Quality expectations for AliExpress blade

[yamagata]

I ordered an inner carbon blade on AliExpress. It was down from 80 to 40 dollars, and thought I got a deal.

Later I noticed the same blade on sell in Malaysia for 27 dollars.

The blade is apparently made in a Chinese factory. I assume dirt cheap.

But then again, are Stiga blades also made dirt cheap?

 

[lodro]

But then again, are Stiga blades also made dirt cheap?

Yes 😂
😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂😂😂

 

[Ultravisitor]

What have you ordered? I played lots of chinese blade of good quality. Sanwei and yinhe blades are as good as western brands

 

[lodro]

played lots of chinese blade of good quality. Sanwei and yinhe blades are as good as western brands

I second that. Just because some chinese brands are dirt cheap in comparison to other countries prices we can still get very decent quality blades out of aliexpress.

 

[yamagata]

What have you ordered? I played lots of chinese blade of good quality. Sanwei and yinhe blades are as good as western brands

A cybershaped heptagonal blade from a Chinese factory that has a lot of brand name it seems. Tuttle, Kokutaku, Tulpe, Huieson, Blütenkirsche and so on…This particular one is called Shield.

I just have to try a carbon blade and a heptagonal - and to spend 300 dollars on the Stiga seems unrealistic to me. Maybe I will not even like it.

 

[Lazer]

I ordered an inner carbon blade on AliExpress. It was down from 80 to 40 dollars, and thought I got a deal.

Later I noticed the same blade on sell in Malaysia for 27 dollars.

The blade is apparently made in a Chinese factory. I assume dirt cheap.

But then again, are Stiga blades also made dirt cheap?

Stiga blades are made in Sweden, doesn't guarantee a higher quality but a higher cost of labour. This is why Stiga blades are more expensive. So they can't be made dirt cheap like in China...

The worst part with some Chinese brands is the consistency...


Cheers
L-zr

 

[boretennis]

also those brands like stiga, butterfly etc spend a lot of money on advertisement and nurturing stars. you pay not only for a product but for a status symbol.

 

[TT Lover]

What have you ordered? I played lots of chinese blade of good quality. Sanwei and yinhe blades are as good as western brands

Have you ever play Chinese blade brand AIR (Air ALC Pro - Koto top surface), is it good quality ?

 

[NetProphet]

I ordered an inner carbon blade on AliExpress. It was down from 80 to 40 dollars, and thought I got a deal.

Later I noticed the same blade on sell in Malaysia for 27 dollars.

The blade is apparently made in a Chinese factory. I assume dirt cheap.

But then again, are Stiga blades also made dirt cheap?

I reckon you can't expect much from an Innerforce carbon blade from a mo name manufacturer selling on Ali.
If it were quality controlled like Butterfly products (as an example) with perfect process and proper gluing, lamination, pressing and tests for uniformity then it would not cost $40.
It might still be a blade suitable for your game but if Innerforce is what you really want I reckon it be far better spent putting it towards a guaranteed quality item.

Buy cheap, buy twice as they say!

 

[yamagata]

I reckon you can't expect much from an Innerforce carbon blade from a mo name manufacturer selling on Ali.
If it were quality controlled like Butterfly products (as an example) with perfect process and proper gluing, lamination, pressing and tests for uniformity then it would not cost $40.
It might still be a blade suitable for your game but if Innerforce is what you really want I reckon it be far better spent putting it towards a guaranteed quality item.

Buy cheap, buy twice as they say!

If my paycheck was bigger I would not hesitate to buy Truls edition of Cypershape. In general I agree with that saying.

That saying hold a lot of value though, but does not stop people from gambling or buy lottery tickets. At the least I get a thrill out of the purchase!

 

[NetProphet]

If my paycheck was bigger I would not hesitate to buy Truls edition of Cypershape. In general I agree with that saying.

That saying hold a lot of value though, but does not stop people from gambling or buy lottery tickets. At the least I get a thrill out of the purchase!

Hmmm, well if not enough money is the reason to not buy the blade you think you really want then that's a sign of perhaps least affording to gamble with $40 just for the thrill of it.
Getting a thrill from a purchase is really (imo) a symptom of the throw-away society we live in but by the time you've messed around EJ'ing for a year you could have just bought the blade you really wanted!
I hope that doesn't sound to harsh, I'm not condemning you but speaking a bit from experience 😬

In a nutshell I can't see this as a lottery ticket because even if the blade is almost perfect you're still gonna want the other one! It's almost certain to be a waste of money.

 

[Tyce]

Cancel, get a refund and save up for what you actually want.

 

[yamagata]

Cancel, get a refund and save up for what you actually want.

I don’t know what I want. Maybe, I want that in the future, but that also holds true for a large number of different blades. This is an experiment after all. I might hit the jackpot!

 

[Airoc]

I reckon you can't expect much from an Innerforce carbon blade from a mo name manufacturer selling on Ali.

Not sure about no name, but if you go for brands like Loki or Stuor - makers of really good copies of really expensive blades - cheap doesn´t always equal low quality.

 

[Tyce]

If you don't know what you want, why buy anything at all?
I know it's one-liners, but I'm serious.

 

[Airoc]

I might hit the jackpot!

This is possible, but then you have to realize it and stick with it, not think "Yeah this really suits me, but the expensive one must be even better" ;-)

 

[TT Lover]

Not sure about no name, but if you go for brands like Loki or Stuor - makers of really good copies of really expensive blades - cheap doesn´t always equal low quality.

Does Loki or Stuor have copies or clone of Viscaria Super ALC blade.

 

[mattlamperouge]

Does Loki or Stuor have copies or clone of Viscaria Super ALC blade.

Not sure if super alc, but loki has quite good external koto + carbon blades. TELSON SPEED pretty good for the price, W81 external is really good. Now they produced a couple W81 special variants, "pro" zhou yu signed, custom made for their contract players etc.

 

[NetProphet]

Not sure about no name, but if you go for brands like Loki or Stuor - makers of really good copies of really expensive blades - cheap doesn´t always equal low quality.

That's is true, it doesn't always mean low quality.
But according to the patent for the Butterfly carbon blades, carbon fiber sheets are first laminated with some form of low-viscosity epoxy before they're combined with the wood veneers and going under a press to dry.
From what little I've read from the blade manufacturers in here there is definitely some speciality and care to be taken with it to avoid dead spots/flat spots and ensure perfect uniformity.
Now I'm not telling anyone they have to spend $150-$250 on a Butterfly blade to achieve that but I'm very sceptical of getting it in the $27-$40 range 🤷

 

[Conehead]

I'm very sceptical of getting it in the $27-$40 range

That's actually what I thought, too, until my colleague bought some cheap blades in Aliexpress made in China.
You won't believe what consistent quality you can get in the $27-$40 range.