Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: uknsaunders on November 03, 2010, 11:13:29 PM
-
ok, guys. Bat has finally arrived. Seller has been generally pretty good posting apart from not sending it until late Monday, instead of the Friday as promised. Anyway, I asked him for:-
1. The lightest bat he had - he said 2'9
2. Lots of grains - he said he had a 11-12 grain bat
3. 40mm edges - he said ok
What I got:-
1. 2'6.5 ! - since my preference is 2'7 I'm not unhappy with that. I'll come onto other reasons for that later.
2. Lost count but somewhere between 14-17 grains
3. Just about 40mm edges
Pictures below:-
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_blLLx3gm1k0/TNHnMPS7TkI/AAAAAAAAB0w/EEa9OHuVgm8/s640/2010-11-03%2019.55.35.jpg)
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_blLLx3gm1k0/TNHnegMbcxI/AAAAAAAAB00/nnO11rh0iwo/s640/2010-11-03%2019.56.05.jpg)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_blLLx3gm1k0/TNHnwZ8jp3I/AAAAAAAAB04/ApHSJj_zTqE/s640/2010-11-03%2019.57.01.jpg)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_blLLx3gm1k0/TNHoCndw-7I/AAAAAAAAB1A/gZ8D-f2W5Hw/s640/2010-11-03%2019.59.22.jpg)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_blLLx3gm1k0/TNHoRO4gkoI/AAAAAAAAB1E/kK-ouqLprjw/s640/2010-11-03%2020.01.04.jpg)
First thing you notice isn't really the edges but the handle. It's pretty thin, but a second grip is provided. The bat also came with some ghastly anti scuff tape on the edges, I removed it as I will have to oil and do some knocking in. The bat is pre-knocked in but needs more for best performance. What you notice from swinging the bat is the pickup is bottom heavy, hardly surprisingly given the amount of wood but it makes the bat feel a good oz or two heavier. Being a laminate bat, once I removed the anti scuff I could clearly see the join. The other giveaway is the 7 fairly wavy grains on the back and the 14 plus on the front. Looks like a grade 3/4 back and g2 on the front. The front would be a g1 but for a small knot near the bottom. A strip of heartwood is on the inside edge.
I'll add more thoughts once I've started knocking it in. Initial impression is this is one hell of a bat for the weight.
-
40mm edges at anything under 2'10 is very impressive!
I can't see a picture of the handle and would be interested in seeing it as I've seen a few of these bats and profile wise have always been eye catching....
-
Am I right in saying that the CA Gel is a laminate?
-
Am I right in saying that the CA Gel is a laminate?
Yes
-
It would be interesting comparing the performance of this bat relative to a non laminated bat of the same weight
-
Didn't read first post clearly enough, my bad.
You could get away with using that, IMO it looks like one piece of willow without studying it in detail.
Compare that to my neighbour's Malik laminate with a completely different type/colour of wood on the back!
-
I don't understand how laminates are supposed to make the bat more powerful, if that is the case?
-
The glue acts as a spring if you get me.
Lighter (albeit a different) wood at back - can get bigger edges that way.
-
Pics including handle:-
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_blLLx3gm1k0/TNHxLVQ9UzI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/yw-QA39DyYs/s512/2010-11-03%2023.26.24.jpg)
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_blLLx3gm1k0/TNHxYYsMx8I/AAAAAAAAB1U/jKT6_kL0JTE/s640/2010-11-03%2023.27.05.jpg)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_blLLx3gm1k0/TNHxqWBnAgI/AAAAAAAAB1c/jTwvo3uJzdA/s640/2010-11-03%2023.31.28.jpg)
-
sorry mate, but if you use that it's cheating
-
i'm sure it's just for a bit of fun in the nets no?
-
They are banned from 1st class cricket and probably minor counties/representative cricket.You can use these bats in club cricket and I'd argue more legal than all the carbon handle bats still knocking around. At my level it isn't going to make a difference as most players are happy to just get bat on ball.
-
Looks a great stick!
I am quite surprised to see a Asian bat in 2.65 range. Usually don't get hold of these weaight bats but if you are lucky enough then you can.
Looks quite massive as well.
I hope it goes well for you and you score tons of runs with it
-
I hope it goes well for you and you score tons of runs with it
in the nets and friendlys...
