KBT Real or NOT?

C

claub

New User
I bought a used, but in a v good state, K Blade Tour over [e]bay a few weeks ago. It was pretty cheap (60e).

Recently I happened to bump over some other Blade Tour on [e]bay that had images of it's specs, the ones printed on the throat. I could read from images a printed balance of 30.5cm (10HL).
I checked mine and I noticed there's a difference (the only). The balance that's printed on my KBT is 31.5cm (10HL). I measured it and that is the real balance aswell (strung).
I also took a look on Wilson site specs and the PDFs say 30.5cm (10HL) unstrung/ 32.0cm (7HL) strung for KBT.

So why the difference? Is this normal? Why mine has a printed (real) balance of 31.5cm? Is this k blade real or not?

Also my KBT has a grip size sticker of 4 1/2 (USL4) but it's in fact a size 3.

So I'm trying to figure out if this is a fake racquet or not?
From playing I could tell a big difference from my former Dunlop Aerogel 200 (16x19). I can realy feel the weight in the head when swinging (smooth feel). I like it that way better. Is this because of wieght polarization?
It is very stiff (nowhere near 65 as TW specs say. BTW other sites have it at 68-71RDC) and I could tell the ball exact position on strings, or if I hit the sweetspot. And it was much stable than the aerogels, although the swingweight is almost the same.
 
C

claub

New User
Can anyone playing a KBT, tell me (at least) what's the printed Balance on the racquets throat? Does anybody have 31.5cm as mine, printed on?
 
T

TennisVet

Rookie
claub said:
Can anyone playing a KBT, tell me (at least) what's the printed Balance on the racquets throat? Does anybody have 31.5cm as mine, printed on?
Click to expand...

It says 10pts head light, but after u add the string it will be closer to
8pts head light.
 
C

claub

New User
Icedorb217 said:
Wilson is known for not having matching spec on there rackets so there isnt much to worry about
Click to expand...

Yeah ok, not the same quality check on all. But different specs printed on throat?

Anyone has 31.5cm (10HL) printed, as mine??

I've got to know if this is fake or not. Anybody how can I tell?
The butcap has wilson logo and China sticker and 3 letters. No grip size number embedded as my former dunlops.

Maybe from how it plays. Do any of you feel as I do: the weight in the hoop when swinging. The grips shape is more square than dunlops.

Please help. Thanks
 
jefferson

jefferson

Semi-Pro
take pics for the stick that might help us determine if it is a fake. I haven't heard of any fake KBTs out there. BUt then again I am not in the circle of fake sticks.
 
P

Pioneer

Professional
Mine says 31.0cm too. It does have a more square handle than my Heads but it's very headlight - 32cm balance strung and 31.5cm strung with 2 overgrips and about 5 grams at 12 o'clock, which is about 9 pts headlight I think.

I read somewhere that 90% of the racquets sold on ee-bay are fake
 
C

claub

New User
If it's a fake then I don't understand why they printed the balance numbers wrong. They must have had a real one wich they wanted to replicate, didnt' they? It makes no sense.

Also the paintjob of KBT is pretty special. It has a kind of in relief black shiny paint at around 3 an 9 o'clock on the head, wich I don't think it's easy to duplicate.

I will post some pics of it later. I thought of striping the leather grip and see whats the handle colour. I read somewhere the real ones have usualy a yellow plastic handle.
 
C

claub

New User
I found a post in KBT Official Thread where a user (namartens) on pg.19 had the same issue as me (quote):
" was wondering if anyone is aware of this strange thing I noticed on my two kblade tours. I bought the two of them from different official wilson retailers, about two weeks after eachother. They have different specs on the inside of the frame. One of them reads: "Balance: 31.0 CM/10 pts HL" and the other one reads: "Balance: 31.5 CM/10 pts HL". I don't know if the specs ACTUALLY differ or that it's just a typo on the frame?? It's rather strange because you would expect the frame to have the same specs because they are the exact same model! I have send wilson an email about it in dutch, to my local contact address but they didn't respond to it (3 weeks ago) and now I have send an email to wilson international about the issue.

Anyone else heard something about this??"

No anwer though from him or anyone on later posts. Only 1 user asking if he found out something about this.

And then another user from Greece, just the page after in the thread, posted about some letter engravings on the but:
"Just wondering???? Bought two frames Kblade Tour, while working in Greece this past summer, on the buttcap, on the rim, above the W, is engraved .. GAV... does anyone else have these engravings on their KBT? I was curious, I have never seen any kfactors with this engravement, I know wilson used to do this when the frames were made in the states, about 20yrs ago."

Mine has G K N engraved.
Any of you have also letters engraved above the logo on the buttcap?

Really weird! What to think of this frames?!
 
Greek Goliath

Greek Goliath

Rookie
claub said:
I found a post in KBT Official Thread where a user (namartens) on pg.19 had the same issue as me (quote):
" was wondering if anyone is aware of this strange thing I noticed on my two kblade tours. I bought the two of them from different official wilson retailers, about two weeks after eachother. They have different specs on the inside of the frame. One of them reads: "Balance: 31.0 CM/10 pts HL" and the other one reads: "Balance: 31.5 CM/10 pts HL". I don't know if the specs ACTUALLY differ or that it's just a typo on the frame?? It's rather strange because you would expect the frame to have the same specs because they are the exact same model! I have send wilson an email about it in dutch, to my local contact address but they didn't respond to it (3 weeks ago) and now I have send an email to wilson international about the issue.

Anyone else heard something about this??"

No anwer though from him or anyone on later posts. Only 1 user asking if he found out something about this.

