Agassi Racquets

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by arrowtowntennisclub

i have a austrian trysis 260 OS and string it up with kirshbaum proline evo and 58/56. imo a crisper syn gut like OGSM strung around 62 or a crisper/older generation poly strung in the high 50s work really well with the bumblebee. not sure about the other versions though as it's the only OS radical ive owned. crushes the ball!

Used the Bumblebee with 60# Polystar back in 2003. Awesome

[I Heart Thomas Muster]

Originally Posted by Big John

I like your thinking IHTM! The tgk 269.1 (Youtek Radical Pro pro stock) in slightly longer form is glorious, hits a massive ball with heaps of spin and volleys well too. I guess this is why Sharapova and others use it.. Sounds like we're on the same path.

My only issue is that it is a little too heavy in the head even without lead and has a very high swing weight. Love it for clay, just a bit too hefty for me on fast hard court?

You are spot on, this is the advantage of the Flexpoint Radical Tour. The 58 flex, hundred head and open pattern are pretty much perfect specs along with the head light balance. I'm going to lengthen one and compare it to the 269.1..

The 260.4 (IG Radical Pro) has a more headlight balance but has no pop at all! Still playing around with that, having a look this week at a tour player's setup with this stick and am going to try and replicate it, have failed miserably so far!

You're right about the Youteks being a bit sluggish on fast courts. Mine are 12.1 oz and have a 340+ SW which does require earlier prep on fast courts or with my flat hitting buddy. What I do like is when stretched wide or on reflex shots they give that extra little something that I never got from the older Radicals or Fischers I used.

I wish I still played on clay.

Unfortunately the IG Radical Pro didn't do much for me and my Youteks are hitting the two year mark (used to change once a year till two kids and a dog ruined all my fun ) so I might take a sabbatical from the Radicals and switch to the Volkl PB10 Mid. The specs are somewhat close to the Flexpoint Tour Radical and I'm told it's a great racquet for the OHBH which is my best shot. Price is right too.

Sounds like with all your tinkering you need a Prince Tuning Center. Thing changed my life. Not for the better mind you cause I'll probably never stop tinkering but it's damn fun.

[Big John]

I hear you on the IG Radical Pro. I know a bloke on tour that uses one, going to check out his setup and will report back. It just had no pop did it, not a patch on the old one.

Funnily enough I'd been considering an RDC! I really do like your thinking. There's a bloke here in Australia that makes a 'better' rdc that measures radial flex and all sorts of things. I'm worried if I go there that I will open pandora's box.. I'm thinking it will be best for my sanity to stick with the 'how it feels' method?

I must be close to my ultimate stick, there are very few sticks left for me to try.. I think the sort of specs of the Flexpoint Radical Tour are where I will end up, would prefer it to be a Wilson ideally so am doing my best to find the Wilson most like that (h19, pro stock blade, h22 all in open pattern?).

[Down_the_line]

Originally Posted by Big John

I hear you on the IG Radical Pro. I know a bloke on tour that uses one, going to check out his setup and will report back. It just had no pop did it, not a patch on the old one.

Funnily enough I'd been considering an RDC! I really do like your thinking. There's a bloke here in Australia that makes a 'better' rdc that measures radial flex and all sorts of things. I'm worried if I go there that I will open pandora's box.. I'm thinking it will be best for my sanity to stick with the 'how it feels' method?

I must be close to my ultimate stick, there are very few sticks left for me to try.. I think the sort of specs of the Flexpoint Radical Tour are where I will end up, would prefer it to be a Wilson ideally so am doing my best to find the Wilson most like that (h19, pro stock blade, h22 all in open pattern?).

The Blade may be your best bet.

[Fuji]

Originally Posted by Big John

I like your thinking IHTM! The tgk 269.1 (Youtek Radical Pro pro stock) in slightly longer form is glorious, hits a massive ball with heaps of spin and volleys well too. I guess this is why Sharapova and others use it.. Sounds like we're on the same path.

My only issue is that it is a little too heavy in the head even without lead and has a very high swing weight. Love it for clay, just a bit too hefty for me on fast hard court?

You are spot on, this is the advantage of the Flexpoint Radical Tour. The 58 flex, hundred head and open pattern are pretty much perfect specs along with the head light balance. I'm going to lengthen one and compare it to the 269.1..

The 260.4 (IG Radical Pro) has a more headlight balance but has no pop at all! Still playing around with that, having a look this week at a tour player's setup with this stick and am going to try and replicate it, have failed miserably so far!

Quick question: 260.4? Is that just the stock IG Rad Pro? I haven't heard of that one before...

