Neottec Mark Carbon

[ttarc]

Good quality. Same level as Yasaka, Yinhe, Donic or Stiga.
Limba surface is quite smooth. Not much sanding required compared to other blades (e.g. Victas Swat, Persson Powerplay).
Composition: limba outer, ayous(?), some sort of carbon, kiri (at least it has less resistance to my fingernail than ayous).
Weight: 79 g, thickness around 5.8 mm, 158 mm x 152 mm. 1302 Hz ball drop, 1378 Hz harder knocking.
Similar stiffness/flex as my good old used YEO or a newer (2021), slightly used Persson Powerplay.
Handle: Very comfy. Only minimal sanding on wings necessary for my liking. Length 102 mm, width 29 mm at thumb rest, 31 mm at the end. Narrowest part 28 mm wide and 21 mm thick.
If it plays as well as it feels this is a steal.

 

[OldUser]

Donic Persson Powerplay is an all wood koto outer, totally different feel, so I don't think it's wise talking about it as a comparison point. I've used it for 2 years, probabbly the stiffer and harder all wood blade I know.

 

[ttarc]

Persson Powerplay was my weapon of choice in the 38 mm era... If I try to bend these blades they show (as far as I can "measure" this with my hands) similar flex and bouncing a ball on the bare blade feels quite similar (the Mark Carbon provides more feedback at the index finger).
Will see how much of this similarity the blade retains in real play

 

[ttarc]

I'm impressed.
Setup weights: 179 g for the Mark Carbon with Nittaku H3Neo 39 on FH and H3Neo 37 on BH (quite heavy H3s...), main blade YEO with the same rubbers except that the FH H3(Neo) has no Nittaku label 178g.
First difference: the Mark Carbon setup is balanced differently. Feels less head heavy. Usually not a too big problem when switching blades because I try to match the setups weights but this time was different. Mistimed and therefore missed quite a lot of shots initially. Not because I was too late but because I was too early... For me this is a nice property because it means that I accelerated the racket faster as usual which could/should result in shorter strokes and/or more speed/spin for the old longer, strokes when fully adapted to this blade.
Second difference: throw angle is higher with the Mark Carbon setup and it has more dwell time. Got more spin on loops i.e. lower bounce on the table than with my YEO if I got the timing right.
Third difference: more power when hit hard and more stable. This was to be expected due to the carbon layer but the Mark Carbon is not an overly fast or bouncy blade. Easier to handle than e.g. my V14Pro.
Definitely a keeper although I will not switch to it for the next couple of month (second half of the season).