Dunlop Max Competition

[retrowagen]

Here's some photos of a technically interesting, unusual Dunlop which lived in the shadow of the Max 200g.

The Max Competition was current 1986-1987, made for Dunlop/Slazenger (along with several other models out of the same exact 90 square-inch elliptical hitting surface mold and 16x19 drill pattern) in Erbach, West Germany, by the ski+tennis manufacturer, Erbacher (Erbacher also concurrently used the mold on its own models). The Max Competition was the top model in the line, featuring a 70% graphite layup, reinforced with Kevlar (and likely a little fiberglass).

Its unusual party trick was its adjustable weight system, located at 3 and 9 o'clock like Wilson's Perimeter Weighting System, only adjustable via snapping in or removing up to ten ball bearings on each side on a special plastic carrier. More bearings made the racquet degrees heavier, less head-light, and more torsionally stable. The other German-made Dunlop of the era which had this feature was the Maxpower T80 Tuning, offered concurrently with the Max Competition.

Though this frame was the functional equivalent of Wilson's Pro Staff 85, the Dunlop never quite took off in the same way, and is a fairly rare racquet today, but a rewarding hitter.

 

[big ted]

i remember seeing john mcenroe use that racquet at the '87 usopen

 

[retrowagen]

i remember seeing john mcenroe use that racquet at the '87 usopen

Well remembered!

 

[vsbabolat]

Those were one piece racquets too. No pallets or foam handles on those sticks.

 

[noro]

beautiful!first time i see it

 

[Virginia]

I bought one of those from an ***bay seller, brand new. Unfortunately, it came without its little pouch of ball bearings, though it does have a couple on board. I didn't realise McEnroe had used it.

 

[retrowagen]

I bought one of those from an ***bay seller, brand new. Unfortunately, it came without its little pouch of ball bearings, though it does have a couple on board. I didn't realise McEnroe had used it.

Virginia's back!!

Yes, supposedly they came with a little box of ball bearings, and a racquet-shaped plastic tool one would grasp in his fingertips to prise out the bearings for "tuning." Mine was purchased well-used, with the accessories and cover MIA. The bearings were easy enough to find, though.

My marbles are still lost, though... :lol:

 

[noro]

i didnt noticed the west germany made. They wanted to clear doubts about if made on germany west or east in the era of cold war, curious.

 

[vsbabolat]

i didnt noticed the west germany made. They wanted to clear doubts about if made on germany west or east in the era of cold war, curious.

They were 2 very separate and different countries at that time.

 

[coachrick]

I was the rep for Dunlop in Georgia/north north Florida at the time that racket was introduced. It didn't take salt air to degrade those ball bearings as many of the ones sold in Atlanta rusted/oxidized pretty quickly. Actually not a bad hitting racket, balls or no balls.

 

[Hannah19]

Many Dunlops and Slazengers, like the Pro Ceramic were made in Germany.
Dunlop Max Carbon 40 through 80 and several Max Competition models.
Some with ergonomic handles and made with Apollo Graphite.
I even have a Max Carbon 40 with Honeywell paintjob called the Honeywell 2000.

 

[Autodidactic player]

Mine is called the "Max Competition Plus." Luckily it came with the "tuning set" - a little plastic box filled with ball bearings!

 

[vsbabolat]

Mine is called the "Max Competition Plus." Luckily it came with the "tuning set" - a little plastic box filled with ball bearings!

I have a white one from that same mold its called the Max Power Plus with the ball bearings.

 

[Hannah19]

Mine is called the "Max Competition Plus." Luckily it came with the "tuning set" - a little plastic box filled with ball bearings!

Apollo Graphite and Ergo grip....Nice...!!!

 

[vusername]

What are differences between Max Comp and Max Comp Plus (aside from paint)? What are the head sizes of Comp and Comp Plus? Thx!

 

[jmacdaununder2]

Partner: 'What happened on that easy forehand putaway? That was a sitter...' Me: 'I think I lost my balls...'

 

[myth]

Please does anyone know if the tune up kit can be removed from the frame?
Does anyone have the specs of the racket? ( weight withds beam balance swing weight head size)?

 

[PBODY99]

Please does anyone know if the tune up kit can be removed from the frame?
Does anyone have the specs of the racket? ( weight widths beam balance swing weight head size)?

