Looking for the best fit in stiga 5 ply wood blade

I own both the Infinity and Intensity. NCT by the way means "nano composite technology" it means there are certain nano parts "pixydust" added to the glue and finish.
The Infinity is a fantastic blade, off-/off. The Intensity has a harder topply (walnut).
I like them both with Legend flared handle. If you consider straight handle you may find Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive nice. It's what I use at the moment. Same composition as Intensity but cheaper.

If you are "really comfortable" with your current setup, the question arises "why change?". You don't really answer this. I would advise sticking with what you have unless you can state clearly what you think is wrong currently.

If you want a bit more power, changing to Rakza 7 from the soft version may be a better step.

But bear in mind that people normally change equipment because they don't feel comfortable with what they have.

The Natural Progression from the allround Wood could be the allround Evolution or if you want to Go faster the Optimum sync. Both Share the Same composition as the allround Wood but are all little Bit thicker. The Optimum sync is treated. Some of the Others Blades you mentioned (intensity, Infinity) have different plies. They are good. But the Feeling would differ.

You might want to look into:

Stiga Azelea Offensive
Stiga Rosewood V

OSP Virtuoso+

Nittaku Acoustic

Innerforce AL

It is advisable to change the blade and keep the same rubbers.

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Wister said:

Darucla : It's just that my level improves so now i think i can be confortable with a blade that impart more spin and speed, Stiga all around classic is my first blade. But yes i was also thinking to first only change the FH rubber to rakza 7

But overall i'm looking for the next step

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I have to agree with darucla that it (probably) would be "smarter" to change only the rubbers at this point in time, i.e. to get the regular Rakza 7 on both sides and play with it a few weeks or months and see how it turns out...

In regards to the blades you mentioned in your first post, well, I haven't played most of them, only the Infinity. I personally would't rate it as stiff. The top ply does get a hardening treatment called "Diamond Touch" but on initial contact it is only very slightly crisp (followed by a mild kick). Then you have a weird feeling as if the ball goes right through your racket. Kinda difficult to explain. I was able to more or less ignore that strange "hollow" feeling. What I do appreciate about the Infinity the most (aside from the great raw handle) is the control you have (blocking, looping, (counter-)topspinning, overall placement of your shots, you name it...). In fact, from the about 15 blades I currently own, the Infinity is the one that has the best control by a fairly wide margin; only my Kimmy comes "close". Spin production however is only average in my opinion. But since you already have the Allround Classic, a blade that offers also a lot of control, you most likely would't gain much by switching to the the Infinity, and I would't be surprised if the Allround Classic produces more spin than the Infinity.

Dude, Stiga Azalea Offensive is good enough for you. The feel is marvelous and you will still control but ave more speed

Wister said:

Thanks Jimbob for the description, it helps me to understand the idea

I agree about only changing the rubber or the blade. But i'm pretty sure about the rubbers i want to use but not about the blade.. And i hope to find one that go well with rakza 7 soft and non soft

What do think is best with rakza 7 soft and non soft ? Here is the proposed blade so far
- Infinity
- Offensive NCT
- Intensity NCT
- Rosewood V NCT : Seems a bit fast (113 on stiga), and i don't see a non NCT on their website

Also proposed blade but i'm less considering them in my selection
- Evolution : Not enough difference in speed with allaround classic (i think)
- Offensive classic : Also lack of speed
- Optimum sync : Don't really like the design
- Azelea offensive : No review on revspin
- OSP Virtuso + or - : Expensive and difficult to judge if it'll be a good fit
- Nittaku accoustic : Also expensive
- Innerforce AL

Between infinity, offensive NCT, intensity NCT, rosewood V NCT, what is the best suited for rakza 7 soft and NS ?

And again my style is a lot of BH flip, power loop on BH and FH but I also like to sometimes have point by varying spin on my push, loop and some rare chop. It's not easy to judge myself but i relate a lot to Simon Gauzy on the playing style (i may lack experience to judge appropriately here ! )

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Hey Wister.

As I mentioned in my previous post, from all the blades you mentioned, I only know the Infinity, and I've never played the Rakza 7 nor the Rakza 7 Soft. So giving you any specific advice or recommendations in that regard would not exactly be useful... Sure, I read something about the regular Rakza 7 and I have the impression that it does share some characteristics with rubbers like T05 and Vega Pro, which is why I think that it would fit pretty good on both sides of an Infinity, but that is still a mere assumption, so to speak.

