Ok here is the review of the Browning Oxylite Ti80 badminton racket. First off let me say that the only two places to buy this racket are from ebay or amazon, and they are both from Racketworld, who seem to have cornered the market for Browning in the UK. There is another online retailer called sportyshop, but their prices are way higher than what racketworld sell for. God only knows how racketworld can sell their rackets for the prices they do. Either they make very small profit on each racket, or they get for for ridiculously low prices in the first place.
Either way, it doesn't really matter, what does matter is that they are cheap. I have found the technical spec for the Browning Oxylite Ti80 from the racketworld ebay store. One thing that makes me laugh right away is that the recommended retail price for this bat is..£190!! No chance, not in a million years. That has to be the most stupid price i have ever seen for a badminton racket. Do you seriously think that us badminton players really believe that this racket should be £190?
However, the actual price is just £24.99, that makes a saving of £165.01 what a bargain! The reality is that it never did cost £190, not even when it was brand new. Ok, back to the review...
The spec says it is 80g. (From holding it i can say it is not 80g, more like 85g).
100% Oxygen Injected Carbon Titanium for the ultimate in lightness and durability
Widebody frame for power.
New technology 'box frame' head for superb stability in the head and crispness of shot.
New Browning flex system shaft technology for ultimate smash power.
Titanium strings for superb response.
Breathable grip for extra hand comfort.
Complete with quality full length protective headcase.
There is the technical jargon. It doesn't really mean a damn thing to me. The main points are that it has an isometric head shape, and one other glaring point missed on the spec is that it should say it is stiff. The balance is head light, but not too much.
I really do not want to go on about the technical fluff because underneath all this is a very good, well made badminton racket. In my opinion it has got to be one of the best value for money rackets you can buy. It is not a new racket, it is the 2007 model, but this is why it is so cheap, and the reason why racketworld can sell it so cheap, along with all their other rackets. They specialse in this market, and they beat everyone else out of sight.
I had this Browning strung at 30lbs with BG65, which was probably too high, however, the frame can take this tension no problem, so if you have one, and wondered what you can string it to, well you can safely go to 30lbs, probably more i reckon, but say goodbye to your shoulder if you do.
Control is excellent, power is also good. It feels solid, which is good news. It feels like a more expensive racket, which is also good news. It is not a hard work racket, it helps you out, and this makes it easier to use. There is not much more to say really, it is a good racket in my opinion, not as much power as the Apacs nano 999 power, but then again it is a little bit lighter. I would describe it as an all round racket, it does everything well.
The price is the real winner at £24.99, but if you bid for it you could even get it cheaper than this. The only drawback is the delivery charge, which is £7.95. This seems a bit excessive, but racketworld get a bit touchy when you mention this. They charge this amount because it is registered first class delivery, so you pay more for this. I can see why they do this. Afterall, the last thing you need is for someone to say "i have not received my racket". As the seller, racketworld would then have to send another racket out. If the buyer was being a little bit dishonest, they may have actually received the racket but just said they didn't, to get another for free.
I am sure this has happened in the past with racketworld, so the recorded delivery is to protect themselves as well as the customer. However, whatever the reason, it still means this badminton racket will cost an extra £7.95, which is a shame really, because at £24.99 it would be an even better bargain.
Racketworld are about to launch a new website. As a customer of their's in the past i was sent an e-mail to register for the new site. I have already done this, and i hope that now they have their own site, their prices may be even cheaper because they are not tied to ebay or amazon, so they do not need to pay them a slice of the profits. The big gamble is that they need to get their website infront of an audience so they can sell badminton rackets. I hope they are successful, they offer a great service and i have not heard a bad word said about them. Their feeback on ebay is 99.9% positive, so it proves they know how to sell and deliver low cost badminton rackets.
Friday, 24 April 2009
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Browning Oxylite Review
I have been using the Browning Oxylite 80Ti badminton racket for the last few days, it is not actually mine, but i have borrowed it in a sort of trade deal. I am going to write a review of this racket in the next post because there are many people out there who use Browning rackets, or are interested in buying them. I can tell you that this particular racket cost just £20, and it offers unbelievable value for money.
It is very well made and is very solid too, you don't usually find this with cheap badminton rackets, they tend to distort and twist on impact. Not the case with the Oxylite 80. My early impressions are very good indeed. I will give it real good going over in the next few days and post a review on it. By the way, if any of you have a website or blog and you use adsense on it then you will need to update your privacy policy or google may ban you from using adsense. I will put a permanent link to it in the sidebar in the future.
I still have not heard anything from Victor sports or from Head UK, so i will be sending a few e-mails to them in due course to see if i can wrangle a few more badminton rackets from them.
It is very well made and is very solid too, you don't usually find this with cheap badminton rackets, they tend to distort and twist on impact. Not the case with the Oxylite 80. My early impressions are very good indeed. I will give it real good going over in the next few days and post a review on it. By the way, if any of you have a website or blog and you use adsense on it then you will need to update your privacy policy or google may ban you from using adsense. I will put a permanent link to it in the sidebar in the future.
I still have not heard anything from Victor sports or from Head UK, so i will be sending a few e-mails to them in due course to see if i can wrangle a few more badminton rackets from them.
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