I believe you can use an awl from the bottom to pop them out

 

[Peter_sweden]

Bump! (And first post!)

Found a listing online for this racket. Not NOS, but hardly used, judging from the pics.

Worth $40 including shipping, I wonder? 12 marbles are attached on the photos, not sure if the seller has the rest (and that special tool), but a nice leather sleeve is included in the listing. I'll probably get it.

Love this forum, by the way.

/Peter

 

[max_brat]

Bump! (And first post!)

Found a listing online for this racket. Not NOS, but hardly used, judging from the pics.

Worth $40 including shipping, I wonder? 12 marbles are attached on the photos, not sure if the seller has the rest (and that special tool), but a nice leather sleeve is included in the listing. I'll probably get it.

Love this forum, by the way.

/Peter

Yeah, it's definitely worth it. I have one with the complete set. I've been meaning to try to set it up (no ball bearings at first, then put them in as you see fit), but with the Max 200G being perfectly set up for my game, I just have never found the time.

 

[coachrick]

You can see I responded roughly eight years ago!! This was a nice frame; but nothing to write home about. Certainly not a factor in the grand scheme of things; but Dunlop was hurting for "interesting" frames at that time.

 

[Grafil Injection]

Any ideas on the specs regarding weight with and without ball-bearings? Was it quite head-light without them? I guess the balls were a standard size, so you can buy spares at your local DIY shop?

 

[coachrick]

Any ideas on the specs regarding weight with and without ball-bearings? Was it quite head-light without them? I guess the balls were a standard size, so you can buy spares at your local DIY shop?

When I hit it without any ball bearings, it felt very standard in weight and balance; but that was 30+ years ago. It was all about feel for me, not numbers.

 

[Grafil Injection]

When I hit it without any ball bearings, it felt very standard in weight and balance; but that was 30+ years ago. It was all about feel for me, not numbers.

Interesting, so probably not very heavy bearings, allowing quite precise modification. Should have just included a pack of lead tape with the frame!

 

[coachrick]

Interesting, so probably not very heavy bearings, allowing quite precise modification. Should have just included a pack of lead tape with the frame!

Yeah, I was never so sensitive that a couple of ball bearings would matter to me...lead tape is your friend; but that wouldn't give the sellers
a new "technology" to market!! Again, I think the frame without the gizmos was pretty good, just nothing special. If Mac had switched, it would have
taken off like a rocket!

 

[Autodidactic player]

Interesting, so probably not very heavy bearings, allowing quite precise modification. Should have just included a pack of lead tape with the frame!

I've got a fancy scale that weighs down to a thousandth of gram. According to that scale, each ball bearing weighs 865/1000 of a gram. You could probably be a bit more precise with small pieces of lead tape but I agree with coach, I would never have been sensitive enough to notice the difference.

 

[Grafil Injection]

A couple of things I noticed looking at e*ay listings. The original mid-grey one shown by the OP seems to be the only version with Graphite & Kevlar written at the top. The black MAX Competition Plus versions, as in the reply above, show only Graphite. Also, the MCP seems to be produced both in West Germany and in England. The England version also seems to have slightly more rounded edges to the frame and MAX is written in the swirly font.

 

[vsbabolat]

A couple of things I noticed looking at e*ay listings. The original mid-grey one shown by the OP seems to be the only version with Graphite & Kevlar written at the top. The black MAX Competition Plus versions, as in the reply above, show only Graphite. Also, the MCP seems to be produced both in West Germany and in England. The England version also seems to have slightly more rounded edges to the frame and MAX is written in the swirly font.

The Max Competition Plus was a bigger headsize to the Max Competition that’s grey that McErownuaed at the 1987 US Open.

 

[Grafil Injection]

The Max Competition Plus was a bigger headsize to the Max Competition that’s grey that McErownuaed at the 1987 US Open.

Yep, looks like at least 3 versions. The grey original (85sqi?), the black West Germany (90sqi?) and the black England (90sqi?). Even though the black England seems to have more rounded edges than the black West Germany, it would not surprise me if the two black ones were both Taiwan Kuhnan-Lo mouldings, and they just put on the ball-bearing holder in Germany & England.

