So here comes a long winded review. On Monday of this week, I made the drip down to Dummer to drop my match bat off for a refurb and a repair to the toe. Dan and Adam were very pleasant and very accommodating, and explained there would be a five day turnaround. I already expected this and as such went with the intention of seeing what was on offer in terms of other bats. So initially I had a brief look around and noticed a blank bat that I thought was in my weight range picked it up and thought 'mmm this is nice'. However, knowing that serious cricket is only next door I refrained and went over there. After seeing nothing there that took my fancy I went back to chase and started chatting to Dan about a bespoke option to copy my match bat (an ex pro bat) to which Dan said yeah not a problem we can do it but again it will be 5 days. He asked me what my budget was and I said I was really looking at an R7 grade so Dan pulled all of the R7s out for me that were blank and he said have a rifle through and see if anything resembles the shape of my current bat. After about 10 mins or so of rifling, I found 2 that were almost identical. So Dan gave me a mallet and tap them both up etc etc. So I tried them both and surprise surprise, they both performed pretty much the same, I thought one had a very slight edge but they were both still great. I then asked Dan to weigh them both and the one I preferred was 2.118 with a snake grip, so I figured that would be around 2.12 dressed with a chevron. The other one came in slightly lighter at 2.89 with a snake grip, which I felt was a little light, so o decided on the heavier one. The bat still needed dressing and knocking on So Dan put it aside with my other bat to be refurbed and said he will ring me in the week to let me know it's finished and I would pay for it then. So I was expecting a 3 or 4 day turnaround, but in actual fact the bats were posted out the next day and arrived with me Thursday - great service from the guys. So I eagerly ripped open the packaging and had a look at it and a waft, it felt better than I remembered and I am over the moon with it.
So onto the bat itself, the only differences between my current bat and the new one is that there is more weight up high on the chase and the spine goes a little further down the blade. it weighs in at 2.119 with a chevron, stickers and facing But doesn't feel that heavy. The ping feels great - not quite on the same level as my pro bat - but very very close. It is a traditional pro shape, mod-low middle, with a duck bill toe and full back, this one is more spine over edge but definitely doesn't lack on edges. Very minimal concaving and great coverage across the blade. The bat has a very thick oval handle akin to a GM handle. Looks wise it is pretty nice actually, 8 grains, with what I think is a slight butterfly stain up high on the blade.
Overall for 226 you absolutely cannot go wrong and Dan seems like a lovely bloke and boy can he make a great bats.
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Topic: Chase volante R7 (Read 2104 times)