Rossignol F200

my second graphite racquet was an f200. then i moved on the the f295. maybe i'll dig them out and look at them again for old time sake

I just hit with my old one last week... how did I ever think I could swing a 4 5/8... nice stick though...still

Here's my grey early version. I think this is the 2nd version, circa 1984 or so.

^^^^ I thought that was the first version!

First version as far as I know - was released in '79. Before that.....the Johan Kriek model was the flagship (and that was just a repainted R40). The F100 and F200 came out together and shared the same paintjob - the F300 was also released at the same time.

Maybe CoachRick will see this and chime in - he has a lot of early Rossignol knowledge.

galain said:

First version as far as I know - was released in '79. Before that.....the Johan Kriek model was the flagship (and that was just a repainted R40). The F100 and F200 came out together and shared the same paintjob - the F300 was also released at the same time.

Maybe CoachRick will see this and chime in - he has a lot of early Rossignol knowledge.

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Anyone have a photo of that first version then please?

A friend of mine used this racket back in the day... a total controlled hitter with great touch, movement and court sense. He also had the best twist serve I have ever seen, unfortunately his back would not allow him to own that shot forever.

What surprised me was for a person that did not hit the ball hard (but had great depth), he broke several of these on a regular basis. They all seem to break at the same spot... at the 4:30 - 5:00 o'clock positon on the hoop.

I had one break on me at 11 o'clock. That and the Mag Pro are the only frames I've had that actually broke during play. Sad days! Luckily I still have plenty in reserve.

Jimbo - the grey one posted is the one I was referring to as what I thought was the original. I'm hoping Coach Rick will jump in if he sees this thread. He was Rossignol salesman back in the early days.

F200 (White)


F200 (Mats Wilander)


F200 (Blue)


F200 (Green)

3 F200s and 1 F150


FGC


FCX

Dino, absolutely superb racquets and photos

I havn't seen most of these before!

Interestingly the blue and green ones are the same as my red version (only different colour obviously), so I guess they came out at the same time?

Dino Lagaffe said:

FGC

FCX

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Are these 2 basically F200's with different names?

Really great looking racquets

No Jimbo - they're both different. Have to admit, I haven't seen the FGC before. The FCX is a cheaper model that (I'm almost 100% sure) was sold in some markets as the R90. It could be that the FCG is the same kind of deal? Perhaps Dino can give us an idea of how they play?

I know for myself, my FCX's and R90's feel the same - I'd have a hard time identifying them if I was blindfolded. They're perhaps even slightly softer than the F200, definitely lighter, and as a result, not nearly as stable. I have mine leaded up and they play nicely for me, but I've spent a lot of time with them too. You really can't get away with that much flex in a stick if you don't make it reasonably hefty.

Holy Inverted Bridges, Batman! What a collection of Rossignols!

dataseviltwin said:

Holy Inverted Bridges, Batman! What a collection of Rossignols!

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I do like my Rossignols... I'll probably post pics of other racquets in my collection later.

Dino....great stuff!! Bring back the inverted bridge dammit!! Those were great frames.

Sidd Finch said:

Dino....great stuff!! Bring back the inverted bridge dammit!! Those were great frames.

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Thanks Sidd. Couldn't agree more...

galain said:

I had one break on me at 11 o'clock. That and the Mag Pro are the only frames I've had that actually broke during play. Sad days! Luckily I still have plenty in reserve.

Jimbo - the grey one posted is the one I was referring to as what I thought was the original. I'm hoping Coach Rick will jump in if he sees this thread. He was Rossignol salesman back in the early days.

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The rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated! I just don't check in on the F200 threads too often.

Let's see...the 100 and 200 were in proto form summer of '79, released shortly after. No 300 in the States that year(at least not officially). Same construction for the two models.

Before that, the R 40 and RT were the most 'techy' frames...and that 'box' construction(Head Arthur Ashe Comp) had been around for 10 years or so...still hanging on in the snow ski industry as well.

Rossi was a limited distribution line in the US early on, much like the ski side of the company, trying to cultivate 'pro shop' type dealers when possible and offering some price 'protection' by not selling to every retailer in town. The hottest selling wood frame was the Strato(former Garcia 240), a direct competitor to the Kramer Autograph. The Kramer was the 'price benchmark' racket for many folks and often was used to promote a 'lower price' image because of its popularity. As such, a pro shop could sell the lower cost Strata at the same retail price as the Kramer and make a couple more bucks OR play off the 'exclusive' image for a while and command a higher price and more margin.

The RT and R40 really weren't anything special...Head and Yamaha had used the technology for years...but along came the F-Series. Inverted bridge(didn't fit on many of the popular machines of the day) was the 'hook'. Fairly interesting concept(main strings of a consistent length) but perhaps not the best execution. The throat 'attachment' was a particularly weak area as were the 'corners' (much like Yonex of the early-mid-80s) of the face. Also, there was a significant problem with the strings pulling through the frame in various spots. The higher tensions and popular Kevlar-based strings of the time didn't help any, either.

