What should I do? Where can I take the 3U, which hopefully will be in my hands tomorrow night, for stringing? I want to take it to Yo's but I wouldn't get it back till Wednesday, since they're close on Tuesdays. And I don't want to go to Lee's cause they will insist on assisting the government in taking away my money. Where else can I get a decent stringing job and be able to get it back on Tuesday? Decisions, decisions. taneepak, aren't you putting too much faith on a little piece of fiber to make such a bold statement? Or are you trying to hide something from us? Sorry to hear about your trip, remember to take lots of pictures.
No, I am not sure what to think about nano. The sample I have shows two truncated shaft, one nano the other graphite. The nano has a glossy finish, the graphite matt looking. It doesn't mean anything to me. You can come up with the same comparison with two pieces of wood, which is meaningless. I sure am looking to my visit to his plant and I will ask him a thousand and one questions on his nano stuff. I don't think I will take any pictures. The sight of a camera puts everybody on guard. My trip would then be just a courtesy call. BTW, do you know that all racquets belonging to the same weight category are not identical? They vary in weight, balance point, and swingweight. I suggest you bring along a digital scale which weighs to 0.1g accuracy, a short ruler, a measuring tape, and 3.4g of plasticine divided into 2 parts of 1.7g each, Take some basic readings of your current favourite racquet, like weight and balance point. Use these two readings to select your new racquets. The plasticine takes the place of the strings, and you attach to both sides of the unstrung frame at the mid-point of the cross strings, that is between strings 11 and 12. You then select your racquets by attaching the plasticine, weigh them and take their balance point. The one that comes closest should be your choice.
Just checked the weight of my unstrung Ti500 3U. With the plastic wrap still on it, its 87.64g. The balance point unstrung is about 29.3cm. Its dimensions are very similar to my 900SXs. It's got the CS cap. Overall quality, visiual wise it is not up to par with the big names, lots of dust or small defects on the paint job. What can I say, I work in QA.
Wahaha, Just got my LF ti 500. This has got to be the NICEST looking racket ever. Red silver, black an white, looks kinda like a lightsaber =P
It should probably weigh 86.7g without the clingwrap. I suggest you string it with the new BG66 at 24/26 lbs. You will probably end up with a balance point, including strings, of about 30.3cm. This is a bit low for a 3U racquet with a total weight of 89.9g, although some people can can live with this. If you unwrap the grip and the butt cap, you can find something there-a piece of lead sheet or a solid gel in the tunnel-and take out a few gm from there, you can re-balance your racquet to about 31.3 cm, which will be ideal. Your racquet will then be at the low end of 3U and could become a 4U, but you will get better repulsion with this lighter weight and longer balance point. I do not share your opinion about the visual quality of the La Fleche racquets about lots of dust and small defects. I thought they even look visually better than Yonex racquets, such as the AT700 and the MP99.
The 4U version is even better looking and is a hit with women and kids. BTW all the La Fleche are designed by a famous Hong Kong-based French products designer, and a woman at that. Why don't you take your new La Fleche Ti 500 racquet and a few other top end Yonex racquets to your next game and get an opinion from your friends? Would be interesting.
Hi Taneepak: is this the prototype version you are talking about - see the grommet in the picture which I downloaded from bbesports. Thanks.
No, this is the 2U and 3U version, red colour scheme, with the old grommet system, with no prototype out in the market. Currently no one has the new grommet system racquet except for the one that was recently made specifically for me with my own specs. The prototype I was talking about is a 4U version of a different colour scheme that is pearl white on the inside, and a light purple on the outside, of the frame. It is unlikely for you to come across a 4U prototype unless it is a used one that shouldn't be commercially available.
Yes I was talking to BBEsports on MSN today and they also told me the 4u thing was 'Purple'. So I guess I should wait for the new grommet system racquet is marketed, or just how good is the new grommet system racquet? i mean if it's not that significant an improvement i might as well just go for a prototype one - which confused me a little still - if it's still prototype how can bbesports be selling it to all the customers?
I think you are confused about the 4U version, which is pearl white and light purple. The 4U started life with a few prototypes, given out to selected people. I don't think BBEsports was given the prototype, which never came into production. The first production batch of the 4U version, an improved version over the prototype, is the current version in the market, and it uses the old grommet system. The next production batch of the 4U will have the new grommet system but is otherwise the same racquet as the current ones in the market. The new grommet system 4U will cost HK$100 more and will in theory give you a more balanced stringbed, and it will come with a detailed sheet of stringing instructions in both English and Chinese. Whether you can discern the difference is another thing. It is possible some prototypes could have found their way back to some stores.
