I have been thinking about what I could do to replace my SAF for a while and realised that I should be looking to find a bat with a similar shape.
Then I spotted a bat on eBay which looked as if it might tick the nice an cheap, 2014 model and a similar shape to my Genus.
What I didn't expect was how similar the 2014 Icon is to the Genus. Now I don't know if Gunn and Moore tweak their bat shapes year on year, I am not sure they do... but I am pretty pleased with what I have ended up with...
As you can see, with the exception of the slight off-set edge in the SAF the shapes are very similar.
Here is the Genus next to an older model Icon with the original (f7 face) that is also a 606 bat
I was also keen to look at the f4.5 face too - I have tried the F2 face and found it a little aggressive looking for my taste
I also wanted to look at the "Lower model GM's are always pressed hard" comment. It isn't a phrase I like (what does soft pressed vs hard pressed mean anyway?)
As you can see there are seam marks where the previous user tested it (he/she seems to have middled a few too!!) which suggests to me that it has been pressed pretty well and just needs some more knocking in.
On performance, it feels pretty good when I bounce a ball on it - the middle isn't "the full length of the blade" !! but it is a nice proportion of the hitting area... I just need a hit now!
Here are a few more pics - the bat has one and a half grips on - the scales say 2lbs 11 - I thought it was much lighter...
Weight and pick up test... (plus comparison with SAF)