Li Ning Rackets Fan Club :)

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by tckang, Sep 16, 2009.

  1. Rhyozaki

    Rhyozaki New Member

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    Ah, I see. That makes it a bit clearer.

    Then do the model numbers within each line symbolize anything? I understand bigger number = more suited for professional play, but does like a 3D Calibar 900 imply it's a straight upgrade over the 800 version? Or is the 800 supposed to be a standalone product that is an equal choice compared to the 900? Also, are the sub-category racquets generally a slightly modified version of the normal racquet (i.e: a 3D Calibar 900C is essentially the same as a 900 but just a bit heavier), or should they just not be compared with each other?

    Also - I'm reading Li-Ning's NA product information about their different lines but... it doesn't really seem to paint an idea what the difference between say a Turbo Charge, Aeronaut, or 3D Calibar? All three of them seem to just say "it's designed to be aerodynamic/reduce air resistance" and then somehow then they differ and that reduction in air resistance leads to speed, control, or power respectively? Maybe it's the NA distributor's website problem, but those three seem to literally explain their all technology as "it makes it faster so it does ___ better", which is something I have trouble....making sense of.

    Sorry if it sounds like I'm nitpicking their products, I have just spent so much time trying to understand what I'm looking at and it does not seem to have helped me at all.
     
  2. Woesi

    Woesi Regular Member

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    Interesting. Don't remember the regular Calibar 900 to be particularly stiff. Especially when compared to the 88D...
    Did it have different strings by any chance (higher tension or harder feeling string compared to what you usually use) and was the 88D also the 4u version?
     
  3. Woesi

    Woesi Regular Member

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    Well, upgrade paths are one of the biggest flaws in LN's naming scheme. There usually is no obvious upgrade path. Weight, balance and stiffness can be all over the place when going up the ladder (f.e. Aeronaut 7000 --> 8000 --> 9000).
    You will need to look at what specs (and frame design) you are looking for and dicide from there which racket would suite you best. I would recommend trying to test rackets from different series as these will feel different to get a better idea.
    Btw, he 900C is heavier, stiffer and (iirc) carries more headweight compared to the regular 900.

    I'll try to make it a bit clearer for you:
    The Turbo Charging range has a very aerodynamic frame. You may have heard of Victor's Bravesword series which has a somewhat similar frame design (sword frame) that makes the racket extremely fast.
    So TC was LN's speed range but has been discontinued. And the new rackets series don't seem to feature a sword like frame design.

    The Aeronauts have more of a box frame like the Yonex rackets have. Those offer better feedback than the Aero frames but are slower.
    The speciality of the Aeronaut frames are the Airstream vents inside the bottom part of the head which are supposed to reduce air resistance. These air vents need more material in the racket head so you automatically get more headweight around that area which increases the headweight and potential power output. Those rackets can hit hard without an overly high BP and are decently fast considering their weight.
    The Aeronaut range features mostly slightly headheavy to headheavy rackets but also some rather balanced options. Keep in mind that the Airstream system automatically adds a bit more to the headweight than the balance point may suggest.

    The 3D Calibar range has a bulkier frame than the TC range but still an aero/sword frame. Not as fast as the TC rackets but faster than the regular box frames from Yonex f.e. but don't feel as solid. Still better than the pure aero frames from the Bravesword or Turbo Charging ranges.
    Most rackets within the 3D Calibar range are rather headheavy so you could think of as LN's power range with a secondary focus on decent speed.
     
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  4. Woesi

    Woesi Regular Member

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    Was looking for some Wade stuff over on Shopnings and once again found a new Li Ning catalogue, this time for the 2022 Fall/Winter season:
    https://www.shopnings.com/pub/media/descriptions/liningbadmintoncatalog2022FW.pdf

    And for comparison the 2022 Spring/Summer:
    https://www.shopnings.com/pub/media/descriptions/li-ningbadmintoncatalog2022SS.pdf

    It seems that LN has decided to have 6 main racket series devided into three "performance classifications":
    Attack: Tectonic and Axforce
    Speed: 3D Calibar and BladeX
    Control: Aeronaut and Halbertec

    Newly introduced rackets compared to the 2022 Spring/Summer catalogue include the Axforce 90 Max Dragon/Tiger (a bit surprised that these are not available as 5u versions after they did it with the Axforce 80 and Tectonic 9) and BladeX 700 (3u-5u).

