Xiom Ice Cream blades, AZX Review

Xiom Ice Cream blades, AZX and AZXi Review

Xiom Ice Cream Blades

I have not received the AXi blade version yet and I am hoping it will be in January. For now I will be just sharing the AZX version.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8iO0wIrFVM&feature=youtu.be

Here is the video at close up of the blade.

Weight: 87 grams
Thickness: 5.8mm
Speed: OFF+
Plies: Koto - ALC - ??? - Kiri/ayous?? - ??? - ZLC - Koto
Stiffness: Stiff

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I admit I am one of those people that is very much curious why in the world did Xiom name this and the AZXi as Ice Cream blades. I specifically ask Xiom about this and I was a bit laughing on their honest answer. The reason why they call these blades as ice cream blades is that it is like ice cream wherein remote places or villages do not have them. The AZX and AZXi are not the first composite blades in the market but Xiom claims that they are the first successful composite hybrid blades. According them, other existing blades of similar construction seem to be not balanced. One thing I am thankful about Xiom is that they listen to their consumers. People who have used the Feel series blades are saying that they like the older design for the neck and wing part of the blade more than the new design. Guess what, I told Xiom about this and they have shown that they have listened to the request. With the AZX, the neck and wing part was reduced and not as wide as the Feel series blades. It is actually closer to the older blades like that of the Stradivarius. I measured the flared handle at this base where it is the widest and the cross sectional size is 25mm x 33.5mm using an electronic caliper. Just as an added info on the blade, the orange side is the ALC side with a letter "A" mark on it while the ZLC side is the one with the purple sie with a letter "Z".

This is a very fast blade. People might think the ALC side is the slower compared to pure carbon blades but it is not. I saw their pdf files about the blade and they describe it as the ALC being the faster side while the ZLC is the slower side. I immediately asked them why they rated it that way and I got an answer where they said they made the ALC layer thicker to balance the blade. I used several rubbers in the test - DHS Hurricane 3, Omega V Europe and Omega VII Pro . I tested this for 3 days and I was careful to use the same rubber on each side with the exception of the Hurricane 3 just to test the characteristic of each side. Speedwise the ALC side is very bouncy. it is almost as bouncy as the ZLC side. I can surely say that the Viscaria is much slower than the ALC version of the AZX. At first, I tested the Hurricane 3 first because it is my preferred rubber in the forehand. I was surprised that it was really bouncy. If I compare it to the Timo Boll Spirit, the AZX is faster though the stiffness is less comapred to the TBS blade. The ZLC side is more or less identical to the ZJK ZLC blade. I cannot fully say which of the 2 is faster. Anyway, I have observed the ALC side during drills and matchplay that the throw when looping the ball is is a bit high. Honestly I had to do some adjustments with the throw and the long trajectory of the ALC side. The AZX is a very fast blade. I had to step back middle distance from the table because even with a Hurricane 3, some of my loops are going off the table. It took me a few rounds to adjust the the H3 and the AZX combo. The ZLC side on the other hand is the opposite of what I was expecting. I thought this was the faster side but it was very controllable despite the great amount of speed. The ZLC side has a bit lower throw compared to the ALC. I would say the throw is about low to medium arc in the table with long trajectory. If comparing the 2 sides it would be approximately like this - ALC high throw, long trajectory, ZLC low throw, long trajectory. Both sides are almost as fast but differ in the throw. Both sides are powerful even far from the table and not just at the middle distance from the table. When I used the H3 on the ZLC side I think it was more controllable for me because of the lower throw. I also adjusted easily with the ZLC side. DO not get me wrong, I like the feel of the ALC better than the ZLC and this is a personal preference but because ALC is much thicker in this case, I preferred the ZLC side.

I changed the rubber to Omega V Europe which is a medium soft rubber and also the Omega VII Pro which is a thick sponge, thin topsheet rubber. I could see the purpose of this blade the moment I used German rubbers on it. It is an all out attacking blade whether you are into ALC or ZLC, it does not matter. Both sides of the hybrid blade will give you more than enough power for your offensive shots far and middle distance from the table. It is just a question whether you would want a high arc or low arc long trajectory. The Omega VII Pro actually works well with both sides with the ZLC side more controllable. When you are hitting through the sponge using the Omega VII Pro, you would love the feeling of hitting the ball all the way deep into the sponge. The O7P gives you a good amount of control when using it in the Ice Cream blade when used on each side. I would not call this a looping blade because despite producing heavy amount of spin, it favors more of a direct hitting and counter looping strokes. Control is more of a personal issue wherein it needs to be used by a player who practices a lot and this should be used and highly recommended for advanced level type of players. It is a fast blade that rewards you with powerful shots that enables you to finish the point quickly any distance from the table. For blocking, it favors more of the active or punch blocks than passive blocks.

The blade concept is quite new to me and I was a bit confused with the ball felling at first because even if one side is different from the other, it produces some sort of a hybrid feel by both composite layers. You would need a bit of time to have the feel sink into your senses and then that is the time you can truly appreciate the blade. Is it a good blade? Yes not just good, it is awesome. Imagine that you can have the performance of ZJK ALC/Viscaria on one side and ZJK ZLC on the other side. All you need to do is just decide which side will be your forehand or backhand.

