Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Companies => Off-the-shelf companies => Topic started by: DorsetDan on November 11, 2019, 11:26:03 AM
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Good post @DorsetDan
Really popular and well liked brand for us, bats and softs are excellent value. Hoping to have the new range in soon, and hopefully an exception flc.
Vortex is still the shorter blade, longer handle volante, with a squarer toe.
Also a new 30k roof should help keep moisture out of the workshop, and out of the clefts, which hopefully should result in some fuller/bigger shapes
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I will be using Chase softs this year as having seen a few pairs last year i was very impressed and with them being all white and minimal i can use with a few of my bats.
As for Chase bats i have never seen a bad one and a couple of lads at my club have them but they are as has been said quite small for modern day bats, although this may not bother some people.
I maybe waiting for a little something from the Chase stable and will be sure to share as, when and if it materialises in the coming days.
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Chase bats are bloody great, and excellent value in the low grades too. Proper handles which is rare these days. Sorted one out one of my best mates with an R4 a few seasons ago and my god it goes a long way off it. Rob @Six Sixes Cricket always seems to have some crackers in.
Reckon if aliens/the MCC visited one day and stole all my bats and left me needing a bat in a hurry for the weekend, I'd go get myself an R4 Volante.
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Hmm...I love the Vortex shape. Is the spine really that high or its just the camera angle?
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The biggest 6 I've ever hit was with an old Chase 150 finback.
The bat snobs of CBF would hate almost everything about it, thin edges, severe concaving and a blemished face. It was my first "proper" bat though and the ping off it was as good as any low density, convex players LE plus Sharpie grade!
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Well we all know about the £65 butterfly bits, but for anyone who has been down to Chase, have you seen the rack displayed above them of various repaired bats.
Does anyone know what he charges for these?
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I bought a FLC online from Serious Sports. Bit underwhelmed by it so far both in terms of looks and performance. Plenty of markings on the blade and the ping so far isn't great. Nice looking stickers though and the edges had bee well boned.
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I'm sure I saw it posted elsewhere but Chase have signed Liam Dawson for the upcoming season.
He looks absolutely delighted!
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(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49151798313_ef09a723fb_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2hTnPdv) (https://flic.kr/p/2hTnPdv)
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I bought a FLC online from Serious Sports. Bit underwhelmed by it so far both in terms of looks and performance. Plenty of markings on the blade and the ping so far isn't great. Nice looking stickers though and the edges had bee well boned.
Did you ask for a pic first, or was it a blind buy?
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@SouthpawMark Blind buy. I thought that they would all be reasonably grainy etc. It's not terrible, just not that pretty.
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@SouthpawMark Blind buy. I thought that they would all be reasonably grainy etc. It's not terrible, just not that pretty.
I thought the FLC was their top bat? Surprised it’s not a stunner. Did you consider sending it back and asking for a replacement? Call me greedy, but I want performance and looks when paying for a top of the range bat.
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@SouthpawMark I think they have a Platinum that is their top graded bat. I'll knock it in and see how I feel. It's well balanced and a nice weight. It might open up a bit. I would be more concerned if it was my only option...which it is not ;)
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I had ordered a Platinum - blind buy. Less than impressed with both performance and looks. In fact quite a rip-off at £600 plus. The only bat maker in my opinion that definitely delivers superior goods at higher prices is Salix.
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I do take your point but at that price, I would expect all sticks to be top quality. Plus the fact they market the bats as having a 10 inch performance zone jibberish.....
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I did take it up with the retailer and was issued a full refund so no complaints there. My point is if you are going to market something (and charge accordingly) as best of the best, you better make sure that is the case else it damages the brand.
I have no views on pricing. I think people should be be free to purchase what they want. There is no right or wrong here as it is with any other purchasing decision.
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I would agree that ultimately it comes back to the reputation of the brand of they are throwing out bats as top grades if they aren't.
