Hybrid Shuttlecocks - Reviews

Discussion in 'Shuttlecock' started by Woesi, Jul 14, 2021.

  1. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    Another update. Just two pictures.

    D‘Mantis D75 after one(!) rally:
    [​IMG]

    FS9 after two games:
    [​IMG]

    Don’t spend the extra money for the D75s. Seriously.
     
  2. ChocoChipWaffle

    ChocoChipWaffle Regular Member

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    I believe the KEY to a solid transition to plastic shuttles is through 2 absolutely necessary components:

    1. Have it achieve somewhat similar feel and performance to feather. As a poster said, having it feel achieve 75% of a feather feel is quite an achievement, but I believe something over 80-90 would be ideal.

    2. Not have companies use this opportunity to price up plastic birdies. Even if we get the a plastic that's a similar performance, my biggest fear is a company like YY putting a price tag similar to their feathers, just because they can. Something similar has already been happening with the nylons, with 6 birds costing $15 usd for no reason whatsoever other than "companies love to make $$". With the biggest barrier to entry for this sport being its deceptively outrageous high cost to play, there would be no point of this innovation if we don't use this breakthrough to expand the player base, the game, and the future of the sport. A good plastic bird being priced at $1 per birdie ($12 per tube) would be huge for the growth of the sport.
     
  3. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    Have you been following what happened to pretty much all raw material costs (plus energy, plus logistics) over the past 24 months? Only looking at Polyamide (Nylon is part of that polymer family):
    [​IMG]
    (source https://plasticker.de/preise/preise_monat_single_en.php).

    Not saying that the big brands will surely use every chance to generate extra profit, but most of the price increases that you see these days are caused by dramatically increased production costs. We luckily have a huge competition on the market which ultimately will make sure that prices will settle at a realistic level.

    A tube of FS09 or the comparable OEM version from other brands is at around 13 EUR per tube. They last consistently at least double the time of a full feather shuttle while still feeling very close to them. In fact, the hybrids come out on top in terms of flight consistency once the full feathers show first signs of wear (like ruffled or partly broken feathers). The hitting sound is great too - in fact it's even a tad louder than full feathers. To me that is an amazing bang for the buck value and I for one have re-ordered more hybrids. They are easily the biggest positive surprise in terms of badminton gear I have had in a very long time.
     
  4. ChocoChipWaffle

    ChocoChipWaffle Regular Member

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    I meant after the supply chain normalizes. Knowing businesses, they won't just price down the shuttles when the price of nylon goes back to normal
     
  5. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    We'll have to see about that. In theory, competition should take care of that. In my book it's not the price that keeps people away from using full nylon shuttles, it's the terribly numb feel and weird flight.
     
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  6. Asmo

    Asmo Regular Member

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    I was going to try these hybrid shuttles but they seem very hard to get your hands on. All the Swedish and Danish shops I normally use either don't have them listed at all or out of stock. I put in an order at badmintonplanet.eu but it turned out that their in stock claim was a lie and they don't expect them until the end of November. Badmania in France has them but apparently they charge €30 shipping to Sweden.

    However when checking Amazon i found these: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Badminton-Shuttlecocks-Stability-Durability-Entertainment/dp/B07PNPXRZT/ Which looks to be the same 3in1 oem. But with no mention of speed and with some weird noname brand they could be of any quality I suppose. Worst case it's the rejected shuttles that didn't make the cut for the other bigger brands or something like that. Still I'm inclined to give them a try since with 2 tubes it's free shipping which makes it a good price.

    Unless someone has a suggestion of an EU shop that has them in stock with a decent price and international shipping fee?
     
  7. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    From what I know, this is again due to the current supply chain issues. Which is particularly critical here with only one source that all the brands are relying on. I have seen that badminton-point has some tubes of Babolats still available and there are Forzas from racket-outlet (https://www.racket-outlet.de/badminton/forza-hybrid-5000-34095.html). Haven't checked the shipping costs to Sweden though.

    Easiest thing to do would be just to wait until there is the next batch arriving in Europe. I cannot imagine that they will be permanently unavailable.
     
  8. Asmo

    Asmo Regular Member

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    Thanks for the suggestions. Racket-outlet looks like the best option that currently has the regular brands in stock.

    I did some more digging on the Amazon shuttles I linked and they're "Anyball 230" which turns out to be some sub brand for Dmantis. http://en.dmantis.com/products.aspx?TypeId=68&FId=t3:68:3 Apparently they have 3 different brandings for their 3in1 shuttles: 7 different Dmantis, 2 Pro Petrel and 5 Anyball. The Anyball they call outdoor shuttles but looks just like the others to me. Also has the hilarious text on the tube "Fears no trampling or crushing". Unspecified natural feather.

    Very interesting that the assumed top grade Dmantis 75 performed worse than the Adidas. Contrary to what's normally the case the higher grade use duck feathers and only D51 and D45 goose according to the site. Same with Kawasaki 700 and 500. As far as I can tell the other brands with just one model all use goose. So I wonder if the goose feather ones actually are the best as usually is the case even though Dmantis themselves for some reason consider them lower grade.
     
  9. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    Tbh all the hybrids that I've tried so far were really close to each other. Some shuttles even from the same tube performed better, some worse. For some reason the Adidas were the most consistent ones yet but that could have easily been a coincidence. If you just want to get a first impression on the hybrids, I think you can go with all of them.
     
  10. Zi Kang

    Zi Kang New Member

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    Really like these hybrids, trying to get our usual group to move to them from plastics. So far have tried Kawasaki King Kong 500 77 speed and Babolat hybrid which are available in 78 which is better for us in UK. As already discussed they feel much more like usual feathers with a much more satisfying hitting feeling and sound but last so much longer.

    To save anyone else the wasted money avoid the Anyball 111, yes they all seem to be produced by them same 3in1 manufacturer but these have some synthetic cork that's more like sponge, avoid!
     
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  11. Baddyman#1

    Baddyman#1 Regular Member

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    Which is better of the two kawasaki 500 vs 700? 700 is market above the 500 but does it really perform better?

    How does kawasaki 500/700 compare to adidas FS09?
     

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