Xiom Ice Cream blades, AZX Review

My AZX arrived this week, but our second half of the season starts this weekend and there wasn't much time for practice this week, so I decided to fight my impatience and take some pictures first and take the blade for a ride next week.

First impressions are awesome. Again a high quality craftsmenship from XIOM. As mentioned in the first post by yogi_bear, the handle redesign is really good and although I have a larger hand and like thicker handles better, this handle feels great.

My blade has 91g and is heavier than my Vega Tour (84g) and the Feel ZX series (82-86g) I played. Will be interessting to see, how the blade balances, as with Vega Pro MAX (or even with the new Omega VII Tour -- I will write a review for that as well ;) ) the blades tend to get (very) head heavy.

I will appreciate very much a direct comparison to our beloved Xiom Vega Tour blade, especially with O7 rubbers!
 
says Looking for the BH killer shot
says Looking for the BH killer shot
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I will start playing the blade with Vega Pro Max rubbers on both sides, to see the difference of the composites and then decide if ALC is on BH or FH.

I played Vega Pro Max rubber on Vega Tour blade for a long time, so this will be the basis for the blade comparison. I only recently switched to O7 Pro on the VH (now for like 3 month) and just received the O7 Tour, which I currently play also on the Vega Tour blade on BH.

For sure, I will also try the AZX with Omega 7, but this may take some time, since there is only limited time for practice and my team matches running in parallel. I need to ask your patience for not directly test it with O7 rubbers.
 
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I will start playing the blade with Vega Pro Max rubbers on both sides, to see the difference of the composites and then decide if ALC is on BH or FH.

I played Vega Pro Max rubber on Vega Tour blade for a long time, so this will be the basis for the blade comparison. I only recently switched to O7 Pro on the VH (now for like 3 month) and just received the O7 Tour, which I currently play also on the Vega Tour blade on BH.

For sure, I will also try the AZX with Omega 7, but this may take some time, since there is only limited time for practice and my team matches running in parallel. I need to ask your patience for not directly test it with O7 rubbers.

Ok, thanks, I'm not in a hurry.
 
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Hahahahaha.

:( It is so hard. soooooooooo hard.
Ridiculously hard. lol.

We've already developed them, and in process of testing them.
We first need full minimum of 1 year and maximum of 2 years testing.
So far XIOM testers are testing this blade. It is a long process.

Making Hinoki with one type of composite is our specialty.
But two different type of composite on Hinoki is just hard. Really hard.


I would like to see Hinoki outer ply versions of these blades :)
 
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Xiom first should Put replacement for
Jonyer (perfect blade for beginner and people who likes lightweight blades)
Spark
Put some pressure on Special version of outer with koto and inner alc with limba
Glassfiber blades
The Future of hybrid blade is Dark.
 
Hahahahaha.

:( It is so hard. soooooooooo hard.
Ridiculously hard. lol.

We've already developed them, and in process of testing them.
We first need full minimum of 1 year and maximum of 2 years testing.
So far XIOM testers are testing this blade. It is a long process.

Making Hinoki with one type of composite is our specialty.
But two different type of composite on Hinoki is just hard. Really hard.

I would help with testeing :cool:
 
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I was just checking out XIOM's website and saw the new Icecream AZXi blades and was immediately attracted to the concept it presented. I've been switch between blades quite frequently for the past few months trying to find a perfect one that fits my play style. Right now I'm using Butterfly Apolonia ZLC, I like the handle design a lot which is why I chose it over the Innerforce Layer ZLC (have one as well, using it as my second blade at home for serve practice and rebound board training). The thing I don't like about this Apolonia ZLC is that when using it with DHS Hurricane 8 on the forehand, it just feels wrong. I hated it so much that I switched to Tenergy 05 for my forehand. I'm not saying Tenergy 05 is bad, just it doesn't suit my play style, and I have to adjust quite a bit to make it work. I think it's mostly because the ZLC layers are just not for me for my forehand, really like it on the backhand and I use Tenergy 80 on it, works like a charm. And recently I saw Butterfly announced their new Harimoto ALC blade which interested me quite a bit. And yes I know it's basically a rebranded version of their Innerforce Layer ALC, but the color choice is much better imo. Anyway, since I found the XIOM AZXi blades now, I think I'll buy one and try it out myself, really interested in playing a hybrid blade.
 
says Looking for the BH killer shot
says Looking for the BH killer shot
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First impressions after 6 hours of systematic training with AZX

So the first 6 hours of systematic training with the AZX are done and I can state, that I'm more than impressed by the IceCream AZX.

Using a phrase from one of my favourit songs.... I don't like "IceCream", I LOVE it....

Coming from XIOM Vega Tour (which is a marvolous blade and I still have it), I had no problems at all to switch to the AZX.

First I played the IceCream AZX with two Vega Pro MAX rubbers to see the differences of the ALC and ZLC side. I started with ALC on FH and ZLC on BH as recommended by XIOM. The first thing to notice is the sharp and direct feedback of the ball contact. You can clearly notice where you hit the ball on the blade, without and vibrations though. It is really a very short impulse that you feel. I personally like this, as it helps me to improve my shots. The impluse is also there on the ZLC side, but not as noticable as on the ALC side. Since this is my first contact with ALC I'm not sure if this a general feature or a speciallty from XIOM IceCream.

