Graphene, is featuring as a primary ingredient in Gray’s topmost field hockey sticks. Just take a look at the list of the most expensive sticks with all the bells and whistles from Gray’s 2020 range and all will mention ‘graphene’ somewhere .
Graphene, is not only on the lips of the tech whizzes at Grays, billionaire, Sir Richard Branson said of Graphene:
“The material provides so much fascinating potential to improve the world around us. It is super-light, immensely strong, transparent and flexible, and more conductive than copper. As it is only one atom thick it provides all these properties in just one material, and by adding it to existing materials we can start to see marked improvements in performance.” He added:Â “By incorporating the atomically-thin material into existing materials used to build planes, the safety and performance properties could be significantly improved”
Graphene has already been incorporated into a carbon fiber bicycle frame, reducing its weight by around 50% to approximately 600 grams. In addition to being very resistant and lightweight, graphene also provides rigidity and flexibility in a set, so many experts believe that it will be the cyclist material of the future. Currently, the bicycle manufacturer Dassi, has been the first to market a graphene bike: the Dassi Interceptor. The CEO of the company, Dassi Stuart Abad explained:
“The Dassi Interceptor, weighs 750 grams (unpainted) but that it will be easy to finally achieved a weight of 350 grams.”
Graphene has been so universally acclaimed the two inventors, from Manchester University went on to win the Nobel prize. Known as the world’s first two-dimensional material – as it is just one-atom thick, graphene is more than 200 times stronger than steel, because of its bond lengths. Graphene is so strong it’s even stronger than diamond. What is very impressive about this revolutionary substance is its flexibility as graphene can be stretched up to 20% of its volume.
So what are Gray’s big wigs saying about their wonder material? The company has a new range of sticks ready for the 2019 market. Continuous innovation has been at the heart of the Grays brand since 1855. From the world-famous Karachi King to the introduction and development of the very latest in composite technology.
Sir Richard Branson talks about Graphene
Hugo Youngman, Grays International brand manager said:
“Moving on from there to graphene. Most of the male internationals would use a graphene stick because they are the most powerful we produce.
“Maximum power and performance is how we have earmarked that technology.
“The GX are now the entry price point composite sticks and we’ve updated those with some interesting graphics for next year.”
Grays latest Graphene models (and Kinetic models which contain graphene) were put to goods use at the Olympics where more gold medals were won in Rio by Grays ambassadors than any other hockey brand.
Youngman, talking about how stars of the game have already taken to the new sticks said:
“Two of the girls in the Great Britain team were using Kinetic sticks, Nicola White and Crista Cullen, which is great for us. We had four out of the winning team using our sticks.”
Grays have already launched a graphene stick for the indoor game, the GR4000.
Delivering an added boost in power thanks to its Graphene composition, the Grays® GR4000 Indoor Field Hockey Stick gives your offensive skills an edge on the playing field that boasts a powerful release without compromising control. The manufacturer says: “Graphene construction promotes a heavier shot without minimizing control or durability.”
All said, graphene is a remarkable substance which is stronger and lighter than all those that have gone before. When Grays fill their market leading sticks with the stuff you know graphene is the new high tech material of the age. I can vouch for the GR4000 (see a review of graphene sticks here). It’s probably the most powerful stick on the market and the same can go for their out door GR range.
