My first own Badminton racquet .. Carlton Speed 80 lol.. MYR70.00 only i think -,- Bought in 2006/07 .. String were never replaced except for the grip .. this racket quite overall heavy.. i think around U or 2U I will make this for my practice racket (y)
Hello, I'm a new member but I couldn't help but think that the Kinesis was just a rebranded Carlton TI Iso.
Hi Guys .. Glad to see this thread. I am also Carlton fan. I have been using the Carlton 700 Fx for 15+ years and it still works for me. I have been thinking about moving to the Razor V1.0. If anyone can suggest if this is a good move given that i have been playing with the 700 fx for a while and also i live in Bangalore, India. It is tough to get the new Carlton rackets here. Any suggestions on that also would help
This must be quite and old racket you are using. Best to look for a new one that shares the same balance and flex. Razor V 1.0 is medium flex and even balanced.
I am using a carlton racket 'air blade 30' from last two months . I found it to be fine but the grip size is 3g or something . I have strung it with BG65 at 23 lbs . If it was 5G it could have been better .
Hello Carlton fans, First I apologize for my long post. Second, Im going trough process of choosing my first propper badminton racquet. And somehow after little bit research I decided that I will buy Carlton racquet, just like the brand. But I kind of need advice. Im man, 180cm tall, I workout in the gym regularly, play florball and ride a bike. I played badminton in past, but now Im starting to play more often and with better oponents. Im looking for universal racquet that will let me grow as a player. Im not exactly skilled or have good technique so I need racquet that will forgive me some mistakes, but on the other hand will be acurate and will not hold me back in strong smashes. Few recent matches I trided to focus on finding out what my playstyle is and I would describe it as unexperienced. Generaly I play all shuttles to back lane as clears but I have very strong urge(need) to play (when Im able) hard, fast shuttles to force my opponent run around/across the court until he makes a mistake or let me execute powerful smash. With the information, I provided, please can you tell wich of carlton racquets will be most suitable for me? I already looked trought your range and I like Vapour Trail Tour, altrough Im little bit concernded that it has little bit bigger grip than standart size, but it didnt felt wrong as I tried it my local shop, just new and unusual to me as my old racquet has middle sized grip. Plus do you think that little bigger grip could help me execute better and stronger smashes? Well thats about all, thank you very much for your help, I cant wait to play badminton with my new racket that I believe will be better in quality nad more suitable that my present one. Thank you very much, and have nice day . ps Kinesis, is propably over my budget :/
Best to start with a mid-spec racket first - not too head heavy, not too stiff. Looking at the directsports.com website, for a beginner I like the look of the Air Blade. The Vapor Trail Tour is a pretty solid racket and I'm a big fan but I'm not a beginner, so it wouldn't be my first recommendation. Yes, Carlton handles are very fat, so I usually end up shaving them down. It's all personal preference though so you might like it, but my handles these days are getting thinner.
Good to know, so its not unusual (bad thing) to shave little bit of handle carefully with sandpaper etc?
Nah it's fine, it's just a lump of wood in 99% of rackets. I just get a really sharp knife and holding it 90 degrees to the handle, shave each facet in turn. You may need some way to test if you've taken enough off - I use Karakal PU Super which is easy to mock up (just keep the backing tape on).
On direct badminton, the kinesis x70 is the same price as the 2013 vapour trail tour. Have a look at sports direct and look for the vapour extreme range. There's an vapour extreme excel with same specs as vtt , but different head shape and half the price Since you're in Europe, delivery might not be too bad.
My local dealer sell Vapour Tour Trail 2013 model for about 55 pounds, and cheapest Kinesis in my country (Czech republic) is sold for about 80 pounds but from questionable shops, the trusty ones sell it about 90-100 pounds. Since I had limited my budget to 60 pounds, the Kinesis although it is probably better but definitely is out of my reach. Im only undecided between Vapour Tour Trail or Air-Lite Cyclone. I want stability, decent power and little bit forgiveness from my raquet and since VTT is I think superior model I think Im going to reach for VTT but then, Air-Lite Cyclone is lighter and probably easier to maneuver, so in the beginnings as a little bit inexperienced player maybe I could use light racquet. Duh, I think going to have solid headache from this :-D
I don't know whether I'm a Carlton fan or not.In those years about two to three decades ago when I was still a kid,if I wanted one Carlton racquet,I had to steel it.It was a dream to have one Carlton racquet in the bag,just like a new playstation or Xbox for kids these days.One day during a tournament,I saw two sitting on the bench with many Carbon8,15,18,20.I took one Carlton racquet and restrung it,changed the grips.After the tournament,I practiced with it,I fell in love with Carlton racquets.Every individual racquets from Carlton is unique.Nothing I can bitch about it.They make dream racquets,they've never made poor racquets.I now buy them without giving it a second thoughts.I love trying all the good ones,regardless the stiffness and weights.I ask people around and do research for other racquets before I place my order.I bought kinesis,VTE,Razor v1.1.They're Carlton.What more can I ask!!!I lend Carlton racquets to kids only,I want them to use good racquets.I want them to try Carlton racquets,wish one day I will see the sparks in one of these kids eyes like It was in my eyes when I first tried it.
Hi, I have used most of Carltons recent rackets so hopefully I can give you an insight into them. The air lite range are very good if you like light rackets that are very manoeuvrable but don't produce as much power. The vapour extreme range are good value for money but the frames are quite chunky so don't cut through the air too well. I would go for the Vapour Trail range if I were you. It would be worth looking on http://www.sportsdirect.com/badminton/badminton-rackets?dsearch=cat Carlton are owned by Sports direct in UK so they offer better prices than others and offer worldwide postage.
i was actually about to buy an airlite cyclone or airlite storm from my local badminton store but they had sold out of them till this friday. in terms of usaging i agree with others stating that vapour trail tour will be a more difficult racket to adapt to for a beginner. but if you really want the vapour trail series, there are more rackets to choose from if you check the carlton website. find a model that is around 80-84g, medium flex shaft. i would recommend the vapour trail vanquish, because comparing it to the VT Tour, the vanquish is a bit more forgiving and a bit lighter.
The airlite cyclone looks really nice! I had some and was going to get them restrung in plain black string because the Carlton symbol ruins the wonderful looks but that's just my preference. All the airlite rackets are light and good value for money but just lack slightly in power compared to the heavier rackets.
upon looking at photos posted on my local badminton store website, i wasn't impressed at first, then i searched for pics on google and was a bit impressed by how detail the paintjobs are in the air series of carlton rackets. at first i thought it would be as bad as the ignite series, but as it turned out, it was better. upon inspection in person at the store, i realized the paint jobs are nicer than the ignite series, but not as awesome as the vapour trail series. just my thoughts