Thoughts and feelings on Yinhe W6 (or alternative blades)?

[Hyooong]

Hi all,

I'm looking for opinions on the Yinhe W6. I'm thinking of buying it as an upgrade from my Joola Falcon Medium, and having played with blades that have a similar composition to the W6, I think it'd be a reasonable step up. I'd be using a 38d Big Dipper on FH and an Andro Rasanter R37 on BH. I play an offensive game with spinny loops, close/mid range.

Any other blade suggestions would be greatly appreciated, though I'm looking for something with a similar price tag. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Lots of love,
Hyooong xx

 

[hclnnkhg]

It was my first custom blade from more than 10 years ago. I would not recommend getting it because its price hasn't dropped much. With the current ball, it feels very hollow for me. I would rather get a blade that is designed more recently, in the 40+ Era.

 

[Funk Fu Master]

I would not call it an alternative to W6, but i'd say Tibhar Stratus Powerwood.

 

[piligrim]

It was my first custom blade from more than 10 years ago. I would not recommend getting it because its price hasn't dropped much. With the current ball, it feels very hollow for me. I would rather get a blade that is designed more recently, in the 40+ Era.

I curently using this blade and it feels perfect

 

[hclnnkhg]

I curently using this hlade and it feels perfect

good for you, everyone has different preferences 😁

 

[piligrim]

good for you, everyone has different preferences 😁

Does why OP should try himself and not ask other people opinions ))

 

[turbozed]

W6 I think is pretty much the same composition as a Yasaka Sweden Extra.

When I was looking last year, it wasn't being sold anywhere. Most likely discontinued. So if you do find one, it'll be probably the same price as the YSE.

Some people like the YSE but I found it slow and dead feeling. I had Mercury 2 and Xiom Vega Intro on it at the time. Maybe I got a bad one. If the W6 is anything like the YSE, then I wouldn't go out of my way to track it down.

 

[hclnnkhg]

Does why OP should try himself and not ask other people opinions ))

>90% of posts on this forum don't need to exist then🤣

 

[piligrim]

>90% of posts on this forum don't need to exist then🤣

Exactly. Its totally useless. Most of rubbers and blades I tried I got totally different feeling then I read on forums ))

 

[piligrim]

W6 I think is pretty much the same composition as a Yasaka Sweden Extra.

When I was looking last year, it wasn't being sold anywhere. Most likely discontinued. So if you do find one, it'll be probably the same price as the YSE.

Some people like the YSE but I found it slow and dead feeling. I had Mercury 2 and Xiom Vega Intro on it at the time. Maybe I got a bad one. If the W6 is anything like the YSE, then I wouldn't go out of my way to track it down.

It sold again on Aliexpress

 

[hclnnkhg]

Exactly. Its totally useless. Most of rubbers and blades I tried I got totally different feeling then I read on forums ))

unfortunately I can't afford to try out every piece of equipment I am interested in, so i have to resort to reading random reviews on the internet from strangers🥲

 

[turbozed]

It sold again on Aliexpress

I only see one seller selling it (GH Sports Store) and they only have 24 pieces available so I think it's still likely discontinued. Nothing wrong with that, but you might have a hard time finding your desired weight, since a lot of times the ones remaining will be the too heavy or too light models that people didn't want.

At $35, they're also marked up almost double from years ago when they were under $20.

But if OP can find the right weight he wants, nothing wrong with paying above original price for a somewhat rare blade. I think it looks cooler than the Yasaka Sweden Extra too.

 

[NextLevel]

Thin 5 ply to thin 5 ply is hardly an upgrade IMHO, but to each his own. It is better to get a real upgrade unless it is a blade that you have tested before and like for some reason. At least you learn something about your game.

 

[turbozed]

@Hyooong you might want to consider a Yinhe U2. It's the best selling Yinhe blade (one of the best selling blades in China period) and fills the role that W6 used to occupy but for the new ball era. It's a bit more stable at 6.0mm but probably has a similar contact feel with the thin harder outer (koto replacing the anigre). Supposed to have a big sweet spot and good control. OFF- speed at around ~1300 hz

 

[ejprinz]

The Yinhe W-6 Loop King has an Aneigre top layer which is a little harder than Limba but softer than Walnut and even softer than Koto. My 3 copies have around 1240Hz frequency. I like them better than the Yasaka Sweden Extra. However I find that Limba top blades give me more feeling for serves and topspin, so I go with that now. For more stability one can go with 7-ply (like the Yinhe U2 someone mentioned, but that one has harder Koto top). So from my collection these are the blades in my order of preference for that speed range (all Limba top):

1. Victas Swat: 7-ply, 1150Hz, 85.16g, 6.1mm (bought at Megaspin or TableTennis11)
2. Yinhe U1-VB, Limba/5x Ayous/Limba, 7-ply blade, no carbon, 6.3mm, 89.5g, 1270Hz (note: someone at AliExpress has 9999 copies at ~$30 with free shipping to USA...).
3. NeoTTec Vodoo Classic (Limba/Ayous/Ayous/Ayous/Limba), 1237Hz, 74.6g, 5.8mm3.
4. Yinhe Purple Dragon 437S, 89.6g. 1270Hz. 6.6mm (thinner & slower than older PD-437. (bought at TableTennis11)
5. Xiom Offensive S, Limba/Limba/Ayous/Limba/Limba, 1313Hz, 82.08g, 6.1mm, handle center 22.7mm. Handle (non-standard) wide but flat (bought at TableTennis11)

If you want to go faster get a Limba top inner xLC blade like the Yinhe Pro-05 (1356Hz, 85.0g, 5.9mm), DHS Fang Bo B2 (91.9g, 1320Hz, 6mm), or B2X (91.3g, 1442Hz. 6.1mm) .
Or the Sanwei Fextra (87.7g, 1421Hz, 6.4mm) 7-ply Limba/Limba/3xAyous/Limba/Limba no carbon, harder to control compared to the Limba/5x Ayous/Limba blades.

So I recommend to play a Limba top, Aneigre top, Walnut top, Hinoki top, and Koto top blade to decide which one you prefer. I think (like Ma Long ;-) ) that for the usual topspin attack game Limba feels nicer than Koto and gives me better serves.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

@Hyooong you might want to consider a Yinhe U2. It's the best selling Yinhe blade (one of the best selling blades in China period) and fills the role that W6 used to occupy but for the new ball era. It's a bit more stable at 6.0mm but probably has a similar contact feel with the thin harder outer (koto replacing the anigre). Supposed to have a big sweet spot and good control. OFF- speed at around ~1300 hz

I got one of these for casual penhold play, but I ended up liking it so much I have been considering buying one to use for shakehand use. Great allwood feeling with surprising performance. It is more solid and crispier compared to my Swat (granted I do have a pretty light and dinky Swat at 79g), it is more flexible but has a greater sling effect than my 88g Solo, and has better support for me than Offensive S/Stratus Powerwood. I'm surprised it is not talked about more, definitely a dark horse in the allwood class in my eyes, but I have yet to gauge the behavior of a shakehand sample U2 vs my penhold one because penhold blades have a different balance and behavior due to the shorter handle and larger headsize.