Tibhar Cedric Nuytinck

So hey! I've been ejing for a few months now constantly changing blades looking for that holy grail that will finally put a stop to this madness (LOL). The Cedric Nuytinck blade was given (at a discount) to me by my trusty Tibhar supplier here in the Philippines. I immediately removed the Evos that were glued in my previous blade (Yinhe Venus 14) which were a 2 weeks old MX-P and FX-P. To complete my Cedric Nuytinck experience, I replaced my FX-P with a new sheet of MX-P rubber thus replicating the setup of Cedric himself.

Looking at the bare blade reminds me of the Powerspin Carbon with a high quality finish. The box says that the blade was made in Japan and I am currently confused about the composite used. In the blade it says ZC (zylon carbon?) however in the catalogue it says zylon fiber but upon closer inspection you can see the weaves of zylon fibers and carbon (make up your mind Tibs). I will compare it with PSC(Powerspin Carbon), both blades have MX-Ps on both sides.

During fh drives I can feel the control of the blade as it is slightly slower than the PSC, the PSC is more direct and more powerful however I am more comfortable with the CN because control . During loops this is where I found the blade to be very good as in really good. With the PSC you can produce bullets that can pierce the opponent's defenses with a loud cracking sound from WW2. With the CN blade the loops have a long trajectory that dives once it reaches the other end, the sound is also very distinct it is like a deep and crunchy cracking sound which tells me that I made a quality shot. You can be creative with your shot its like there is a new horizon for attack.

I have no problems in my backhand, due to the softer nature of the blade it is easy to absorb the incoming spin and counter the hell out of it. BH loops have a high trajectory that is enough to clear the net. I am also more comfortable with the CN blade because with the PSC blade a miscalculation means ball flying outside the table however once again the PSC is faster and more direct. Another thing is that my backhand now is more passive, more on blocks and placement the reason for my bias reasoning lol

Flicking with the CN blade feels like cheating because of the dwell plus the power of the MXP, bang!. As demonstrated by Paul Drinkhall in reviews the PSC is much faster but requires a higher skill level to produce those quality shots. I am just a mortal who tries to copy it lol

There is on thing that I observed with the CN blade, when you are looping with it or doing power loops the blade feels slow the shot feels slow but in actuality it is the opposite. It is just like driving in a car where 80 km/h feels like running on 40. Whereas with the PSC you can see the bullets or just an illusion made by the loud cracking sound. The CN blade just like the PSC pairs really well with MXP, as CN and PD plays with them. It is very natural that Tibhar will make a blade that pairs really well with their flagship rubber, MX-P!

The price tag is justified because the Cedric Nuytinck blade is one of the best blades that Tibhar has made, you can really feel that the blade is high quality even better feel than say my Mizutani. Name makes a difference in perception so does my ball feel

To conclude, the blade is made for players looking for a
- softer ZLC alternative
- very controlled composite blade
- modern weapon to whoop some ass
- another reason to buy a new blade lol

Tibhar Cedric Nuytinck
Speed: OFF
Plies: 7 (limba outer-ZC composite -?-kiri?)
Thickness: 5.8mm

Finally this blade that I have been waiting for so long to test arrived. I was intrigued with this blade because Samsonov used this blade. The blade's handle was shown to be wrapped with handle grip covering the entire length but the single black or blue stripe at the middle of the handle gave us a clue that this was the blade he was using. I think he covered it only to protect the identity of the blade as this blade was designed and advertised for another player with the same name. I think Vladi uses the VS Unlimited blade nowadays but he spend significant time using this blade in tournaments. The blade is encased in a big and better looking box unlike other Tibhar blades with their small boxes this one has a better packaging. The blade itself has a high quality finish like the Unlimited Blade series before. The blade surface seem to have a very thin layer of sealing or the blade is just smooth. The head shape seem to be semi-egg shaped. it is not as profound as those Waldner egg shaped blades. The blade weighs about 87 grams and the weight tilts towards the head but it never felt head heavy when I used the Aurus Prime and Select rubbers at maxed thickness. The neck and wing part need only a little bit of sanding. If only they have pre-sanded the neck part of the blade, this would have been perfect. The handle is very comfortable but the Unlimited series seem to be my personal choice for their handles and they feel bigger to the hands.

When I bounced the ball onto the bare blade, the ball bounced on a medium height. It is surprising that Tibhar did not release any OFF+ blades in their latest set of blades. They would usually make 2-3 blades with one being very fast, one medium speed and the other is a typical all around blade. I would probably attribute this to the fact that the new generation tensor rubbers nowadays when even paired with off- blades only can already compensate to the blade's lack very fast of speed. In short, blade's power can be increased by using fast rubbers like Aurus Prime or MX-P. I did not have a chance to test this with an MX-P. The Cedric blade has enough speed but it is not too fast. In fact it is slower than the CCA Unlimited before and the past blades such as Paul Drinkhall Carbon and Samsonov Carbon blade (the one with the blue handle). If I compare it to other brands, the Cedric Nuytinck blade is closer to the Carbonado 145 in terms of speed and maybe feel except that the Carbonado feel more stiff.

What I like about the Cedric blade is that it is a high performance blade despite being not too fast at all. The blade excels close to the table and mid distance from the table. It has enough power that will let the player feel it is not a slow blade. However when it is paired with an MXP- or Aurus Prime it is good even at far distance from the table. The blade feels medium soft. It has this flex that you need when you loop the ball and looping with it is very easy. The Cedric blade has very good control and seems to be as good as the Samsonov Stratus carbon in terms of handling however I like the Cedric better because it feels a bit softer if my memory does not betray me. This would be one of the best control carbon blades in the market if paired with the right rubber. I suggest to pair this more with MX-S if you are a pure looper and with Aurus Prime or MX-P if you hit more or need more power in your shots. It is just easy to handle that even an intermediate level of player can use this probably with slower rubbers like a 2.0 MX-S or 2.0 EL-P. The blade also provides good control in blocking and when you want to use long pips in the back either for pure blocking or attacking long pips style, the blade is good enough to use. I would assume it would also pair well with Chinese rubbers because of the limba outer plies and the woody feeling due to the very thin carbon layers.