And then another user from Greece, just the page after in the thread, posted about some letter engravings on the but:
"Just wondering???? Bought two frames Kblade Tour, while working in Greece this past summer, on the buttcap, on the rim, above the W, is engraved .. GAV... does anyone else have these engravings on their KBT? I was curious, I have never seen any kfactors with this engravement, I know wilson used to do this when the frames were made in the states, about 20yrs ago."

Mine has G K N engraved.
Any of you have also letters engraved above the logo on the buttcap?

Really weird! What to think of this frames?!
Click to expand...

Put up some pics!
 
C

claub

New User
I will, tomorrow (here in europe). I don't have the digital camera at hand at this moment. I made a few with my cellphone but they are of too bad quality.
 
C

claub

New User
Ok here are some photos, of throat specs and buttcap letters.

cimg2172medium.jpg


cimg2181medium.jpg


cimg2166medium.jpg
 
T

tennisINmyBLOOD

Rookie
I agree with TennisVet. Looks good so far, but if you want the real deal, open the trap door and take a picture. If it's real, it'll look neat and orderly inside. If it's a fake, the inside will look out of order... like someone threw a bunch of pieces together and stuffed it in.
 
C

claub

New User
I managed to open the buttcap. It wasn't that hard as I had thought the first time (I already tried to open it a while ago, but didn't want to force it).

The interior looks neat and totaly filled up with a spongy substance, foam maybe. The black plastic has 2 oval orifices, and after, just below, the foam.
Also on the rims in the interior, it clearly states #3 on a side and 3/8. It's a grip size 3, thus. Te sticker with size 4 on the frame it's obviously a mistake.

I guess it's the real deal. I could tell a real difference (on good side) from the way it plays, comparing it to my former buttery Dunlop 200 aerogels. The only thing I didn't like was the stiff feeling (red code as strings, the way I bought it).
BTW Can some soft string replicate that buttery feeling from soft frames? I read this frame is very string sensitive.

Also why would Wilson have different specs on the same frames.
Are they specs really different?
 
N

namartens

Rookie
Hi,

funny that you found my post. At that time, I don't think anyone bothered to answer to my thread :(

I had two or three legit kblade tour's from two very respectable retail stores and one of them had a different balance printed on the inside just like yours. Although the balance in HL was printed as the same I think... This doesn't necessarily mean that it is a fake. Still don't know if it is a typo or if the balance is really (meant to be) different or not because I never got an answer from Wilson.
 
C

claub

New User
namartens said:
Hi,

funny that you found my post. At that time, I don't think anyone bothered to answer to my thread :(

I had two or three legit kblade tour's from two very respectable retail stores and one of them had a different balance printed on the inside just like yours. Although the balance in HL was printed as the same I think... This doesn't necessarily mean that it is a fake. Still don't know if it is a typo or if the balance is really (meant to be) different or not because I never got an answer from Wilson.
Click to expand...

Hi namartens. I was going to post you a PM yesterday, to ask you about it but I don't know why I can't (it says its disabled by admin)

Do they play all the same, your other two frames with this one?
I am thinking of buying another one and it's important it feels the same in my hand.
Do you still play with them? Have you tried strings that make it play buttery, confortable?
 
N

namartens

Rookie
claub said:
Hi namartens. I was going to post you a PM yesterday, to ask you about it but I don't know why I can't (it says its disabled by admin)

Do they play all the same, your other two frames with this one?
I am thinking of buying another one and it's important it feels the same in my hand.
Do you still play with them? Have you tried strings that make it play buttery, confortable?
Click to expand...

To be honest, I did feel the frames were not exactly the same in terms of weight and/or balance but it could easily be due to variance in the production batches. I never took the trouble to actually weigh them and measure the balance. One more important thing I had trouble with was the gripsizes. Although they were both L4, the difference was very much noticeable and I could never get them to feel like the same size.

I did like the frame very much but it depended so much on the strings. My favorite setups at that time (I don't have them anymore) were with BB Alu strung at 24 or 24.5 KG. Eventually got rid of them because of the small headsize. I don't exactly hit a clean ball, especially towards second and third sets :) And sometimes it just took me 4 or 5 times to put the ball away because my opponent could still get to them, so it lacked a bit of power for me. But I very much loved the feel and weight.
 
C

claub

New User
Thanks. Yes I know what you mean.

For me though the small headsize helps me to remain focust on the game, when hitting. It is a real improvement to my former aerogel in stability. Even the power is better, but only when I hit with the sweetspot.

On offcenter hits does not generate enough power indeed but i think lively strings may change this problem.

In short I'm really happy with the KBT.
The single problem is that I dont' know how it plays when hitting with big topspin opponents.
 
jefferson

jefferson

Semi-Pro
The pics look good. I have no idea why there would be different specs printed on them. Have you actually weighed them. That may help you decide if it matters when make the decision to buy a third! I am playing with Lux Adrenalin in the mains and syn gut in cross at 60lbs. I like the ball to leave my strings quickly. I was using enduro pro and syn gut at the same 60lbs.
 
Ambivalent

Ambivalent

Hall of Fame
My kbts say 31.0 balance, and i bought them from an authorized wilson dealer so i'm pretty sure they aren't fake.
 
D

DonnyDarko

Rookie
I think the mislable of the handle size is not uncommon. I had the same thing with my Kblade I purchased through TW (Sticker said 3/8, but under the cap said 1/4). Even in Gran's review of the Kblade, he stated that the 3/8 felt like a 1/4. Bet if he popped the cap on his demo he'd see that the racquet was really a 1/4.
 
C

claub

New User
Yes, there's no worry anymore.
I popped the butcap. It lookes neat, filled with yellow something, and it says size 3 under butcap althgouht the stiker is 4.
 
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