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Hey guys, this is my first review, so if there is anything I've missed out - Let me know!

Just a note, I play with Tenergy 05 on Forehand and Tenergy 64 on the backhand.

I have played with the Schlager Carbon (SC) for pretty much all my table tennis life (15 years) - So this is what I have as a benchmark.



Speed:

It's fast sure... But it's not THAT fast - It is noticeably slower than the SC. Especially away from the table. That being said, the spin that you can generate with the blade, gives it that extra pop during looping rallies which makes it superior to the SC in this respect.

Control/Feel

This is all subjective of course, but I found it excellent in this area.

The SC has absolutely no "vibration", whereas with the Garaydia, you can instantly feel the ball when hitting simple forehand to forehand rallies. I'd say it was quite a bit harder than the SC. It also has a very "carbon" feel, which I personally like.

Spin

The extra dwell I was able to get on both looping wings was excellent. Typical loops were being blocked long, and the slow loops were very difficult for the opposition to handle.

Blocking

It's not the brick wall that the SC is, but it is still excellent. Drive blocks are easy, and the extra feel I got allowed better placement.


Conclusion:

Overall, my initial impressions with this blade are very good.

The build quality is clear from the off, and it's very nice in the hand.

If you are looking for a blade to give you a bit of extra speed (or a bit less if coming from a SC), then I'd certainly recommend the Garydia ZLC

Drinkhall Carbon Powerspin Blade
Weight: 86g
Thickness: 6.2mm
Type: Carbon OFF
Composition: Koto, Carbon, Ayous, Kiri
Rubbers tested with blade: Evolution MX-P

Hi everyone, in the review video below I am with Paul Drinkhall the 2016 World Team Bronze Medallist, and we are looking at his personal blade with Tibhar, the Drinkhall Powerspin Carbon.

Video review:


Written Review:

This blade is comprised of 7 plys and made up of 5 layers of wood and 2 layers of arylate carbon with a simple and clean design. Paul worked with Tibhar to develop him a blade that gives him outstanding control with high end speed and good shock absorption on impact.

The blades handle and surface feel very smooth, and is very comfortable to hold. The blade weighs 86 grams which is reasonably light and has a thickness of 6.2mm.

Myself and Paul use the Tibhar Evolution MX-P rubbers on both sides of the blades.

Topspin:

At the beginning I noticed the power I could generate with this blade the ball literally rocketed off the bat. I could topspin with a lot of speed whilst maintaining the control due to the direct arc. The blades crisp sound and carbon feel is very evident. Similar to the Drinkhall all round blade review i had difficulty controlling Paul’s extreme topspin shots due to the intense speed and spin. It is so impressive how Paul gets so much quality on the ball with such small, compact strokes. Paul had tried many samples in the build up to making this blade and he said this final version had the best balance between speed and spin for the advanced player.

Speed & spin:

During 3 point forehands I liked how I felt confident going for power on low balls. Even when Paul dropped back from the table I felt I was able to keep the pressure on him without using too much effort.

Combining the blades with the Evolution MX-P rubbers gave us both a large amount of spin. The Powerspin Carbon has sufficient dwell when playing against backspin to produce a lot of spin on the ball. I also liked the arc I could produce when I slowed the game down and went for maximum rotation on the ball.

Short Game:

We both had good feeling when touching short over the table, again one of Paul’s strength is his short game with flicks and close range attacks and found no problem hitting directly through the ball with pace.

Counter Spin:

Counter topspin worked well due to the direct nature of the blade playing close range shots.

Away from table:

Playing against Paul’s forehand topspin from away from the table was not easy however when I timed the ball well and connected accurately I could produce a great topspin.

Conclusion:

The Drinkhall Power Spin blade has definitely been designed for fast attacking close range play. The blade is very suitable for players who like to play aggressive on flicks and 3 ball attacks, something which Paul is renowned for. Paul really is a world class player and, when playing with him, it amazed me how much precision and timing he had in all of his shots. Although this blade is great at aggressive shots, he noted how he felt he could hold attacks well when passive blocking. This well balanced blade we would recommend it for players who are proficient in technique and have a fast stable attacking game. This blade is definitely a top of the range blade from Tibhar, stacking up well with other premium carbon blades.

Photos from the review:

Blade Composition


Blade Weight


Blade thickness


Me and Paul

Soft. But not too soft. It feels harder than Evolution FX-P. Great touch and control for all kinds of stroke.
You are facing no surprise when playing : everything is done with tremendous consistency and stability.

Nice sound, especially when brand new.
Quite fast. It slows down when the boost effect fades away but the rubber remains reasonably fast.

The topsheet of this high-end rubber is top-quality, very grippy and enduring.

The blocks are amazing, especially on a carbon blade.
On Ma Lin Carbon, the blocks are superb!