That being said, my dream frame is the 260.2 (Youtek Rad MP 16x19) it's such a great frame, too bad they are so darned rare to get a matched pair on!

-Fuji

[Big John]

Thats the one, IG Rad Pro. I had a 260.2 and it was a very different racquet to the 260.4, that's for sure.

Specs on the pro's 260.4 that I was after are balance 32.5, 330 grams unstrung. All lead at 12.. Will find out how he strings it, will try and replicate that with my couple and see how they go..

Agreed on the blade, winning so far. Yet to hit the h19, not so many people seem to like it as opposed to the h22 though? Would love to know if there is in fact a softer layup open pattern h22, or whether it is just the tight pattern ones that come softer?

I've got some Janko Tipsarevic racquets coming, 62 flex, open pattern. They might be pretty good too?

[Big John]

Strung up my friend's iradical OS with full RPM Team at 58 and he loved it..

[Puddy]

From what I remember, one of his custom-made Head sticks had so many mains (perhaps 20 or 22 - I don't know) that the Prince Pro Blend string (Kevlar mains) was not long enough to cover all of the mains. As a result, the cross stings (either natural gut or some synthetic) were strung to cover the two outer mains as well as the rest of the crosses. Look it up and you will see what I am talking about

I am most likely wrong, but I am on to something

[I Heart Thomas Muster]

Here's a bad pic showing the outside mains being different from the rest

http://www.pajiba.com/assets_c/2010/...0x162-7914.jpg

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by I Heart Thomas Muster

Here's a bad pic showing the outside mains being different from the rest

http://www.pajiba.com/assets_c/2010/...0x162-7914.jpg

Around the mains pattern, eh?

[zapvor]

i was in new york for the open and dropped by Roman's shop. andre has 2 cubbyholes for his frames. he had most of teh paintjobs, but i did not see liquidmetal. of course there were a bunch of donnays too!

[Big John]

Have one of his actual sticks in my hand. Liquidmetal pj, just has 'Head' on the sides of the throat and 'Liquidemetal' on one side of the head and 'Head' on the other along with fake liquidmetal ridges. I have to say that I think the liquidmetal pj's (I've had pt10's and pt57e's) with the fake ridges are amongst the coolest Head paintjobbed racquets, love them! I thought this one was especially interesting as there was no model mentioned on the pj. The is just A.A. on the inside of the throat. Seems to have a blacked out in the centre Yonex buttcap?

Strung it up with full RPM Team at 58lbs, taking it for a hit shortly.. It weighs 376 strung with 2 over grips (I put one over the top) and a dampener. I think the owner may have taken some weight out to make it more playable. Balance is about 31.5 so it isn't ridiculous to think of playing with it, certainly will be very careful with low balls though..

I'll see if I can flex it on Saturday morning, will let you know..

[nycoara]

Hi

Your one is like this??
http://twitpic.com/7na5iv
http://twitpic.com/7na614

Thanks
nycoara

Originally Posted by Big John

Have one of his actual sticks in my hand. Liquidmetal pj, just has 'Head' on the sides of the throat and 'Liquidemetal' on one side of the head and 'Head' on the other along with fake liquidmetal ridges. I have to say that I think the liquidmetal pj's (I've had pt10's and pt57e's) with the fake ridges are amongst the coolest Head paintjobbed racquets, love them! I thought this one was especially interesting as there was no model mentioned on the pj. The is just A.A. on the inside of the throat. Seems to have a blacked out in the centre Yonex buttcap?

Strung it up with full RPM Team at 58lbs, taking it for a hit shortly.. It weighs 376 strung with 2 over grips (I put one over the top) and a dampener. I think the owner may have taken some weight out to make it more playable. Balance is about 31.5 so it isn't ridiculous to think of playing with it, certainly will be very careful with low balls though..

I'll see if I can flex it on Saturday morning, will let you know..

[dr325i]

Originally Posted by Big John

Thats the one, IG Rad Pro. I had a 260.2 and it was a very different racquet to the 260.4, that's for sure.

Specs on the pro's 260.4 that I was after are balance 32.5, 330 grams unstrung. All lead at 12.. Will find out how he strings it, will try and replicate that with my couple and see how they go..

Agreed on the blade, winning so far. Yet to hit the h19, not so many people seem to like it as opposed to the h22 though? Would love to know if there is in fact a softer layup open pattern h22, or whether it is just the tight pattern ones that come softer?

I've got some Janko Tipsarevic racquets coming, 62 flex, open pattern. They might be pretty good too?

