My 40+ Balls and Gears

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DHS Hurricane Hao 3 / TG3-60 FH / Nittaku Alhelg RPB / 181g


Nittaku Alhelg is one new 40+ rubber that is rarely mentioned. I have high hope of it as a Tenergy competitor but too bad it is not. I have it as RPB on the newly restyled HH3 with TG3-60 on FH. To my surprise they have about the same bounce and feel. In fact the Alhelg is even harder than TG3-60 Mid Hard. The Mid Hard marking on TG3-60 may not be totally accurate as it is mentioned as Mid Soft in Chinese.


For C balls the setup is quite ordinary. I have a feeling I would do better with Alhelg on FH and TG3-60 on BH because of the difference in softness. Alhelg seems to aim at control and grip rather than anything. Have to play active or the ball will drop to the net like using Chinese rubbers. Only when you start powering up will the rubber show its quality. Even more so with plastic. Throw is medium+. So effortless to clear the net when looping. You can feel the ball grip confidently with high consistency. May be it is Nittaku's new approach to new balls. Keeping high control without bouncy touches, yet it will give you the needed power when you play hard. Something similar to the winning Chinese formula without a tacky top sheet.


I find TG3-60 a much better rubber than H3-50 in about every area, especially in weight. Hope to see some harder version of it. Throw is medium or less. Need some lifting in strokes. For that TG3 Neo's throw is very high in comparison. May do better as BH but still fine if you like something soft for FH. I would pick Big Dipper over it because of the lack of hard choice and price.
 

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whats that dhs blade?

also dont bother trying the joola balls.. they are just terrible. butterfly is ok'ish hea[s better than joola... xfx balls are interesting

That is the restyled HH3. I have not play with Joola balls yet but I heard the new batch is improved.
 

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So many new 40+ stuffs released lately. Adding some to my collection.

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1) Hurricane Hao 2 with H8 and TG5. Total weight 195g. Pretty hefty for Cpen with RPB. TG5 is my best loved new rubber from DHS. H8 is another great rubber for FH but I have a feeling that I can do better with TG5 both sides. Only problem is always the weight.

2) Yinhe D-701 with BD and Moon Speed. A 7-ply wood blade with a total weight of 191g. Handle is kind of smooth and thin. Grip tape can do the trick but will inevitably hurt the already high weight.

3) Mizutani Jun ZLC with Andro Plaxon 450 both sides. On spec Plaxon 450 is rated the same as Rasant Grip, but in fact it is way softer. Can't imagine how soft the rest of the series will be. The new Jun ZLC is flexy with great feedback. A totally different blade comparing to the stiff and crisp Jun SZLC.
 

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Have not play with the Yinhe balls yet. All have a weight of more or less 2.8g. I got one with slight roundness problem. The pack of XSF Sports is lighter at about 2.7 to 2.75g. Production code of Yinhe is XDAE and XSF XDAD. Yinhe got typical high bounce just like any seamless balls.

H8 has a dull looking top sheet. Feels harder than TG3 in Mid Hard. Sponge is orange. Only slight in tack. Mid throw and easier to clear the net than TG3-60. Pack more punch too. Classic style rubber with linear response and lively bounce. A step away from the hard and dead H3. But probably lacking some character of DHS that people love for so long.

Have not decided on what blade to glue the Airoc Astro and Plaxon 525 yet. Might wait for some review first. Probably one of the metal tag Stiga for Astro and will try to find a blade from Andro for the Plaxon.
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Can I have one? :D

Which one? ......just kidding. :eek: I got one each to complete the collection. Can't think of parting with any, you know the feeling.

Some thoughts on Plaxon 450. Usually I will opt for harder rubbers but this one is a surprise because it is supposed to be the second in hardness of the series. Yet it feel softer than 80FX. I got a chance to play with Roxon 450. They are very much alike with Plaxon a step up in grip. I would say Plaxon is an offensive rubber with ball feel and control in mind. In fact I can clearly feel the rubber grip the ball, sink to the sponge and spit out with a flex. Something I thought only Tenergy can do. But Plaxon on Jun ZLC is giving me just that wonderful feeling and more. I start to love this one.

I've bought a pack of 12 Joola 2-tone Spin Ball which is similar to what CTTSL used last year. Not plastic but giving me the feel of what it is like to play with one. Easy to tell if a ball has heavy or no spin. It is fun. ;)
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Are you Pen or Shakehand, TurboZ?

I mostly play Wang Hao style penhold but also buy shakehand and Jpen blades for collection. I especially love to buy blades with top players name related. There are so many great blades out there in shakehand style only. Penhold range is quite limited these days.


Sometimes I like to play shakehand with lower level players. That is a challenge for me and big fun. Playing with one side Cpen and Jpen with TPB is a lot of fun too but I am worst with that style.
 
