customization of flexpoint radical tour

M

molybdenum

New User
Flexpoint radical tour users, how did you guys customize your racquet? Where did you add lead tape or did you just play with it in stock form?
 
i am still playing with mine in stock trim, seems to suit me fine for now...i did however weigh both my sticks on a postal scale and came up with 12 1/4oz on each frame with wilson pro overgrip....
 
Going back to your original question, I customized it only because I wanted to get a similar setup to the Volkl C10 Pro. Added about 30gm of lead weight to the handle, but now have trimmed it down to 16gm and am happy with it.
 
yeah i did post this question before but nobody answered. But now i thought perhaps more people bought this racquet so i would get more answer. All i have on my rad tour is a head tape. pro overgrip, .75grams in handle and 1.5 grams on the throat. What i noticed with this racquet is that it seems very sensitive to lead tape. I used to have 6 grams total on the 3 and 9 oclock but it played crapily. It seemed that the less lead tape there is on the racquet, the better it plays. Is that true. But i also found that my racquet could be unstable at times but i not able to add lead to 3 and 9 because my racquet feels weird when i add lead.
 
I have played with mine a little, I currently have 8 grams in the butt and 22 grams above the handle. It plays really nice but I am still going to tinker a bit further, including stretching the head when I get my stringer machine.

Strung with FXP 16g at 53lbs.

John.
 
Ljubicic for number1 said:
I have played with mine a little, I currently have 8 grams in the butt and 22 grams above the handle. It plays really nice but I am still going to tinker a bit further, including stretching the head when I get my stringer machine.

Strung with FXP 16g at 53lbs.

John.
Click to expand...

Added a leather grip but stretching the head seems like an awesome idea. Send pics. Maybe that's how Agassi plays with a 104" head.
 
Its stock weight is fine with me. BTW, Ljibicic, isn't 53 lbs a little low for a midplus? I've settled at 59 with the FXP 17 string.
 
I'm also wondering how the head can be stretched too !? Pls. enlighten us.

One thing i hate about the racket is the "ping sound".

Mine is in stock form too. It's heavy enough as it is I reckon.

Using TiMo 18 strings at 61 pounds
Would probably try TiMo 17 for durability purposes.

Anyone else using Lux BB strings with their Tour ? Pls. share your experience.
 
Ronaldo, Johncauthern on this message board, has stretched the tour head and apparently got great results. Its a bit hard to get any answers from him though. Try searching his user name and reading some of of his tips. It is basically stringing the mains at about 40lbs and the crosses up around 66lbs or there abouts.

Eggnog, 53lbs is probably a bit low but I have all my racquets strung low but the others are OS racquets. I will play with tensions when i get the stringer.

Roy, Have you tried a dampner? I tried a donut that made it better before settling on a head smartzorb which I like best.

John.
 
To John - Yes, I have tried the "donut" dampeners, the Babalot one, but it made the string bed rather dead.

I'm using an old prince dampener, a tiny black one which is like a capsule sold 10 years ago which gives feel and absorbs shock; but unfortunately doesn't take away the "ping" noise".

Just one comment about "stretching the racket" I think stretching it at 66 pounds may be risking damage to the racket. I think what's more practical is for HEAD to make the rackets about 1/2 inch longer. I also play with the Michael Chang racket and it's sweet.

I'm considering taking off the bumper guard next time I re-string and see if the racket plays even better.

Would also like to try the new FXP Team racket but since it's head heavy, it may not be my cup of tea.
 
Hi Roy, I am prepared to take the risk with stretching the hoop for experimental purposes :-) If it breaks it breaks......

Have you tried a elastic band for a dampner? My head smartzorb works well.


John.
 
for the ping sound i am using a rubberband and it works great, but if you dont like the dampened feel then you might be out of luck....
 
Thanks guys. I'll try the rubber band, although I must admit that it doesn't look the most appealing.

John, pls. keep us informed about stretching the hoop. To me it may be going a little too far. I am happy tinkering with various Lux BB strings. Other strings move around too much which is a pain.

I'm gonna buy a second hand 03 tour for US$80 to play with for a while but the FXP tour will still be my main racket.

My other "second rackets" include FXP OS, Michael Chang graphite, Donnay Pro One and N code 61 95. They are all excellent rackets.

I've tried a whole host of others eg Pure drive, Fischer Pro One, Volkyl C-10, etc, etc but the FXP TOUR is the BEST so far.

