Photino and Solcion

Ok...so I was bored and haven't bought anything in a good while. So I splurged and bought a Photino (ST) and 2 Solcion 2.1 from iruiru.com.

First off, iruiru.com had extremely fast shipping. I placed the order on Saturday night and received the blade and rubber on Wednesday.  I actually ordered the rubber only at first and then had to email them back to add the blade. The staff was very responsive and I received a reply email promptly.
I live in Charlotte, NC, so I was very impressed with the shipping speed.

The blade and rubber arrived packed very well in bubble wrap.

Glued the set up together...my basic chack was almost out so I dumped a tablespoon of stiga energy into it to recoup some of the dense glue stuck to the wall of the can. The glue returned to the consistency of the orginal chack.

Now for comparison...I have three other setups:
TBS w/ 2.1 sriver powersponge on each side (ps is 2 months old)
Maze w/ 2.1 sriver powersponge on each side (ps is 1 month old)
Maze w/ 2.1 Bryce Fh, 1.9 Bryce Bh

First off the Solcion is by FAR spinnier/grippier than any of the set ups above. It did have a "cork" type sound when you hit the ball hard or when blocking a strong shot. Chopping and pushing was far better than the above set ups. Blocking was actually exceptional as I felt very in control directing the blocks.
Speed wise it was much slower than the Bryce and the throw angle is much high as I looped quite a few balls off the table at first. The throw was also much greater than the sriver set ups.
I have to change my stroke a bit and my counter hitting/looping was not very acurate tonight.
Basically my stroke was more hit/than loop...The rubber is designed for loopers. Its so soft that the ball sinks into the rubber and you can loop and it impart lots of spin. When I dropped a gear or two down, I found that I was getting many loops on the table easily with good control on placement. When I cranked it into high gear I hit off the table far more than I do with the other set ups. Again I think it has to do with the throw angle and my bad technique :-P

The setup felt extremely light in my hand...I have yet to weigh it. I did notice that my arm was far more tired at the end of the night. This may have been due to changing my swing and using slightly different muscles.

So...did it feel like speed glued up rubber?
Well yes, when you are hitting hard.

Is it faster than unglued Bryce?
No...or rather photino+solcion was nowhere near Maze+bryce for sheer speed.

Is the control good?
Yes...Thats probably the most redeeming feature. Chopping had lots more backspin, pushing was far more controlled. Blocking was effortless and very well controlled. Heck, I landed far more backhand loops of serve than I ever did with the other set ups.

For me the negatives were my forehand in which I tended to hit more than loop. But as I switch over to looping more I believe this set up will shine.

Well there you go...

-pokerden

Tough to tell the difference unless I put sriver or bryce on the photino. I think the rubber was so drastically different its hard to tell.
I can tell you it was well balance...and it was probably a bit faster than a TBS.

Pokerden, you did not ask for the weight when you bought the blade ? If weight is an issue for you (like it is for me) then perhaps in the future it is better to ask for weight alternatives before you buy. Maybe you could get a blade that is 10 grams heavier.

Hi Pokerden, what is the weight of you ST Photino? my FL version is 88 grams. I want to buy the ST version if it's not heavier than the FL.

The Photino ST blade I received weighs 83 grams, I was told at iriuiriu.com this could vary between 83 up to 88 grams so I ordered the lightest one they had. That�s one of the coolest things about iriuiriu.com that you can ask for the weight of the blades they have and the shipping/service is excellent.

I also ordered 2 Solcion rubber sheets 2.1 both to use them on both sides, they are somehow light and the top sheet has a very elastic feel, you can easily tell the craftsmanship is excellent and durable that�s what I like about BTY stuff. (I have a lot of stuff from other brands but I have to admit BTY quality is very good).

IMO the photino blade specs from BTY are accurate, it�s an OFF+ light blade with great feel, I tried mine with Bryce FX on both sides and Cermet on both sides before using the new solcion rubber sheets.  I have a M Maze and a Kreanga Carbon blades to compare with, photino is definitely faster than the M Maze blade and very similar to the KC but with more control and feel. I have been using this new set up for only 5 days with solcion and my KC has Bryce on both sides so I�m not sure if it�s really as fast as KC but you can feel it is an OFF+ blade.

Solcion is not fast like Bryce at all, I don�t know who said that but I would probably dare to say it�s like sriver G2 FX but improved because you have better control and spin but similar speed.

If you hit the ball with the right angle /force you can hear a nice cork click sound like speed glued rubbers including a very nice control/spin, so yeah, for not having used any speed glue I think they do have some light speed glue effect integrated. (Don�t expect to feel like 3-4 layers of speed glue on Bryce FX though).

Overall BTY�s description of photino IMO it�s ok, if you are the kind of player that can generate a lot of power with your arm/body then solcion is the right choice since the control is amazing but remember it is not fast like Bryce at all, I will probably give it a 10 -10.5 speed on the BTY rating.