Alright. It seems to me there are quite a few of you that are Yonex fanatics, fans, etc. I am rather surprised. I have both Victor Pegasus SQ 10 and Yonex MP 100 so I am able to compare the two. Victor racquets beat Yonex racquets in so many levels that is not even funny. I have had the same Victor racqet for nearly a year now and it does not have a single crack. It is light (very good for high returns), has a tremendeous smash boost, and the paint work is something else. Yonex on the other hand has disappointed me. I have had a few Yonex racquets and the better ones have not lasted a long time (even when they are strung the suggested amount). They are either better at one thing or another but don't seem to have a balance, like Victor racquets do. Lastly the prices of Victor racquets are at least 20% less than Yonex racquets. Lately I have been buying Yonex racquets just to satisfy my curiosity and have been always disappointed. Victor is what I am going to be playing with (and have been playing with for a long while) until something better comes out. Maybe you should take a look at the Victor racquets. Unfortunately, the only place I have seen Victor racquets sold is badmintonwarehouse.com. I am waiting to hear why from all of you Yonex lovers who have tried a top of the line Victor racquet why they 'love' Yonex so much.
i'm afraid i've never tried one of the top of the line victor racquets, so i cannot compare. but i'm going to say that it does not seem like your comparison is fair on all levels. You have given your Victor racquet one year to prove itself to be worthy of your favouritism, yet you have not stated how long you've used your Yonex. This can be compared to shoes. You buy shoes, at first they are uncomfortable, then when they start to near the end of their lifetime, you are reluctant to part with them, because they're worn in and comfortable. Perhaps you should give your Yonex more time to prove itself, and/or you did not buy the racquet with the balance right for you. These are merely suggestions and perhaps my views are biased as well, but who is perfect?
Actually, when it comes to shoes, I am spectacularly unimpressed with the Yonex shoes I have tried in the past. So now I use Mizuno
I can see ur point. For particular model, I agree with u. For myself, I can claim myself to be a lover of "my own" favorite models, rather than sticking with 1 brand. However, overall, I can't agree with all ur title. I mean, it's more like a comparison between 2 brands, rather than 2 models. 1. U said u tried several models of Yonex, are they high end one? Or, just some famous "crapy" models which everyone already known? If u use low ends Yonex compare to one of the best Victor, then, u know, can't do it... 2. How many Victor rackets u tried? Just 1 model? 3 model? 10? It's possible that Victor has some "crap", too. Just because u r fortunate enough to get a hand on a good one. Like we say about Yonex, 1 or 2 can't represent all. We can't just say 1 brand is the best, after we just try less than 3 models, and we can't say that 1 brand is totally nothing, if just 2 rackets broke fast. 3. Yonex has it's reason to be the leader of the market. Think about Boron2, cab20 original, etc. Those are the legendary designs, did u try those ones? If u can get one of those, i am sure they won't disappoint u, if they fit for ur style and needs. 4. I agree that some models (or many???) in Yonex are not that impressive. However, we can't judge a BRAND just by certain model. Yonex can get such a big market, because they have needs for all kinda players. From beginner to elite, from defensive to offensive, from control expert to smash cannon... Even ppl don't play badminton, knows Yonex also make badminton rackets. To make customers (especially, ppl don't know too much about rackets) life easier when purchasing a racket, they desire my vote for a good brand, not necessary for certain model's performance, but for the BRAND (which customer service, and marketing strategy does count) So... that's just what I thought about ur topic...
interesting, I remember when I first joined the site, I had the same observation as jet has pointed out; majority of ppl here uses yonex. then again, there are plenty of other brands that floats around as well, such as carlton, ashaway, yang yang, to name a few. I've only used victor racquets for the past 15 years and recently I just purchased a yonex mp99 TW and love it. I've tried both the asian line and the european line of victor as well and own some of them still. Victor do indeed make good racquets such as all the signature ones in the asian line and the pegasus and berylium series in the european line. these racquets can all compete w/ the yonex mp's, Ti's, etc. right now my two main racquets are yonex mp99 and victor fung 2000. I use the two interchangeably without much adjusting needed (quite surprising because they are quite different). mp99 to me is more powerful where fung 2000 is more agile. different people have different ideas of what a good racquet is so just because you and I find victor to be an excellent brand of racquets, doesn't mean others will feel the same way. btw, a friend of mine has the pegasus sq10 and it broke on the first day he got it after a light racquet clash. Just bad luck I guess. o yeah, like cheung said, "just enjoy the game".
Well, IMHO Victor has really retarded model names, but model names don't make a racquet good or bad, so i'll stick to the physical aspects and reviews of the racquets, there are many ppl who can't bring out the true potential of the Mp100, because it usually needs to be strung at 26 lbs or so, to many ppl that is like hitting against a brick wall, you might be one of those ppl. On the other hand Victor racquets might suite you because of its design, such as head light, head heavy, it might be that you chose the wrong Yonex Racquet, and top of the line models aren't always the best. Personally i think the Armortec500 beats the Armortec 700. Really choosing a racquet depends on your personal needs and preferences. In the end, i truly think you can not compare two brands, but you can say which is better in your opinion.
I agree. After having tried SHB99LE I don't think I'm goig back to Adidas Stabil. Yonex high end shoes seem to be surprisingly sturdy & well cushioned even though they are very light. No going back to handball shoes now . Btw Asics still makes the best running shoes .
Yonex Shoes I prefer over the Addidas ones as well, and as I recall, the price difference wasn't TOO bad...some $40 or something like that, but the Yonex ones have performed a lot better than the Addidas ones in terms of grip, comfort and design I've used Black Knight, Victor and Yonex. My favourite is Yonex in general. For the price, Victor's really good, and they're definately good racquets. But in general the racquets I've tried out are lighter than what I normally like - Super Ti 7 and a few others. There are a lot of people who just buy Yonex because it instantly looks better, or that they're devoted to a certain brand. I suppose it's just preference really. Yonex does have outrageous prices, and I think that's the biggest downside, but after that, it really all depends on preference.
