Yea it's a sample racket. The victor distributor said this to be a stiffer sample racket than the production ones so i figured it could be from the same batch as player editions but just for distributors/retailers to take a look at and market the racket. But anywhoo, i'll give it some testing on friday and we'll see how it performs.
It is definitely different. I tested the sample racket, it is very head heavy so we comment back to Victor on this. After that they customized and it outcome the player version. If your shaft code is written as sample, that piece of racket is much heavier while head heavy stayed on the same weight.
The sample is very head heavy, 320 is not surprised. I didnt really measure, but I can feel the head heavy is not easy to carry.
The ones we strung at the All England were like this - golf clubs, basically. According to the various sellers, the production ones should come in around 300.
I am more interested in the availability of spare grommet strips...another pet hate of mine. I'm tired of rackets being introduced and then us stringers cannot obtain spares. Yonex Etune is a classic example. Has anyone actually seen a seller offering the grommets/grommet strips for these rackets? I mean the proper grommets etc not the additional weighted extras. Victor need to ensure that grommet strips and grommets are available otherwise we are going to have issues replacing worn out parts. I'm looking forward to testing this racket, if it actually arrives in the UK. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
This crossed my mind as well. The Etune parts are out there, and reasonably priced; hopefully Victor will follow suit.
Mark - where are the Etune parts i.e. the grommets for the racket and not the additional weighted grommets? Bear in mind the weighted grommet strip clips onto the existing black grommet strip. It's this original strip i haven't seen anywhere yet. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
If I remember correctly someone on the forum was looking for the black parts and they found it eventually, but it wasn't easy to get.
Ah - you mean the thin strips from the 80. Those I haven't seen. However, I don't think the K9900 has that daft arrangement; it looks to be normal grommets everywhere else. Well, I hope it is - we've no way of knowing because none of the ones in Birmingham had them. They might as well go down the razor-and-blades loss-leader model at this rate... Edit - I've put a query in to Winston about these strips.
There is an official part name for every single Yonex high end frame's replacement grommets. Which in this case would be the AC416VTE3. This set includes the holders and the stock red grommets that came with the 80ETN on purchase. Availability may be a bitch, but at least you have a term at least to google with... There are people selling, but to actually land it in your hands, it could be very uphill of a task.
Managed to wake up this time maybe I'll be able to pen something out but tbh I don't think I can. This is one of those rackets that's proving (for me at least) to be harder to tame than usual but may just provide the due rewards.