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What's the point in this thread? You got your refund, so move on. Plenty on here have no issues with them, mainly those with enough brain cells to not spend £600 on a bat they've never seen or picked up
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What's the point in this thread? You got your refund, so move on. Plenty on here have no issues with them, mainly those with enough brain cells to not spend £600 on a bat they've never seen or picked up
How much can we spend before it becomes brainless? 😅 I'm guilty of this, never owned a bat I didn't order online.
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I think you've got to treat it as goods 'on appro' that you will send back for a return if you don't like what arrives. I've bought all my bats blind too because on line deals have always been way better than anything I've seen in shops. So far only received one bat that I didn't much like and immediately we able to sell to someone who did like it. However, I have never shelled out more that £130 for a grade 1 bat and I wouldn't risk anything more expensive on line.
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Unless you really know what you are doing, there is no point in buying brand new bats. Bats should be sold after they've had a number of nets or balls hit.
There is definitely a market for used bats i.e. bats that have been used in nets for a while and have begun to show their character. Something to think about...
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@InternalTraining as well as the bats "showing their character " I can see that kind of bat appealing to people who dislike knocking in (which seems to be the majority of cricketers)
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Chase pre knock (via machine) their bats though.
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My Chase is benefitting from being knocked in. First time I have knocked in a bat in years 🤣
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I've seen similar with the Chase clefts I've had recently, weren't particularly responsive at first but one of my teammates who's knocked his in now was absolutely hammering it in nets last week.
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@cricketbadger Its my opinion. You do not like it, your problem. Now go do something useful.
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@cricketbadger Its my opinion. You do not like it, your problem. Now go do something useful.
Irony... ;)
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@InternalTraining as well as the bats "showing their character " I can see that kind of bat appealing to people who dislike knocking in (which seems to be the majority of cricketers)
Not necessarily knocking but some use after knocking. Not all "knocked" bats arrive at same level of performance.
I had a club mate from India who used to prepare bats for first-class players there. Basically, these Ranji players would pay club cricketers to get their bats knocked and ready. Those bats would see a lot of net action, as he'd say "gains started opening up". In my opinion, that's quite a "net time"/use but well worth it i.e. a good model. Also, it goes without saying that those bats were handpicked before they went to the hired preppers.
I am thinking about a model where bats are sold after certain amount use (not just "knocking"). It will probably add to the cost but you are getting what you pay for as compared to brand new 600+ bats as @addu84 reported here.
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Would it add or detract from the cost if it had received some knocking in and net use before being purchased though? In terms of man hours put into the bat there are clearly more.
If the bat had been through this process you'd surely sacrifice the manufacturers warranty?
For the value it would add in terms of reaching it's peak sooner, surely you'd be losing some elsewhere, i.e it isn't a "new" bat any more?
Interesting concept for sure, I'm just not sure it could be effectively implemented on a large scale.
Didn't It's Just Cricket offer a playing in service not too long ago?
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^ What felt more expensive to me was a bat that was not "performing" on a weekend for which I had had paid the "asking" (read: top) price to the seller. I'd rather have a sizzling game with a bat that was pre-prepared but with (theoretically) reduced life than something "brand new" but not performing.
Priorities.
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I can totally understand your point of view, and to a point I agree that you're paying for performance. (Well, you're actually paying for looks, but that's a different topic!)
On the one hand is it right that you pay XXX for a new bat, and the first thing you have to do is repeatedly hit it with a mallet. Following that you can't use it straight away, but you have to play it in before it's match ready. This is where your idea comes into it's own.
On the flip side, if you buy a brand new car/bike/boat you have to go gentle on the engine to "run it in" before you can start using it to it's full potential. Is that really any different to the knocking then playing in of a bat?
In both cases going second hand is a good option as you avoid the initial stage and the price is lower.
It's something you'll come across in several branches of life, not just cricket. A brand new pair of shoes will take some wearing in. I'd rather do that myself than buy a second hand pair! That example is not exactly the same as a bat, admittedly, but there are valid arguments for both sides (as with most things)
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On the flip side, if you buy a brand new car/bike/boat you have to go gentle on the engine to "run it in" before you can start using it to it's full potential. Is that really any different to the knocking then playing in of a bat?
