OSP Virtuoso CRWi UNI OFF

I bought this blade searching for a spinny, controllable carbon blade with nice feeling and I got exactly that. My only doubt before buying the blade was the speed but for me its ideal . Not too fast but not too slow either . Very nice woody feel with nice vibrations and when u spin with power u feel the carbon activating. Osp quality is exceptional and u feel "unique" ,great value for money. So far I have nothing negative to say about the blade very good all-around. Nice dwell, easy to block , Easy to receive short , quality 1st ball with great feedback that Limba outer provides. Pairs great with hard rubbers like 05. Not so good with softer rubbers like 05fx at least in my opinion.

What is OSP...?
I had to find out who this manufacture was, so I decided to get a blade and chose the new OSP Virtuoso CRWi UNI OFF which is pretty similar in composition as my main blade the DHS W968 2nd edition.

I have heard so many good things about their blades which comes in high handcrafted custom quality.
I must say that the rumors were true when I received the blade.
IMO the quality is higher than brands like Butterfly! So smooth on the edges and and you can actually feel and smell is has been made hand.
This blade is a beauty and I am really looking forward to see how it performs - hopefully as it looks!

My custom OSP Virtuoso CRWi UNI OFF specs, according to the data card which is incl., are:
Head size small 157x150
weight 87.3g
thickness 5.63mm
FL handle Custom Master shaped
Balance center/head











In depth analysis of the OSP Virtuoso CRWi UNI OFF.

After reading a lot of positive things about OSP and their popular model Virtuoso it made me curious what's the fuzz was about. Until end of 2015 OSP haven't had any commercial blades with carbon and when they announced their new carbon blades I knew, I had to get one!

I had to find out who this manufacture was, so I decided to get a blade and chose the new OSP Virtuoso CRWi UNI OFF which is pretty similar in composition as my main blade the DHS W968

Unboxing:
When I opened the box which the blade arrived in I could smell the varnish OSP use as sealing. It was like being in a carpenter's workshop and by the looks and smoothness of the edges of the blade one could easy tell the blade was handcrafted. The quality of the Virtuoso CRWi is so high some would say it is better than even Butterfly blades!

I received my blade according to the specs I wanted and from the data card the spec are
Head size small 157x150
Weight 87.3g
Thickness 5.63mm
Handle FL Custom Master shaped
Balance center/head

Composition: Limba-Limba-Carbon UNI-Ayous-Carbon UNI-Limba-Limba (not confirmed)

The box includes the Virtuoso CRWi UNI OFF blade, the specification and greeting card from OSP and a beautiful ruler for measuring net height and rubber thickness.








Drive
When driving with this blade I could immediately feel the the high amount of control even with hard rubbers like H3 FH and T05 BH. Compared to both IF ALC and my DHS W968 this blade had more feel which made it easy to direct the ball where you want it.

Loop
In the opening game you could really feel the ease to make open ups due to the dwell that the limba outer ply helps create. Controllable slow spinny loops is done with less effort on both sides with a medium arc. You can really feel the ball dig into the bat. When looping from mid distance I could feel the carbon layer being kind of activated and adding extra speed to the loops. To compared the speed to other blades it would be similar to the IF ALC, but maybe a bit less speed. For my personal preference the speed was lagging a notch. The blade plays like if you loop slowly the blade acts like an ALL+ blade and with higher load it acts like an OFF blade.



Short play
In this part of the game the control just made the it easy to receive slow and relative fast incoming services short with good quality. This means low receives and with good amount of spin if you are able to snap the ball.

Flicks
Banana flicks it just amazing with this blade! Again the dwell and amount of control is just evident going over the table and grab the ball like the ball is sticking to your rubber.

Conclusion
The esthetic of the OSP Virtuoso CRWi UNI OFF is just amazing and I can not pinpoint anything negative about the blade or the quality. I personally would have chosen a faster blade if I was to use it as my main blade. Perhaps the Ultimate or Martin would be have been a better choice for me. I would recommend this blade to players who plays close to the table and like to take the first advantage by opening with spinny loops or flicking over the table. Also the player that likes to keep the table with controllable blocks. If you would get a carbon blade with an all wood feel this is a really good alternative!