Definitely not going to get the 99, even though I could, because these issues seem super damaging if I decided to pull the trigger on one today. I think its better to wait for the "Z" version as well. Anyone have a guess when it could come around? I know one person here thinks by 2019 World Champs.
Given their track record so far? Most likely AE2019. I'd wait for the Z for one reason really. They're well thought out and engineered. Despite all the Z rackets tending to be love it or hate it bat's, I've never come across one that I could say didn't play well at all. They're a great culmination of lessons learnt from their older siblings in the lineup. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
IIRC I have always seen the Flagships at YGO. I personally think, that they give the Astrox line time to settle into the market for a fluid replace of the Voltrics. The ZFII is still a good selling and popular racket. They have the young 88S&D and now the 99. I believe they will replace the Nanorays as oldest line first, before we see a Z-Version for Astrox line. The Z-Version of each line took always 2-3 years until released. Yonex is not Victor which flood the market.
I personally feel that maybe QC issues are due to Yonex trying to encash the demand and interest that AX99 created, specially after momota's win. As per plan, they promised to release it mid September but then seeing the demand , they released 99 asap . Please note these are only my guesswork and a possible reason behind such varied weights for a racket.
Tbh I'm not sure what they're trying to do this round. Usually they release 1 model every year or so.. But they're been churning stuff out every 6 months with the Astrox line.... I can understand doing that if they've had a long testing period during R&D though. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Better stay away from this racket then. I love my AX88D, I will get used to the stiffness. Might give a try to the Li-Ning N9II but not sure where to buy it. Or a Victor racket which is super aero and can help generate crazy racket head speed.
IMO the Nanoray line is the one with nothing new for a very long time. So my bet is a new line in April. Nanoray 900 and the Glanz are the latest and several years old. Duora got with the 10LT and 8Xp some upgrades for maintance. IMO they could bang out so much Astroxs, because the differences are small and all racket lay technology-wise close each other. So I think the next Astrox will need some time and some significant changes compared to the 99,88S,88D and 77. Didn't they bang out the Voltric 60, 70 and 80 also in a similar rhythm compared to the Astrox? I don't think that we see a Z version before 2019.
I don't think yonex can just speed up production at the cost of QC issues. If anything, it might be because of the full namd frame. There weren't any reports of drastic differences in the 88 or 77s.
Had the chance to test out a 4UG5 in my grip (meh, AC102 over original and plastic, easy af to do). First impressions: Holy **** this is unwieldy. Compared to the ZF1 (top aerodynamically) and ZF2 (compact frame with recessed grommets all round) this AX99 seems to come out old bloody school where it's like a big simpleton monster with nothing really innovating for it (yes long nice english for what you call incremental upgrade over the 88D?) Swinging it fully set up it feels like swinging a hammer in hand; the head has so much heft above the 3 and 9 o'clock. I could get angles with it, all is well on smash, but I don't want to think about speed. My arms would break. Clears are so effortless out the opposite baseline if I'm not mindful of where I stand. One thing to note over 88S/88D/77: the grommets at the side where the bottom is outward and proceeds to be recessed is ONE grommet hole earlier than it's lower numbered peers. Maybe that helps with angle (steep attack yoooo)? Can see why this is a singles racquet; I'm so not worthy!
The Z will be a big hit. Just know that. Also, I dont know why but am I not normal to feel the AX 99's head heaviness? Because I really don't feel that way about it.
You are not the only one. Another guy on instagram said that it is the same as the AX88D. And @icewater888 review seems to signal the same thing... I'm more inclined to believe in the QC issues.
Lol, maybe the head heaviness of AX 99 along with his issues will finally explain why LCW looked so tired in the promo video for the Steep Attack Challenge.
I've merged the Astrox chart (green) with the full matrix chart (grey) based on the centre cross and the eccentric circles. Probably they are not on the same scale and merging them is probably not a good idea. However, the result is closer to what I think of the AX99. The AX99 is more head heavy and slightly more softer feeling than the VTZF2.
I think you can tell the scales are different because the 88D also appears on the grey chart but is in a different position to the green one.
I think the new position of the 88D is probably closer to what I think the 88D is. Probably closer to VTZF2 in terms of head heaviness and hard feeling than the old position.
