XIOM Offensive S review.

actually the off s has a bigger handle the korbel blade it is a bit wider and for biegn a bit slower i wouldnt worry as it is an excellent controll blade with a couple sheets of vega europe it gives everything you need in a blade

Have someone tried it with the Airoc M? 

vega pro for me took a little bit to get used to. I really really like it right now though. I remember when it was first getting out there, William henzell gave it really really high praise. It's really stable, I wouldn't call it dead by any means, it's just more linear than tenergy. It still has really good catapult when not being completely passive. But you can get some really great spin out of it. I consider it a fast rubber, and I use it on defplay. So I'm sure it's plenty fast on any other blade. In my opinion, the xiom rubbers that are in the $50-60 range don't really have much if anything over vega pro for 38 bucks.

IanMcg wrote: I feel that Vega Pro and T05 are rather different, VP is harder and deader and I think it would work better on a Korbel, but as I said before Off S is a blade that works well with pretty much any rubber. As long as you're comfortable with the rubber, it will probably work with the Off S. One more thing, if you can do a knock test with your Off S before buying that would probably be good. Just hold the edges of the blade head with your thumb and middle finger, and knock the flat of the handle lightly against your forehead. A higher pitched sound means a harder blade, and shorter vibrations means the blade is stiffer.

Sounds good. I wouldn't be able to get a hold of off s without buying it. But it's the second best choice after korbel st.

Which rubber out of xiom family matches to t05 in your opinion?
And would it ^ match well on off s, identical both sides.

sorry if im asking a lot of questions.

Edited by DreiZ - 11/20/2014 at 11:34pm

IanMcg wrote: Feel is medium like the Korbel, but Off S is definitely stiffer. ST handle is definitely not square; it's wider than Korbel, but around the same thickness. Korbel is more head heavy. If you try Korbel and feel like you need something a hair faster and a smidgeon stiffer, Off S is your blade. Most rubbers will play well on this blade. It's not too soft nor too hard, not too stiff nor too flexible, not too thick nor too thin- it's a very balanced blade. Moderately fast. Can play close to the table and at mid distance, not recommended to play with far from the table (but really, who's going to be playing back there with the new ball). The blade has a very smooth finish, you might want to seal very very lightly just in case but I wouldn't worry about it.

thanks for the input!

How would Vega Pro both sides play on this blade,

would it be comparable to Korbel + T05 both sides?

resurrecting this since im curious about this blade:

been looking for a korbel ST for a reasonable price but I found few alternatives, this being one of them.

how would this blade play with Xiom Vega rubbers, especially Pro version?

also how different/similar is it to a korbel ST in terms of feel, handle size, etc?

in terms of finish, does this blade splinter easily?

Edited by DreiZ - 11/19/2014 at 10:28pm

I found an interesting review of xiom offensive s at one Chinese website saying that the inner core of the blade is paulownia (if my google translated it correctly), which is kiri wood, i think...

I have played  with Fuga and Offensive S. The outer layers on Fuga are harder and the pitch is higher.

Thanks for the elaborate - as always! - review. As for the Fuga comparison thing, Fuga must be somewhat faster and harder than Off S, but this is a conjecture based on pitch.

seguso wrote: i've used extreme S for 3 months. it is a great wooden blade, stiff and medium hard , 7 ply, limba outer. similar to clipper wood, probably even more to clipper cr which I haven't tried. same thickness and same wood as clipper wood, but faster, a bit lower throw, and slightly more flexible. I've changed it with galaxy t1 because it was still too slow.

Anton,

The more I play with the Offensive S, the more I like it.  It has enough power to put away point, and the control is as good as any wooden blades that I've tried.  I think I am going to oder another one with Square handle to try.

Has anyone had a go with the Extreme S? That one looks very promising for me 

also, how does it compare to the Fuga, Anton? If you could be so kind that is :)

I've owned two Xiom blades, and while I did not end up keeping either one, the workmanship was truly first rate.  I didn't like them quite as much as my beloved Viscarias, but they were excellent blades.  Xiom gives great value for the money.