Foam in Wilson Steam 99s handle

[Soundbyte]

So I just received 2 Wilson Steam 99s rackets. I popped the trap door off on both of them and noticed that only 1 of them has foam in the handle. I've been searching around and some people say that some of the frames have foam in the handle, and others don't.

Can anyone comment on the variability of foam in Wilson handles? I was under the impression all the BLX rackets have foam in the handles...

 

[tdhawks]

So I just received 2 Wilson Steam 99s rackets. I popped the trap door off on both of them and noticed that only 1 of them has foam in the handle. I've been searching around and some people say that some of the frames have foam in the handle, and others don't.

Can anyone comment on the variability of foam in Wilson handles? I was under the impression all the BLX rackets have foam in the handles...

I picked up a Six.One 95s today to demo for the week and it has foam in the handle. Not sure if they all do or not?

 

[Fuji]

My 99S' both came with silicone in the handle, not foam.

-Fuji

 

[Soundbyte]

Interesting. I'll shoot an email to Wilson and try to get an official response.

 

[TimothyO]

I've spoken to Wilson about their handles. Some are empty, some have foam, some have metal weights, and today I discovered a messy blob of silicone in PART of a handle.

According to Wilson this has nothing to do with any technology such as "AmpliFeel". It's simply their factory's attempt to get a frame's weight and balance right.

In a Six.One 95L demo that I have at home right now there's a huge, messy blob of silicone about 1.5" into one chamber in the handle. The other chamber is completely empty. The blob isn't holding anything in place so it must be Wilson's attempt to finely tune balance using yet another material: blobs of silicone. Nor does it fill the chamber. The staples holding the butt cap are still visibile. It's just a blob of silicone adhering to one side of one chamber.

 

[Soundbyte]

I've spoken to Wilson about their handles. Some are empty, some have foam, some have metal weights, and today I discovered a messy blob of silicone in PART of a handle.

According to Wilson this has nothing to do with any technology such as "AmpliFeel". It's simply their factory's attempt to get a frame's weight and balance right.

In a Six.One 95L demo that I have at home right now there's a huge, messy blob of silicone about 1.5" into one chamber in the handle. The other chamber is completely empty. The blob isn't holding anything in place so it must be Wilson's attempt to finely tune balance using yet another material: blobs of silicone. Nor does it fill the chamber. The staples holding the butt cap are still visibile. It's just a blob of silicone adhering to one side of one chamber.

Good to know. I figured it was for spec matching...I guess I am continually amazed at the variability in product quality from racket to racket.

 

[sundaypunch]

I've spoken to Wilson about their handles. Some are empty, some have foam, some have metal weights, and today I discovered a messy blob of silicone in PART of a handle.

According to Wilson this has nothing to do with any technology such as "AmpliFeel". It's simply their factory's attempt to get a frame's weight and balance right.

In a Six.One 95L demo that I have at home right now there's a huge, messy blob of silicone about 1.5" into one chamber in the handle. The other chamber is completely empty. The blob isn't holding anything in place so it must be Wilson's attempt to finely tune balance using yet another material: blobs of silicone. Nor does it fill the chamber. The staples holding the butt cap are still visibile. It's just a blob of silicone adhering to one side of one chamber.

I have the same blob of silicone in one chamber of a Steam 105S. They likely put the racquet on a scale and inject silicone until they get the desired weight. It is a perfectly acceptable way of fine-tuning the weight.

 

[TimothyO]

Both of my Pro Staffs are foam filled and extremely comfortable. It provides a very solid feel.