Yeah the 3u is less good, I was focussed on the 4u. You got the BS12SE in 3u and 4u to try out? I think you will like them!
I find the 3U's from victor pretty consistent, then again the 2g diff from this 1 3U almost puts it towards the 4u. End of day after grip and string it was only 85.8g (3U) vs 85.07g (4U) but felt less headheavy. But ya its nothing like the 2 JS10's that were like 82g even balance and another 86g headheavy. The grommets don't seem too bad for thickness, they do seem to not be as cleanly finish as there is some extra residue from being cut from the mold. Can't complain as they last 3 string jobs without rotating. Li Ning original grommets still #1 tho, even better then the replacement li ning boxes. I don't know if the 3U is less good, just different because its more even balance vs headheavy and the both are pretty darn close in weight. I will try the heavier 3U tonight as its more closer in spec to my JS12ii, just air swinging them it still feels much faster but wonder if the extra weight will give me a more robust omph. The 4U's are very solid and pleasant to play, Victor has won me back with this.
It would be great to hear your thoughts after you use them tonight. I'm back as a Victor convert after being an Adidas guy for a few years before they halted production again.
So after playing with like 2 3U's and 1 4U. I think most people would in general like the 4U if they are consistently within spec. Very fast on defense and drives. I also get a nice whip when going for kills and flicks, and its super fast. It feels a bit less solid feeling on full smashes compared to my JS but I think its more repulsive and less hold. The 3U's I prefer the lighter / even balance one. Feels a tad faster then the 4U on defense and has a bit of a momentum on the swings compared to the 4U. It does require a minute adjustment on overhead drops and smashes tho as I found I was hitting a bit off center going from 4U to 3U in headweight. The heavier 3U, maybe suited for someone who wanted something meatier. It was about 1.5g and 7mm more headheavy and you can feel it. I didn't feel it offered much more power, and its negatives out weight its more stable swing. I feel with something this heavy I rather prefer something HL/EB which is something I hate to say is slowly disappearing from the market. Think Victor has a winner for me. I forgot to up the tension a bit since I came from a JS10 main so it just felt a tad looser then I like but atleast it was fair comparison. Kinda undecided to stay with 4U's or 3U's but it depends what I can get my hands on I guess since most places here carry 4U's and don't wanna order a 3U to get something too wild.
could anyone measure the head length of bs12se? is it as short as original bs12? very much appreciated
Don't have an original bs12 on me but the bs12se top inner wall to bottom inner wall is 236mm (unstrung) A second batch that I got a chance to measure and grab. 3U: 90.1g/306 4U: 85.6g/299 , 85.8g/303 , 86.1g/301 , 86.3g/301 , 86.3g/301 , 86.5g/303 , 86.8g/304 , 87.0g/301 The 4U's are pretty consistent, but that meaty 3U is sure worth a try.
First impressions (4u) - Racket definitely feels a little head heavier and stiffer than the OG BS12 from what I remember. Doesn't look as chunky as if they trimmed it down. It's actually quite nice now that you can feel more of the head in the swing. Swinging this originally I thought it was going to be too light, but once I got the feel of shortening the swing it started to shine. Really strong at the front court/drives. Midcourt control shots come up a little short and soft defence placements aren't as stable, but these are just a matter of getting used to the racket. I think I might get more control moving to a 3u. Smashes were still strong with this racket for me without much loss. Just needed to really compact my swing with a strong snap. Where I come up short with this racket are feeling the half smashes since it's such a fast racket. I can't hold or feel the shuttle as well as with the TKF-E, and it might be just that I need to add a little more speed swinging through. The racket kept the 72 hole pattern and you can feel it in the sweetspot size. If you mis-hit it will not be forgiving. My testing was cut short due to the racket breaking on a smash mishit at the 1-2 o clock location. Racket was strung at 29lbs. Came from a TKF-E 4u. Having thoughts of making a switch to the BS12 SE since I feel the added stiffness, sword frame, and smaller head gives me that extra bit of speed for the front/mid court play. Victor has the BS12 SE as slightly head heavier than the TKF-E on the racket charts, but the stiffness and smaller head makes it "feel" lighter. Not sure if it will be an added plus for me yet, but I feel the smaller head will help with prolonging string tension and life. With the TKF-E the string breaks easily in the centre probably due to longer string bed, which also allows it to shift more easily. Quite honestly this is a nice refresh of the OG BS12. It's a beautiful racket and comes up at a cheaper price point than most rackets nowadays.
BS12se stiffer than TKFE? Or about the same? Also, where did you see the racket chart that has BS12se as head-heavier than TKFE? Victor's racket charts often don't make sense. They have the Hypersonic as head-heavier than the 100x and 90kii.
I remember when the first hype video came out from Badminton Insight they mention the TKFE as even balance. According to Victors EU catalog this is what they labelled as below. Besides the conflicting message between the two sets of racket charts below. I do feel the Hypersonic to be a tad headheavier and more sluggish then the 100x / 90kii. So I would agree with the EU racket chart vs the Canadian one. Then if we look at the 3rd racket chart that was posted earlier in this thread I think it opens another can of worms XD
Had another good singles session with 3U (25lb AB). It's definitely a keeper for me. Enough power to get me out of trouble, and hit some winners. No pain in my arm at all. Control seemed OK but I'm yet to test it in doubles for some tight net play and defense. I can feel the flex but it still seems accurate. It just feels super natural to play with, and after some time testing 4u and less powerful rackets, it's nice to feel like I can still hit it with some beans. I'm looking to get another OG BS12 to compare. I had one previously and really enjoyed it. 4U (23lb EX65) was also nice but not enough weight for my lazy net/drop shots, so I switched for 3U and stuck with it.
Very similar thoughts but the 4u works really well for me. I've spent lots of time and far too much money trying to replace the BS rackets but now back using them again. Just got myself a second one so I plan to use them for matches next season.
Is the SE edition similar to the original? Based on the following videos, it seems that the SE edition 4U is as heavy in terms of overall weight as the original 3U, but more importantly quite a head heavy racket unlike the original one which I like because it's a more even balanced racket
Seems like you answered your own question. But ya the SE is different from the OG. It also seems there are very large variations in spec as well even from badminton guide.
bs12se more to heavy head, of coz it have speed wif high speed frame, compare wif old version, old version more fast wif speed
Not sure if any BS12 SE user here find that the shaft stiffness is more like "medium stiff" than the advertised "stiff", it feels like more flexible than my 4U TKF enhanced. Wonder is it due to the head weight of the BS12SE, the unstrung (Dry) racket balance point was around 315-318mm without any grip on freecore handle. To the extent that I feel it could be more flexible than the original blue Bravesword 12.
I feel the BS12SE is less flexible than the original BS12. I've not used TKFE so i cannot comment on thst, the BS12SE flex seems to fit mid way between BS12 and JS10 in my opinion.