If, however, I would have the time, money and interest in testing some of the possible combinations I would first of all pick the regular Rakza 7 over the soft version, since I prefere medium-hard rubbers around 47 -48° on ESN-scale. And I do not think that soft or medium-soft rubbers perform that well on harders surfaces (I briefly tested a soft rubber by Cornillieau and a medium-soft chinese/hybrid on my Viscaria - that didn't work for me at all; but tastes are surely different).

For power looping there are certainly better options that the Infinity but it can be still done with it. So bladewise I would probably pick the Rosewood, Azalea, Virtuoso+ and the Accoustic, just out of sheer interest. How that would work out for me? Who knows... How you would like any of the set-ups? Who knows...

Yogi, by the way, has recently reviewed the Azalea Allround and the Offensive. Perhaps you have already found and read it. Yogi seems to like them and they are quite affordable, whereas the Rosewood is more on the expensive side. If you want to go the rosewood way you could instead take a look at the Yasaka Goiabao 5 aka Rose Grade (same construction as the Rosewood but only 1/3 of the price of the Stiga Rosewood). If you really really really like the Rakza 7 Soft then keep it and change only the blade in order to get a (little) upgrade in spin and speed...

On a side note:
- don't pay too much attention to spin, speed or vibration indexes by the various brands (as in Spin 113, Speed 156 or vibration 11.3 - aside from the fact that (almost) every brand has their own scales, they at best can only give you a little orientation, but oftentimes it is pretty useless
- design of the blade should not really matter to you, more important are the playing characteristics and how much it fits your very own style
- reviews on revspin should be taken with a big grain of salt - you simply do not know the people who write the reviews and what their actual level is and very often reviews on the same product contradict each other

Sorry that I'm not able to help you better - I'm just not an equipment expert (yet) If you're lucky, Yogi and/or Carl will tell you more and give you some specific recommendations...

Edit: Took me a while to write the comment; just saw that you seemed to have rejected the Azalea - then so be it...

I would recommend either Azalea or Nostalgic, I liked the Nostalgic ones the most. The Azalea felt a little bit too hard

Xiom Offensive S is great blade to move from ALL/ALL+ to OFF-/OFF and it isn't expensive.

Nice link " Xiom Offensive S is great blade to move from ALL/ALL+ to OFF-/OFF and it isn't expensive."

Bro, you can blindly go with

Virtuoso Off- with Rakza 7 and
Virtuoso+ with Rakza 7 or even 7 soft

Another important thing to note is, you should not rely on Revspin comments, as they are from random people all over the world. It can be from a 12 year old or even a guy who has just started playing.

Hope you understand my point




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I'm a huge Stiga fan. I own Carbonado 45 and 90, Intensity, Infinity, Maplewood V, and Offensive CR. Offensive CR is very similar to Offensive classic. While Intensity and Infinity have similar speed, Offensive CR noticeably slower than both of them. If you want to upgrade your blade, I would recommend you pick between Intensity and Infinity. I can also list some key differences between the two blades.

Intensity has slightly harder surface (walnut surface ply), but it's much more flexible than Infinity. I feel like Intensity has longer dwell time due to it's flexibility and therefore is much better at generating spin and looping. Intensity also has better feeling than Infinity because it has more vibration. Infinity has slightly softer surface (limba surface ply), but is thicker and stiffer than Intensity. This makes Infinity better for driving, blocking, and smashing. Infinity also has much less vibration when executing powerful shots.

Infinity and Intensity are both good blades. I personally prefer Infinity over Intensity. The limba surface makes Infinity a good looping blade (although not as good as Intensity). The stiffness and VPS technology makes Infinity more stable on powerful shots and blocks. If you play an aggressive topspin game close to the table (which involves driving and blocking often), then Infinity suits you better. If you like to take a step back and loop/spin most shots, then Intensity is better for you.

Your choice is essentially between a hard flexible blade (Intensity) and a softer stiff blade (Infinity).

Stiga Arctic wood. It is not as stiff as intensity or Infinity but still maintains the good feel of All Around Classic. The new Azalea blades are very good too.