-
in the nets and friendlys...
Thanks for correcting me :)
-
Was going to say (owning a laminate myself), you can't use them in pretty much any form of competitive cricket (friendlies don't seem to count!)
-
I had to weigh it 3 times to believe it. 90% certain I'll add the second grip, which may push it up to 2'7 but may help the pickup a little.
I've given it a light oil and will start some final knocking in prep tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have an update on "ping".
-
Do you have a link to where you got it from?
Cheers
-
Think it was ebay jon
-
was ebay, search ca gel cricket bat
-
The guy on ebay told me that if you make an offer of £70 including postage he'd take that!
I got the V1200 instead....
-
If I am correct Armie is selling them as well.
-
Forgive my ignorance but who is Armie?
-
Forgive my ignorance but who is Armie?
Owner of batsandmore.com and heres his thread;
http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=6046.0
-
Thanks.
-
These bats are laminated to make more higher grade bats. Some will play well as with any range, but they are not laminated for performance reasons, purely cosmetic.
-
Not trying to be antagonistic, but why if they are purely for cosmentic use have top batmakers, including ones close to you experimente with the laminate idea for performance and sucessfully achievied it
and why , until they were made to stop were several international batsment choosing to use them over traditional bats if there was not performance advantage to it.
Surely it wasnt so they could have ANOTHER pretty bat
-
Steel couch - I think Talisman's point was that he believes that these CA Gel bats are laminated for cosmetic reasons only, rather than performance.
Other laminate bats which are made are more performance driven
-
Fair enough.
But, arguing the toss again. Why in that case are they made with 40 mm edges if not for performance?
-
Beacuse that's what people want.....
-
Dont belive the hype
-
These laminations were not the reason behind the ban, the style of lamination that gives extra power if different.
-
For me, it's one of those things I would definately need to try before I commit and buy one...
-
my mate has one of these and i would say it performs worse than a normal ca, even if it does look imposing. The only 2 "proper" performance laminates i have seen have been outstanding!
-
i would think these performance laminates have been cut and in the middle been stuffed with rubber/glue or such like to make them ping alot more.
instead of just two bits of wood stuck 2gether maybe they have been holled out more and something place in the middle
-
What is the differnce in style of laminate Tailisman?
-
Best theory I have heard simmy
-
That would be telling....
-
love it simmy!! They have been opened up and had fire crackers stuck in ;)!
-
i just know before i new about laminates etc i once saw a bit that had two holes drilled through the middle and bits of handle cane put into it. that made the bat go stupildy well because of the flex etc.
wats to stop people cutting the bat in half adding some wood like that in the middle and the re sealing the bat etc.
-
nothing i suppose mate, just not sure its the theory, i could be wrong for all i know ???
-
i am probs wrong...
but if everybody is saying some laminates are as good as some others etc they just have been something special other than two bits of wood 2gether orther wise what wud be the point other than to make a bigger lighter bat
-
my mate has one of these and i would say it performs worse than a normal ca, even if it does look imposing. The only 2 "proper" performance laminates i have seen have been outstanding!
what 2 were these mate?
i saw one pete hosk had a few weeks back and it looked pretty good tbh
-
i just know before i new about laminates etc i once saw a bit that had two holes drilled through the middle and bits of handle cane put into it. that made the bat go stupildy well because of the flex etc.
wats to stop people cutting the bat in half adding some wood like that in the middle and the re sealing the bat etc.
I think the County Modulous did something similar to this, by adding a honeycomb structure to a hollowed out middle
-
I wouldn't get too hung up over laminated bats, the ones that perform and so hard to get hold of and cost so much that if I were to advertise one on here I doubt it would sell, maybe a vague football manager style quote would be appropriate... When you see a cow in a field you think it is better than your cow, but it isn't and might not even be as good as yours.....
-
il cross a laminate off my wanted list then
-
we will know how it performs when I get it in the nets next Wednesday evening.
-
HHmmm, I dont know about cows, but there is a lot of cow (No Swearing Please) floating about.
Not you Tailisman.
Isnt it about getting more weight behind the ball and adding rubber based adhesive.
COuld be wrong, but not much mre to it than that.
I ad one and it was mad. Very very responsive.
