Expensive Blades, big difference?

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Yoo peep's! :D
Soon I want to buy a new blade and maybe some new rubbers, so I really need your help, you guys have the experience ;)

I really prefer offensive blades and all my blades I had yet, was like Butterfly Andrez Grubba and Z. Primorac. So mostly the cheap ones.. In my magazine I see those 130 euro blades (very offensive and soooo unique etc.) like STiGA Ebenholz and Rosewood or Butterfly BOLL. Whats so special at these blades? Is it really a completly different feeling and is it really worthwhile to pay that price? Can I use it longer than new rubbers or is it worn after 1 year and I have to get a new expensive blade?

Thanks, Mattis
 
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No doubt some of the more expensive blades are better. I use Ebenholz VII as my 2nd blade. My 1st blade is the cheaper Optimum Carbo. I prefer the Optimum coz it suits my game better. Exploiting good expensive blades to the max needs skills and ability. Otherwise it's like buying a Ferrari and only to drive it to your corner shop to get some groceries. hahaha

But honestly..most pros tend to use mid range blades.
 
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Yeah, I agree. Most people do not need those overly expensive blades. For good offensive blades, the Stiga Clipper and the Avalox P-700 are excellent. Truthfully, they are as good as any of the more fancy high tech blades. I know a lot of pros who use the Clipper. Both of those blades have been used by guys who won the World Championship title.

The more expensive price usually has to do with some aspect of the technology they used to make the blade. For example the Timo Boll blades use some combination of materials like Carbon and Arylate or Zylon to make the blade both soft for touch and fast underneath the soft so that when you hit harder the ball goes. Good for slow, short game and heavy underspin and good for launching attacks. The Clipper and the P-700 get almost the same effect with how the wood plies are used. Similar speed, control and touch.

The Andro Temper Tech series are also interesting for what they do in these regards and they are not too expensive: a little more than a Clipper.

But no blade will really last "longer". If you take care of it, a good blade can last for years. If you hit the table or hit the blade face on something solid, you will need a new blade quickly. :) Wood is wood and even though those expensive blades have fancy technology, they are primarily wood. And the Carbon, Zylon and Arylate are not materials that would keep the blade from breaking. :)
 
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Thanks for all your responses! everything just helped me alot ;)

Nice to hear that its not a "must have". I read some stuff about the Clipper Wood, it sounds really good and its not expensive, still acceptable for a new blade. Also the Avalox P700 is very recommended :) I think one of them will it be.
 
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Yeah, I think like just about everything, you have to take into account the laws of diminishing returns, the added bonus you get for the extra several hundred dollars you pay for a super expensive blade, probably only makes the blade slightly better, which for most people, there just isn't the cost benefit justification there to spend that much money on such a blade. Chances are you will notice a much bigger effect from switching for an average rubber to tenergy 05, than from an average blade to a good blade.
 
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Blades are expensive because of brand names. If they say that Timo or any of the more known players use these blades they can afford to sell a blade for much higher than they would normally sell it. I know for a fact that Butterfly and another company (can't think of name) have stolen recipes from Jack Miller and sold them for crazy profits. I'm not sure which ones, but Jack has had to keep his ply's secret because of it. It's hard to compete with the larger companies when you're the small guy because they can easily drive you out of business if you let them push you over.

Joola seems to have endorsed his blades so that says something about his products.

As far as buying expensive blades, you should really check out the quality of the blade from someone who's used it before for at least a 6-12 month period. And if you make sure you take good care of the blade you can make even the most expensive blades last a lifetime. I remember my Yiyong Fan Extra blade from Juic lasted a good 7 years no problem before i finally had a mishap and the outer ply started to lose it's lament, but Jack fixed that up for me with a small balsa patch so it's as good as new. Not quite as fast as my normal Carbon blades, but still a great All+ blade. Plus I absolutely love the handle so I asked him to trace it for my new blades.