I'm currently enjoying this bad boy on my BH.

looks strange. for some people can be too heavy and fast, but i liked it.
overall very good balls

Double Day is not a well know brand outside of Asia and I only found out about it through another player how posted a travel blog for Taiwan where he talked about this manufacturer and some of the blades they make. It's said that DD used to make blades for Butterfly but I have not been able to confirm this from additional sources.

Now to the actually blade I decided on, Valiant ALC Winner a 5 ply blade 5,7mm thick with ALC. This makes this blade similar to a Timo Boll ALC but with 2 ply's less and for 1/3 of the price and that is an absolut steal if you ask me.

The blade came in a nice box that beats any manufacturers packaging by miles and on the side was all the stats of the blade including this particular blades weight of 87g. I had asked the seller ping-pong.tw if they had a blade around 90g and this was the heaviest blade they had in stock.

The outer ply was in perfect condition rivalling the likes of Butterfly in quality and the handle in ST was nicely rounded and not squarish like Butterfly so I could get a good grip. It's not a thick handle I would say it a bout the same as a Butterfly ST handle. I compare this blade a loot to BF but that is because most players will have experience with BF blades.

How does it play, well it play like a 5 play blade with ALC I guess. I paired it with Razant Grip max thickness on both sides and I can loop for days. Opening loops, counter loops, out of position loops they come back spiny and with a good arc on the table. There was no vibrations and the blade have good speed in the OFF range. Blocking is ok but ofc. it will never feel as solid as a 7 ply all wood blade for example.

If you are looking for a quality ALC blade look no further, I will recommend this blade all week long an twice on Sunday!

And remember speed, spin and control mostly comes from you and not your bat.

The blue sponge from the Bluefire series combined with the topsheet from the Acuda series make a very good kit. Looping and passive blocks are extremely easy to perform, making the Acuda P2 perfect for players who always aims for longer rallies. Since the hardness combined from both the topsheet and sponge are medium, this makes it very hard to perform at the short game, most of the times when receiving the balls either go to high or too deep in the table. Some more experienced players might be able to compensate for its bounciness.

Third ball aggressive shots are hard to perform, since the contact time is short. So I would say this rubber has a low-medium throw.

This rubber is perfect for players looking to aim for longer rallies and reliable shots.

I don't even know that the rubber will be, but maybe like the ratings below

Wow just wow! was my thought as I was spinning the ball back on to the table counter looping my opponent all over the table until I won the point.

When you loop the ball with this rubber you can feel how the ball sinks in to the sponge and how the grip takes hold of it to produce an incredible arc over the net. I could make loops out of position as long as I gripped the ball. More then once I was surprised when the ball kamikaze down on to the table at the end of the arc thinking that I lost the point as I would have with my old Hurricane 8 rubbers for sure.

The clicking sounds this rubber makes is just the icing on the cake.

The speed was ok for me at least, I don't want a rocket but still have a bit extra speed and Grip delivers just that.

best one i bought ever !
its the best in every aspect except durability , it turns the gum go away fast ( maybe cause my feets are a lil big :d )

The Avalox promoters call this their "dream blade"; a classic OFF-, all-wood, 5-ply blade. The central ply is very thick, with the outer veneers much thinner. Blade handle fits well in my hand, and the whole blade is pre-sealed. The flex of this blade increases spin significantly, there are vibrations (which I like), and the control of this blade is sublime! The lack of speed is no problem (for me), and when paired with the right rubbers, you can give the ball great speed.

I must say, when I first bought these shoes, they were fantastic! Comfortable, grippy, and very supportive. But after 3 months I had to have them stitched up and reinforced with leather because they were opening wider than Cookie Monster's mouth. After 5 months of use, the grip was gone. And after 7 months, even the reinforced leather couldn't keep this shoe from falling apart completely.

This rubber is a kind of Tenergy80 with a topsheet a bit harder.
Control, spin, linearity, medium-high throw
No real weakness
I like it especially for my backhand. On the forehand I prefer the soft feel of the Tenergy tosheet... but I should try this JP02 once more on my forehand.

This blade is really a very good blade !
The outer limba gives a wonderful feel, huge dwell time for such a fast blade, allows very spiny shots, and makes this blade very controlable in the short game and blocks.
But, I did not appreciate its low throw, especially for my forehand.
It's also very fast, too fast for me.

Tibhar Nimbus Delta S
Weight: 67 grams unct
Harness: Soft
Speed: Off-
Spin: High

The Tibhar Nimbus Delta and Delta soft will be the last Tibhar rubbers I will review this year. These are traditional German rubbers designed for the plastic balls. The Delta S has a orange colored non-porous sponge which is popular among the older generation of tensor based rubbers. The topsheet is similar to other Tibhar rubbers however has a slightly longer pip structure.





In this review I used the Tibhar Nimbus Delta S and the ITC XC carbon blade for this test.