****What do you guys use as 2nd rackets ?? ****
 
I'm also using a rubber band for my FXP Tour.

WRT the upper hoop of my FXP Tour, I'm really happy with it because it allows me to generate huge flat bombs when hit in that area.

As for my second racquet, I'm using a Volkl C10 Pro.
 
Second Racquets are Prince TT Bandit OS and Head Intellegence Is2 but to be honest they are not getting a look in since I got the FXP Tour. I am loving it more after each session.

John.
 
I hit with the FXP Rad Tour this weekend quite a bit. The frame was stock with an overgrip, Gamma Red Eye (seemed to quell any "pinging" for me") and Bi-Phase 18 strung at 60 lbs. I really liked the setup. I have not played with this racquet long enough to develop any more serious customizations but would be interested in others experiences also. Really nice frame!
 
glad you liked it. I am using the tour with a babolat dampner with 3 grams of lead at the throat. Not sure if it is good though.
 
molybdenum said:
glad you liked it. I am using the tour with a babolat dampner with 3 grams of lead at the throat. Not sure if it is good though.
Click to expand...
The only customization I did with my frame is 16gm of lead in the handle via the butt cap. Adds a lot of stability on volleys and slices, and gives more pop on groundstrokes. However, do note that it's different strokes for different folks ... works well for me though.
 
I have sort of gone of the frame a little, been playing like crap for a few weeks and thought it was just a slump,,, which I go through often:-( but after getting really discouraged I decided to pull the TT Bandit out and I played considerable better with it.

I am picking up my new stringer machine tomorrow so hopefully some tighter stringing and the stretched head will fix the problem.

I will keep you updated.

John.
 
I am still in love with my FXP Tour except I haven't found the right strings yet (using TiMo @57 pounds), too crisp and a little too powerful.

I'm falling in love with my 03 tour (using tecnifibre polyspin and some cheap syn gut @63 pounds) the racket is truly sweet. I also like the pop sound of the 03 tour. Even with a dampener, the sound coming off my FXP Tour (although not a ping) is just not right ...its kind of annoying !
 
Roy said:
I am still in love with my FXP Tour except I haven't found the right strings yet (using TiMo @57 pounds), too crisp and a little too powerful.

I'm falling in love with my 03 tour (using tecnifibre polyspin and some cheap syn gut @63 pounds) the racket is truly sweet. I also like the pop sound of the 03 tour. Even with a dampener, the sound coming off my FXP Tour (although not a ping) is just not right ...its kind of annoying !
Click to expand...
I strung it initially with Gamma TNT Extreme Spin 19 at 59lbs, and it was a total disaster. This frame already gives great feel and has great spin potential, so the strings overcooked the whole setup. I finally settled with Gamma ZO Sweet at 57lbs, and it works just great. Good feel, just the right amount of power and pop on groundstrokes, and great control.

With the TNT strings, it had an annoying pinging sound, but after switching to the ZO, it kind of went away coupled with a dampener. A good dampener to use is the Tecnifibre Vibra Clip:

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/descpageACTFUSA-TECVIB.html

Give it a shot for it provides just the right amount of dampening without taking away too much feel, and it has never ever come off my strings compared to the original dampener.

Hope this helps.
 
jonolau; in my other thread I ask about 12 oz. frames for the over 40 set. I understand that you are not quite 40 yet, but have some mobility issues. My question is: how is the FXP Radical Tour working out for you in terms of maneuverability and power/spin. The specs look ideal for me and I plan on giving one a good workout. The lower swingweight relative to some other 12 oz'ers is intriguing to me. Rabbit makes a strong case for something lighter ie. the Cat 8VE but I am very hesitant to go with a lighter frame because I have never had any arm problems and I love the stability of something in the 12 range. Is the FXP Rad kind of the "best of both worlds" to a certain extent? - not too heavy/swingweight and not too light/unstable? Sorry for the long post but I am about to make a long term switch and was just wondering, and you seem to be dealing with issues similar to mine and are also using the Flexpoint Rad Tour. Thanks!
 
