Any blades still in production similar to Xiom Hugo HAL or Butterfly Moonbeam?

[banbekas]

This is my issue with XIOM. They keep discontinuing their lines of blades. I can understand if the blades don't sell well.

But discontinuing HAL after Hugo's success? Why?

It was discontinued a year or so before his WC success.

Still, it's kinda moronic that they discontinued the very blade used by the only face of the company?

That said, Rxton 9 on Moonbeam FL is superb. Why did I switch blades when Moonbeam feels better than Pro 05 and Teslon Speed?

 

[Sland]

If you want the blade to come back, send Xiom a mail. who knows they might bring it back to make some cash

btw, before the discontinuation of HAL, a major a shop in Germany told me that HAL was their best selling Xiom blade by far.
what a blunder and missed opportunity by Xiom

I agree 100% but I believe that xiom cited composition material issues which is the reason they discontinued it... I'm sure they're kicking themselves right now regardless

 

[doppelmoral]

I agree 100% but I believe that xiom cited composition material issues which is the reason they discontinued it... I'm sure they're kicking themselves right now regardless

I‘ve heard the same. But I held their new Hugo ALX Pro blade in my hands and it used an orange fiber, which is the same color of fiber used in the HAL. The difference is that in the ALX, the orange Axylium is woven with carbon.

It makes you wonder, if their Axylium is still available and blades are being produced with that composite material, why was the HAL discontinued?

 

[NextLevel]

Right now, I want to buy a HAL. Kicking myself for not getting it while it was on the market. I am not getting these new carbon blades.

 

[doppelmoral]

I‘ve heard the same. But I held their new Hugo ALX Pro blade in my hands and it used an orange fiber, which is the same color of fiber used in the HAL. The difference is that in the ALX, the orange Axylium is woven with carbon.

It makes you wonder, if their Axylium is still available and blades are being produced with that composite material, why was the HAL discontinued?

One thing to add, there is a blog from Oscar from Nexy, another table tennis brand from Korea. He has stated recently that his blades are made in a different factory than the blades produced for Xiom.

And, he said that „XIOM factory has some problems […] and I think XIOM is not happy with the factory“.

 

[andzejgolot]

I know that shop from my country had a lot problems with Xiom policy.
They send blades and they were poor quality and the shop would receive next shipment 3 months later so they look like they didnt care...
I had 2 of Sal and 2 of Hal.... I think they lack of consistency... You can receive trash and very good blade and Xiom with you would never know the reason .
Yes the arylate without Carbon is great choice.
Aureveil aka CNF is great choice too
Victas Dynawood was better than xiom hal. Calderano personal blades are probably selected with small margin of error.
Xiom had very bad rubbers
Cornilleau have good rubbers
Xiom now from C55 to Omega8 have better work from ESN so Hugo is playing well

 

[Wakkibatty]

There's an outer carbon style blade I make called the Chuditch, which (to me at least) feels reasonably similar to the HAL. Send me a PM if you want any more details.

 

[banbekas]

Does anybody know if CNF is similar to Arylate when it comes to playing property? There's a good deal for Rxton 9 Pro blade, Basalt CNF, here.

 

[Doralikesmath]

Does anybody know if CNF is similar to Arylate when it comes to playing property? There's a good deal for Rxton 9 Pro blade, Basalt CNF, here.

Not at all. I have a Loki Telson CNF blade and it feels very woody, but lacking in speed & power.

 

[banbekas]

Not at all. I have a Loki Telson CNF blade and it feels very woody, but lacking in speed & power.

Thanks, man. So, it's quite similar to Telson Speed. Good to know.

 

[Yurifi]

Xiom has the Xiom Hayabusa ZL Pro blade which has a "non-carbon" artificial fibre in it.

there was a shot during finale, which, as discussed in one other forum thread, is not sharp enough to say "it is exactly this blade with this rubber" but it definitely shows outer carbon arrangement. ZL Pro's "carbon" layer is barely seen on product pics, let alone during highly compressed youtube stream ...

 

[K.K]

to clarify, moonbeam does not play like hugo hal! moonbeam is way slower (maybe because it is super old and full of sweat) but also has limba as outerply and therefore different playing properties.

CNF blades are different too. yes they are soft, elastic and fast but they have sooo much catapult. they are closer to a fast 5 ply woodblade like mazunov then an outercarbon in my opinion.

right now i don't know of any blade that plays similiar like my blade. it is really a blade that plays inbetween outer and inner fibre blades with the touch of allwood

 

[Yurifi]

to clarify, moonbeam does not play like hugo hal! moonbeam is way slower (maybe because it is super old and full of sweat) but also has limba as outerply and therefore different playing properties.

