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[Chad]

Hi guys, I decided late last night that I was going to take a break from everything and just go down south to visit some cricket stores and family friends until Friday. I had been messaging Jake about visiting, and constantly bombarding him with questions about gear etc, which he patiently responded to. I went down mostly to check out the B&S bats he had in stock, but also because I had a few bats to pick up which I had sent Jake to have a hit with. When I arrived, I was like a kid in a sweet store, I have never been in a cricket specialist store, and have only ever visited one other cricket retailer branch, which was nowhere near as good or unique as Vitas.

Funnily enough, I left without buying anything for myself, but that that was only because I couldn't make up my mind! The B&S bats were lovely, I ended up picking out a 2.9 Fireblade for a friend, which had a mid middle and barely any concaving, which was very different from the usual high middles and pretty heavily concaved profiles that the Fireblades are. He was actually not responding to my calls for a bit, so I hoped he wouldn't so I could snap the bat up for myself instead, but he called back and I ended up paying a deposit for him. The Supremes that were in stock were lovely too, with very full profiles and decent sized edges. (one had 40mm ones and was 2.8!)

Now to the net, this service that Vitas offers is pretty unique, I think Jake said he he only knew of 6 cricket retailers who who had nets and a bowling machine. This was only the third time I had faced a bowling machine so facing 60 to start with felt relatively sharp, but I found that I adjust quite quickly. The bats I tested out were a Dynadrive, which I will talk about in another thread, a B&S Supreme with the normal profile except with a flat face, which made an odd noise when used, but went very very well. I also tested out an SF, which I found twisted quite a lot in my hands, and finally, I tested out a GM LE Flare, which I thought was a 2.8, but was actually a 2.12! It was the bat I expected least from as I heard Flares picked up badly, and this definitely wasn't the case for this LE, and on top of that,  the bat was an absolute weapon!

All in all, one of the best shopping experiences I've ever had, and I would visit again! Thanks to Jake, who taught me quite a lot about the cricket business, and was very helpful, answering all my questions and picking out a nice selection of bats matching my friend's requirements.

A little teaser as an apology for this poor review, it really doesn't do Jake's customer service or the quality of the gear he has in stock any justice! It's pretty hard to review things on a phone!

[Vitas Cricket]

Chad,

Thank you for visiting today, it brightened up an otherwise quiet day. You've got yourself a lovely Dynadrive there, I was a little surprised to see it back with us to be honest as I think it is an absolute gun, but it was just as big as I remembered so it was a pleasant surprise in the end.

You are more than welcome to organise more of a forum meet up type event as we discussed via PM to coincide with your next visit. We will have a GM Test track day probably in early December, so that could be something to aim for?

I've sent you a PM regarding the bats you were torn between buying

[keysersolze]

I have to Say I think Vitas have a march on a lot of other cricket retailers in having Bellingham and Smith equipment for sale. As for value for  money the fire blade and superb bats are hard to beat. I have had the opportunity to net with and see these bats in our team being regularly used and they are very good bats indeed, I put them up there with Red Back and GM LE bats in terms of quality, pick up and value for money far superior to GM. Vitas are good for Service I have a Bellingham and smith bat of them and it is great, and superb of the mallet so far as I am only knocking it in for next season.

[Vitas Cricket]

Glad your B&S is going nicely so far mate.

B&S are expanding into some regionalised retailers, probably 6 across the country is the ideal. Perhaps in the future people can pop into their localish retailer to have a look at what is in my opinion one of the best value for money brands on the market. I know batting46 have some stock now.

It looks likely that we will be handling repairs/returns on behalf of B&S and may act as a sort of distribution hub too.

Hopefully we will always be able to offer a better price compared to other retailers and of course, we will be handpicking our bats before the rest  

[Chad]

I have to Say I think Vitas have a march on a lot of other cricket retailers in having Bellingham and Smith equipment for sale. As for value for  money the fire blade and superb bats are hard to beat. I have had the opportunity to net with and see these bats in our team being regularly used and they are very good bats indeed, I put them up there with Red Back and GM LE bats in terms of quality, pick up and value for money far superior to GM. Vitas are good for Service I have a Bellingham and smith bat of them and it is great, and superb of the mallet so far as I am only knocking it in for next season.

That was definitely one of the best things of Vitas, they had great B&S bats in, and they are very well priced. (Had a beautiful 2.8 Supreme that I very nearly snapped up, one of the biggest 2.8s I have seen in flesh) They're also very close to Kookaburra and Hunts, and I have to say that the Kook and Hunts they had in stock were lovely, great looking pieces of willow. The net was by far the highlight of my trip, had a shot with a lovely B&S Supreme and also cleared up my view of GM and the whole pick-up index, they do make very good bats and the pick-up index system is pretty darn good! (I'm still a firm believer that dead weight is still quite an important factor though!)

Here's what I picked out for my friend from Vitas, I hope he likes it!
















The edges are around 34mm, and there isn't much of a concave at all, and the middle is around mid-low, which is quite a contrast to the stock shaped mid-high middled Fireblade profile, which is pretty concaved. The response was good in the store, and I just gave it about 20 minutes of knocking, and it feels even better now! Amazing how a little knocking in makes a difference. There are some great things about this altered profile, which I will mention in another thread. Oh, and it weighs 2lb 8.87oz!


Thanks again Jake, I would say the most memorable thing I learned from my trip to Vitas was actually how 'Vitas' is pronounced, I always thought it was 'Vai-tas', while it is actually 'Vee-tas'. I hope I'm not the only one who thought that!

[smokem]

That B&S looks sweet Chad. Higher middle would be perfect for me! You know where to find me if your friend doesn't take it... Haha

[Vitas Cricket]

Thanks for the review Chad, i have got to say that is a lovely example of a Fireblade. Not as grainy as others we have sold before, but defined grains, evenly spaced and a shape i am in love with.