The new handle is a real improvement, especially over the Feel Series handles. Although I have larger hands and the FL handle is a bit smaller, it is very compfortable and I have had no problems with it even after longer practice sesssions.

I do notice the difference between ALC and ZLC in playing, but even after 3 hours with the Vega Pros I can not really state what it really is. I just noticed that ALC on FH works best. I tried ALC on BH, but this does not really worked at all. Either I overshoot or the ball is hitting the net. It was really difficult for me to play ALC on the BH. ZLC on VH was no big issue, but ALC is still better. The ball trajectory seems to be really good for my VH loops.

I need to admit that my AZX is 91g and this means an extra 7g on the blade, which by surprise made it a faster blade compared with the Vega Tour but on par with the FEEL ZX III, I own. The IceCream is a bit stiffer than my Vega Tour, but I guess this is also because the IceCream is new and my Vega Tour is already 2 years old.

After the first systematic training, I liked the IceCream so much, that I glued my O7 Pro Max rubber on the VH, while leaving the Vega Pro on BH. I even played with the blade in one of my competition matches. IceCream blade with O7 works really well. My FH loops were a bit longer, than with the Vega Tour but still on the table. Only little adjustment was needed, because of the extra speed.
I need to admit that I had to change my FH technique because of the plastic ball. When I tested the O7 Pro for the first time (still on celluloid) it really didn't work out for me. As yogi_bear stated in the O7 thread, you need to hit the ball differently to use the potential of the rubber. Over summer I worked on the timing (hitting the ball earlier) and that did the trick with the O7 Pro. The new technique seems to work better with the AZX, than with the Vega Tour also, which is why I'm so happy with the IceCream.

I made a difference experience than yogi_bear, as I felt really confident with the IceCream blade in any situation. Very linear in all aspects, no "kicking" effect or suprises in any of the shots. No problem with controlling the length or placement of my shots.

Next test will be the O7 Pro on BH and O7 Tour on FH. On the Vega Tour Blade the O7 Tour was a bit to much from a speed perspective, but maybe with the IceCream I will be able to manage. We'll see...
I promise to report back, when I did the test.

I'm really glad that I was able to get a AZX for testing and that found a worthy replacement for my Vega Tour. The Feel ZX 3 was close, but at the end I returned to the Tour. From the "specs" of the blade I would have not anticipated this. The Vega Tour is a Hinoki/ZLC blade and I was a bit scepticle if Koto toplayer would work for me, but it does.
 
says Looking for the BH killer shot
says Looking for the BH killer shot
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So another week of practice is over and as mentioned, I did change the setup and now used the Omega 7 Tour on FH (ALC) and Omega 7 Pro on BH (ZLC).

I really didn't thought that this will work for me. I already tried the O7T on FH and it was too hard and too fast for me on my Vega Tour Blade. But the IceCream ALC really did the trick. The O7T now has a better arc during loop and shots that previously were too long now hit the table. What really surprised me the most, was the change in blocking. The O7T on my Vega Tour blade was hard to manage during blocks (active and passive) and I either overpaced and the block was too long or I closed the racket too much and the shot ended up in the net.
With Icecream blade, I can now block again as I did before and have fine control over placement and even length. Not sure why the combination of O7T and ALC works so much better, but I also very briefly tried O7T on ZLC side and that didn't work either. So it is really the composite that makes the difference here and not the outplies (Koto vs. Hinoki) of the blades.
This combination will now stick on my blade and I will work with the setup some more time. Next team championship matches will come up in two weeks and I feel confidence enough to play with my new combo.

Even my coach noticed an improvement and while I know that this is 95% driven by systemtic practicing, I do believe that the rest is due to my new equipement. It definitly also increases my fun factor and motivation during practice.
 
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Azx needs only a medium to short swing near the table because it is very fast whether it is the alc or zlc you are using. The azxi is fast but has better control. If you want speed, rubbers can always compensate.
 
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As someone wrote, IceCream is not the first Hybrid blade like Xiom says. This is my first hybrid blade (18/02/16):

https://www.animusblade.it/notizie/new-custom-blade-aramix/

Limba - Koto - Carbon - Kiri 3.2mm - Limba - Aramid Red - Limba

This blade has the Inner Carbon on the backhand and Outer Aramid on the forehand. After different tests it's born on 2016. This company did this blade for me and after his success they started to sell it. Power, spin and control in both side, perfect balance. The Aramid is a little bit harder than ALC so this is the reason why I chosen the Limba as outer ply (I prefer Limba instead of Koto). After this I did also other powerful versions:

Limba - Koto - Carbon - Cedar 3.0mm - Limba - Aramid Silver - Limba (Cedar is harder, havier, and faster than Kiri)

Limba - Koto - Carbon - Fir 3.0mm - Limba - Aramid Silver - Limba (Fir is harder and faster than Cedar)

Both are faster for example than Viscaria, Timo Boll ALC, ecc. This kind of blade is like AZX on the Forehand and AZXi on the backhand with different fibers: ALC is an Aramid fiber so they are similar, and Carbon is harder as feeling than ZLC. I suggested on Xiom Facebook to make in the future a new IceCream on this way: ALC outer and ZLC inner, to have a faster FH and a more control on the BH for the people who love AZX on FH and AZXi on BH. I will try AZXi and AZX surely because I like hybrid blades and I like test a lot of blades and rubbers, and I think both blades will have a big success. Bye :)
 
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