Print

[M77]

Shows how good my eye to detail is lol

Ha ha ha..it's your old age mate!

I must admit i do like a bit of neon green! But for the purposes of pride i'll say it was a bit 2012 ;-)

That aside i'm curious about the Zona, like what i can see of it from the small pic but whites not the colour for that shape! (ponytail moment) 

[Johnny]

So GM have just posted an explanation of F2 and F7 on Twitter.

Basically F2 is pressed with a flat face, while F7 is a normal convex face.

The hyperbole around the description is quite comical though!!!

'Optimised face curvature maximises edge dimensions for a larger sweetspot and incredible power'

[Ayrtek Cricket]

i think the whole flat face issue is purely to make the bats look bigger as consumers seem obsessed with how big a bats edges are over how the middle performs.

The manufacturers have cottoned onto the fact that a flat face will increase the edge size by a few mm which adds to the WOW factor when stating that a 2.10 has 38mm edges etc.

[Tom]

So GM press their standard bats to give a 7mm face curvature. By leaving the face just about flat (2mm curvature), they would add about 3oz to the bat but have a gain on the edges of 5mm. Generally speaking taking 1mm off the edges, saves an oz.

So basically you save approx 2oz (if you retain the same edge size) by using a flat face. Meaning you can get monster edges at the key weight 2lb 9oz rather than the lofty 2lb 11/12 type weights.

N.B, they're very quick approximate calculations, to give you an idea on why companies use flat faces. Don't look too far into them 

[ItsJustCricket]

So GM press their standard bats to give a 7mm face curvature. By leaving the face just about flat (2mm curvature), they would add about 3oz to the bat but have a gain on the edges of 5mm. Generally speaking taking 1mm off the edges, saves an oz.

So basically you save approx 2oz (if you retain the same edge size) by using a flat face. Meaning you can get monster edges at the key weight 2lb 9oz rather than the lofty 2lb 11/12 type weights.

N.B, they're very quick approximate calculations, to give you an idea on why companies use flat faces. Don't look too far into them 

Sorry, Tom, I am really trying to get my head around this, but it's just not working! How are the "monster edges" bigger if you need to retain the same edge size to save that 2oz?!

[Tom]

Okay, so let's say you have a 40mm bat and it weighs 2lb 11oz with a traditional face.

Make that a flatter faced (2mm curvature) bat and you have a 40mm bat at 2lb 9oz

[Tom]

Also worth noting, on a flat faced bat that edge increase is on the whole of the bat. So you can further reduce toe and shoulders saving even more weight.

[Red Ink Cricket]

Basically they are bigger for the weight.

as tom said, take a 2lb 11 bat with a normal curved face and 40mm edges. plane the front of it so its flat and it would still have the 40mm edges but would now be a couple of ounces lighter.

so a flat face bat that weighed 2lb 11 would have larger than 40mm edges compared to its curved faced version.

[The_Bird]

Are flat faced bats something that the pros would use? or is it purely cosmetics for the consumer?

[M77]

Are flat faced bats something that the pros would use? or is it purely cosmetics for the consumer?

We only have ourselves to blame... this constant buzz around the edge size that was more for aesthetics than anything else had lead batmakers to compromise.

Yes you'll uncover techniques along the way but im pretty sure if you sat all the best podshavers in the world down and asked them to create a bat that was all about performance... they may look a little different.

Not saying the question... "how big are the edges" hasn't created some interesting work... but what the priority? look good or score runs... maybe a bit of both but i'd not want to compromise the bats potential for the sake of an edge... seems to quote a good teacher of mine.... "madness i tell you" 

[Red Ink Cricket]

ive got to agree. before i started making bats i always wanted a decent size edge as i had the impression that it ment a better bat and the traditional shaped bats were planks! Now aslong as it performs im happy. the thicker edge bats suit my technique better but im definately going to have a traditional and a modern edge bat in the kit bag this year.

[Ayrtek Cricket]

i use a bat to score runs not lean on and pose with whilst at the crease or for people to pick up and be impressed by whilst sat waiting to go into bat whilst not knowing how it performs.

If a bat had 20mm egdes but went like a tramp on chips id be more than happy!

[Ryan]

i use a bat to score runs not lean on and pose with whilst at the crease or for people to pick up and be impressed by whilst sat waiting to go into bat whilst not knowing how it performs.

If a bat had 20mm egdes but went like a tramp on chips id be more than happy!

well said, especially loved the "tramp on chips" bit 

[petehosk]

To be faie, I have always looks at the profile size (including the edges) and that's the impressive bit!
But over the last year, I have been increasingly impressed by a few of the more traditional shaped bats! 

[Colesy]

i use a bat to score runs not lean on and pose with whilst at the crease or for people to pick up and be impressed by whilst sat waiting to go into bat whilst not knowing how it performs.

If a bat had 20mm egdes but went like a tramp on chips id be more than happy!

That's where you're going wrong