I am curious, did you buy and play with the Treiber FI OFF blade to replace your Z? If so, how do they compare? I am looking to upgrade myself from a very old ALL Stiga blade to an OFF blade and I have been reading very impressive reviews of Z. But it's twice as expensive as the newer Treiber versions, like FI OFF and I wonder if its worth it. Thanks.
Sorry for late reply, have been rather bussy lately.
Actually a lot happened after I bought the Fi. It's a nice blade indeed, but it was not quite "just" the speed-control decrease I had hoped.
The feel was a bit similar to Treiber Z but without the "hard pitch rebounce" that the Treiber Z and Treiber Fo provided, with the composite being step further in made it a bit slower and different to me than I thought it would be. Perhaps slightly better feel but a little more "dull" to me and my own game.
It's easier close to the table, especially if Treiber Z is too much to handle.
But it lacked some of the gears I wanted, and did not exceed noticably in spin either.
Not saying it's a bad blade, much better for a beginner just didn't fit right with me. (my taste is weird btw)
I actually ended up buying a XLT Hinoki ZLC, which is a vastly more spin oriented blade. It's even more different to the Treiber Z, but it compensates for it on the spin aspects. My fh openings has been at least 3 times more successful due the extra spin added (with the same rubber!) I like playing a spin oriented game, and it's slightly slower than the Fo, but slightly faster than the Fi, but with slightly slower rebound (aka it sinks more into the blade, hinoki layer on this blade is thicker) only problems I've had with this "thick" blade was its weight (got a "light" one at 90grams, and added an ak47 bh rubber to compensate the weight) and the increased ratio of "kicks" hapending on the edge. But hoping I can work to overcome that.
As a Butterfly Amultart clone (with subtle differences, according to revspin a bit slower with more control) the XLT is at 37 usd in constrast to Amultart at about 230usd, I would say it's worth a shot if you have a highly spin oriented game and like to take the ball a bit late and break tempo fairly often (esp beast on heavy spin openings). Pretty decent close to the table also, drives are smooth, bh flick was easier with the sink-in aspect and blocks are np also, you just don't have the fast rebound that koto or limba-composite blades will have a slight edge on.
as to answer your question I would say it depends on your playing style. Treiber Z is out of production, so long term I wouldn't go for it as I'd have to look for second-hand. Treiber FO is even slightly faster, which would be a big adjustment for you to make from an old ALL stiga blade. (which is probably limba btw, not hinoki) but if you're looking for a new feeling, like heavy spinning, and breaking tempo, hinoki is an excellent choice. (Stephane Ouaiche, Aruna Quadri and Schlager uses hinoki)
I think Xu Xin could have been served well with hinoki in his old playing style as well.. but the chinese don't seem to like Hinoki. Instead he's gone from wallnut (intencity) to koto (dynasty) outer, which is fascinating to me haha. Not to say I don't get it, koto is excellent for the game he's 'changing' into. But I still can't wrap my head around the Wallnut benefits. (I tried that one as well)
If you're a close to the table tempo attacker like ML, FZD, Harimoto, ZJK styled player, Hinoki is probably not your cup of tea.
With that said, Andro Treiber Fo/z, works well for about everything, insane amount of gears, the hinoki layer is just thin enough to not get in the way of top level close to the table attacking, only challenge is to tame it's many characteristics and high speed. To put it bluntly, I don't feel I have the skill level to handle it yet. (consistently)
