Upmarket sports equipment.
Discussion
So I've finally turned into my dad and I'm now old enough to join a badminton club (gave up squash a few years ago as with a sedentary lifestyle and 100mph rallies thought I'd have a heart attack).
Anyway, initially played with my ancient old racquet no problem but decided I liked the sport so looked around for a shiny new one. Ended up on Sweatband and bought a RRP £95 racquet for £48 or so and was very pleased with it.
Play fairly often and after 9 months or so a string breaks (never had that before). Tough finding someone to fix it but even at £17 (more than a lot of racquets) I go for it as I like the racquet. Now 4 months later the frame has broken, end of racquet.
Similar happened with a bike I bought. Had old bangers for years no problem, then treat myself to a pretty expensive (for me) new one. Cue a puncture, problems with the disc brakes, another puncture etc. All problems I've not had with my old bike.
So the question is, is it worth it going for highish end stuff, have I just been unlucky? Or is it like Formula 1 cars, great performance but break down every 200 miles.
I did like my now broken racquet but tempted to go back to an Argos special (or my still going strong 30 year old cheapo one).
Any views?
Anyway, initially played with my ancient old racquet no problem but decided I liked the sport so looked around for a shiny new one. Ended up on Sweatband and bought a RRP £95 racquet for £48 or so and was very pleased with it.
Play fairly often and after 9 months or so a string breaks (never had that before). Tough finding someone to fix it but even at £17 (more than a lot of racquets) I go for it as I like the racquet. Now 4 months later the frame has broken, end of racquet.
Similar happened with a bike I bought. Had old bangers for years no problem, then treat myself to a pretty expensive (for me) new one. Cue a puncture, problems with the disc brakes, another puncture etc. All problems I've not had with my old bike.
So the question is, is it worth it going for highish end stuff, have I just been unlucky? Or is it like Formula 1 cars, great performance but break down every 200 miles.
I did like my now broken racquet but tempted to go back to an Argos special (or my still going strong 30 year old cheapo one).
Any views?
It's worth using "upmarket" sports equipment if it improve your game/performance or helps you enjoy it more. Inevitably to make things perform better you sacrifice things like endurance i.e. at the extremes many components of a Formula 1 car are engineered to last for one race or in the case of the tyres for only a few laps....it's perfectly possible to make tyres last a lot longer but they don't go as fast! Only you can decide if the extra performance from your badminton raquet is worth the stringing costs, though you seem to have been unlucky.
In terms of your bike the tyres on your new bike may well be lighter/thinner than on your old bike, this means the bike will accelerate quicker and feel more nimble but yes it's more prone to punctures. Things like disc brakes are one of those things some manufacturers put on bikes for the bling factor....at certain price points bike manufacturers will sacrifice performance by putting on "must have" components...it's a balance between frame, wheels, brakes, chainset etc. Most people don't have a clue about chainset's but do want disc brakes so they put cheap disc brakes on bikes to sell them. A bike might be better with V brakes as they are lighter and they still perform very well but it won't sell as well.
In terms of your bike the tyres on your new bike may well be lighter/thinner than on your old bike, this means the bike will accelerate quicker and feel more nimble but yes it's more prone to punctures. Things like disc brakes are one of those things some manufacturers put on bikes for the bling factor....at certain price points bike manufacturers will sacrifice performance by putting on "must have" components...it's a balance between frame, wheels, brakes, chainset etc. Most people don't have a clue about chainset's but do want disc brakes so they put cheap disc brakes on bikes to sell them. A bike might be better with V brakes as they are lighter and they still perform very well but it won't sell as well.
Thanks for the replies and point taken.
Yes I was that numpty buying the bike without really knowing much about it. Got it when our local Specialised shop had a sale on and used the wife's normal tactics of "the more you spend the more you save".
Think I'll try a middle range racquet for my replacement. Yes Gary, I love the sport now, a great mix of speed, agility, power, touch and fitness. Plus I see some guys in their 60s still playing to what looks like a pretty good standard so will a be a good sport for me to play into my old age.
Taking it up again I managed to beat most/all of my mates and acquaintances so got relatively cocky. Then I got the chance to play a guy on an adjacent court, slightly younger than me (40s) and also apparently an ex-squash player to a very high standard. Close game but he just kept rallies going WAY longer than I was used to and eventually wore me down into a pool of sweat for a close win. Great fun but I couldn't move for days afterwards.
I caught the recent badminton World championships on TV as well. Phenomenal athletes and very exciting to watch.
Yes I was that numpty buying the bike without really knowing much about it. Got it when our local Specialised shop had a sale on and used the wife's normal tactics of "the more you spend the more you save".
Think I'll try a middle range racquet for my replacement. Yes Gary, I love the sport now, a great mix of speed, agility, power, touch and fitness. Plus I see some guys in their 60s still playing to what looks like a pretty good standard so will a be a good sport for me to play into my old age.
Taking it up again I managed to beat most/all of my mates and acquaintances so got relatively cocky. Then I got the chance to play a guy on an adjacent court, slightly younger than me (40s) and also apparently an ex-squash player to a very high standard. Close game but he just kept rallies going WAY longer than I was used to and eventually wore me down into a pool of sweat for a close win. Great fun but I couldn't move for days afterwards.
I caught the recent badminton World championships on TV as well. Phenomenal athletes and very exciting to watch.
Expensive rackets aren't always fragile, as long as you don't over tension them or whack them against the floor every week you should be OK!
Drop me a DM if you are ever after some gear, I run this website > http://www.badmintonalpha.co.uk
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