You can measure and fine tune the performance of a mechanical device because of established, measurable performance standards. Can't say the same about bats. So, it is not the same thing.
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I agree that you're paying for performance. (Well, you're actually paying for looks, but that's a different topic!)
Yes ... as discussed here: http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=45115.0 (http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=45115.0)
Sellers price a naturally variable item on aesthetics and potential but not guaranteed performance -- but buyers ultimately only really care about performance and the higher the price the greater the expectation.
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I popped into Mr Cricket today on the outskirts of Cambridge and I must say I was very impressed with the chase bats they had. R4,R7 and R11 grades all looked very nice and the couple I tapped up were amazingly good. The R4 value for money was amazing. I very nearly broke my new rule of owing just 3 bats but just managed to leave with just a new pair of gloves.
They had the platinum and FLC but tbh the R11’s in my mind were as nice as ping wise I couldn’t tell a difference on tap up with a old ball so I wouldn’t have spent the extra £100 or so for the FLC or platinum but they were all clean, tight grains and all sap wood and did look like top end.
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I have only used one bat - a Garrard & Flack - which I genuinely thought was match ready from the box. Everything else had needed time with the mallet and in the nets to ready top performance and i certainly can't tell from the outset which will perform well and which will not. That i guess is the gamble with buying equipment produced from a natural raw material that grows in variable conditions.
As a pro with a bag of bats to chose from can relegate top end bats to practice with. As an amateur on a budget you are probably better off buying a few cheaper bats and using the best one in matches the gambling on the performance of one higher grade bat
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Looks alright to me tbf
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@JTtaylor145 if you're underwhelmed by the looks of that what were you expecting?
Not that I'd spend anywhere near FLC prices on a bat, but that looks a decent but of willow to me.
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Wuuut, that looks mint!
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@JTtaylor145 if you're underwhelmed by the looks of that what were you expecting?
@WalkingWicket37 Cam, I don't think that it's ugly as such. I guess I was expecting 8-12 grains without any blemishes. It's far from ugly but I built it up in my mind to be a real looker. Performance wasn't as good as I'd hoped either and that was NY biggest disappointment. Maybe I'm just bleeding picky for £389.
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Although they come pre-knocked in from Chase, I found the response of mine improved significantly with further knocking in. I'm not sure how much prep they get in-house but I can somewhat understand the underwhelming feeling about response but spend a bit of time prepping further and it will pay off
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I popped into Mr Cricket today on the outskirts of Cambridge and I must say I was very impressed with the chase bats they had. R4,R7 and R11 grades all looked very nice and the couple I tapped up were amazingly good. The R4 value for money was amazing. I very nearly broke my new rule of owing just 3 bats but just managed to leave with just a new pair of gloves.
They had the platinum and FLC but tbh the R11’s in my mind were as nice as ping wise I couldn’t tell a difference on tap up with a old ball so I wouldn’t have spent the extra £100 or so for the FLC or platinum but they were all clean, tight grains and all sap wood and did look like top end.
Yes I was there last week too. Loads of lovely Chases, and also lots with really messy faces a la christmas £60 special. Also did you see that insane TC1260 with about 30 grains? Probably to many actually
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Looks a good bat, i dont understand why so many make comments about someone else spending their money on something they want.
If you want to buy £60 bargins then buy them. If no one was buying the top end stuff then the lower end would cost more or there would be no batmakers.
All this negativity stops people sharing there stuff and keeps the sponsors away.
Hopefully it starts to really go after a few nets JT
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Yes I was there last week too. Loads of lovely Chases, and also lots with really messy faces a la christmas £60 special. Also did you see that insane TC1260 with about 30 grains? Probably to many actually
Yea I saw it but doesn’t float my boat and certainly not for £550. I may go back for something that caught my eye