I would imagne there is a lot of luck and some judgment behind what makes one bat pretty good and the other one very very good.
I heard a roumour that 5 of the Aussie used them in 2005 ashes series
-
steelcouch, your logic seems pretty reasonable to me. still bothered by the size and weight. we saying they find ultralite g3/4 clefts for the back and a small bit of g2/1 for the front?
-
Non pressed wood is lighter and less dense.
In fact i would have though that wood other than willow would have better rebound qualities to be the "second" wood
-
Soory i noticed i had written "more weight" rather than "more Wood" behind the ball.
Sorry for confusion
-
There was a very good description of why willow has the properties needed for rebound yesterday, however I think you guys are missing the point, I will retrieve a bat from a friend this evening and show you a couple of very graphic variations on the laminated bat.
-
look forward to it :)
-
Ditto
-
Although I still don't understand why willow is defiantely the nest wood for the back plate of a laminate
not that I am for one second claiming it not true
just don't understand
I would have thought that a wood that has a similar resonance quality of the reverb caused by the action throught the glue would be best
argue that there is probably not enough research pm this to be sure
-
How much did this set you back mate? Sorry if you have already said this but i realy cant be bothered with looking through 4 pages of comments :D
-
might be sales patter but I paid £70 + (rather expensive) postage of £12.99 . He didn't want to sell this one for anything but full price and the other ones were nearer 2'10 weight wise - so I stumped up. If you offer £57 + postage I 'd imagine he might accept it.
Just done a little bit of a mallet test on the new bat and then compared it to my g2 willow (MS Fusion - less than a season of use). I'd say the Gel has the edge, but my first net will be the real test.
-
I had one and it was not too bad, nothing better than a normal CA but a lower price.
-
I had one and it was not too bad, nothing better than a normal CA but a lower price.
Which I think is probably the point. Get some low grade wood, use a smaller amount of high grade and stick it together. Decent performance for less money (and probably more profit).
Is the toe insert in a Chase Bat make that bat illegal in league cricket?
-
Having received a CA Gel recently and netted with it there is something different undoubtedly. Early days but it immediately plays better than a CA 8000 that I had .It was always about the curiosity for me and I can confirm that it does have more power than a mid range bat. It is not better than my BAS Bow LE but that cost much more and is exceptional.The CA handle is painfully thin so am using 3 grips! Handles will be the death of me as the last bat I bought was a Laver and couldnt get on with the (No Swearing Please) carbon handle.
-
I've stuck the second grip on and it feels much better. I've got small hands but even this handle was to thin for me.
-
My CA has a thin handle on it so I will be sticking a second grip on it to use it nets.
-
Id be interested in how you find the bat performs in comparison to your other bats? Thx
-
will let you know after nets wednesday evening. If it goes like a rocket I might have to buy some new bat stickers and camouflage it for league games ;)
-
Right folks, first net. My testing involved taking 2 bats into the net, starting with my present 2'8 G2. The nets at Headingley are pretty quick and timing the ball isn't a problem, most of the time you're late on it!. With the slightly poor background, picking up the ball can be tricky to start with.
Anyway starting with my normal G2, things went pretty well with most balls being timed fairly well. I decided I wasn't learning much and whipped out the Gel. The difference was almost immediate, I received a low wide full toss which shouldn't of been timed but came off pretty well. A couple of more middled thumps convinced me that the extra wood/laminate make up did make a difference compared to a similar priced bat. Wasn't all plain sailing,poor footwork and the terrible background (or good yorker if you're the bowler) resulted in my stumps being rattled, just going to prove it takes more than a bat to score runs!. Having switched back to the G2 and then back to the laminate, definitely felt more power and a bigger middle in the laminate.
A fellow player had a few throw downs at the end of nets with the bat and he was getting pretty excited by it - comparing it to a rubber catching bat in it's responsiveness. Early days but I'd say for a similar priced bat or grade, the well made laminate will win most times. I couldn't say if that would be the case with a quality G1 stick but then again you'd be paying double the money...
-
I have the Gel and feel that it needs plenty more knocking in to get the ultimate performance.
Having said that there is a significant difference immediately on the rebound !
-
I oiled it and gave it 30 mins knocking in. Even though it's pre-knocked in, I will be giving it more over the next week to be certain.