Anyone tried the 'free core' racket? I don't feel much vibration anyways from normal wooden racket handle so I'm wondering if free core handles makes any difference. Is it less tiring over a match? Hit harder with confidence? Can anyone share your experience with it?
Didn't the Taiwan version also have the free core handle? So there is a see thru core handle and a regular cap one at both ends o.o
For me free core really has less vibration. It feels smoother and more comfortable hitting experience but not by much. It is not much about hitting harder with confidence but I feel like it is more like recover quicker and feel smoother. But feeling smoother may translate to hit harder with confidence for some people, idk. If you are comfortable with wooden handle, I don't think it would make any difference. Free core is more noticeable in higher tensions around after 28-30. I prefer free core but it is not that much important honestly.
I ordered a 4u TK-F enhanced edition but today seller just sent a 4u TK-F SE. Do anyone know whether two version are the same or different. Thanks in advance
Even if they use the same exact materials that are currently used. I would say the quality control would get even worst
Why? If they use the same material, same production process and have the same QC criteria for pass/crap at each step, the end result will be exactly the same. Don't fall for this "Chinese production makes everything worses" nonsense. The problem usually is that companies are putting enormous pressure on the production facilities to achieve the cheapest possible price (cause Chinese production just has to be cheap, no questions asked). And that's where the standards are shifted either in QC or even with materials and processes used. We'll have to simply see how Victor will deal with this. A good thing is that they actually own the chinese plant themselves and have direct control over the standards there.
The thinking about chinese product are bad quality low grade are wrong i think. What terifying about chinese manufacturing are 1. They had the skill or tech to makes a great product. IPhone are great but well its manufactured on China. 2. They are able to makes anything with any price you want at the cost of something else. (This one that makes China product look bad) so simply if you ask cheap product there will always tradeoff for that. You got what you paid for.
The problem with Victor's manufacturing is that although they have their own plant in Nanjing, its capacity is not good enough for all their models, so they also work with other OEMs to produce their rackets. For instance, the TK-Ryuga was originally produced by ADK, their close manufacturing partner in China, but Li-Ning came in with more money and took over all of ADK's capacity, so the TK-Ryuga production had to move to another OEM recently, and people are waiting to see if they play any different to the TK-Ryuga of old.
Very interesting insights, thanks for sharing. Are you working in the business yourself? I figured that brands mostly make a huge deal not to disclose their actual OEMs. @speCulatius and myself have tried all sorts of interrogation strategies to squeeze those information out of our Adidas contact, but no chance.
Nope, I just happen to be in the same chat group as those who are well-informed. These are not exactly secrets because there are many associated with the OEMs and Li-Ning/Victor itself within the Chinese community. For instance, I am in a chat group of a small brand in China which also have ADK manufacture their rackets, so when customers ask about why a certain model is not in stock, they explain that their supply got impacted because the capacity is fully occupied by Li-Ning now, and obviously they will also be told about that by the manufacturers themselves. A lot of the ex-national/provincial players also work as coaches, and these players usually receive demo rackets from Li-Ning/Victor for sampling before they get published, so they ought to have connection and first-hand information of what's happening within the industry, which they then share with their students (normal consumers like us), so news spread quite easily.
This might seem rather easy to get information, being part of the community close to the actual factories. Half a world away here in Europe, it's impossible to find anyone having a direct link to an actual racket OEM or brand. If you're lucky, you'll find some sales person who either doesn't know or doesn't care about details like that or who is bound by confidentiality agreements. So maybe it would be interesting to start a racket OEM gossip thread or something like that? Oh, and if you happen to find out who has been the OEM for Adidas (and if it's the same as for Babolat), that info would be highly appreciated!
These brands don't get discussed a lot in China due to their high prices, people would rather spend their money on the big 3, so unfortunately I do not have any information on who are the manufacturers. However, based on my observation, all factories have their own technologies and carbon fiber that they stick to, eg. Victor mainly (if not only) use Mitsubishi carbon fiber - Pyrofil, and they tend to not advertise tensile strength so much in their product. One thing that ADK prides themselves in are the high tensile strength carbon fiber that they use - 46T/50T Torayca carbon fiber, and usually you find that the brands that went through ADK will also market their product as such. 50T is currently the new kid on the block in China, and I guess it is also the reason why Li-Ning has came in for ADK because their latest AXFORCE 90 series which is due to be launched in July will be made of 50T carbon fiber. A brief search on the Adidas Kalkul/Wucht series shows that their shafts are '46T Hotmelt' technology, so more likely than not it is made by ADK. As for Babolat, Longyi Industrial in Guangdong manufactures their tennis rackets, so the assumption that they also make badminton rackets for them is not too far-fetched.
See, no chance to get that sort of internals by personal connections or chat groups around here. So thanks again for the heads up!
I am a great fan of the 90s myself. However, Victor salesperson in Thailand said Victor will stop manufacturing the 90s and instead focus on 90k and newer series. Also the 3u version was not imported to Thailand for sometime now despite the high demands. Only the 4u remains and pretty low on stock. It would definitely be great if they eventually release a new color like you said. I am quite pessimistic though, as I think Victor would want to sell their freecore technology and thus probably promote the 100x as replacement. I am actually looking for a spare racket myself and am deciding whether I should go back to the BS12 or give the 100x a try.
Not sure if this was discussed but after noticing the difference between Auraspeed frames and the grooves at the 3/9/12oclock positions either being omitted or being all different lengths and sizes. 90F has them only at the 3/9 areas and are pretty short in length. While Hypersonic has them at the same position but much longer in length almost double the area of the 90F. To me the frames like 90s/98k which include the 12oclock position as well feel slightly more repulsive. Maybe its a revamped version of the "energy bow" anyone wanna chime in?
There seems to be a shortage of Victor rackets here in M'sia. I wonder is it true for other places? Looking for TF-K in some of the badminton stores carrying Victor rackets and all of them are out of stock with no idea when new stocks are coming in.
