FZD ALC vs Viscaria are the differences actually significant? My measurements surprised me

[struke]

I recently bought an FZD ALC because I kept reading on forums and seeing on YouTube that it feels a bit softer, has more dwell and control than Viscaria.

Now I have both with exactly the same rubbers:
FH: Dignics 09C 2.1
BH: Dignics 05 2.1
My measurements:

• Viscaria: 192.58g
• FZD ALC: 190.28g
• Both are around 25.6cm long
• Head size is basically the same
• Balance point on both is around 13.5cm
• I also don’t feel any real difference in the handle size or shape

The strange thing is that even though the FZD is 2.3g lighter, it actually feels heavier to swing.


Since Butterfly lists them with basically the same Viscaria-type ALC construction and very similar specs, I’m starting to wonder how much of the “FZD is softer / more controlled / more dwell” talk is really the blade model, and how much is just individual blade variation.

For people who actually owned both:
Do you really feel a clear difference, or did I basically buy another version of the same blade?

 

[kindof99]

Fzd alc feels softer to me

 

[piligrim]

Fzd alc feels softer to me

Same. I had both blades and was feeling difference. FZD softer and has more feeling

 

[Tyce]

You can compare any individual two blades of these and keep finding differences in every direction. Balance, weight, density, minor differences in glue quality, handles that are offset by even a tenth of a mm, heavier core wood vs heavier outer plies, the list of options is so big.

If someone starts comparing 10-20 Viscaria to 10-20 FZD I will start to believe the outcome. Until that time they're simply "pretty much the same blade".

 

[Topspinslinger]

I own around 5 innerforce layer alc's, they are all different even tho they are around ~2 grams within eachother. One Is super soft and flexible and vibrate. Two are the same and I have those as practice and match blade.. Other two are hard, stiff and quick so I'll play them likely in the future.

It is like almost no speed difference but way they feel during play... natural products 🙃🫢

 

[v100ev]

You can compare any individual two blades of these and keep finding differences in every direction. Balance, weight, density, minor differences in glue quality, handles that are offset by even a tenth of a mm, heavier core wood vs heavier outer plies, the list of options is so big.

If someone starts comparing 10-20 Viscaria to 10-20 FZD I will start to believe the outcome. Until that time they're simply "pretty much the same blade".

On that thought...

I believe this is quite an interesting video. They also do a blind test in a next video between the blade that was selected and another one..

 

[jonol]

Even models of the same blade will feel different. There's probably as much variation between each Viscaria as there is between each FZD

 

[kindof99]

You can compare any individual two blades of these and keep finding differences in every direction. Balance, weight, density, minor differences in glue quality, handles that are offset by even a tenth of a mm, heavier core wood vs heavier outer plies, the list of options is so big.

If someone starts comparing 10-20 Viscaria to 10-20 FZD I will start to believe the outcome. Until that time they're simply "pretty much the same blade".

How about 1000+ users that own both giving the same statement?

 

[ajtatosmano2]

How about 1000+ users that own both giving the same statement?

Should be reasonable, but how to discount any preconception bias?

 

[Tyce]

How about 1000+ users

Sure!

that own both

This is where the numbers will dwindle fast.
Most will own one and have shortly played with the other.
Then there's those who have 95g FZD and 85g Viscaria or vice versa
Let's say that leaves a couple hundred that actually have the blades in reasonable similarity.

giving the same statement?

Parroting happens a lot. I'm guilty, too.
Also, there's posts giving conflicting statements. So I return to the same conclusion, until this gets a statistically and scientifically sound research done, I will have to give the benefit of the doubt to the official numbers.

 

[GhostBackhand]

I have two FZD ALCs, one at 92g and the other at 88g, but honestly, I don’t feel much of a difference between them. They feel completely different from my three Viscarias, which have a super lively and unpredictable bounce.

 

[thisisit]

the day wood will pass a current novel construction material homologation procedure, these types of questions will have the types of answers you are looking for.

 

[Coolsta Connor]

Ok sure they're of different weight, but I've tried 5+ Viscaria with the same fh rubber and they have approx the same feel, and a few Fan Zhendong ALCs. I believe that the difference used to be less pronounced, but Viscaria has now become the harder blade, and FZD ALC is more softer and forgiving. My personal experience backs this up, and on Chinese forums this is an overlying opinion. With the modern codes of Viscaria becoming thicker I'm sure its harder too.

 

[Tyce]

I'm not denying that there's a lot of anecdotal evidence pointing towards a trend.
Heck, I have a FZD and I'm surprised by how friendly it is to me to play with it.

Ok sure they're of different weight, but I've tried 5+ Viscaria with the same fh rubber and they have approx the same feel, and a few Fan Zhendong ALCs. I believe that the difference used to be less pronounced, but Viscaria has now become the harder blade, and FZD ALC is more softer and forgiving. My personal experience backs this up, and on Chinese forums this is an overlying opinion. With the modern codes of Viscaria becoming thicker I'm sure its harder too.

Thicker would make it more stiff - this is not the same thing as harder. It's very common and understandable to mix these terms up, and perhaps even translation errors sometimes make this even more of an issue.
A block of steel and a steel ruler are equally hard (yeah yeah of course it has to be the same type of steel etc.) but the ruler is flexible and the block is stiff.

If BTY is indeed changing the Viscaria (and/or FZD) over time, it would make the anecdotal data even worse.


Let me put this in a different direction (anecdotal again): Ma Lin Carbon and Donic Waldner Senso Carbon. Same composition, nnnnot the same blade.
MLC has a larger head size, a solid handle (different shape, too) and is generally heavier. Still, when it comes to feeling, both blades are not all too far apart. They have the same "character". Then when it comes to playing, that's when the differences start.
MLC starts faster and has a higher top end power. WSC is much slower overall and throughout. MLC's construction makes it very easy to spin balls with a bit of power in the shot, but harder to make small touch wrist motions. WSC is essentially a fine touch spin-based blade with a tiny bit of support, MLC is a spin-based attacking blade.
What I'm trying to say, there's no denying that different blades can be made with the same exact composition.

However, with FZD and Viscaria, the structural elements that would be responsible for such a difference are very close together, if not equal, making it very hard to prove the point that there is, in fact, a measurable, significant difference.