    While the Tectonic, 3D Calibar and Aeronaut ranges stay unchanged compared to the previous catalogue, the Turbo Charging range now seems to be completely gone, leaving the 3D Calibar range as the only one with some kind of a sword-like frame type.
    Not sure what could replace them as the BladeX are rather headlight and seem to be stiffer in comparison...

    Looking at the string section, we now have some more information on the N58 and N61. Not my cup of tea but surely woth a try if they come to Europe.
    Also the No.7 has disappeared from the catalogue. Never saw any reason to choose the No7 over the N5 though, as the latter was similarly expensive, lasted for ages and did pretty much everything better.

    Just skimmed the clothing part but only thing interesting to me were the new international player jerseys modeled by Loh Kean Yew.
    New shoes (at least upper end or flagship ones) weren't introduced, only a few new colorways. The Zhang Nan and Chen Long signature shoes have been removed (liked the designs and 200USD for a signiture version of an already expenisve shoe didn't seem too bad), also the wide feet Saga Pros are gone. Loved the Black Knight and especially Cotton Candy Colorways of the Wide Saga Pro shoes, but 260 USD is just too much...:confused:
     
    #6684 Woesi, Jul 31, 2022
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2022
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  5. what07

    what07 Regular Member

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    Looks like the bladex800 and axforce 80 are out of stock after just a few days of landing in Canada
     
  6. Rhyozaki

    Rhyozaki New Member

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    The 900 used different strings (LiNing No 1 rather than Yonex NBG 99) but the tension was the same. The 88D was a 4U model though.

    Ah, okay. So it would mostly be about what kind of frame technology I generally like, then looking at the specific models within the line up and seeing how they individually perform. More information gathering needed, but makes sense!

    Thanks for the overview on Turbo Charging, Aeronaut and 3D Calibar! I would have never thought about the extra weight coming from the Aeronaut's vent holes. So going off that, is the Axforce kind of like a mix of the Tectonic's replusion frame/design and the Aeronaut's more box-y design?

    Thanks for all the detailed replies!
     
  7. decoy

    decoy Regular Member

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    I keep eyes on their stock fairly frequently. I never actually saw the 4U axforce 80 ever be in stock. It has just always been 0 from what I've seen. The 5u version is in stock.

    I remember this happened with the original N9ii. A club somewhere bought all of the first shipment so they weren't available through distribution.
     
  8. what07

    what07 Regular Member

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    Guess your a bit slow. Was around 40 pieces when I saw of each on Wed-Thursday and dropped quite fast. All were gone by friday morning.

    Price was also 249.99 then went up to 279.99 when stock appeared.
     
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  9. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    I'm very curious about the future string lineup. I just don't see that they will keep both the No.1/5 and the N65/N68/N69 series running forever. I guess (and hope) that it will come down to how well the N series will perform and sell compared to the No.x within the next 1-2 years maximum. I'm looking to get my hands on a set of N65 as quickly as possible. Something tells me that it could be very, very close to the Adidas F65.1 which didn't really meet my expectations though. :oops:

    Edit:
    just seen that the N series are starting to pop up on e78. Tempted to order some test sets...
     
  10. Woesi

    Woesi Regular Member

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    Thought the same thing. Don't think they NoX range will stay unless the N range sells badly. The user reviews/rankings on the N68 and N65 on BadmintonCN place these two infront of the No1 and No5, at least for now.
    But the Aeronaut and 3D Calibar series will probably also vanish once the Halbertec, BladeX and Axeforce lineups get a few more additions...
     
  11. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    I seriously hope that this is not just a simple case of the "new is always better" syndrome. :rolleyes:

    But since we are already nerding out on strings... any clue what should be the deeper message or selling point of the "point rating scale"?
    index.jpg

    My takeaway: N63 and N65 are basically the same and both are better than the thinner options due to higher durability (which sounds credible). Did I miss anything?
     
