After observing the discussions going through in this forum, I would like to add a few points myself: 1. Yonex technology : Even though we assume that yonex does use those unique materials into their products, I would have to point out that they are not the leaders in manufacturing stronger durable models. Their high end rackets (with better matrials than competion, as claimed) break more easily and take lesser string tension than many other competitors' products (SOTX, Carlton, RSL etc.). I guess this works out well for Yonex as it creates more demand for replacement rackets. 2. Cost : We do not know about the cost of production of Yonex. I would not be surprised if their margin is close to 50-60% for these high end rackets. To be fair to Yonex, I suppose they would need this to cover their marketing (sponsoring events, players, promotions, adv. etc.), distribution (they occupy a lot of self space) and R&D. I think that they have done remarkably well in marketing aspect of their product as is evident from the responses from several people in the forum. I definitely see it is possible for some other company to reverse engineer the product and sell the same product a lot cheaper as they do not incur these expensive marketing expenses. I do not agree that we can lable a product as of inferior quality if the price is cheap and trying to copy a branded product. This should be ok as long as there is no copyright infringement as it provides cheaper options for the consumer and helps keep price dynamics in the market. 3. Lastly, I would like to point out that rackets do not make a big difference in a person's game. If you are comfortable with a racket, it does not matter if the racket has "Gum Metal" or "Ti Mesh" or "Ultra PEF" or "Nanotube" or not. As long as you are comfortable playing with it, it should be ok. We should be concentrating more on practice than on particular "Brands" of rackets. I am not promoting copyright infringement here. I just want to point out that Yonex is not the only manufacturer of good badminton rackets. They are a great marketing company.
Coming from a true APACS lover, I find that the APACS clones actually do not perform as well as their Yonex counterparts, however, the rackets that APACS make themselves, the non clones, can definitely stack up with Yonex rackets. An example of a clone that does not perform up to par for me is the Nano 900 Red. It is a clone to the Armortec 900 Power and many people including DinkALot have said that this racket gives just as much power as the AT900P. I took their word for it and tried it out, and what I found was that the Nano 900 Red was lighter than the AT900P and was considerably less stable. It vibrated a lot more on power shots than the AT900P. It felt like the racket was not very solid at all. As for a racket that can compare to Yonex rackets, I'd say that an Armor Muscle Pro 90 is an excellent racket, one of the best I've ever played with. It is head heavy enough for my liking but not so much that it feels like a hammer. Just what I like. Another good racket is the Nano Pro 9600 Tour. The build of it is actually quite weird. The length of the actual racket part which I don't know what to call (from the start of the cone at the bottom to the top of the frame) is so long, that they made the handle about 1 inch shorter so that the racket as a whole wouldn't be too long. Playing with it at first feels a little weird because of its weird build but it feels good once you get used to it. And I'll probably get scolded for talking about all of this in a freaking EdgeSaber 10 thread but oh well. I also agree with the guy above me. It's not the racket, it's the player. We just talk about rackets so much because it's fun haha.
So true! Looking for an EdgeSaber 10 here, wanna try it. How much is it btw? Where can I actually find one?
this should've been mentioned else where but yonex racquets don't break easier than others. most ppl mention their yonex racquet breaking because its more expensive, hardly anyone mentions breaking their cheap apacs racquet. the effect is it appears that more yonex racquets are breaking
The quality is questionable from which coding distribution you are talking about. IMO RSL and SOTX have equal or better quality than Yonex.
Let's just generalize everything here, to be fair. More material = more durable, Less material = less durable. In terms of durability 2U>3U>4U>5U. All happy ^_^
I am stating this from my experience as well as people who play around me. Yonex high end rackets tend to break more easily as compared to other similar weight rackets. One thing we can not dispute is the recommended tension for rackets. No Yonex racket is recommended to have string tension higher than 24-25lb where as other company top end rackets (3U/4U) has recommended string tension generally around 28lb or above.
i have edgesaber 7 and 10 and a number of other models. 10 is great but personally, i prefer 7 which is stiffer. however i keep finding myself using the visible hollow1300 lately. its so easily to use! very versatile, well-balanced racket.
check out e-bay , search for apacs under sporting goods. I have the best internet price for apacs with strings and grip. Look for seller "teeyoon". Currently listing nano900 red. Edgesaber 10 will be listed this week.
SH**.... Wad a total copy from Arc10..... Im sure there is difference in stiffness of the racquets. I use the APACS ver b4 and it doesn't feel that nice to play. Its just feel a little bit better than My Ti-1. Hopefully the real Arc10 will satisfies me.....
edge saber10 HAHAHA teeyoon, could you get the factory price of u$50 for 2 pcs plus grip and string as i do? PM me if anyone is interested.
So Disappointed.... our BC member - supertajam cannot match the price he quoted... now he wans S$150.00 per pair (new limited edition of olympic racquet - similar to arc saber10, he says), so disappointed ....
Hihihihihih Hi dear BC member..... I am supertajam, replying tanleels thread.....hello tanlees, first, you ask me to quote the price for you, i did it, how do you expect me to HELP....you to buy at the original price of RM300+ for the olympic limited edition when i still pair it wif ngb95 for you, and grip? okay, i am not in for business, but at least i help by earning some, besides, you didn't want the quote of the olympic limited edition, but in your post, you make it sounds otherwise, you only ask the quote for the Visible hollow 1800, which i said it's unavailable, second in your msn chat(i can post it here) you stated tht i can get the edge saber at RM169, yes, i could, you got to understand, it's the rough price.....and you offer RM170....i plus it with delivery, maybe taanleels though i post RM169 wif some earning, but in fact, i didn't.......you post it including the neme Supertajam sounds insulting, but i dont mind..........Finally, you must be mature enough about ths stuff of goods+services, moreover we live in different country, RM169, and you expect it Rm170? tell me how much time it cost? gas price? mrt fare.......okay....till here........
So Disappointed... i am not engaging u in a debate… I’m just going to state some facts and let our members here to decide… first, it is a fact that you cannot match what you claim; you said you can get the es10 rackets (I pair) for rm169, but now you wan sing $150. n indeed I’m disappointed. there is nothing insulting about it. you set the expectation… i did not include the quotes for other rackets because it was bet u n me… I just quote the es10 claim that you make to the whole world via BC, it’s in black n white… second, I am 49, my son is probably abt ur age (if what u claim is true – u r a student) if not older than you… i’m working for an mnc and I need a "boy" to tell me that I need to be mature enough abt the good+service stuffs?? I don’t know what kind of business model u r using… assuming the pair of es10 now cost rm200. based on ur quote the : - good + services + mrt + gas + racket = rm350 (s$150) good + services + mrt + gas = good + services + mrt + gas + racket – racket good + services + mrt + gas = rm 350 – rm 200 good + services + mrt + gas = rm 150 (s$60+) that’s one hell a lot of goods+services+mrt+gas for a pair of rackets… n u claim u r not in for business???
there's a shop in ampang point that used to sell it for rm85 a piece. racquet only though. not sure you can get it in kelantan for that price.