I'd suggest finding a blade that fits your needs both now and what you want in the future. You need a blade that has control, speed, and touch. If you can feel the touch and the speed is okay, but you have problems with control that could be a technique issue and you just need to keep practicing with it. Very often a lot of players choose the fastest blade they can find and then think hey after a couple months I'll learn how to control it, but that's rarely the case. You need exceptional technique to be able to control those OFF+++ blades and I don't even know of any top players that use that fast of a blade.

Basically choose something you're comfortable with both now and in the next few years and try and find a decent price for it. You'll likely find that you can find something much cheaper if you keep researching.

If anyone has some interest in checking Jack Miller's products and learn a bit about his custom abilities let me know. Here's his site though. http://jmblades.com
 
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the quality of the more expensive blade might be not be higher - however in my Experience you find the quality Control is always higher.

That's true. The reason why they're expensive is the technology that they use. Of course they spend a bomb on their R&D, compared to a small time custom made bat company. However, there are times that these small companies have an eye for detail that these big super companies don't have.

I for one rather go to my small bespoke tailor for my custom suits than Giorgio Armani. Why? Their meticulous eye for details..and I don't mind paying a little bit more.
 
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Sometimes the urge to improve leads us to look at what is more expensive and marketed as new technology and innovative. Waith time we sometimes realise that this is not exactly what we need and in some casse could have progressed further with a cheaper alternative. I have not used too many expensive set ups, but one of my more effective combos is a Dunlop Max Ply II premade blade fitted with Andro Cor Rubbers. Granted that it is an old blade from the 38mm days, it is fast and with the rubbers quick enough and controllable. I also use two Stigas with DHS 666 and 888 one Graphie wood and an Optimus Plus.
I have found that the more experienced players can give good advice as to what gear to use that will suit your style.
We have all as players been captivated by the newer, faster,lighter etc.optiions out there
 
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There are many players who has same question in their mind whether paying high prices for the blades are justifiable, definitely the answer will be yes. The comfort which you obtain while playing with blades such as Stiga, butterfly will be really much different than the confort you obtain while playing with the low range blades.This is the reason why people generally prefer to go for high quality blades, moreover selection of shot will be differed with the range of blade.
 
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I think that the most important aspect of a blade is speed. It is most important to choose the correct speed that you are comfortable with. You don't need a lot of money to fulfill this primary objective. However, if you have more money, you can begin to specify other aspects of blade performance like feel, balance, and quality. Personally I have been playing for a long time and I view blade purchase as a long term buy, so its worth the extra money to get the performance and quality of a more expensive blade. I suggest cheaper blades to beginners, because it is risky for someone to spend a lot on their first blade only to find maybe it is a little too fast or too slow. Once you have a good idea, I think more expensive blades make more sense and certainly the more expensive materials used open up the possibilities to many different kinds of blades that can fit your style of play more perfectly.
 
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Some expensive blades are crap and unsuitable for many players. Some expensive blades (what are we considering expensive??? Over USD $100 ???) like the Original Timo Bool Spirit, Schlager carbon, Michael Maze, and Primorac carbon to name a few can suit a wide range of players.

Yes, Schlager friggin' Carbon. Many coaches have their new players use one of these and the new player goes through multi ball coached lessons 3-5 times a week for 20-30 minutes a pop. After 1.5-2 years, many of these players are already playing better than the average club player who has been playing 10 years. (The average club player might have had some lessons in past...)

That blade has control and feel (at least with T05 or Yasaka Extend) (Always recommended rubbers by Korean coaches) that that is under-rated. Many players from offensive looping types to the hitters to the OX LP punchblocker who likes to pulvrize any ball that comes to FH side uses a SC.

Timo Boll Spirit is worth every penny of its price. Very versitile blade with good feel and balance, both weight balance and speed/control balance.

ALL the decent J-Pen blades are UBER Expensive, decent wood for those tend to be pretty rare and thus expensive.
 
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