Are you sure about the TGK260.4? I thought the YT Radical MP was the TGK260.x, YT Radical Pro was TGK269.x.
The IG Radical changed to TGT?
I may be wrong though. I would be surprised if IG Rad MP changed and Pro went back to the YT Rad MP Mold...

[Big John]

Absolutely Nycoara, looks exactly like that. Hits a very solid ball too, a bit on the heavy side though!

Funnily enough dr325i I restrung the IG Radical Pro Pro Stock today and took it for a hit. I put that Flex Inifinity in it at 48 46 as my previous efforts have left me very much underwhelmed and hey presto! A magnificently flexy stick with so much feel and reasonable pop. Very happy, could be the best one yet..

As for the code, agreed on the tgk 269.1, got a few of those and it is one of my favourite racquets. My only complaint is that they are pretty heavy in the head even without lead. They were the update from the Microgel 233.1 from memory, which had a head that was supposed to be 100 but I was told was more like 104 in real life, it was big. The Youtek Radical Pro was more like a real 100 and had a pointier beam, clearly different mold?

The IG Radical Pro reminded me greatly of the 260.2 I had in shape. I think that was just a 260.1 in open pattern? Now the IG Radical Pro has the new grommets and is clearly smaller than the 269.1 I think it is 98? So looks pretty much the same as the IG Radical mp I think with an open pattern?

It does look very different with the clear CAP style grommets and is very flexy. I think they did this to overcome the complaints from many that the Youtek RP was too head heavy, this one is certainly more head light but it has become more of a control stick I think? The head size looks smaller than 98 to me but I could be wrong?

I could be wrong on the code, I'm pretty sure I checked when I took off the pallets to change them but I thought I'd read the 260.4 somewhere also. Could well be wrong, anyone else know?

[Big John]

Could well be wrong on the TGT thing too, I was looking for the code, was unaware of the TGK to TGT thing until recently, probably mistakenly assumed that they'd all become TGT's for the IG series.

All I do know is that strung loose and a bit longer, I love the racquet!

[NikeWilson]

Most of the people I've talked to don't like the new IG Radicals.

[Big John]

Until yesterday I would've agreed with them! I think the 260.2 was almost a test pilot for the IG RP and that racquet was great when you got it set up right but felt unstable and underpowered when you didn't. The Youtek Radical Pro was a fantastic racquet for those people that could handle the heavy swing weight, it hit a massive ball and had a lovely soft feel with heaps of spin in addition to being really easy to hit.

I think the only real complaint people had was the weight so I suspect Head thought they'd go with something more like the more manageable Radical MP mold that was less heavy in the head thinking they'd sell more if it was lighter in the head. Hence the IG Radical Pro, which did address the weight issue, but the problem now is it has lost a lot of pop, is harder to hit and unstable as a result.

The ideal solution would have been in my opinion to remake the Youtek Radical Pro mold with a different layup that was lighter in the head. I think this racquet does now exist for at least one tour player that I know of, essentially a more headlight 269.1. Not sure what the code is, hopefully at some point I'll be able to get one and have a look. If and when I do, I'll let you guys know. That setup for me would be the ultimate stick and the ultimate evolution of the whole Agassi line of bigger headed radicals that it appears peaked with the Flexpoint Radical Tour - 100 head, 58 flex, headlight balance, great stick!

As an aside, I think many are stringing their IG RP's far too tight, mine only came to life yesterday with Rod Groom's magical white Flex Infinity at 48 46 pre-stretched 15%. Came off the stringer at 31 on my ERT, 30 after hitting. We'll see how long it stays there, it felt glorious yesterday.

These extra pre-stretched polys like 4G need to be strung lower, the extra pre-stretch at the factory and on the stringer takes power out of it but they hold their tension beautifully, hence the need to string lower than many are used to. If you string them at your normal tensions, they'll feel completely underpowered and won't drop off to the point where they would feel good very quickly. This leads to most saying 'bad string.' Its not, just needs to be handled differently. What I would say is that it doesn't have that explosive elastic feeling of alu power when you first hit with it, but that feeling unfortunately doesn't last long and I can't be bothered re-stringing my sticks every time I hit. Expensive and time consuming and I'm not that good!

[Big John]

This 260.4 is very much a players stick and is quite pt57a like if you ask me. Which despite the feelings of many is not really the ideal stick for everyone, quite low powered and with a small sweet spot but with amazing feel. For those out there wanting the open pattern pt57a feeling, this 260.4 much too your disappointment I suspect is how it might play and yes, it is unstable and low powered but has awesome feel.

I'm pretty sure my 260.4 flexed at 59 but I'll check on Saturday morning, the IG RP is stiffer than that right? Will try and check that too.