CNF blades are different too. yes they are soft, elastic and fast but they have sooo much catapult. they are closer to a fast 5 ply woodblade like mazunov then an outercarbon in my opinion.

right now i don't know of any blade that plays similiar like my blade. it is really a blade that plays inbetween outer and inner fibre blades with the touch of allwood

I mean, it is more than 20 years ago when I played with Moonbeam ... it was slower than Viscaria was at the time, I remember when I was testing it, either to go with Moonbeam or Viscaria - and I would go for Moonbeam in the end as it had such a great feel and I felt Viscaria was harder to control and was overall harder blade ... and Moonbeam felt way better for topspin and loops.

I still remember when I came for a tournament to do the warmup drives and Moonbeam had this really amazing feeling, this soft feeling, giving you confidence you can't miss. similarly to what TMXi is offering me today, but on the other hand am really tempted with HAL as after everything I have read it might actually be the modern Moonbeam ...

 

[SleepyMaster]

I find Xiom An Jaehun is pretty good with kinda unique feeling and ball curve, its first non Butterfly blade that I enjoyed using - - not super fast as inner carbon are but when you put some power speed is not a problem.

 

[Yurifi]

I find Xiom An Jaehun is pretty good with kinda unique feeling and ball curve, its first non Butterfly blade that I enjoyed using - - not super fast as inner carbon are but when you put some power speed is not a problem.

exactly. I have played with Moonbeam, and then after that for 20 years I didn't play. a couple of years ago when I started playing again, I was on a mission to find the Moonbeam replacement. tested quite a few blades, started with Viscaria, as it was close to the Moonbeam at the time, but it wasn't for me ... then from all wood blades to outers and in the end inners ... and then by a coincidence I got TMXi - basically I went to get Xiom Stradivarius, which was supposed to be close to the Moonbeam, but then I saw TMXi, with a reduced price and I said - hell ... Arylate was uknown at the time when Viscaria and Moonbeam came out, and Moonbeam was a great fit ... let's risk it ... and in the end it was worth the risk.

like you said - wooden, not too bouncy feeling in short game, amazing support during mid-distance and distance play and it really helps with adding the rotation ... and the enormous sweet spot and that feeling ... I don't know, if I am just lucky and got a really good copy, but this blade is just ... amazing.

tried it with soft rubber. plays nice, tried it with hard(er) rubber it also plays nice. soft rubber gives you that really nice, soft feeling, and hard rubber gives you really good feeling of controlled power, not so soft feeling, but still great ...

it works amazing with J&H C55, probably also with J&H C52.5 and J&H C57.5 too ... and it works great with Omega series, with Vega series ... I mean, I played most of the time with J&H C55 on forehand and Vega Pro H on BH and it is such an amazing combo. controlled, with a lot of spin and a lot of power, linear power at disposal ... just a very very nice overall playing experience with this blade and Xiom rubbers ... will probably delve into other rubber makers next season, but am expecting nice results.

 

[K.K]

I mean, it is more than 20 years ago when I played with Moonbeam ... it was slower than Viscaria was at the time, I remember when I was testing it, either to go with Moonbeam or Viscaria - and I would go for Moonbeam in the end as it had such a great feel and I felt Viscaria was harder to control and was overall harder blade ... and Moonbeam felt way better for topspin and loops.

I still remember when I came for a tournament to do the warmup drives and Moonbeam had this really amazing feeling, this soft feeling, giving you confidence you can't miss. similarly to what TMXi is offering me today, but on the other hand am really tempted with HAL as after everything I have read it might actually be the modern Moonbeam ...

HAL is not a modern Moonbeam.

HAL is: Koto - ALX - Dark Limba - Kiri
Moonbeam is: Limba - AL - Ayous - Ayous

so totally different constructions besides beeing an outerfibre blade without carbon (and no one knows about the wave pattern or density of each fibre, so will be totally different too) and even if they would be similar in construction they would still not be the same. look at all the trillion 'viscaria' type blades with exact same construction and still people pay 900€ for the golden logo one

 

[rbtitco]

I know that shop from my country had a lot problems with Xiom policy.
They send blades and they were poor quality and the shop would receive next shipment 3 months later so they look like they didnt care...
I had 2 of Sal and 2 of Hal.... I think they lack of consistency... You can receive trash and very good blade and Xiom with you would never know the reason .
Yes the arylate without Carbon is great choice.
Aureveil aka CNF is great choice too
Victas Dynawood was better than xiom hal. Calderano personal blades are probably selected with small margin of error.
Xiom had very bad rubbers
Cornilleau have good rubbers
Xiom now from C55 to Omega8 have better work from ESN so Hugo is playing well

I envy your access to all these different blades and equipment.

 

[andzejgolot]

Nothing Special. Bought for 100 euro sold for 100 euro 3 weeks later

 

[doppelmoral]

I reached out to Xiom regarding Hugo HAL blade. They informed me that they will soon release details about the new blade that Hugo will be using moving forward (not HAL).

 

[kindof99]

I had a hal and I didn’t like it. Hugo plays good with it, but it is not even a tiny connection to whether you like it .