Because I'll bet half of us have never used tools beyond a hammer and scissors, and aren't qualified to do any kind of job correctly.
And, I'll bet, some small amount of contact cement or adhesive is still involved, as anything that is screwed together and shaken and stirred tends to creak, groan, twist, and loosen.
Hopefully the Dunlop Tennis team is planning for frequent updates to the different parts of this idapt line. The caveat here is that the parts or components will be available for purchase separately....and also perhaps making sure that dealers don't charge for using the tool to update or tighten.
Imagine updating your racquet head, grip, feel (the middle thingy) without having to buy an entirely-new racquet. The narcissists among us could update the colors to match their current bags, outfit, etc. while the gearheads could get the latest technology components without having to fully commit.
My local Pro claims that MOST people don't want that...they want someone else to do it for them. He said you wouldn't believe how many people drop off their racquets just for a grip change.
I was giving a guy I regularly hit with some crap about his overgrip being so dirty. He asked me if changing it was easy to do.... The shop changes it when he breaks a string.
we should at least have the OPTION to do it ourself.
hopefully they will give it to us in the future.
A friend of mine just told me that Dunlop is doing a very limited distribution of this initial release of the IDapt's. Maybe they want to see how they are received and don't want to have too much inventory on hand if things don't sell well?
interesting idea but after looking at it closer i don't see it.
you have 3 head sizes, 98/100/105 with 3 ra's, 67/68/69 and 4,4, and 2 head light.
from that you can choose colors, grip size, standard or extra length and some "feel" with the shock sleeve.
but you can't order different shock sleeves and replace them yourself.
so you have no control over the flex, and weight and balance can be adjusted with weights like any other racquet. you can also buy a racquet with a size smaller grip and use overgrips to play around with different feels.
that leaves us with length. can you replace the handle without the tool?
unless i'm misreading this you have to decide, then once you buy it that's it, only customization is stuff you can do with any racquet.
what am i missing?
^^^ this
Calling this system "customizable" is like calling any other large product line "customizable". You pick length, size, etc. just like any other fame.
The only difference is that Dunlop added the stupid sleeve that's just some sort of rubber that comes in three difference densities. That's not the same thing as changing the inherent flex of a frame which also involves beam shape and thickness throughout the length of the frame.
Racquet manufacturing has enough problems. Now Dunlop has decided to add a retail-level "Joe Teenager" to the equation. It's Friday night, Joe Teenager has to assemble and string your three new Dunlops and wants to get out of the shop as early as possible. He rushes through the work. What impact will that have on the feel, performance, and safety of each frame?
And I'm not sure that I want any idiot to have access to removing and reattaching the head of his frame. If he screws up just imagine his frame's head coming loose on his next overhead smash at net. Now you have the ball and his racquet head flying across the net. People do dumb s**t all the time and I can see them losing parts to this thing and deciding "this looks close enough" or "this screw might work".
Whether or not the racquets will come loose with long term usage remains to be seen. I would think and hope Dunlop has already tested this pretty well. All you need is word of mouth that these racquets will eventually come apart while you are playing and the product's dead...over....fini.
That is what LeeD is alluding to when he said that some adhesive cement must be required. But it is not required, right?
4 head sizes
3 colors
3 types of dampening thingies
2 lengths
6 grip sizes
Those come to 432 choices when multiplied. That of course assumes you buy all the components needed to create those choices.
What happens when someone strips the screw? Is there any accountability?
Why would you possibly choose anything other than your usual grips size and/or handle length?
I could see this becoming addictive for some if they could assemble it themselves, as they may keep on buying attachments to try out new combinations.
Having the shop do anything makes it less easy to change and makes for no reason to keep buying parts. It seems a product designed for the benefit of the retailer.
You cannot change the things that really matter, like weight or stiffness.
Was ist Blast Zones?Nope, weight you can change. With blast zones
Do we know if one can disassemble an iDapt frame?
How is the stability between the neck and the handle? Seems like that is the weakest joint and could eventually go loose. Too bad they don't have the classic frames.
I'm thinking the same thing. If the middle joint is not glued and fastened well enough it would eventually come off. A standard racket is put together with factory machine and much more solid.
But I like the idea of being able to switch options by the user... I wonder if that is possible. If the racket is made, is it permanent?
Watch the video on tennis xpress. Its very simple, but Dunlop only wants the dealers doing it. You need a special wrench to do it. But anyone COULD do it for sure.
Thanks!
And that tells us one more very important thing. Since it's just one screw/bolt holding this thing together and that fastener can be reversed out then these things WILL loosen over time as off-center hits put torque on said fastener. Vibration and torque are the enemies of fasteners and both are inherent to tennis ball-racquet impact.
In fact, the Dunlop tool incorporates a feature to prevent over-tightening (it's the clicky noise you hear in the video). There's no locking mechanism on these fasteners.
Two fasteners operating in parallel would have been much safer.
There is LocTite placed onto each screw. Dunlop's thought would be, rather than someone making a mess with too much or too little, simply place a new .03 cent screw in with appropriate amount of LocTite already applied.
LocTite is used in aerospace. It does NOT "eventually come off" - unless done wrong. Which is WHY Dunlop would like to have a new screw with a dealer doing the work.
Had another 45 minute hit with the 98, 27", 'medium' collar. Strung a bit too tight (typical to most demo frames), but it's a new feel for Dunlop.
Sweetspot is further towards the top of the hoop, which is the sweetspot in upper-level play, so you could really get some pop when you reached a bit more for the ball. Could krush some inside out forehands, for sure. Loved it at the net.
Connection is rock solid. You'd never know.
Local dealer has already sold a few, display and colors look great, concept intriguing.
Blue is the removable Loctite...red is permanent
There are only 8 true combinations: 4 head sizes and 2 choices for length.
Dunlop/TW should post the unstrung specs for each of them.
I've hit my 27.5" Green 100S now for about 10 hours and it is so much more solid than my APD and PD's were. Much softer feel with the medium shock sleeve. I put ALU138 in at 55lb and it the stringbed has plenty of bend, and at the same time, lots of plow and pop. I think what makes this so rock solid is that if you take off the grip, you can see that the hairpin is extra thick and it really gives the racquet a whole lot of plowthrough (or at least that's my theory). Oddly enough, this 14x18 pattern has enough control to hit flat, yet at the same time, just as much spin as a pro staff 95S. I really, really like how the crosses start high up in the stringbed.
All you'll need is an extra long hex key set in order to unscrew the handle. No room for silicone though. Personally I plan on trying all three shock sleeves.
They do post specs, but they don't change for 27" or 27.5" handle, which doesn't make sense.
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So I am at my local shop today and I hear about the first IDapt fail....."somebody reverse threaded the screws in a couple of racquets and now the heads are useless".
I guess someone turned the wrench the wrong way and reverse threaded the screws? Not sure exactly how this happened, but the store clerk told me one of their employees totally messed up and made two heads worthless. Strange huh? I guess people can find a way to mess up anything, no matter how simple it sounds.