 

[vsbabolat]

Yep, looks like at least 3 versions. The grey original (85sqi?), the black West Germany (90sqi?) and the black England (90sqi?). Even though the black England seems to have more rounded edges than the black West Germany, it would not surprise me if the two black ones were both Taiwan Kuhnan-Lo mouldings, and they just put on the ball-bearing holder in Germany & England.

I have a white made in England that’s a plus

 

[Grafil Injection]

I have a white made in England that’s a plus

Any thoughts on whether they were actually made in England, or whether they were Taiwanese with England finishing work? Since Dunlop identified in the mid-70s that compression moulding wasn't economical in the 'West', I suspect these are Kuhnan-Lo or similar.

 

[vsbabolat]

Any thoughts on whether they were actually made in England, or whether they were Taiwanese with England finishing work? Since Dunlop identified in the mid-70s that compression moulding wasn't economical in the 'West', I suspect these are Kuhnan-Lo or similar.

I think they were actually made in England. They were racquets that were designed and originally made in Germany. I drawing a blank as to the OEM in Germany. @retrowagen knows

 

[Grafil Injection]

I think they were actually made in England. They were racquets that were designed and originally made in Germany. I drawing a blank as to the OEM in Germany. @retrowagen knows

Oh yes I recall hearing that before too. Everything starts to looks like Kunhan-Lo after a while! Interesting though, since the Horbury factory only made wooden and IMF rackets as far as I know. They didn't want to bother with the compression moulding process. Perhaps they gave it a go for a few years when they shut the German factory, but before everything went to China.

 

[retrowagen]

I think they were actually made in England. They were racquets that were designed and originally made in Germany. I drawing a blank as to the OEM in Germany. @retrowagen knows

Erbacher was the German Dunlop contract manufacturer, starting with the egg-headed Maxpower, if I remember correctly. They also marketed their own models (from the same molds, as I recall) at the same time.

Erbach im Odenwald, home of said factory, is a town in Hessen known historically as Germany’s ivory processing center. The racquet manufacturing seemed to have evolved out of the Heinrich Hammer racquet manufacturing concern, which goes well back into the 1920’s, and of course with the skilled production of wood racquets came snow skis—a common thread among many European tennis brands, to this day. I believe the company folded in the mass exodus of European manufacturers in the early 1990’s, though the name appears to have been relicensed for skis once again.

 

[vsbabolat]

Oh yes I recall hearing that before too. Everything starts to looks like Kunhan-Lo after a while! Interesting though, since the Horbury factory only made wooden and IMF rackets as far as I know. They didn't want to bother with the compression moulding process. Perhaps they gave it a go for a few years when they shut the German factory, but before everything went to China.

The German OEM was Erbacher. They made tennis racquets and skis.

 

[vsbabolat]

Erbacher was the German Dunlop contract manufacturer, starting with the egg-headed Maxpower, if I remember correctly. They also marketed their own models (from the same molds, as I recall) at the same time.

Erbach im Odenwald, home of said factory, is a town in Hessen known historically as Germany’s ivory processing center. The racquet manufacturing seemed to have evolved out of the Heinrich Hammer racquet manufacturing concern, which goes well back into the 1920’s, and of course with the skilled production of wood racquets came snow skis—a common thread among many European tennis brands, to this day. I believe the company folded in the mass exodus of European manufacturers in the early 1990’s, though the name appears to have been relicensed for skis once again.

I had just remembered the name when you posted. Great details! Thanks.

 

[Sanglier]

The UK factory did indeed manufacture a handful of racquets using compression molding, the most notable of which is the 1977 “International”, a name previously used on a mono-shafted steel model. The “International” was their first in-house 100% graphite frame, made nowhere else. It was not as good as their foreign-made graphites, and was probably too expensive to produce to be profitable; which likely motivated them to go IMF.

One of the later compression-molded frames they made in-house was the Slazenger “Black Panther”, which was also developed by Erbacher.

I bought an “International” in NOS condition from Slovakia a few months ago. It came through the customs in New York and immediately vanished without a trace. More than a month later, I received an envelope from one of the USPS sorting centers, in it was the packing slip for the parcel, which somehow separated itself from the package! I am told that orphaned packages all end up in Atlanta. If you are lucky, they will bring your lost parcel to you at a time of their choosing; otherwise these are considered unclaimed items and will be auctioned off. My guess is that my “International” is going to end up on their auction block one day. Hope the lucky bidder won’t trash it.

