Samsonov equipment in Moscow?

Thot wrote: The blade looks like an all wood blade (5 plies). Tibhar stratus carbon from here http://tak9.com/mall.php?cat=019001000&query=view&no=3101 has a visible carbon layer.

Looks like limba top and kiri center ply.  Similar to the Maze and TBS except the carbon layer is right next to the center as opposed to right below the top ply in the Butterfly blades.

I am loosing my sight trying to find any sign of carbon in that blade. Still negative. Looks like 5 plywood with a thick center ply.

JimT wrote: alexli wrote: Samsonov ordered the rubber from Haifu. Haifu made it using exactly Whale II's formula, but they use Tibhar's mold to make the topsheet, so it shows Tibhar's brand and model on the rubber. Because Samsonov is contracted with Tibhar. I got this information from Haifu internally. You are kidding? Wow... that's something! I'll let the folks at the Russian forum know - they will probably overload Haifu with requests for their rubbers.

I have a real difficulty believing this story.

petermoo wrote: JimT wrote: alexli wrote: Samsonov ordered the rubber from Haifu. Haifu made it using exactly Whale II's formula, but they use Tibhar's mold to make the topsheet, so it shows Tibhar's brand and model on the rubber. Because Samsonov is contracted with Tibhar. I got this information from Haifu internally. You are kidding? Wow... that's something! I'll let the folks at the Russian forum know - they will probably overload Haifu with requests for their rubbers. I have a real difficulty believing this story. I notice the haifu people are always claiming people to be using thier rubbers. Who really uses haifu anyway? A few chinese team members briefly tried it and quickly abondoned it. I believe Zhang Zhike might still be using it, but who else? Petermoo

Nevertheless it looks plausible. Vladi certainly played with some tuned sticky rubber which sounded and played much like new generation Chinese stuff similar to BW-2 and DHS Neo.

JimT wrote: 7plywood wrote: Note: certainly it is not Mazunov though. Mazunov has different proportions of the plies. See this for comparison with Mazunov: http://www.tak9.com/mall.php?cat=006001000&query=view&no=288 - scroll down to the last pic. It was already said and confirmed by Vladi himself in his recent interview that he now plays with Tibhar Stratus Samsonov. He had to abandon his old Mazunov blade which he has used for 15 years because it became too uneven and was causing him problems at the racket control.

JimT wrote: 7plywood wrote: JimT wrote: 7plywood wrote: Note: certainly it is not Mazunov though. Mazunov has different proportions of the plies. See this for comparison with Mazunov: http://www.tak9.com/mall.php?cat=006001000&query=view&no=288 - scroll down to the last pic. It was already said and confirmed by Vladi himself in his recent interview that he now plays with Tibhar Stratus Samsonov. He had to abandon his old Mazunov blade which he has used for 15 years because it became too uneven and was causing him problems at the racket control.   He is a Tibhar player and he has to help selling Tibhar stuff - what would you like him to say?: "I took a handle from Stratus and put it on a blade that I like better, which by the way is not Tibhar." ???   Here is the thing. He never (!) denied he was playing with old Mazunov - whenever he was directly asked at the tournaments about his blade he would admit he was playing with his old trusty Mazunov. This time he specifically explained he could no longer play with his old Mazunov and said that now he is playing with new Stratus (and yes, it is possible it was a bit customized for him, who knows). I, for one, believe him there.

Hope that blade suites your expectations  Are you a collector ? maybe an equipment junkie no offense I mean it in a good way . Plus I enjoy your reviews and heed some of your recomended  blade to rubber set ups.

Vladi never said he was playing with Mazunov in official interviews - simply because he is contracted with Tibhar and he doesn't want to say that he is not playing with Tibhar blade. However, in any of the unofficial conversations - such as the one he had with the forummers at Euro Champs in St.Petersburg the last year he was specifically asked about it and he (once again) said that yes it was old Mazunov and showed them the blade.

Also - in the interview that he recently gave to a Belorussian newspaper (there is a thread I created about that) he specifically says that he played with his previous blade for the last 15 (!) years. That is of course his old Mazunov (he wasn't even a Tibhar player 15 yrs ago, I think).

I belive he is boosting at least his forehand or maybe he recives his "haifu-tibhar" rubber with some extra tunning.

F.Z. wrote: is vladi boosting? because whale 2 factory tuned is way to slow

wow - you must be a really fast player, my friend... for me BW-II-39 Tuned National was pretty darn fast if you hit it properly. Faster than all my Inspirits and many other rubbers I tried.

Agree with T, I've tried all but the most recent batch of new sheets, and BWII is right up there with the fast ones.

ejmaster wrote: i am getting tibhar stratus this week so i hope i can tell if that blade matches stratus power wood.   but anyway that kind of blade ply building is very tibhar like samsonov alphas and other ones. one inner thick ply and 2 outer thin ones. so even customized looks tibhar blade.   i do not think tibhar is going to allow his flag player (butterfly has a lot of players) playing with a butterfly with another handle. that would be not very smart. better copy mazunov calling tibharzov but being tibhar.   in the case samsonov played in the past with a mazunov i dont think that mazunov has a lot to do with the mazunov in the market, so it is not helpful to say it was a mazunov. anyway i have serious doubts about what we present know as mazunov was his old blade. in europe mazunov is very thick, with several thick inner plys.

Ejmaster, if you are done tesing Stratus Carbon, please kindly confirm my findings (or contradict them if you will):

It is a bit harder, a bit stiffer (still a bit flexy due to thin structures) and a bit slower compared to Stratus Power Wood.  Stratus Power Wood is supposed to be Off- but it is faster than Stratus Carbon, because Power Wood is quite springy, making it faster for low to medium high gears kind of shots.

I think Stratus Carbon is supposed to be faster than Power Wood, not the other way around,  but it is probably because my Carbon is only 85 grams while my Power Wood is about 93 grams, making my Carbon slower.

I would say that it is as nice as Waldner Senso Carbon, because the composite is directly next to the core, instead of under the top-ply like many BTY carbon blades.

lol

icontek wrote: F.Z. wrote: is vladi boosting? because whale 2 factory tuned is way to slow Are you sure you are hitting the ball correctly? BW2 with a closed, forward stroke is faster than many, many rubbers. Maybe you just mean blocking against soft topspin?

so everybody player playing against him could win by forfait because the topsheet is not ittf legal...