I have now had my Gladiator 2 dart board that I won in the competition for a few weeks and wanted to tell you all about it.
Initially when it arrived I liked the initial weight of the box as it felt heavier than normal so I thought to myself lovely jublee a few freebies in there with it lol but it was just the board and an iron on badge. It does feel significantly heavier but I have not weighed it to compare, I may try to do so soon. The board itself looks very nice and is clear and the colours are bright, I personally don't like the silver number ring as it reminds me of the old boards from the 80's and gives it a dated feel which is a shame for a very modern bright looking board. I know some may say that the white ones chip but to be fair I rarely hit the outer ring so this is not really a concern for me. I think it would look better with a white outer ring and it would be in keeping with the rest of the board. My other issues are at how hard this board is, if you think a Blade 4 is hard when new it has nothing on this baby it reminds me of throwing darts in to a log end. I am a light thrower and 1 of my darts kept falling out before I could complete a set of 3 which frustrated me. I did rough up the ends of my points to help this situation but as the sisal is so tight it takes the roughness off within a day or so of practising so feel like I have to do this every other day, and psychologically it was playing on my mind to throw harder which affected my throw. The sisal is very flat which was nice to see as some boards (not going to mention Unicorns name here) tend to have a few lumps and bumps and the sisal pulls out leaving white marks but I doubt this will happen with this board as the sisal is extremely tight. It will only be the heavy dart users that might be able to comment on this.
I did like the screw that goes in to the back of the board for ease of centring but again this screw did not go in far enough to fit the bracket that I was already using as it lends itself to fit better with the bracket sent with it, so I had to pack my board out with wedges to stop it moving about or change the bracket so I packed it out as it was easier as the screw holes didn't match up and I didn't want to have to drill new holes and move the board an inch or so. This is a pain when turning the board once a week but it's a minor inconvenience more than a fault in the manufacture as I was not using their hanging bracket.
The trebles and doubles appeared to be larger and on measuring them they were, The Blade 4 were 8.4 to 8.6 where as the Gladiator 2 were 8.8 to 9.4 now I know this is only a mm but for me I don't want the trebles and doubles bigger I would have preferred it had they have gone the other way and been smaller. There is also something not quite right with the spider on mine as it looks out of line and some of the wires are not straight and the Bullseye is off centre these are all little things but to someone who plays at a good level it makes a lot of difference.
Overall I would not buy one of these boards unless these issues were rectified. I don't want to appear ungrateful for winning this as a prize but as you know I like to be honest with my write ups and reviews about darts products and there would be no point in lying about my findings. I am sure others may find my comments petty or nit picking but a review is just that. For me this is a good board that needs a few tweaks and adjustments to get it right as I don't feel it is quite ready to take on the big boys yet unless it was £20.00 or under then it would be worth putting up with the minor defects. This could be a good board but for now I would give it a 5 /10. Sorry guys but not for me.
Initially when it arrived I liked the initial weight of the box as it felt heavier than normal so I thought to myself lovely jublee a few freebies in there with it lol but it was just the board and an iron on badge. It does feel significantly heavier but I have not weighed it to compare, I may try to do so soon. The board itself looks very nice and is clear and the colours are bright, I personally don't like the silver number ring as it reminds me of the old boards from the 80's and gives it a dated feel which is a shame for a very modern bright looking board. I know some may say that the white ones chip but to be fair I rarely hit the outer ring so this is not really a concern for me. I think it would look better with a white outer ring and it would be in keeping with the rest of the board. My other issues are at how hard this board is, if you think a Blade 4 is hard when new it has nothing on this baby it reminds me of throwing darts in to a log end. I am a light thrower and 1 of my darts kept falling out before I could complete a set of 3 which frustrated me. I did rough up the ends of my points to help this situation but as the sisal is so tight it takes the roughness off within a day or so of practising so feel like I have to do this every other day, and psychologically it was playing on my mind to throw harder which affected my throw. The sisal is very flat which was nice to see as some boards (not going to mention Unicorns name here) tend to have a few lumps and bumps and the sisal pulls out leaving white marks but I doubt this will happen with this board as the sisal is extremely tight. It will only be the heavy dart users that might be able to comment on this.
I did like the screw that goes in to the back of the board for ease of centring but again this screw did not go in far enough to fit the bracket that I was already using as it lends itself to fit better with the bracket sent with it, so I had to pack my board out with wedges to stop it moving about or change the bracket so I packed it out as it was easier as the screw holes didn't match up and I didn't want to have to drill new holes and move the board an inch or so. This is a pain when turning the board once a week but it's a minor inconvenience more than a fault in the manufacture as I was not using their hanging bracket.
The trebles and doubles appeared to be larger and on measuring them they were, The Blade 4 were 8.4 to 8.6 where as the Gladiator 2 were 8.8 to 9.4 now I know this is only a mm but for me I don't want the trebles and doubles bigger I would have preferred it had they have gone the other way and been smaller. There is also something not quite right with the spider on mine as it looks out of line and some of the wires are not straight and the Bullseye is off centre these are all little things but to someone who plays at a good level it makes a lot of difference.
Overall I would not buy one of these boards unless these issues were rectified. I don't want to appear ungrateful for winning this as a prize but as you know I like to be honest with my write ups and reviews about darts products and there would be no point in lying about my findings. I am sure others may find my comments petty or nit picking but a review is just that. For me this is a good board that needs a few tweaks and adjustments to get it right as I don't feel it is quite ready to take on the big boys yet unless it was £20.00 or under then it would be worth putting up with the minor defects. This could be a good board but for now I would give it a 5 /10. Sorry guys but not for me.
