[Clone or fake?] Yinhe Provincial ALC blade

[shinshiro]

Hi guys

I was taking a look at some yinhe blades and I found this blade:

https://pt.aliexpress.com/store/pro...015834.html?spm=2114.12010612.0.0.ZFwDVb65246

It is said to be a Viscaria clone.

The blade looks very beautiful but when I did some research I didn't find much about it. And also it is not on Yinhe website either. The blade name is also suspicious , but....

I think there is a 99% chance of it being fake, but I decided to ask your opinions.

Thanks

 

[Scott Yu]

its fake and hardly any pro in china use YINHE provincial blade...
try Sword ALC

 

[chuckjordan2]

It's a clone. Yinhe blades normally have a very good build quality. Cole showed me their W6 and I often use it.

 

[yogi_bear]

you should try the yinhe pro feeling. that is a good clone of viscaria

 

[shinshiro]

It's a clone. Yinhe blades normally have a very good build quality. Cole showed me their W6 and I often use it.

I've heard that Yinhe make good clones, but the problem is that blade wasn't on Yinhe's website and I didn't read any comments about it on another TT forums. Probably someone is selling it as Yinhe, but is not genuine I guess.

you should try the yinhe pro feeling. that is a good clone of viscaria

Thank you for the info, I didn't know this blade.
Do you know the difference between Pro Feeling and V-15? I've read that V-15 is also a Viscaria clone. Probably the kevlar on V-15 and Arylate on Pro Feeling? Do you know how different it plays?

 

[ttdgfg]

you should try the yinhe pro feeling. that is a good clone of viscaria

Yinhe pro feeling has inner layer of synthetic material.Shouldnt be yinhe pro power more closer better clone since its right under the top veneer?

 

[yogi_bear]

yes but i have tested the 2 blades in the past, pro feeling has this great feel, very bouncy and doesn't feel as stiff as the pro power

 

[Baal]

you should try the yinhe pro feeling. that is a good clone of viscaria

The outer ply on a Pro Feeling looks much thicker than a Viscaria. Yogi, at MyTT you had earlier described it as being more like an Innerforce, which makes sense from its construction. That would not be particularly Viscaria-like. (I have not played with it, so have no knowledge, but I know Viscarias and I know what other clones tend to play like it).

Just looking at the pictures of this blade on Aliexpress that the OP is asking about, it has a structure that looks more like a Viscaria. Of course, who knows if that is what they would actually send you. Is it a genuine Yinhe blade? I have no idea.

Do people in China now make fakes of clones? (Serious question).

 

[shinshiro]

The outer ply on a Pro Feeling looks much thicker than a Viscaria. Yogi, at MyTT you had earlier described it as being more like an Innerforce, which makes sense from its construction. That would not be particularly Viscaria-like. (I have not played with it, so have no knowledge, but I know Viscarias and I know what other clones tend to play like it).

Just looking at the pictures of this blade on Aliexpress that the OP is asking about, it has a structure that looks more like a Viscaria. Of course, who knows if that is what they would actually send you. Is it a genuine Yinhe blade? I have no idea.

Do people in China now make fakes of clones? (Serious question).

These are my main concerns too.
If its a genuine Yinhe blade then I might try it someday.

 

[yogi_bear]

that's what i meant.. it has the feel of innerforce but it is more like a viscaria in construction.

 

[ttdgfg]

Yogi you mean it has the feel of viscaria but its a construction like innerforce,right?

 

[yogi_bear]

the other way around...

 

[ttdgfg]

Thats confusing yogi, you state that pro feeling is a good clone of viscaria.The structure though as clearly seen is like innerforce, so how can it be the other way around!?!

 

[Baal]

From the pictures of the Pro Feeling, the outer ply is quite a bit thicker than a Viscaria or some of its more obvious mimics like True Carbon. I am only going by photos but they show a pretty good view from the side. It almost looks intermediate betwwen a Viscaria/TB-ALC and an Innerforce. I have no knowledge at all of how it plays, but from the construction at least it doesn't look they were trying to clone a Viscaria. From other blades I have seen, Yinhe can do a lot better at cloning when that is their intention.

Here are some pictures of the Pro Feeling from the side. Look at the outer ply. (From the second of those it looks like there are actually two wood plys before you get to the ALC layer, which is definitely quite unlike a Viscaria).

https://s.shopdada.com/imgpro/3016/imgpro_3016_3_285_3.gif?1486569396

http://img.alicdn.com/bao/uploaded/i1/26608992/TB2JJRPfFXXXXXFXpXXXXXXXXXX_!!26608992.jpg

Here is a view of a Viscaria for comparison. Note the very thin outer ply and how close the ALC layer is to the surface, quite different from Pro Feeling.

http://www.ttex.se/5749-tr_thickbox_default/butterfly-bordtennisstomme-viscaria.jpg

 

[shinshiro]

I have found someone that was selling Yinhe ALC Provincial (the actual name is Yinhe D-K 4, I haven't noticed before).
He said that its construction is the same of Butterfly Taksim and feels very similar to it.

"Yinhe is one of most famous blade manufacture firm in China, this blade is of the same structure with the Butterfly Taksim and very high similarity in feeling, but it is in a more affordable price. It is special quality for Chinese Province team and It is a very good choice if you want to try penhold ALC blade for playing"

Reference:
http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=77847&title=two-likely-blades-for-great-price

Pics:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0o8bm2uMSUcWl9ZbWxhTXJrS00

Unfortunately he doesn't visist mytt anymore, he only wanted to sell his YEO and this Yinhe blade.

