Apparently, there is a new cool composite material called "Zephylium" :-)

Hayabusa Z:

Hayabuza Zi:

Hayabusa Z+:

Hayabusa ZX:

Hayabusa ZXi:

maybe this new carbon has zylon in it or something like that.

apparently is has a very sharp feel but the carbon is actually very soft and flexible.

this looks very....interesting

 

how much do they cost?

 

so... what are the differences between "modern", "classic" and "extreme" topspin?

There used to be a Xiom equipment reseller in UK (prott.co.uk), then they went bust, but left a site full of Xiom marketing material around ( http://xiomtabletennis.co.uk/?p=76 - http://xiomtabletennis.co.uk/?p=76 ). From there:

 

1) Thinks these blades look ridiculous

 

and

 

2) Just wishes Xiom would stop discontinuing blades and stick with some good ones which don't require gimmicky graphics to sell?

 

... I might be alone

 

I think you're right.... looks more rounded

 

it may go up for sale once I get my Nexy Calix

Snakefish

How about a high performance Motorcycle!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Hayabusa - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Hayabusa

Hmm, the opposite for me. The more I play with my V1, the more I like it. What's so special about Nexy Calix?

check out the reviews... it's thinner, and the carbon is the 3rd veneer, not the 2nd, so it should be more flexible than V1 but still have the large sweet spot... that's the biggest factor for me. luckily, the one I have coming is 85 grams, just like my V1.

I do enjoy my V1 and at the moment it's my only blade until my OSP Expert and Calix arrive... but after seeing these new Xiom blades... ugh, I use to associate the name Xiom with great quality and prices less than Butterfly... now they're losing esteem with me

hopefully next year's models will have a strobing LED in the handle

.... so here we are in late July... no Xiom Hayabusa... another Vega China story

meanwhile, we have time to submit suggestions to Xiom about how they should launch this blade

i suggest they give away a t-shirt like this one with the purchase of each blade:

and it will be very important that you wear it to each match.

... hey, if your blade is going to scream it, your shirt should also!

I also see that www.tabletennis11.com has them listed now

carmelomaf, did they have the shirt in your size? 

Also, I will do a review of the Z+ that I purchased from Mr. Fatt... perhaps here, or elsewhere if he prefers.

I tried it briefly and was very impressed, but my impressions were slightly confounded because I was not using my main rubbers. 

I have purchased (and am awaiting) my primary rubbers to put on this blade before I give a "proper" review. 

I will say right off the bat, though: I was impressed with the sharp feel and the quickness of the blade despite how thin it is (especially compared to my NR-70s). 

More to come...

I wish they made this Hayabusa line 157x150. 158x152 might make the setup a bit heavy and head-heavy for my taste especially with the heavier new-gen rubbers.

That seems like a great composition... though I'm not entirely sure what "Zephylium" is. They called the zylon "zylon" in the Zetro Quad so I would guess that the Zephylium is a different substance... but who knows.

I'm very interested to hear how it plays. 

Eh?

Zephylium appears to be a proprietary name for the polymer they are using.  Zylon is a fabric that was a precursor to Kevlar in body armor.  

This series is interesting, but I sure like the hinoki on the Zetro.  

It is a FL handle and weighs (if I remember correctly) 84.6g. With my rubbers on it (TopENERGY Soft, max, and Renanos Hold, 1.9mm) it weighs a light 176g. 

Compared to my regular setup (see sig), it was ever so slightly head heavy. And I mean slightly. Not nearly as pronounced as my Carbo 7.6 but more so than my NR-70. TopENERGY Soft is a pretty heavy rubber (in the BWII black sponge range) so I'm quite confident that with "normal" weighted Tensors this blade would be even better balanced. And again, it's not bad to begin with, just noticeable. 

Despite the minor head heaviness, it's overall weight is less than my main setup by almost 10g. So I felt much more maneuverable with this setup, like I was playing with a wakizashi rather than with a katana . The blade also has a nice feel upon contact. It feels a lot like an all-wood blade with sharp feedback from the koto. The vibration is crisp but it is very short-lived. 

It is quick for how thin it is, although it is not as fast as my NR-70. Normally I prefer ST handles. Although I was excited by the fact that this particular FL handle felt nice in my hand, upon playing with it I realized I wasn't nearly as comfortable as I'd hoped to be. This FL is about the size of a Stiga Master FL. Not smaller, but not much bigger if at all. Without it filling my hand like my regular ST, I felt like the blade was unstable in my hand. This is no fault of the blade but simply my own preference... but it may have tainted my review in general. Hopefully not. 

Keeping serves and drop shots low were no problem. This is not a bouncy blade at all. Looping and hitting had very good speed. However, I think this blade matches better with Japanese (and presumably Euro) rubbers, as I liked my backhand with this blade much more than my forehand. While the speed was good, the spin was a bit diminished compared to my NR-70. It wasn't a ton worse but it was noticeable enough that all three of my training partners made comments about it. I should add though that I was using a new sheet of hard, tacky rubber which often requires some time to break in, so the spin may be there at a future date. 