WChiang said:
jonolau; in my other thread I ask about 12 oz. frames for the over 40 set. I understand that you are not quite 40 yet, but have some mobility issues. My question is: how is the FXP Radical Tour working out for you in terms of maneuverability and power/spin. The specs look ideal for me and I plan on giving one a good workout. The lower swingweight relative to some other 12 oz'ers is intriguing to me. Rabbit makes a strong case for something lighter ie. the Cat 8VE but I am very hesitant to go with a lighter frame because I have never had any arm problems and I love the stability of something in the 12 range. Is the FXP Rad kind of the "best of both worlds" to a certain extent? - not too heavy/swingweight and not too light/unstable? Sorry for the long post but I am about to make a long term switch and was just wondering, and you seem to be dealing with issues similar to mine and are also using the Flexpoint Rad Tour. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Hi Chiang, I'm 36. In terms of maneuverability, the FXP Tour is not too bad around the court. Power is average when hit squarely, but for extra drive, I usually hit in the upper hoop which can give me nice hooks and long flat bombs on groundstrokes.

I personally found the swingweight a bit low and added another 16gms into the handle. Rabbit has made a strong case for lighter racquets for the >40s, but he also added that it is only a guide. In my opinion, if you're still comfortable with a heavier racquet and can maintain a good level of swing consistency over a 2-3 hour session, then there should not be a need to go lighter.

But let me ask you, if I already haven't:

What is your impetus for change?
Are there any gaps in your current game that you'd like to fill in?

In my honest opinion, the FXP Tour isn't one of the best sticks to play straight out of the box for the criteria you've stated above. That honour would go to Volkl (especially the 10 series). All Volkl racquets have a proprietary dampening system in the handle and is well-known to be one of the most arm friendly racquets. Do not worry about a lack of pros using it because those decisions are not back on the technical merits of the brand (neither the lack of it).

I have tried a lighter racquet quite similar to my Volkl C10 Pro which was the Babolat Pure Drive Team, and it was a total disaster even with the exact string setup as the C10 Pro. It felt too light and because of the different swingweight, balance and material construction, the differences were amplified. I trashed it only after a week.

I tried the FXP Tour out of sheer curiousity, and am now playing not too badly. However, it still does not have the comfort and feel of the Volkls and am considering cutting short my experiment. But before I do so, I'm still toying with the idea of walking down the extended length path to partially compensate for my lack of mobility.

By the way, I still haven't found out what's your current main racquet?
 
jonolau; thanks for the feedback. My current stick is the LM Prestige mid. I like its stability and control but find the swingweight a little high for my tastes as I get older. Great racquet. I am looking to create more action/spin on my shots but also keep the solid feel of a relatively heavy frame in the 12 oz. range. The Volkl Tour 10 Gen II also seems to fit the bill and Volkls come highly recommended. I am about a 4.5 all-courter and must say that I have always had good luck with Head frames...maybe its the grip shape. But I also like a flexy frame. Let's keep the feedback going as we experiment with different possibilities. Thanks
 
WChiang:

As you can see be referring to other posts I am of the over 40 crowd actually in the 50 group. All of this conversation has made me question whether I a deluding my self but I have had a nice run with the Head fp Tour, I do not find it that hard to swing, nice ground strokes. I am always tempted by the Bab PD + as in the group I play they do not handle my Bab serves well and have an easier time returning my serves from my other rkts, tour 10 MP(Volkl). the Head and the Wilson N Code 6.1 95. However returning to your question the Head is easily played with
 
WChiang said:
My question is: how is the FXP Radical Tour working out for you in terms of maneuverability and power/spin. The specs look ideal for me and I plan on giving one a good workout. The lower swingweight relative to some other 12 oz'ers is intriguing to me. ........<edit>

Is the FXP Rad kind of the "best of both worlds" to a certain extent? - not too heavy/swingweight and not too light/unstable? Sorry for the long post but I am about to make a long term switch and was just wondering, and you seem to be dealing with issues similar to mine and are also using the Flexpoint Rad Tour. Thanks!
Click to expand...

WChiang,

If you haven't done so already, you may want to take a look at my comparison review of the FXP Radical Tour that I performed for TW here: http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/playtests/BREAKP05.html

BTW, as I mentioned in the other thread, I'm about your age as well, just so you have a reference point.

