For bumper strips, try W&D Strings on 01580752972.  They stock loads or can get most makes.  Cost is around £4.50 VAT. 

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Played and won my first match with powerflow elite last night. what a racket! I was really surprised at how quick the elite feels to swing yet feels surprisingly stable for the light weight. It is indeed a powerful racket, even with the factory string which is very tight. can't wait to get some decent string in there! vibration level is very low, but feedback on each shot is spot on. it is not as forgiving as my n120, whch otherwise has similar good points although the elite is more accurate in my opinion with the n120 being (ever so slightly) more powerful. But then again the n120 has powernick 18 in it at 25lbs so it may be due to that.

I'm want to buy a powerflow ultima aswell in a few weeks to give that one a try. although I currently have about 10 rackets so it's getting a bit ridiculous!

most people tend to use yellow grips but I thought that was just a more popular color! Now I come to think of it the yellow ones did seem to last longer. Oh well I use on overgrip over the top so don't have to worry about the PU underneath wearing out.

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Sparty: I did call them directly and they couldn't tell me when the spares would become available, but they were supposed to be on order. Guess I'll just wait and see what comes from there.

Shib: I completely agree about the inconsistancy of the Karakal colours. Blue is awful and lasts about 1 match, white I find is Ok but wears out too quickly. Green the same. Black is almost as bad as blue. But YELLOW has to be the winner by far. Lots of players I know are in the same preference!

KARAKAL PLEASE MAKE A BOX OF 24 YELLOW GRIPS!!

Adz

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Currently I have a tecnifibre players wrap overgrip over the top of the standard grip and this is about right thickness for me. a Karakal pu over the top was always too thick. but I guess I could try them the other way around. Does the extra .5 lbs really make a difference to the crosses and mains? you must use an accurate  electronic stringing machine such as the babolat? my  re-stringer uses an old manual machine and aparantly there can be /- 2lbs difference anyway so i'll probably just get it done with tecnifibre 305 @ 26.

regarding replacement bumper....Why don't you just call grays up? their number is on the website. I'm sure they would know where to get replacements.

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Sparty, the strings seem to be a slightly cheaper version of the Dura Ace, and didn't seem to last as long. Try some Ashaway Supernick XL Pro in it and the racquet is awesome!

So far the ideal set up that I've found is:

Strings: Ashaway Supernick Pro XL 25.5lbs mains and 26lbs crosses (2-piece stringing)

Grips: Strip to base. Add Wilson Overwrap grip (slightly overlapped), then add Karakal PU Supergrip (slightly overlapped). This gives a fantastic feel and tresponce to the racquet, which a thicker grip seems to dampen and a thinner grip seems to worsen.

As mentioned earlier, the only doiwnside so far is not being able to get hold of the replacement bumper strips for the racquets.

Let me know what you think of them!

Adz

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I have my powerflow elite now. although I haven't managed to have a hit with it yet. anyway. just thought I'd say that the quality of the build looks extremely high, whereas I imagined it to look less somehow. it has a bumper strip on the sides of the racket too which means the strigs are protected from floor hits which I think is a good idea.  It also looks much sexier in real life that it does on the photos on the grays website. The factory string is very tight probably around 28-30 , and looks quite high quality actually. it looks a bit similar to dunlops dura ace string. So i'm gonna hold off re-stringing till I get chance to play a match with this string......

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SquashNorthOf60

I'ce been playing with a Grays Powerflow Elite for around 5 months now. I have four of them all strung in Ashaway Supernick XL Pro (25.5lbs mains and 26lbs crosses) and they feel fantastic.

The racquets aren't as durable as the Dunlop muscle weave or hot melt racquets, and an impact into the frame (e.g from the head through towards the grip) will certainly cause you to break the racquet, but under a sideways impact the racquet holds up as well as anything I've ever used.

Only downside is getting hold of a replacement gromit strip when it comes to restringing next time. No-one in the UK seems to be able to get hold of one!

Getting back to topic...... the most powerful racquet I've ever used is the Prince O3 Silver. It was effortless, but lacked the control of the Gray's and Dunlop racquets. Power is such a diffiuclt thing to guage! Someone with a well timed swing that gets the ball in the center on the sweet spot will generally hit it harder than someone who hits off-center. The key is in timing and positioning not in racquet brand and model!

Try experimenting with a variety of racquets and tensions and also work on your timing and connection with the ball. Between them both, you'll be hitting the spots off the ball in no time!

Adz

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Kirbster, I tried the red powernick and the Tecnifibre225 side by side at similar tensions. The red may have been a pound or two less because they suggest stringing at lower tension. With a stringmeter, both racquets were within a pound of tension. They were strung at 21 pounds on a dropweight stringer, which might be more like 25 pounds on a crank machine.

I find the 225 to be a much better string and i just bought a couple reels. It feels softer and more resilient, like the ball spends more time on the 225 strings than on the Ashaway. I can generate more power on drives and get the ball a little hotter when hitting with the 225. On volleys they feel very similar. I think the Ashaway is more durable, but i like the way the 225 frays and you can tell when the string is about to break.

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 That's probably true

Most pro's have their rackets strung at 30lbs or even tighter which is way to tight for me. But then again they hit the sweet spot every single shot - which I don't!

If you string aroung 25 - maybe even down to 23 if using very thin zyex string - you will have a bigger sweet spot and more forgiving racket that has a more consistent response across the string bed so players who are intermediate level will feel like it is more powerful. But if you have a stiff racket/string bed and hit it right on the sweet spot then that is ideal, probably.

like I said you need to experiment and spend a little time and money on strings/re-stringing.

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most people say looser strings are more powerful. But this is true only for beginner players or those with weak techniques.

I find actually the opposite, which is that harder strings strung harder on stiff racquets give the most power for a good player with good technique.

The most powerful is Wilson N120 or N140 with 17 gauge stiff multifilament such as a prince string.

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Bellers

go here http://www.squashplayer.co.uk/magazine/string_matters.htm and you will learn the basic theory behind tensions and gauges. although ultimately experimentation is the key to finding the right tension for you.

I have purchased a Powerflow Elite off a guy at my club, so will let everyone now what I think tommorow once I have it re-strung and regripped for my tastes.

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Dunlop rackets have always felt the most powerful to me. In particular the hotmelt and the old musclweave range. ICE range didn't seem as good. Prince rackets have always felt weaker by comparison too to me (although it doesn't seem to be a problem for John White!) However, it's probably just as relevant to make sure you are using a good 18 gauge string at a medium to low tension if you want pure power, regardless of what racket it's in (within reason)

Although one of the few brands i've never tried; The new Gray's rackets are rumored to be of the most powerful you can get. In particular the new powerflow elite model has been praised both here and on other forums for it's 'oomph'. Although it's not easy to get hold of one for a good price normally (I have tried!)

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