Rossignol tried to capitalize on their fairly loyal dealer base by introducing a new frame whether it was needed or not...hence, the plethora of F series iterations. 150, 300, colors, carbon, no carbon, yada yada. They also made gad-awful frames like the Touch(aluminum with NO touch ).


The Rossi Team...Kriek, Clerc, Wilkinson, et al, was an interesting idea. My guess is that if Wilander hadn't been so successful at the time, Rossignol wouldn't have held on as long as it did. The ski and tennis shops could depend on the brand name to carry from one sport to the other but there really were dealers in the southern US that thought Rossignol was a brand of sausage !

Dino Lagaffe said:

Thanks Sidd. Couldn't agree more...

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Given the advances in frame materials and more adaptable stringing machines, a current 'technology' of the inverted bridge might be something to 'hit' on. Heck, the patent must have run its course, why don't one of you guys start a line of inverted bridge rackets!!!

Wait...I know !!! How about a Chris Star racket WITH an inverted bridge!?!?! TW...are you listening!?!?!

coachrick said:

Wait...I know !!! How about a Chris Star racket WITH an inverted bridge!?!?! TW...are you listening!?!?!

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Add the Lacoste rubber thing under the grip and I'm in...

After all the praise I have seen about this frame here and the fact that my first coach back in '86 told me it was the best, I purchased one on the big auction site! Can't wait to hit with it...

ilian said:

After all the praise I have seen about this frame here and the fact that my first coach back in '86 told me it was the best, I purchased one on the big auction site! Can't wait to hit with it...

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Good luck, and remember to post back with your comments.

wow ..a resurrected 3 yr thread..maybe i am doing some good here

jorel said:

wow ..a resurrected 3 yr thread..maybe i am doing some good here

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It goes to show that the classics (such as the F200) are timeless.

I was out playing the other day and just got a pair of F200s restrung with Pacific Classic. There is nothing like a well-struck groundstroke with those frames. You can bend the ball like a footballer making a corner kick with it. The biggest problem that I have is when I pull my slice backhand across my body and sometimes the ball will curl between 2 or more in flight and land out of the court...

The control you get out of that stick, and the ability to swing out and still land the ball inside the baseline even with a fairly flat ball is unbelievable.

I'd love to get the weighting sorted out so that I can serve and volley a bit better with it, but I have to believe that doing so is something that I can sort that with a little effort.

At the moment I have 4 of these in a bag, a 5th is on the way and should be here tomorrow. Thinking about trying to amass 6 of them and putting together a full tournament bag and playing them next year... Just have to see...

Bought an F250 recently just for kicks. What a hoot to hit with!

I feel the sweet spot of this kind of inverted-bridge racquet is somewhat higher (ie. middle and upper area) than that of traditional racquet (ie. middle and lower area).

Dino Lagaffe said:

Good luck, and remember to post back with your comments.

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Okay, I got the racquet a couple of days ago, but never had a chance to hit with it yet, apart from hitting against the back board for a little bit. The frame feels very solid and flexible and I hope that it won't dissappoint me on the court either...

I like to use the frame with a good gut string to get the power level up a bit. That seems to be the thing with older, more flexible rackets, they are really rewarding if you have good technique and they let you make the most of a nice powerful gut string. I have been using the F200 almost all of the time lately. Sure, I love my Max200Gs, but off the ground (and when you really get ahold of a serve) the F200 is much more versatile. The biggest thing that I wish I could sort out is the volley with the F200, I seem to have issues with getting a really precise direction with them, so I'm always playing extra conservative when I head up to the net. It really makes me want to find some F250s or the other stiffer rackets from Rossignol to see if/how that helps...

Just bought my first brand new Rossys after 20 years

Hi,
walking in Barcelona last week I found a sport store about to close. The manager told me that he was about to retire and close business, I as him if he had some sticks to sell... he goes inside and come back with a set of brand new Rossignol rackets F200's, F230's and F295's several grip sizes available. What a surprise after months of surfing on the net looking for those rackets.
Got a F200 burgundy, F200 blue, F295 blue and as an extra prize a Prince Response 110 one of the rackets that made me love this sport al for 100 euros.
I left some others there but very happy for my hunt.

regards

6-2/6-4/6-0 said:

I like to use the frame with a good gut string to get the power level up a bit. That seems to be the thing with older, more flexible rackets, they are really rewarding if you have good technique and they let you make the most of a nice powerful gut string. I have been using the F200 almost all of the time lately. Sure, I love my Max200Gs, but off the ground (and when you really get ahold of a serve) the F200 is much more versatile. The biggest thing that I wish I could sort out is the volley with the F200, I seem to have issues with getting a really precise direction with them, so I'm always playing extra conservative when I head up to the net. It really makes me want to find some F250s or the other stiffer rackets from Rossignol to see if/how that helps...

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The dynamic stiffness from the grafil injection is what also makes the max 200g superb on volleys compared to the other old school very flexible rackets. Stiff for punch volleys and Flexible for longer classic strokes.