Avalox P500 vs Malin Carbon

P500 (koto spruce ayous)
ma lin soft carbon (angree limba soft carbon ayous)
ma lin carbon (limba 'some kind of softish wood' carbon ayous)

I am a penholder, so bear this in mind when you read the following.

P500 is the softest of the lot and definitely has more flex than the two yasakas that you mentioned.

(In order of stiffness / flexibility: P500 (highest flex) > soft carbon (marginally harder than p500) > carbon (definitely harder than the other 2))


However, softcarbon has great control (more precise short game) than the other two. carbon has great feel for a carbon blade but you can definitely still feel the carbon fibre reducing the flex when you loop. p500 does vibrate more than the other two (but better than some other popular 5-ply woods such as stiga offensive classic - most possibly as a result of its slightly harder koto surface).

(control for me: soft carbon > p500 > carbon)


in terms of speed, i think if you are looping with your own strength, p500 is the fastest (most power in mid distance due to flex), followed by soft carbon, and finally carbon. however, in terms of the quickness of a passive bounce, the order goes the other way (carbon being the fastest, followed by soft carbon, then p500).


in the non-speed glue era, you will need good solid footwork to make the p500 an offensive weapon. if you are into flicking / close table attack, carbon will probably fit the bill the best. soft carbon is probably the most versatile of the lot - no obvious weaknesses and great both for mid distance looping and the short game.


if you decide on the p500 and not sure if it will be powerful enough for your game, i suggest you go for a heavier one (above 88g - i think they mostly come at 80g or thereabouts). i tend to prefer heavier (90g+) classic 5 ply blades. they seem to compensate for the relatively weakness in the backhand blocks.

my softcarbons are 85g and 90g respectively. they are very well balanced so it doesn't feel heavy at all. i would opt for a 93g+ one should i buy another one in the future to give extra power (and better for flicks).

my carbon (81g) feels a bit head heavy so actually it feels heavier than the soft carbons. i dont think you need a particularly heavy carbon because of its balance.

hope it helps.

BKTT, you sounds like you have a good selection of yasaka blades.. Could you go a bit further and compare the MLC & MLSC with YEO?

wow, thanx for ur post BKTT...it awesome

between 3 blade above, i just try MLC....and my conclution is for carbon blade, its really have wooden feel...im still confuse cos i ve heard a lot of great review bout P500 and MLSC

today i use OC CR and still heavy glued, i luv its control but i thinx it lack of power and speed of course, that why im looking for  blade with OCCR control but more power and speed but under 85gr

thanx

one point i would like to add about the ma lin soft carbon (penhold). i improved a lot on my RPB when i used this blade (i used it for 6 months). it is not too bouncy and is very stable - i improved a lot on my RPB consistency. it is also not too slow either - because if it is a slow blade, you need to be much more precise and have a better touch on your reverse backhand to get all your shots on the table in a game. also, typical for most penhold yasaka blades, it has a relatively long blade face, increasing the sweetspot + the area for which to hit the ball on the reverse side. for these reasons alone i think this is a good blade for players looking to take their RPB to the next level.

my 90g soft carbon has a 'd' tone to it (i.e. medium-to-soft and more dwell than the average blade). the soft carbon layers provide the necessary umph to it. overall, a very good blade to RPB.