I do like this blade, but it's not love at first sight. It performs very, very well. I will continue to toy with it in my spare time, but for me and my game it does not perform as well as my NR-70. I am grateful to fatt for putting it in my hands and I plan to add more observations to this thread in the future. It may eventually make it to the For Sale section... but not quite yet. 

Xiom is really stepping up their game. A good medium stiffness, medium softness looping blade in their lineup (like the TBS) could propel them beyond the ranks of Stiga or Donic rather quickly.

 

He's waiting for my Photino.

Taking everything you said into account,  sounds like you need an Iolite Neo. Crisp speed and light weight with a great FL handle.  The avg wt for my set of 5 is 84 gms. 

Go check with Santa. 

Does the slight increase in head size vs the Zetro make their overall weights roughly the same?

On the scale post, I bet your scale is just just rounding up.  Great looking blade, looking forward to learning more about it.

I have tried different rubbers on it... and man oh man... with the Acuda S2... its like a rocket ship..

I also tried the Nittaku Hammond Pro B and wow..the control is sooo nice...   Love the new blade... very impressed...   i sure my wife doesn't notice this new blade....   "another one"   

http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/tt-blade-xiom-hayabusa-zxi - http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/tt-blade-xiom-hayabusa-zxi

I hereby lay my EJ "dream" for this Xiom to rest.....

I am confident you are mistaken about the Zxi:

look at those pictures of my 1st Zxi:

http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=47732&PID=674305&title=new-xiom-hayabusa-blades#674305 - http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=47732&PID=674305&title=new-xiom-hayabusa-blades#674305

and the close up picture right after that post (plies).

 

 

 

 

In the ZX it says 'Zephylium Carbon character in the second layer makes ZX feel sensibly sharp but unbelievably softer than other composite blades', what does it mean?  I wish some one who has the ZX can confirm the structure.  If ZX is indeed has the Zephylium close the CORE, then it looks like they have the descriptions mixed up, and the ZX is a lot like the IF ZLC, which I maybe interested in.

you make such a strong point!!!  maybe they did invert the descriptions. We need to put our hands on a zx now.

reminder: Z = Zephylium (competitor of Zylon); ZX = Zephylium Carbon (ZLC competitor); 

I have not figured out what the i stands for in Zi and ZXi. any idea?

by the way my favorite handle in terms of fashion (...) is the ZX.

 

for Internet, like in iPad, or for Intake, like in XDi SUVs

 

And what does X stand for, in that chain of thoughts? I don't see X in "carbon".

 

 

I guess you meant only faster than the Andro blade then, right? 

So is it slower or same speed then? 

 

 

Which one has AWD ?

"the ZX it says 'Zephylium Carbon character in the second layer makes ZX feel sensibly sharp but unbelievably softer than other composite blades', what does it mean?  I wish some one who has the ZX can confirm the structure.  If ZX is indeed has the Zephylium close the CORE, then it looks like they have the descriptions mixed up, and the ZX is a lot like the IF ZLC, which I maybe interested in."

I believe that my Z+ PLAYS THIS WAY: Its very crisp and sharp.   It is also very solid feeling.  I have the TB ZLF and the Xiom zetro quad.    This blade feels like an Off - to me.    

Both the ZQ and the ZLF feel slightly faster but only barely.

OK, I think it all makes sense to me now.  They did not just get the description mixed up, the Description is correct for the name.  However, they got the name mixed up LOL.  Whoever setup the printing, is probably going to get canned :).  I think the 'i' in Zi, or ZXi is supposed to stand for inner, just like the Innerforce in BTY blades.  The 'X" I think is suppose to be Extra, for the added Carbon.

 

So this is what I think they want to do:

Z = TB ZLF

Zi = IF ZLF

ZX = TB ZLC

ZXi = IF ZLC.

 

However, they got the 'i' and the non 'i' mixed up.  I did try the IF ZLC, and really like it.  I hope if anyone has play with both IF ZLC and the ZX and confirm their similarity.

 

WOOOOWWW!!! mhnh007 this makes a lot of sense; if it is true then it means the whole series is all mixed up and yes, somebody might start applying out there.

they will probably argue the "i" means the zephylium and zeph/carbon is right after the top ply; the "i" means something like "instant" to express the zeph or zeph/carbon material acts more...instantly  because so much closer to the point of contact with the ball. 

 

BTW - how is the vibration in the ZXi that you play with?  I was watching the video they interview a whole bunch of VN players, and also a VN coach, and they all kind of say along the line that the blade does vibrate so it's good for defensive play, or short play, but they were skiptical on the offensive play, they think it may rob them off the power, however, that was not the case, and they were happy about it.  These players, look like they are doing promotion for XIOM, so I have to take it with a grain of salt, but the fact that they all talk about the vibration, makes me wonder...

I'll call it GIRAFFE wood waiting for enlightenment.