this is not the racquet for you. Previous photos were a bit deceptive - this thing is 90% mirror finish silver. In some photos the inner surface of the head looks black, but it's not. The graphics generally are okay. The mostly get lost in reflections anyway so they're not too offensive. Generally I would've liked to have seen more contrast, but overall it looks quality like a top shelf racquet should. Having the inside surface of the head black would make the VAPOUR TRAIL graphics punch which is what they should be doing yet aren't. It also has all the specs neatly on the shaft which is good. Build Quality - B+ It's not too bad. The problem with really shiny things is that they pick up every single minute anomaly so if you look really close there are ripples in the finish, but the only way there wouldn't be is if the thing has hand sanded and polished which of course it isn't. All-in-all there's no mistaking it for a top echelon racquet, but it's hiding behind the shine a bit which stops me from giving it top billing. Pictures and a first impression hit this Wednesday! :thumbsup:
