Federer BLX Prostaff 6.1

[AlpineCadet]

Originally Posted by Bobby Jr

His actual frames, including close comparison of the moulds with retail versions of the K6.1 tour and BLX - except cutting them open to analyse to compostion - have been done multiple times and discussed, with close-up photos, on this site.

Federer uses a frame which is made in the K6.1 Tour mould. Whether it's different on the inside or not is not known. But the dimensions, weight, balance, swing-weight, grip shape and size are all known.

So if Federer's frame was sold to me on the flEa Bay for a final sniped price of $20k, would I be able to bagel every and any tennis player without any ATP points? However magical his PS 6.0 85 with a larger head is, I'll never play like him because YOU CAN'T BUY EQUIPMENT TO CHANGE YOUR GAME. End of my 3.5 rant.

[Stringer_Steve]

Originally Posted by Bobby Jr

His actual frames, including close comparison of the moulds with retail versions of the K6.1 tour and BLX - except cutting them open to analyse to compostion - have been done multiple times and discussed, with close-up photos, on this site.

Federer uses a frame which is made in the K6.1 Tour mould. Whether it's different on the inside or not is not known. But the dimensions, weight, balance, swing-weight, grip shape and size are all known.

I can see that they probably use the same mold, but that isn't something that the manufacturer has ever disputed (from what I can tell). It's the composition and the people posting that they "know" it is this racket or that. That's all I'm saying. 95% of the information in this section is purely speculation.
That being said, there are a few respected members here who currently either work in the industry, string on/or for the tour or have connections in the industry. But there is far more misinformation being posted as factual.

[Stringer_Steve]

Originally Posted by AlpineCadet

So if Federer's frame was sold to me on the flEa Bay for a final sniped price of $20k, would I be able to bagel every and any tennis player without any ATP points? However magical his PS 6.0 85 with a larger head is, I'll never play like him because YOU CAN'T BUY EQUIPMENT TO CHANGE YOUR GAME. End of my 3.5 rant.

True, and kudos to you for at least acknowledging this. Everyone should use the equipment that suits their style of play and ability. Having worked in the tennis specialty retail industry since the late 80s, I have seen this first hand.

[Povl Carstensen]

Originally Posted by Stringer_Steve

I can see that they probably use the same mold, but that isn't something that the manufacturer has ever disputed (from what I can tell). It's the composition and the people posting that they "know" it is this racket or that. That's all I'm saying. 95% of the information in this section is purely speculation.
That being said, there are a few respected members here who currently either work in the industry, string on/or for the tour or have connections in the industry. But there is far more misinformation being posted as factual.

Nate Ferguson and Ron Yu of K1 who handles Federers rackets has confirmed that it is basically an of the rack k90 with custom pallets and a little lead at 12'. Good enough for me. Also confirmed by a very, very trustworthy poster with a HUGE collection of pros rackets, Equijet.

[Bobby Jr]

Originally Posted by Povl Carstensen

Nate Ferguson and Ron Yu of K1 who handles Federers rackets has confirmed that it is basically an of the rack k90 with custom pallets and a little lead at 12'. Good enough for me. Also confirmed by a very, very trustworthy poster with a HUGE collection of pros rackets, Equijet.

Well.. he has and he sort of hasn't too. I've read all of Ron's posts here and the frames arrive at Priority One from Wilson. Who's to say they don't have a different internal make-up than the retail frames did. Without dissecting one there's no real way they can know short of their customer, Roger, actually telling them. I doubt we'd know if that was the case. I'm sure showing discretion is included as part of their service.

[Bobby Jr]

Originally Posted by Stringer_Steve

I can see that they probably use the same mold, but that isn't something that the manufacturer has ever disputed (from what I can tell). It's the composition and the people posting that they "know" it is this racket or that.

From the moment Wilson started marketing him as using the BLX they were effectively saying otherwise. He was using the K90 mould which was/is not exactly the same as the BLX they said he was using. They're very close but the subtle differences have been noticed and I imagine this will be the case with the new variant too.

We only know the progression of his frames and where the PJs happen relative to retail models... As for the internal composition.. that's where it comes unstuck. Personally, I'd guess his frames are a custom composition which retains their flex over the lifetime they are in use (3 months basically) - more consistently than a retail frame would.

[Povl Carstensen]

Originally Posted by Bobby Jr

Well.. he has and he sort of hasn't too. I've read all of Ron's posts here and the frames arrive at Priority One from Wilson. Who's to say they don't have a different internal make-up than the retail frames did. Without dissecting one there's no real way they can know short of their customer, Roger, actually telling them. I doubt we'd know if that was the case. I'm sure showing discretion is included as part of their service.

Originally Posted by Bobby Jr

From the moment Wilson started marketing him as using the BLX they were effectively saying otherwise. He was using the K90 mould which was/is not exactly the same as the BLX they said he was using. They're very close but the subtle differences have been noticed and I imagine this will be the case with the new variant too.

We only know the progression of his frames and where the PJs happen relative to retail models... As for the internal composition.. that's where it comes unstuck. Personally, I'd guess his frames are a custom composition which retains their flex over the lifetime they are in use (3 months basically) - more consistently than a retail frame would.

I think now you are doing the speculating, but of course you are free to do so. It has been discussed plenty allready.

[AlpineCadet]

Originally Posted by Povl Carstensen

Nate Ferguson and Ron Yu of K1 who handles Federers rackets has confirmed that it is basically an of the rack k90 with custom pallets and a little lead at 12'. Good enough for me. Also confirmed by a very, very trustworthy poster with a HUGE collection of pros rackets, Equijet.

P1 can't say otherwise! Equijet never played the frames and won't even have them put on an RDC machine because he doesn't want to ship them out.

[Povl Carstensen]

Well you can trust people who know or people who dont know. To speculate in secrets kept between Wilson, Federer and P1 is borderline conspirationalist, but this kind of thinking will always be around I guess (the I dont know, so nobody knows-mentality).

[Bobby Jr]

Originally Posted by Povl Carstensen

I think now you are doing the speculating, but of course you are free to do so. It has been discussed plenty allready.

On my first comment about Ron's posts - he has never established that Federer uses actual retail frames, nor that they've done a side by side dissection. I doubt it would interest him in the slightest. As I said, the frames show up from Wilson and they spec them. Aside from that who knows...

As for my comment: "From the moment Wilson started marketing him as using the BLX they were effectively saying otherwise. He was using the K90 mould which was/is not exactly the same as the BLX they said he was using."

This is the truth. Federer's BLX frame did not have the same mould as the retail frames. You can see in photos in the famous thread that the string hole groove is not quite the same. Ergo, however similar it may have been otherwise, it is not speculation that he was using a different frame than the retail model of the BLX.

[Povl Carstensen]

It was me who first pointed out the difference in the groove. So to me, the K90 is still a good bet.

[Lambsscroll]

Originally Posted by SandV

Noooo, the K Factor 90 stiffness is 67.

Fed's racket checked for stiffness on a RDC machine came out to 65. http://www.hdtennis.com/grs/pro_racq..._wilson_n.html

[Yourtenniscoach]

Originally Posted by Povl Carstensen

It was me who first pointed out the difference in the groove. So to me, the K90 is still a good bet.

Federer and Wilson both went out of their way to say that Federer used a K90 when they were the current generation of racquets on more than one occasion. I don't seem to recall seeing anything like that happen with BLX Line of frames so I'm guessing that the K90 is probably his frame.

[SandV]

Originally Posted by Lambsscroll

Fed's racket checked for stiffness on a RDC machine came out to 65. http://www.hdtennis.com/grs/pro_racq..._wilson_n.html

This is no more credible than TW's measurement of the [K]Factor 90 on an RDC, which was 67 and is listed on its Specifications tab. My pro has an RDC and I watched the reading of 67 come up after the bend.

The stiffness was changed to 65 on the BLX 90.