 

[Baal]

So then the D-K 4 would not be much like a Viscaria either. Instead it would be more like an Iolite (a discontinued Butterfly ALC blade that was originally introduced at about the same time as Viscaria). The Iolite was thicker, stiffer, and faster and had a smaller head size (if I remember correctly) and a smaller handle (that is for sure). Taksim and Iolite had very similar construction (except Taksim was a penhold blade).

 

[shinshiro]

My last attempt to gather info about this blade:

- some seller on taobao are using K-4 or V-15 on title (wich are said to be TBS/TB ALC/ Viscaria clones too), so I believe they are selling D-K4 as an improved version of them I guess (I don't understand chinese, and chrome translator didn't help much)

- a seller from AliExpress also confirmed that D-K4 is an improved version of V-15 and that it plays more similar to Viscaria then V-15

- the 3 sellers that I asked in private from AliExpress said that the model is a genuine Yinhe blade (well, even tough I didn't expect them to say they are selling fake blades...)

- One of them said: "Hi，it is original YINHE blade, made for China heilongjiang province team ，and also all the blade can be find on YINHE website".
I didn't find, but Yinhe site also was a little strange, I also didn't find Z7 VF that they show on main page, so he could be telling the truth, I don't know. If someone could check, I would apreciate

- There is an image with something written in chinese, it seems to be comparing D-K 4 with Timo Boll ALC and Viscaria I think. It would be helpful if someone who understand chinese could translate it to us, I would be grateful

 

[ttdgfg]

From the pictures of the Pro Feeling, the outer ply is quite a bit thicker than a Viscaria or some of its more obvious mimics like True Carbon. I am only going by photos but they show a pretty good view from the side. It almost looks intermediate betwwen a Viscaria/TB-ALC and an Innerforce. I have no knowledge at all of how it plays, but from the construction at least it doesn't look they were trying to clone a Viscaria. From other blades I have seen, Yinhe can do a lot better at cloning when that is their intention.



Here are some pictures of the Pro Feeling from the side. Look at the outer ply. (From the second of those it looks like there are actually two wood plys before you get to the ALC layer, which is definitely quite unlike a Viscaria).

https://s.shopdada.com/imgpro/3016/imgpro_3016_3_285_3.gif?1486569396

http://img.alicdn.com/bao/uploaded/i1/26608992/TB2JJRPfFXXXXXFXpXXXXXXXXXX_!!26608992.jpg

Here is a view of a Viscaria for comparison. Note the very thin outer ply and how close the ALC layer is to the surface, quite different from Pro Feeling.

http://www.ttex.se/5749-tr_thickbox_default/butterfly-bordtennisstomme-viscaria.jpg

The outer ply of pro-feeling are actually 2 plies, so of course it looks thicker and therefore looks like a innerforce structure. The confusion is coming from yogi who stated it plays like a vsicaria, but his next comment is" it has the feel of innerforce but it is more like a viscaria in construction."

And the yinhe ALc D-K4 is not a fake blade, and the structure is classic with outer alc fiber.So its build similar to viscaria and many other blades , jsut a bit thicker 6mm. Also they describe the blade as being 99% of viscaria as seen here:

Official description: Features: butterfly king VISCARIA structure, performance spike on the market all the high imitation version of butterfly king, 99% close to the butterfly king feel,
Heilongjiang Province team with. A powerful attack, high stability of the floor, the ball inside the ball handling handy; with the world champion synchronization products.

Hope shinshiro will get it and tell us more.Kind of also interested in this one,or the pro feeling if yogi clears my confusion .

 

[Baal]

In my experience, how far from the surface the ALC layer is matters quite a bit in these kinds of composite blades. And the ALC in this Yinhe blade, as you said, is actually under two layers (as I noticed in my last post and in the second picture I posted). You just mentioned that it is also a bit thicker. So, I am skeptical that could be very Viscaria-like (of course it would depend a bit on what you are comparing it to, for example, Innerforce and Viscaria are more like each other than either is to a Clipper or something like that).

From the construction I would expect to feel a bit more wood-like and just a bit stiffer, although that will depend some on the wings. Wouldn't surprise me actually if it played a bit like on of the more recent Ma Long blades.

Anyway, last thing I want to do is argue with anyone about a blade I haven't played with. Also, it looks like a really interesting blade, and the Yinhe blades I have seen in the last year or two seem to have really good build quality.

 

[ttdgfg]

In my experience, how far from the surface the ALC layer is matters quite a bit in these kinds of composite blades. And the ALC in this Yinhe blade, as you said, is actually under two layers (as I noticed in my last post and in the second picture I posted). You just mentioned that it is also a bit thicker. So, I am skeptical that could be very Viscaria-like (of course it would depend a bit on what you are comparing it to, for example, Innerforce and Viscaria are more like each other than either is to a Clipper or something like that).

From the construction I would expect to feel a bit more wood-like and just a bit stiffer, although that will depend some on the wings. Wouldn't surprise me actually if it played a bit like on of the more recent Ma Long blades.

Anyway, last thing I want to do is argue with anyone about a blade I haven't played with. Also, it looks like a really interesting blade, and the Yinhe blades I have seen in the last year or two seem to have really good build quality.

Well frst we are not arguing here , second you comment refers to the yinhe pro feeling(thickness 5.8mm) that one is under two layers, the yinhe alc d-k4(thickness 6mm) has similar construction like viscaria maybe tad thicker core, and that is the blade that as i wrotte before is like 99
% as they describe.

I did buy this blade that is around the same line as the dk4, if you compare the writtings on the blades seems form the same series kind of:

http://detail.youzan.com/show/goods?alias=2x6i7ss106mzd&v2/goods/2x6i7ss106mzd

I got one with 5.9mm and 92gr.Good quality and plays fine solid off- blade. Supposed to be similar to hl5 but with normal headsize(150x157mm).But since i never played with hl5 i cant compare.