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Xiom AXZi Ice Cream Blade
Weight: 91 grams
Thickness: 5.7mm
Plies: 7 (limba – limba – ALC – Kiri/ayous??? – ZLC – Limba – Limba)
Speed: OFF+
Stiffness: Medium Stiff


The Ice Cream Blade that I was really waiting for has arrived!! Good thing Xiom sent me the blade as soon as they have it stock. This is the one that I really liked because of the inner composite construction of the blade. I am also a limba kind of player because I love using DHS Hurricane 3 in my forehand. The AZX is a good blade but it was too fast for my style of play and it is more of an advanced or high level player. The AZXi, although even if it is a fast blade, it is suited for players who have developed some skills but not necessarily competitive type of player levels. The quality is as good as the AZX but when compared to older blades, the Ice cream blade series seem to be a notch higher in terms of quality, construction and finish. I would like to commend Xiom once again for taking into consideration in which I suggested to them that they need to change the shape of the neck and handle of the new blades as what other people who have also told me about the handles of the Feel Series. I used the Xiom Omega VII Pro as my backhand rubber and the Hurricane 3 as my fh rubber. I also switched the rubbers for the 2 sides just to test them also. I placed the Hurricane 3 first in the ALC side since I am the type of person who likes the ALC because it is not too fast nor too hard compared to pure carbon layers or ZLC layers. I also boosted the Hurricane 3.

I tested the ball on the bare blade and bounced it a few times to try and check the sound of the blade. I immediately saw that it has a lower bounce compared to the AZX. It also has a lower pitch compared to the AZX. Immediately you can tell the gap of speed even with the ZL layer. When I first used the bat for table drills for about 30 minutes, I immediately love the ALC layer using the Hurricane 3 because this is the feel I am always looking for in a blade. The ball feedback to hand is just right and no bad vibrations whatsoever. The speed is very good and above expected speed level. I thought this was slow at first but it is speedy enough. I would compare the speed as in the level of Viscaria or the Stardivarius if not faster. This is on the ALC side. The ZL side is more or less on the sped of the Innerforce ZLC.

The thing that sets it apart from the Innerforce ZLC/ALC is that for me the AZXi has a better feel. I could feel that it has more flex despite having 1 ZLC layer. This is one of the feel good blades in market right now. It feels right on everything and it’s like it is so nice to hit with. I find it easier to loop at first and it did not take a lot of effort to adjust especially the ALC side. The AZX has control but not as much as the AZXi. On the ALC side the arc with the Hurricane 3 was medium. It was not as high ast he AZX that I have observed. Even using the Omega VII Pro, the arc of the ball when I was spinning it it was medium to medium low but with a longer trajectory. The trajectory of the AZXi was not as long compared to the AZX and I think this was the main factor why the amount of control that I have for the AZXi is much better compared to the AZX. The AZXi loops really that good especially the arylate carbon part because it is very forgiving on your strong shots. The ZL fiber side has also good control but it is more direct and hard hitting. Several players in the club like both ZLC and ALC side of the blade. I prefer the ALC side myself but a lot of them love both sides especially when they used the Omega VII Pro as a forehand rubber. There was a high level player who tried the Hurricane 3 on the alc side and he really like it that he was hitting counters with the blade the minute he was using it in drills. At least with the AZXi, the Omega VII was also very forgiving and when you are loop driving very low balls, you could still have rooms for mistakes and the ball still hit the target. On the backhand, it is already given that the ALC is very controllable, the ZLC on the other hand need some fine tuning for players like me because it feels harder and offer more rebound power even just on blocks. Some people would prefer the ZL on their forehand for more power and just use the ALC for their backhand for more control. People like me prefer the ALC because we wanted to have more control and Hurricane 3 is much better with ALC in my opinion.

All in all a very good and balanced blade which personally for me rates high in control and speed but at the same have a very good feel. Had this been an ALC blade on both sides, I think I would be the happiest guy in the world right now. For other people they cannot just say anything bad against the blade because they really like it. I think people also are saying that the prices of both blades are kinda high but these two blades are still lower than several ridiculously high-priced blades. I am sure these 2 blades can outperform those blades.

Anything I have not mentioned, I can actually answer them as best as I can.
 
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This variation of 2 different sides is very good. IMO, success will come with blade, which will have only one side alc(zlc) and second side will be innerforce or pure wood without composite.
 
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So if composition of each side is
Koto - ALC - Limba - Kiri
Koto - ZLC - Limba - Kiri

Then basically we are buying TB ZLC and TB ALC at half price :). not a bad deal..

Well, in the Czech republic, prices are pretty similar, maybe IceCream even more expensive than these TBs.


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Read 5 reviews
I think limba/koto (different type of outer ply) will give more unbalanced weight and bad feel because stiffness, hardness, weight of Limba and Koto is different.
Maybe Xiom should make special rubbers for BH and FH for different side.
I like head heavy side when we talk about BH flick but when when we talk about FH side, I like more catapult
 
I think it is hard to design a balanced blade with 2 different outer plies.
Cool. But I think the optimal configuration would have Koto on bh and Limba on fh. This I really want to try extensively before I buy.
 
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