 

[Grafil Injection]

Erbacher is the name I remember too. These MAX Competitions are mid to late 80s, when the IMF process was already winding down as larger heads and wide-bodies were becoming popular.

The English Dunlop 1970s compression moulded frames were the reason for the creation of the R&D centre in 1978 at Horbury to find a less labour intensive process, which led to, Praise the Lord, the IMF process. I suspect the Dunlop factory workers who'd been doing artisanal wooden frames for 50+ years, didn't like the idea of the compression moulding - not complex enough!

 

[vsbabolat]

Erbacher is the name I remember too. These MAX Competitions are mid to late 80s, when the IMF process was already winding down as larger heads and wide-bodies were becoming popular.

The English Dunlop 1970s compression moulded frames were the reason for the creation of the R&D centre in 1978 at Horbury to find a less labour intensive process, which led to, Praise the Lord, the IMF process. I suspect the Dunlop factory workers who'd been doing artisanal wooden frames for 50+ years, didn't like the idea of the compression moulding - not complex enough!

In the late 80’s IMF was going strong. You had a whole line of rackets. 200G, 300i, 400i, Slazenger Phantom, and the development of the 800i and 500i. Things started to wind down in the early 90’s and fast.

 

[Grafil Injection]

In the late 80’s IMF was going strong. You had a whole line of rackets. 200G, 300i, 400i, Slazenger Phantom, and the development of the 800i and 500i. Things started to wind down in the early 90’s and fast.

End of the 80s sales of 200G were already falling, hence the glossy paintjobs etc. 800i & 500i were an attempt to compete with wide-bodies, which didn't prove very successful.

 

[vsbabolat]

End of the 80s sales of 200G were already falling, hence the glossy paintjobs etc. 800i & 500i were an attempt to compete with wide-bodies, which didn't prove very successful.

USA never got glossy paints. 200G, 300i and 400i sales were still strong in 88 and 89. In fact the 400i didn’t come out until 1988. I know I was playing with it in 1988 when it came out. The sales fell off with widebodies but that effected everyone at that time.

 

[d-quik]

More than a month later, I received an envelope from one of the USPS sorting centers, in it was the packing slip for the parcel, which somehow separated itself from the package! I am told that orphaned packages all end up in Atlanta. If you are lucky, they will bring your lost parcel to you at a time of their choosing; otherwise these are considered unclaimed items and will be auctioned off. My guess is that my “International” is going to end up on their auction block one day. Hope the lucky bidder won’t trash it.

That sounds horrible! They didn't even refund you!?

 

[Grafil Injection]

USA never got glossy paints. 200G, 300i and 400i sales were still strong in 88 and 89. In fact the 400i didn’t come out until 1988. I know I was playing with it in 1988 when it came out. The sales fell off with widebodies but that effected everyone at that time.

200G (and to a lesser extent 300i) were by far the highest IMF though, and peaked 84-88, so 400i might have come out in 88, but it didn't sell anywhere near as many. UK was probably a year or so ahead compared to the US as distribution wasn't as globalised in those days. Wide-bodies were coming in in 87-8 (Profile, CTS etc) and that they affected everyone affirms my point.

 

[vsbabolat]

200G (and to a lesser extent 300i) were by far the highest IMF though, and peaked 84-87, so 400i might have come out in 88, but it didn't sell anywhere near as many. UK was probably a year or so ahead compared to the US as distribution wasn't as globalised in those days. Wide-bodies were coming in in 88 (Profile, CTS etc) and that they affected everyone affirms my point.

I was in business then. Sales of 300i, 200G, and 400i. We’re very strong until 90 and then it all fell off cliff.

 

[Grafil Injection]

I was in business then. Sales of 300i, 200G, and 400i. We’re very strong until 90 and then it all fell off cliff.

Yes, Dunlop was already planning to reorganise their tennis factories in 1989 due to the relatively uneconomic IMF process compared to compression moulding in Asia, but of course they didn't say that at the time and kept marketing the rackets. 1990 and 1991 were tough years, even though they had a wide product range and Steffi was winning everything.

 

[vsbabolat]

Yes, Dunlop was already planning to reorganise their tennis factories in 1989 due to the relatively uneconomic IMF process compared to compression moulding in Asia, but of course they didn't say that at the time and kept marketing the rackets. 1990 and 1991 were tough years, even though they had a wide product range and Steffi was winning everything.