  12. Woesi

    Woesi Regular Member

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    That's strange then but I guess everyone feels a bit different...;)

    What I would consider in hindsight (after having tested and owned several rackets from each series except the BladeX) would be to try every a racket from every series that roughly fits the specs you are looking for. The biggest difference imo is the way the different frame types feel.

    I personally never really liked the TC rackets because they had a kind of hollow feel despite being great rackets that were usually easy to use. The 3D Calibars felt less hollow )while not as solid as box frames do) but I did enjoyed them. Although replaced all of these rackets with rackets from the Axforce, Tectonic or significantly older Flame N series.
    Otoh I never really liked the Aeronauts as they were rather unforgiving. Bought 3 and sold every one of these eventually.
    Tectonics and Axforce (only played with the 80 so far) are rather easy to use (except the stiff and heavy Tectonic 9) and perform well.

    If you don't have the chance to do this I would advise looking at the Tectonics or Axforce first as these are safer choices imo. And the Tectonic range has plenty of versability without any major downside.

    The Tectonic have this weird tech that add a flexible spot around the 4 and 8 o'clock position of the racket head that is also a bit cheaper. Didn't feel any noticable difference though, purely marketing stuff imo. As with most techs that the big badminton companies try to present as "the next big thing".

    The Axforce have a pretty standard box frame and a slightly smaller shaft (iirc). Can't remember but don't think there are any fancy tech shenanigans going on there...

    No problem mate;)
     
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  13. Woesi

    Woesi Regular Member

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    Well, the new strings have 1/10th of the reviews of the No1 so I'm afraid that is very possible;)

    Just asked my Chinese speaking relative who tried to translate the text at the bottom of each string (would have been more useful with at least some knowledge about strings or badminton in general:D):
    According to her the N65 has a better "rebounding" effect that would allow for hitting the shuttle faster (probably something like faster shuttle speed upon impact). Also the available colors are different.
    So still no clue on what is actually going on:oops:

    Btw: The BadmintonCN ratings for the N61 are pretty bad. While No1 and N5 are sitting at 8/10 the N61 only comes in at 6.8/10 pts.
    People obviously mention the poor durability (what do they expect at 0.61mm?) in comination with the higher price compared to No1 but also a fast tension drop after stringing. Some mentioned bad tension holding abilities.

    No reviews on the N65 or N58 so far though...
     
  14. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    Marketing gibberish at its finest. :)

    After many years in this forum, I've become notoriously sceptical when it comes to random-user reviews. Tastes, playing styles and the ability to somehow neutrally rate a product vary so much between people that 90% of all user impressions are more or less worthless when it comes to getting a reliable impression that would match my own.

    I'm currently looking into ordering sets of N65 from e78 to get a picture for myself. I've already learned that going even thinner just doesn't provide me the feel on impact that I like. And so far, all those ultra thin strings felt pretty much dead after only a couple of hours. And again, I have a feel that the N58 could be very, very close to the Kizuna Z58 for some mysterious reasons. :rolleyes:
     
  15. Sumanth99

    Sumanth99 Regular Member

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    Yeo Jia min switched to bladex 700, I think Li Ning is pushing players away from Turbo charging.
     
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  16. TuanPunchMan

    TuanPunchMan New Member

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    Well i have been using Lining racquets for a while as they are quite easy to get in Vietnam. Feel free to ask me bout my opinion of the racquets.
     
  17. ucantseeme

    ucantseeme Regular Member

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    Exactly, I feel it the same way. No offence, but just a douzen users here are very helpful. I also observed that there is a new brand outside and we have 6 review thread within a month by the same user or some Youtubers who don't make a secret out of it to be die-hard Yonex fans and review other stuff or created their own brand which they want to promote due reviews. I like independent people without any bias most. Shout out to the bro @Ch1k0 who always delivered and never disappointed me.
     
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  18. Sunray7

    Sunray7 Regular Member

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    just my personal view
    i am guessing that many players here are advance levels and reviews are more 'accurate' for higher level players
    i am just a social player and i would be quite opened to any 'random' or social player review that would be closer to my fit of play
    the regular players reviews are good to read too, and i am also aware some are sponsored players
     
  19. ucantseeme

    ucantseeme Regular Member

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    Owning a ZFII would make you advanced level, too. ;)
     
  20. markho678

    markho678 Regular Member

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