2012 Babolat PDR Grommet HELP

[FlatShotWizard]

Hello,

Very new so very sorry if this is not the right place to post this - I looked around but still wasn’t sure.

I bought a 2012 Babolat PDR a couple weeks back, and took it to get restrung and new grommets. Being very new I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into, and thought it would be simple. I took it to a shop I had used before, and asked them to restring and apply new grommets. After cutting the strings and throwing away the grommets, they told me they didn’t have them in stock after all and it was up to me to find new grommets and figure it out. Now I have a frame I cannot use, and I feel like I have tried everything to find a set of grommets. No one seems to make or sell the originals or the substitutes I have seen mentioned on this forum. The only thing I can find is partial grommet sets on **** and that feels like a bad option. I am about to give up on this and could use some ideas or if anyone has a set - I want to buy them!

Anyone have any ideas?? Could really use a Hail Mary

 

[Wes]

@FlatShotWizard,

I'm sorry to hear that you had such a terrible experience at that shop.

In my opinion, they did you a huge disservice. Any good shop (worth their salt) would never remove the old grommets without first verifying that they indeed have a correct replacement set to go in.

HUGE "F"-up on their part!

Just my 2 cents, but I would never go back to a shop that makes a "rookie move" like that.

I'm extra livid that this shop has now put the onus on you to rectify the problem (when it was their dumb-a*s actions that put you in this difficult position in the first place!).



Moving on (before I have a full-blown conniption)...

The correct bumper/grommet set for that frame is 900096 (which has a slotted bumper). That is the one used for the pre-2015 Pure Drives (2012, 2009, 2006).

However, the bumper/grommet set for the AeroPro Drives (not to be confused with the Pure Aero, which replaced the AeroPro Drive in 2016) also will fit perfectly.
That set is 900021 (which has a solid bumper w/ no slots). That is the one used for all of the AeroPro Drives (2013, 2010, 2007, 2004).

Unfortunately, both of these sets have been discontinued, and will take a bit of hunting for you to find either of them.

AeroPro Drive & (pre-2015) Pure Drive grommet sets

See also...

Pure aero decima grommets

Hi guys. I just bought babolat pure aero grommets for a pure aero decima. And I figure out that they didn't much. The problem is that I couldn't find grommets for decima as much as I search for. What exactly should I search for???

tt.tennis-warehouse.com

Feel free to send me a PM (called "Conversations" on here).

Cheers, Wes

 

[Dags]

To add to the information @Wes has provided.

900055 is another option. That was the solid Pure Drive bumper that was replaced by 900096 with the holes in it. It's obviously even older, but you never know what you might find floating around.

900021 has a couple of versions. SKU 106184 is the standard black one. SKU 106185 is white - it was from the APD junior. The white ones were the last ones I ever tracked down here in the UK, as people overlooked them. That was in either late 2020 or 2021 though. The story I was told by the supplier was that when the Babolat factory shut down during lockdown, there was a backorder on the grommets. When it re-opened, Babolat made the decision not to make another run. I don't know whether that's the complete truth, but the grommets were certainly hard to come by. I wish you luck!

 

[Crozzer95]

I have some 900096 in stock, I'm. In the UK though.

 

[FlatShotWizard]

Thank you all for your help and advice! User oldtimer reached out to me and offered a set of 900021 grommets he happened to have. Fingers crossed it all works out, will post an update when I get the grommets in.

Seriously, thank you all

 

[Wes]

Thank you all for your help and advice! User oldtimer reached out to me and offered a set of 900021 grommets he happened to have. Fingers crossed it all works out, will post an update when I get the grommets in.

Seriously, thank you all

Sweet! Glad you located a set!
The (AeroPro Drive) 900021 set will work perfectly (as I mentioned in post #2) and, in my opinion, are preferred over the 900096 anyway (& I explained why in the video posted above).

You'll be up & running in no time!

 

[FlatShotWizard]

The saga has ended! I took my new grommet set in, and a few days later I can play tennis again. Not a great experience but thanks to you all I have something to use now instead of a new wall ornament

 

[Wes]

The saga has ended! I took my new grommet set in, and a few days later I can play tennis again. Not a great experience but thanks to you all I have something to use now instead of a new wall ornament

@FlatShotWizard, glad to hear you're back up and running.

Hopefully, they didn't install either of the two side pieces upside down (as I mentioned in the video back in post #2).
To the uninitiated, that's a very easy mistake to make (I've had to rectify this before, due to other [poor] stringers installing them incorrectly).

If someone doesn't truly know what they are doing (which sounds like that shop), there's a 75% chance of getting it wrong - and only a 25% chance of getting it right (by sheer happenstance).