Cheers. :D
 
Jonalu, you are actually adding lead tape to the butt cap? Isn't this racquet head light enough? I personally think that the sweet spot is a bit low and was considering putting some lead at the 10 an 2 but that would greatly increase the swing weight. One question i have is how did you add lead tape to the handle? Did you just stick it on the sides of the thing that divides the handle in half? [l] (the middle line in the picture?)
 
molybdenum said:
Jonalu, you are actually adding lead tape to the butt cap? Isn't this racquet head light enough? I personally think that the sweet spot is a bit low and was considering putting some lead at the 10 an 2 but that would greatly increase the swing weight. One question i have is how did you add lead tape to the handle? Did you just stick it on the sides of the thing that divides the handle in half? [l] (the middle line in the picture?)
Click to expand...
Pics below will show you how it was done. Very easily reversible. The whitish stuff you see is BluTack, sort of a plasticine used for mounting pictures etc. on the wall which can be removed without staining. If I'm not wrong, Staples sells it under their own house brand. The BluTack helps to keep the fishing weights in place and also adds a nice amount of weight in addition to the lead. Total weight about 16gms.

Individual preferences: I found it to be a little too headlight and the swingweight was a bit low for my liking. After adding the weight, the difference was immediately apparent.

Hope this helps.

FXP1.jpg


FXP2.jpg
 
WChiang said:
jonolau; thanks for the feedback. My current stick is the LM Prestige mid. I like its stability and control but find the swingweight a little high for my tastes as I get older. Great racquet. I am looking to create more action/spin on my shots but also keep the solid feel of a relatively heavy frame in the 12 oz. range. The Volkl Tour 10 Gen II also seems to fit the bill and Volkls come highly recommended. I am about a 4.5 all-courter and must say that I have always had good luck with Head frames...maybe its the grip shape. But I also like a flexy frame. Let's keep the feedback going as we experiment with different possibilities. Thanks
Click to expand...
Hi Chiang, reading your post again, you might want to give the Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine Mid a shot. This racquet is very close in specs to the LM Presitge Mid and I alternate more between the FXP Tour and this racquet. The T10VEMid is one of the most maneuverable racquets I've played with. Control is needless to say, it has tons of it. It also has a surprising amount of power and pop with pinpoint accuracy. I will still stick to these 2 frames and use them depending on the level of player that I'm encountering on that particular day. You can also check out a racquet playtest comparison:

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/playtests/SMASHLOB01.html
 
Does anyone whether sticking lead tape in side the handle some how negatively impacts the racquet? How come it is advised to add fishing weights?
 
Sticking lead tape is also fine. Points to take note:

1. Make sure that it is anchored well because if the adhesive backing comes off, there's a chance it might get lodged up the frame and may be extremely difficult to retrieve.
2. Fishing weights are compacted, whereas if you want to build weight up using lead tape, it might end up being quite thick.

However, there's no hard and fast rule to modification and go with what you feel most comfortable with.
 
To Rafa Nadal:

I like the FXP Tour more for matches cos it serves much better. Much easier to win points on service games.

But I like to "hit" with the o3 Tour more cos of more comfort and easier on the arm. But it performs poorly on the serve. I'm gonna add some weight to if it helps.

My third choices would be my Ncode 61 95 or Michael Chang.
 
i have 12 grams and 2 big bullet size fishing wieght on the bottom of the handle, the fish weights were too big so i DUCK Taped it, works fine, but bit heavy, i can't do ne thing on the net, because the racquet is too heavy, so im thinking of working my arms out...well i shall see, but the conclusion is, weight on the handles of flexpoint tour is better than stock, beacuse the raquet does not fly when you hit.
 
How have you guys found the sweet spot once so much weight is added to the handle ?

Wouldn't the weight move the sweet spot down too much ?
 
Roy said:
I'm also wondering how the head can be stretched too !? Pls. enlighten us.

One thing i hate about the racket is the "ping sound".

Mine is in stock form too. It's heavy enough as it is I reckon.

Using TiMo 18 strings at 61 pounds
Would probably try TiMo 17 for durability purposes.

Anyone else using Lux BB strings with their Tour ? Pls. share your experience.
Click to expand...

Tried both timo 18 and 17, nice strings, but 18 is way better. 18 breaks damn fast though. Alu power is better then timo 17 IMO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Does lead tape affect the flexpoint?
Replies
10
Views
808
El Diablo
E
M
Customizing Flexpoint radical tour
Replies
4
Views
821
TennisMD
T
chapufo1
Modifying your racquet w/lead tape
Replies
3
Views
681
pchoi04
P
L
Head Flexpoint FXP Radical Team VS Flexpoint radical tour
Replies
3
Views
2K
levy1
L
R
is it ok to put lead tape on flexpoint radical tour
Replies
8
Views
711
torero2001
T
Back
Top