I'm not talking about how pleasing the racquet looks, but how well the paint and decals were put on. They seem to have used a flat red undercoat with a clear overcoat. On the frame, I can see at least five bubbles under the clear coat and on the shaft itself, there are quite a few dots which appears to be dirt/dust that was on the shaft during the time paint was put on. It's nothing to worry about, just something I notice. I QC a lot of painted stuff from China, so I'm always on the look out for bad paint jobs. And the decals...well, nothing is perfect. I'm sure they'll improve over time. Right now, I'm just interested in the performance of the racquet. I'll know tonight. Stringing it with BG85 22/24, I'll see how it plays before I trying tweaking the BP. By the way, what grip do you use/recommend? I'm experimenting with cloth grips. Wondering why the stores are charging $655 for a 4U when the new version is not even out yet...
The only thing I can compare it to is TISP Sx, which I made look evil with pure black strings grip and the natural frame. But in looks, LF Ti500 beats it hands down . I'm pretty confident my friends would say that too
Fot the La Fleche Ti 500 2U, 3U and 4U, I would recommend stringing with the new Yonex BG66 at 24/26lbs or 25/27lbs for the 2U and 3U and 23/25lbs for the 4U, as a minimum. This is to take advantage of the racquet's tungsten/nickel/titanium composite that will give you a hit sound like no other. An 11 year girl tried out my custom-made 3U, strung with new BG66 at 24/26lbs, and fell in love with the crispness of the hits and the sound. Switching back to her own Ti6 was a big climbdown. Although the 4U bears the same model number as the 2U and 3U, it is to all intents and purposes a different racquet but with the same general design. Like all racquets the 2U and 3U are made in the same production run. The 4U cannot be made in the same production batch as the 2U and 3U. It is much more difficult to make a 4U racquet from tungsten/nickel material, I was told. The higher 4U price is probably cost-pushed.
Outlah, I would suggest you string your 3U at 23/25lbs minimum, or 24/26lbs or 25/27lbs instead of 22/24lbs. I am tweaking a 2U from Inskysport that came with BG66 string at 22/24lbs tension and I had to cut it to restring with new BG66 at 25/27lbs, because the lower tension is not very good on the LF Ti500 although playable.
Ideal tweekings Hey Taneepak, can you list what are the ideal balance points and tensions? I would like to try out some of your extreme modifications!!!
Yes, I have strung a LF Ti 500 3U with BG68Ti at 24/26lbs for a woman and she likes it. However, make sure the stringing is done with fixed clamps and not flying clamps, as the latter simply lose too much tension when clamping the main strings, unless you use 4 flying clamps. Even when using fixed clamps, make sure they string the mains one string at a time and not pulling two strings with one pull. Also many stringers do not pay too much attention to having a real tight pull when starting with the two middle main strings, due to poor anchoring. A good test of this is that at 24/26lbs tension the strings should not move easily during play. Impoper attention/handling to and of the mains will result in the mains moving after a few hits.
Hi taneepak, I do have 4 flying clamps (2 badminton and 2 tennis) and 1 starting clamp. But I only use 2 flying clamps and starting clamp to string my racquet. Why do I need 4??
These vary with different racquets. For the LF Ti 500 2U and 3U the minimum tension when using thin strings is 23/25lbs, probably more for thicker strings. The ideal b/p varies with different weight distribution over the length of the racquet. As the 2U and 3U are different from the 4U, their ideal b/p will be different. In the 2U/3U LF Ti500 the ideal b/p would be about 31.3cm to 31.5cm for a racquet's total weight of less than 90g, and about 30.5cm to 31.3cm for a weight of over 89g. I have a custom-made LF Ti 500 3U that is of a different dimension from the standard 2U, 3U or 4U, and it weighs 86.7g with strings and has a b/p of 31.5cm, and it plays great. I am trying to stretch the b/p to 32cm, and initial evaluations seem to be favourable. The 4U seems to play equally well with a b/p ranging from 30.5cm to 31.5cm, a very forgiving racquet.
With four flying clamps on the mains, two on each side of the racquet, one clamp clamping on the just tensioned string and the one before, and the other clamp clamping on the one before and the one prior to it, your string will not move one tiny bit after you release the string gripper. Using only one flying clamp on each side of the mains is grossly inadequate to stop the string moving back. Multiple this by 22 strings, you end up losing tons of tension.
