Just wondering if anyone heard any news about this racket, saw the Cab20F listed on Shuttle House website but the picture looks like the previous Cab20 (black color) instead of the white one... Are they two different color schemes
May someone explain to people from the younger generation like me how the Cab20 feels like compared to the modern rackets nowadays? What kind of characteristics does the Cab20 have beside the oval head frame? What is the oval head frame good for? And why do you like it more than the nowadays usual isometric (?) frame? Sorry for the questions, but the Cab20 hype seem to came up before my badminton passion had begun
to me, it's solid, the dampening is just right, but on the heavy side for doubles. oval head is actually a great training device. the sweet spot is smaller so you get to train to be more consistent. but the head itself doesn't give you much room to play with. if you hit a shot right at the sweet spot, it's awesome, but if you miss just a bit, it is going to be off by a mile. when i was more consistent a few years back, i loved using the a carbonex. not only was it a racket that i lusted after when i was a kid and couldn't afford the top of the line carbonex, but it is also a powerful racket and it suits my playing style quite nicely. the only reason why i still love seeing and talking about the carbonex series racket is beause it brings back wonderful memories of my childhood.
Thanks... just noticed on their website there are ネオンオレンジ (neon orange) and 新デザイン - ホワイト (new design - white)
I would not say that oval is better against isometric or vice versa but I would rather say that they have different characteristic. In general, provided that everything else being the same, oval shaped head is known to have more focused repulsion at the sweetspot compared to the isometric shaped with less tolerance for off-center. Material wise, the 1st gen Cab20 was made of carbon-graphite "only" without any hype of Ti, Ultimum Ti, Carbon Nanotube, Sonic Metal, etc. here and there like the recent rackets. I think those are the major attributes if you are looking from contrasting perspective. And if you notice, the Cab20 is placed almost exactly at the center of Yonex graph chart, so this is the racket that can be considered as a benchmark for other rackets surounding. So called the real "balanced" racket without being head-heavy nor head-light, without being stiff nor flexible. All in all, so far the Cab20 has been the only racket which lasts nearly 3 decades (introduced around 1984/1985) in the market with numbers of loyal fans out there... [MENTION=7]Cheung[/MENTION] ? Any advice ?
Advice? The racquet is good for singles and doubles. Around me, although people have different racquets, those who see my cab20s say 'oh, it's a good racquet' It's 2U and some early ones are U. You'll feel a bit of weight in doubles but in singles, it really is well balanced. Traditionally, frames were oval even before the graphite racquet era
Couldn't resist the temptation and pulled the trigger... Tried for a couple of double games and half court singles last night, this racket is really a rock solid. Not too stiff but I can still control the netplay with a nice feedback and overhead shots felt so focused. The frame is very stable in a sense that torsional vibration is very minimum, even the hardest smash can be executed accurately. I wouldn't say this racket offers an enormous power delivery like those very head-heavy modern rackets but the power is there if needed. My golfer's elbow started to leave me further so I can spend more effort on smashes but I try to achieve better angle rather than raw power. Mine is a 3U-G4, strung with BG66 @24 Lbs. I think because of the oval head shape, the string felt a bit tighter like 1-2 Lbs compared to the other isometric rackets. It's a very well balanced racket with ~285mm of BP (dry) so there's no issue to play fast drives and defensive shots per se. It is not a 100% replica of the 1st gen but the overall feelings are there, close enough to revive nostalgic memoirs of younger days. Not to put any harm on those latest technology, I think this is how the rackets should be made "ideally" without marketing gimmicks (Ti, Muscle, Nano, Gum, Sonic, etc) but it does the job, well done. This racket is a real beauty, the white paint is actually not a "snow" white as what I predicted. It's rather close to the "pearl" white of BS-LYD. While BS-LYD has yellowish sparkle, this one has a bit of pinkish (almost like light purple) instead. Tried to capture some pics to show the real color but the camera wasn't good enough to do so.
Quixilver...those are some sweet pics. I gotta say it's a very pretty racquet indeed. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you get yours for?
Thanks... I bought this one from Shuttle House, the price was around 14500JPY incl. shipping cost. So far I haven't found the SP code for the white color, while I remember I saw the black/orange color in one of the local shop.
*coughs* the original cab20 felt like an extremely solid racquet, and it was rather neutral in characteristics, quite a joy to play. but i had no confidence in its durability over time which was why i sold it. now that there is this new version.. its tempting..
Oh well... I just took it as the price to pay, good rackets are mostly fragile. That's simply the ugly truth
hey quixilver, do you know if this is available in singapore yet? I have a mate heading there next week.
I spoke with one local shop owner and he told me there's no sign from Sunrise Yonex to supply the white color Cab20 into Singapore but the normal black/orange color is still listed on the catalogue. Furthermore, this senior model Cab20 is not really hot in the market and people are more interested into the new flashy NR-Zspeed
@vajrasattva is right, this racket is really a joy to play. It's been another few sessions enjoyed together with this new racket, so far I have no complaint at all. In fact, the last 3 sessions passed with this one felt very convenient play, very balanced, good feedback and the impressive point is I didn't find any problem to adjust the timing which I assumed earlier due to the shorter shaft and oval-shaped head. Once I grabbed this racket on court, it's very difficult to put it down and change to another one. Thinking to buy another one soon