The Nimbus Delta had a classic tensor feel during contact. The Delta feels like a medium/soft rubber, similar hardness to the closer to the Aurus Soft rubber.

The Delta S is a fairly fast rubber but not as fast as modern Tibhar rubbers like MX-P for example. The speed is more like a allround rubber and closer to MX-s. The rubber drives very well, and using a plastic ball the rubber combated the ball well. When smashing the ball the Delta rubber had more control rather than speed. The rubber felt suited close to the table.

When generating spin, I would rate the Delta S rubber quite low in terms of spin in comparison to the Q or Evolution series. The Nimbus Delta needs a stroke that compresses the ball more on the sponge or hitting through the sponge to produce good spin all abecause the topsheets are not as grippy compared to the newer generation Tibhar rubbers.

To conclude, the Nimbus Delta has a great amount of control and blocks very well. I could counter well from middle distance to the table. I would recommend this rubber for new players or developing players that use the poly ball. Once you have developed your strokes you should switch to a higher level rubber like the Q series or the Evolution series. The price is good.

I don't understand why this blade is the best seller in Viet nam?

Tibhar Nimbus Delta
Weight: 71 grams uncut
Hardness: Medium soft
Speed: OFF
Spin: High

The Tibhar Nimbus Delta and Delta soft will be the last Tibhar rubbers I will review this year. These are traditional German rubbers designed for the plastic balls. The Delta has a white non-porous sponge which is popular among the older generation of tensor based rubbers. The topsheet is similar to other Tibhar rubbers however has a slightly longer pip structure.





In this review I used the Tibhar Nimbus Delta and the ITC XC carbon blade for this test.

The Nimbus Delta had a classic tensor feel during contact. The Delta feels like a medium rubber, similar hardness to the Aurus.

The Delta is a fairly fast rubber but not as fast as modern Tibhar rubbers like MX-P for example. The speed is faster than EL-p but is definately slower than MX-P. The rubber drives very well, and using a plastic ball the rubber combated the ball well. When smashing the ball the Delta rubber had more control rather than speed. The rubber felt suited close to the table.

When generating spin, I would rate the Delta rubber quite low in terms of spin in comparison to the Q or Evolution series. The Nimbus Delta needs a stroke that compresses the ball more on the sponge or hitting through the sponge to produce good spin all because the topsheets are not as grippy compared to the newer generation Tibhar rubbers.

To conclude, the Nimbus Delta has a great amount of control and blocks very well. I could counter well from middle distance to the table. I would recommend this rubber for new players or developing players that use the poly ball. Once you have developed your strokes you should switch to a higher level rubber like the Q series or the Evolution series. The price is good.

The T80 is half way between the T05 and T80. Not as spinny as T05, not as fast as T80, with a throw higher than T64, and maybe just less than the T05.

It is a very versatile rubber, and will serve a rounded player well.

Sadly, maybe because it is so good at everything and excellent at nothing, it is also the tenergy that is the least durable. It will remain a good rubber after 2-3 months, but it does not seem to have the same durability as the others. Is this because players tend to use the T05 for brushing (so sponge remains good for longer) and T64 for more puching (so topsheet remains good for longer) while you'd use both to play shots with T80? I'm not sure.

Those playing with T80 could try Xiom Vega Pro or Asia for similar characteristics.

The Tenergy 64 is an excellent rubber. With a high throw (but less than its T05 / T80 brothers), it is a rubber for attackers.

It has a soft feel and more bounce than the T05/T80 but is still very linear.

I found it to be better than T80 or T05 in damp conditions.

The T64 is in theory the fastest of all tenergies, has more than enough spin and thanks to its softness and increased dwell time, it's a versatile rubber.

Great rubber for backhand.

While it can be a bit heavy, the T05 FX has a soft sponge which gives a resulting feel around 40-41 degrees hardness.

It's very spinny and has a medium throw, which results in very comfortable blocking and driving.

The feel and control are very good, and the rubber is durable.

Clearly a good rubber, if it wasn't for the price.

I've played with Boost TC when I started playing TT again after a 14 year gap. I used to play with speed glued Mark V GPS, and when told the speed glue / boosting was not allowed anymore, I tried Boost TC.

The feel was great, and I found this 38 degree hardness rubber to replicate the feel I had with my old Mark V GPS.

The soft sponge really allowed good spin and sufficient speed. Unfortunately, the bounciness is such that you lose a bit of control on short balls.

Also, as this is now an old rubber (one of the best of the first generation tensor though), they do not last very long. The spin potential is great at first (while nowhere near current top rubbers), but dissipates very quickly.

It's not the cheapest (nor the most expensive).

It is a light rubber, with a low to medium throw.

7 years ago, with the celluloid ball, it was a good rubber. It is now an outdated rubber, as others have more speed, more control, more spin, same softness, last longer, and can be found as cheap or cheaper (e.g. Xiom vega europe, Bluefire JP3...).