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Have the two new Astro glued on 190 Cpen. Astro M black FH and Astro S red RPB. Uncut weight of black is 67.7g and red 66.5g which are on the heavy side. Blade itself is 84.5g and total setup weight is a more manageable 186.8g.
I have an old Airoc M as RPB on Intensity Carbon. Can't remember what it is like when new but it looks worn and lost most of the shine and grain comparing to the new Astro top sheet. Initial feel is that Astro got more grip and dwell in play with less bounce. Could change after some breaking in. Final speed is more or less the same if not better. Any difference in feel could be due to the freshness of the new sheets. Can't say it is a hugh step up from Airoc for now but it is definitely not any let down.
I have switch the Moon Speed off from 145 RPB to another Tour M. That alone cut the total setup weight down significantly from 189g to 179g. Moon Speed never felt right on 145. Now with Tour M both sides the whole blade comes alive. I start to love the lighter weight and catapult of Tour on the slightly more flexy 145 than the all out stiffness of 190 with heavy Astro. Uncut Tour is 57g which is also 10g lighter.
One advise is that Carbonado definitely needs sealing. Many small pieces came off when changing the rubber.

190 case.jpg190 Astro2.jpg190 Astro.jpg145 Tour.jpg
 
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Astro or Regular Airoc better?

That one is really hard to say. I have 2 sheets of Airoc M on two different blades. One on Intensity Carbon and one on 190 FL. The first one is tame in every way even when new, and it is pretty worn by now. The second one is more bouncy and alive which can be considered better than Astro if you like a more active feel. But Astro is pretty good on its own and strike a perfect balance between Speed, Spin and Control with a capital "C".


If you check the ratings between Calibra Tour M, Airoc M and Astro M on the package, they are very much the same in every categories with the new Astro reaching 152 in speed. But the small print said maximum rating is 150 so Stiga has to make their new rubber look good and exceed the Airoc's already high 149 by 3 points. Sometimes you can't fully trust what they say.


One word about the Donic 40+ balls. I broke the first one with only 3 miniutes of play. That was against a Jpen hard hitter which is understandable. What surprised me is that the second ball from the same box had already survived a few days of play and through many hard banging on brick walls around me. I am impressed. I still play alternatively between cell and plastic but now I like to play with the challenging plastic more.

stiga rubbers sml.jpgdonic ball sml.jpg
 
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It is the time of the year again! Still remember the day I ordered my Viscaria minutes after ZJK kiss the podium in London. This time I am well prepared and ordered the new design HL5 ahead to celebrate the moment everyone is waiting for.
vis.jpgHL5.jpg


The new HL5 has reduced its head size from roughly 151 x 162mm to 149 x 156mm. According to DHS they deliberately made it closer to what Ma Long is using with no print on blade face and a handle to match. Usually DHS will use a gray band on handle to signify their composite blades. But in this case they made an exception and only put one yellow band there. No change to handle size so it is considered thin by many.
HL5 FL.jpgHL5 handle.jpgHL5 FL width.jpgHL5 FL length.jpg


The Fang Bo has the exact same look as HL5 side by side but using harder top plys to make the difference.
FB HL5 plys.jpgHL5 FB handles.jpg


Weight the blades with plastic wrap so I guess taking 2g off is about right.
HL5 weight.jpgFB FL weight.jpgFB CS weight.jpg

So beautiful to look at so I guess I will keep them wrap for a while longer. :)
 
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I have also bought some new Poly Balls like Seamless Joola Flash, Tibhar SL, Butterfly G40+, Red Yinhe and the 1 star DHS D40+.
balls.jpgballs 2.jpg


Briefly play matches with D40+ and G40+. No breaking after more than 1 hour of play each so that alone is a big improvement. I am more used to DHS 40+ now so using the two new balls really need some adjustment especially timing in loops.

A simple drop test shows DHS D40+ bounce higher than celluloid but lower than Seamless. Butterfly G40+ bounce even higher than Seamless but less than the crazy Easy Ball.


DHS D40+ makes a loud cracking noise like Palio. Surface is rough. Not perfect but round enough for 1 star. Although it bounce higher than celluloid in drop test, it bounce surprisingly low many times in game play with no good reason. Could be the quality of 1 star so hopefully it will be fixed and more consistent with their future 3 star balls.
D40 weight.jpg


G40+ is easier to adapt. Size is only slightly larger than 40mm but heavier than most. Surface is very smooth. I read that someone had run a durability test with it. He smash the ball to a standing table and see how long it takes to break. Normal seam 40+ broke in only about 5 hits. Celluloid take around 15 hits and G40+ is about the same. So they are pretty good indeed. No problem with speed and spin.
G40 size.jpgG40 weight.jpg


Have not play with the new Red Yinhe yet. It is easily the most expensive balls from China. It is supposed to be more durable and heat resistance to their Blue balls. Can't see how that is enough to justify the 50% increase in price, unless it can play 50% longer of course. I see no difference between the two in weight and size.
YH ball.jpgYH R size.jpgYH B size.jpg

Both Joola Flash and Tibhar SL are seamless balls made in China so I am not expecting any significant difference between the bunch.

