I dig XIOM products for their fine quality and reasonable prices, so I wanted to mention a few things about this blade for anyone who is interested.

Build: It's a 5-ply blade, 6.1mm. I don't know the exact build but I'm 99.9% certain the outer ply is limba. I'm guessing the blade is the classic limba-ayous-ayous-ayous-limba along the lines of the Korbel and so many other nice 5-plies. Mine is a flared handle. Here's a pic (from the internet, but mine looks the same):



Handle: For the newer model blades (2010 and beyond), XIOM slimmed down the flare handles ever-so-slightly, making them just perfect for me. (For reference, think of the somewhat larger Butterfly flares, like Viscaria, and not the super slim flares, like the Innerforce ZLC, or like the tiny Nittaku flares.)

Feel: The feel of this blade is in between soft and hard... so I guess it has a "medium" feel. Although limba blades tend to feel softish (in my experience), I think the softness is somewhat mitigated by the thicker outer plies. It has a very solid feel when hitting the ball... not like the "hollowness" of some Stiga blades. (I'm not knocking Stiga blades, as I like Stiga, but they definitely have a specific feel and this blade feels more solid.) A little vibration is there but it's fairly minimal. It's not as dead as an arylate/carbon weave by any means, but it's a little less vibration than one might expect from an all-wood blade, probably due to the 6.1mm thickness.

Performance: It is pretty fast as 5-ply blades go, but not insanely fast. Definitely faster than a Korbel, but a bit slower than a Viscaria (which I realize is not an all-wood 5-ply but I'm just using it as a speed reference). I find the Offensive S to be very controllable. I've tried many rubbers on it--from Chinese to Tensors--and everything seems to work well enough with it. There is a little flex there with solid contact and good arm speed, but you have to work some to extract it. At 6.1mm, it's quite stable for blocking. XIOM markets it in the OFF range and I wouldn't disagree, though perhaps it's on the lower end of OFF. I would consider this to be an excellent all-around attacker's blade. Essentially, it does everything well. No quirks or odd idiosyncrasies--just a dependable, predictable blade.

The best news to a person like myself is that despite its excellent craftsmanship and fine finish, and despite it's great performance, it still comes in at a reasonable $50.

I would definitely suggest it to anyone seeking a solid feeling, high quality 5-ply at a reasonable price.




Edited by Anton Chigurh - 08/16/2011 at 1:52am

Thanks for the review.I was just about to buy this blade, but there were no reviews at the time. I also thought about this one too-Xiom Extreme S

Anton, how does it compare to V1?

takkugoku, but does champion really produce their own blades?

This new "classic" style line from Xiom to me looks like an attempt to make Butterfly Classics..

Actually they are made in China.

I'm sure about V1 Quad

Looks really nice. Blades have become increasingly ugly recently, with plenty of colors that don't belong in wood products in my opinion, like red and blue and purple and whatnot.

How much does it weigh? May be I get the slower one, which would be thinner and flexier too. God knows I don't need another blade, but if it looks good..

Can we have a real picture too, actually? I bought a couple of blades already for no reason other than looks, and I have been nothing but disapointed. Nothing looks like the picture any more.


Edited by assiduous - 08/17/2011 at 3:54pm

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.

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

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

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.

Anton,

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.

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.

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