Actually the Max Impact series was very successful and then the Revelation series was also successful. I was referring to sales of IMF racquet that went off a cliff form 1990 onward.

 

[Sanglier]

That sounds horrible! They didn't even refund you!?

This was a fleabay buy; the seller was a standup guy and eventually gave me a full refund. I would rather have the racquet than the money, but I feel worse for him, as he is out of the racquet AND the money!

After buying thousands of items by mail over the decades, this is the first time I’ve encountered the loss of a parcel that had a tracking number on it. The lesson here is that if the tracking number is connected to the parcel by something that can be damaged, such as the plastic envelope typically used for packing slip/customs forms, something like this can happen on rare occasions. And since so much of the mail sorting is done by robots, the separation of the tracking number from the package may not be noticed until too late.

Once the unfortunate event is set in motion, there is no mechanism to backtrack the steps or intercept the orphaned parcel, I was told. The California sorting center where my packing slip was discovered sitting on the floor wasn’t even necessarily where the separation happened, as it had gone through several other sorting centers after leaving New York but was never scanned, likely because it hitched a ride with other parcels. My orphaned “International” may already be in Atlanta waiting to be found, or it may show up there tomorrow, or a year from now, or never. The lost and found center can’t tell you anything and does not accept direct customer inquiries. The fact that they can auction off these things suggests that cumulatively, they are not great at reuniting the parcels with their rightful recipients.

 

[d-quik]

This was a fleabay buy; the seller was a standup guy and eventually gave me a full refund. I would rather have the racquet than the money, but I feel worse for him, as he is out of the racquet AND the money!

After buying thousands of items by mail over the decades, this is the first time I’ve encountered the loss of a parcel that had a tracking number on it. The lesson here is that if the tracking number is connected to the parcel by something that can be damaged, such as the plastic envelope typically used for packing slip/customs forms, something like this can happen on rare occasions. And since so much of the mail sorting is done by robots, the separation of the tracking number from the package may not be noticed until too late.

Once the unfortunate event is set in motion, there is no mechanism to backtrack the steps or intercept the orphaned parcel, I was told. The California sorting center where my packing slip was discovered sitting on the floor wasn’t even necessarily where the separation happened, as it had gone through several other sorting centers after leaving New York but was never scanned, likely because it hitched a ride with other parcels. My orphaned “International” may already be in Atlanta waiting to be found, or it may show up there tomorrow, or a year from now, or never. The lost and found center can’t tell you anything and does not accept direct customer inquiries. The fact that they can auction off these things suggests that cumulatively, they are not great at reuniting the parcels with their rightful recipients.

That is absolutely tragic. Especially with something so difficult to replace. Wow. And on top of that, the seller had to be responsible instead of the courier. Bad in many many ways.

Thank you for sharing

 

[Sanglier]

That is absolutely tragic. Especially with something so difficult to replace. Wow. And on top of that, the seller had to be responsible instead of the courier. Bad in many many ways.

Thank you for sharing

Senders often put a low declared value on their parcels to save on shipping and potential import duties for the recipient. It's a gamble for which they bear all the risks.

I already have a couple of these "International" frames, but was really looking forward to this one because not only is it mint, but it also has a very low serial number. I wanted to compare it to my other units to see if Dunlop had made any changes to the model along the way. This kind of adjustments were not uncommon after a new product launch, which can provide some insight into the thinking process of the developers.

As you can see below, the "International" had a braided layup, just like the slightly earlier US-made "Graphite", but the braiding on the American product was made using much wider tows. The physical and playing characteristics are totally different between the two, with the "Graphite" being a clear winner in terms of both power and feel, in my opinion. At one point, I even suspected that the "International" was an aluminum frame wearing a graphite sleeve, which was the case with several Taiwanese offerings from that period. However, running a metal detector over the entire frame confirmed that it was 100% FRP.

Note that the "Graphite" was a super stiff frame (70 RA!) with a very low (for the time) recommended string tension, making it an unusually forward-thinking design.

 

[d-quik]

running a metal detector over the entire frame

wow dude.

With how much effort you put into things I can only imagine how upsetting the whole thing was. Ugh