As I have decided to seriously cut down my spending on anything TT and start playing instead of looking, I will post some more of my gears that I have already bought in the past year which is worth a mention later. :p
 
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DTC 1.jpgDTC 2.jpg

The blade of Dima is always a mystery. He even attempted to partially hide the plys from prying eyes! Always wonder why Donic gave us the odd 8 plys Carbon and called it his Original. That's why I am more than happy to see Donic release the True Carbon which many believe is closer in structure to what Dima is using.
DOOSC weight.jpgDTC weight.jpg


Can't say it is not modeling after Butterfly's famous ALC blades. The head size of 150 x 157 mm is no coincidence. They all look identical side by side. Thickness is more or less the same too, although mine is thinner at 5.55mm.
DTC plys.jpg


Have it paired with Acuda Blue P1 Turbo. Perfect match I must say. One can do almost everything in ace. Loop, flat hit, smash, push, block...you name it and it will deliver. Transfer of your speed and power is direct and precise. Very fast when you need it but also easy in short play thanks to the new generation of no more crazy bouncing tensor and the support of the blade. I always believe if the rubber can get the grip of the ball right, the rest will automatically fall into places. This is such a combo. Throw is medium. Easy to just clear the net while keeping the ball on the table.
Acuda P1T.jpg


It has less vibration and feel comparing to Buttefly and a bit stiffer. Yet it is easily the best feeling blade of all Donic I have tried. Before TC I like their Crest Off and WC89 Waldner best. But Waldner is simply too thick and clumsy in comparison. The Crest Off, although still holds an edge in high end speed and power, is less balance thanks to the long and thin senso handle.
Crest weight.jpgDTC Crest 1.jpg


Donic did not say anything but TC is sharing the same design as their new Zhou Yu series. Since those blades are made in China so it is reasonable to believe that TC is made in the same factory too.


I love everything about this blade except the choice of putting Dima's pic on the handle. It looks like a red eye in a distance rather than the player himself. Too much influence from China I am afraid and done it in a wrong way. The one on Crest Off is much more classy in looks.
DTC Dima pic.jpgDTC h.jpg


I love its ST handle shape and size more than their usual Senso ST, but if Dima is not using something similar in person, which he might not switch easily after all the years with senso, I am afraid this blade will just end up as one of a dozen Donic carrying the name of Ovtcharov and no more. It is hard to reach the status of the likes of TB ALC, HL5 and become a modern classic.
DTC Crest OCarbon handles 2.jpgDTC Crest OCarbon handles.jpgDTC f.jpg
 
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Was about to post and keep a record of my 2016 collection here before the year end but suffer a long delay by the last of the Stiga Se7en till April. So finally I am a happy man....:)

Stiga Seven.jpgStiga Seven 2.jpg


To my surprise my Arctic Wood is way lighter than the rest of the series, which are all meant to be around 95g. I don't know the exact weight of the bare blade but I bet my Arctic Wood is not much over 80g. It is only 178g with Ultra Max Rasanter both sides. The rest are all ranging from 193g to 204g.

arctic wooda.jpgarctic woodb.jpgarctic wood.jpg45.jpg90.jpg245a.jpg245b.jpg290.jpgcelero.jpgeternity.jpg

The 198g 290 is my new favorite. I used to love 185g to 190g setups, but I think I have stretched my limit because of the new ball. :rolleyes:
 
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I bet most have already played and love the new DHS D40+ ABS balls. Since I bought my first box in February till now, I only "managed" to break one, by someone stepping on it in the next table. And another with a 1 cm clean cut right at the seam, which is not even mine.

D40 plus.jpg

With this rate of durability, I bet I won't have to buy another ball in my life time. :cool:

D40 plus.jpgdhs 10.jpg


The D40+ 3 Stars ball was meant to be released one month after the 2 stars in early 2016 but got seriously postponed till Jan. 2017. Official words from DHS indicated that they still want to "perfect" the original 40+ and at the same time keep "improving" the new D40+. I bet that is only half truth but a rather wise decision nonetheless. If they really decided to go ahead and release the new (and better) ball just months before Rio, I wonder how much controversial and chaos that might cause. Now they pushed it back till 2017, the start of new Olympic cycle with the ball for Tokyo 2020, everything start to make sense.
 
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The year is coming to a close. I think it is perfect time to wrap up my buying of the year and keeping a record here. :)

My new favorites are the pair of DHS 301 and BO2. I have bought them for a while but only after seeing XX and FZD start testing DHS equipments did I pay my attention to them. Turns out to be doing great in every way. Easy to generate a loud click which I love most. Only complain is always the weight. Bare blades are over 90g and end up approaching 200g with rubbers. But after playing with the heavy weight 245/290 pair I am pretty comfortable with blades of this level now. I have to say they are the best DHS blades I have ever tried including all the over priced ones.

301 BO 2.jpg301 BO 1.jpg301 1.jpg301 3.jpgBO P 2.jpg

301 with GA8 + GA5 = 193g
BO2 with TA5 + TA5 = 201g

New DHS.jpg
A bunch of DHS with new shrink wrap packaging.
 
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