I think these are pretty new - anyone tried them? I just ordered a pair after the window on the sole of my Wilson DSTs burst, and all the cushioning beads went all over the court... Embarassing, but it proved I was getting plenty of height on my jump smash! The Xcels look pretty cool, I guess they replace the Adrenalin Pro? The Adrenalins were pretty good, so i'm looking forward to these! Should be getting them on Friday, and playing with them that evening, so i'll let you know what I think of them then! In the meantime - anyone else got them? I can't find them on any Hi-Tec website either so I don't know what gives there... Andy
a_c, haven't tried it, but to get us in context, here is a pic of the shoes you mentioned, pretty nice looking!
yeah that's what i thought! the image i saw - where they look redder - is here... - maybe slightly different colouring for a euro version? or just dodgy photography somewhere!
just casually browsing through some squash website, i see that the Pro and Pro Xcel are being offered at different price points. the regular Pro has been around for a few years and i think it is quite a success for Hi-Tec. i can believe they will continue to offer the Pro at the mid-end level and the Pro Xcel as the more expensive level. it will be sad to see the Pro go away as i think it is an excellent pair of shoes. do update us on how the Pro Xcel works out for you.
time for a report then! to start with i should say that my old shoes were wilson surge DSTs, and so i'm comparing them with those. to start with, they look pretty good, the quality of construction appears high, the stitching of high quality, and the materials seem good. they are also lighter than the wilsons, although they appear to be a larger built shoe - they seem to be a bulkier, chunkier design. the wilsons were slightly more traditional badminton shape, in that they were a bit slimmer to wards the toe, much like some of the lower end hi-tec court shoes. i played with them last night, so... from a comfort point of view they seem good. i got no pain in my feet, no feeling of pressure or crusihing, no blisters, etc. however, i did take one fall, and slip several other times! this was mainly when changing direction very quickly, and just sliding. this is probably due to their newness, and the fact that the soles aren't scrubbed yet, although i do notice that the compunds of rubber used in the sole seem harder than my old wilsons. i did notice the grip levels improving toward the end of the night, so this probably bears my theory out on that. i'm playing again tomorrow night, so i'll post an update then if anyone's interested!
thanks Andrew for the update. yes. indeed. the sole need to be broken-in so beware when wearing them for games. the shoe itself should become more comfortable as time goes on, as it moulds to the shape of your feet. enjoy.
in the UK i've seen them for GBP45 - sadly i didn't see that 'til i'd paid 50, but still... don't know about abroad...
