New: Barwell Fleet

slevin wrote: What a great blade! Compared to my ZJK-ALC (which is a proxy for all other ALC blades), it is harder, stiffer (giving it better control), low throw, slower on low impact strokes and much more powerful on full-on loops / smashes (best gears I've seen in a blade). Short game is excellent (better than TB-ALC family). It is clearly an OFF+ blade.  What sets it apart from other OFF+, hard blades is the amount of spin loaded in topspins - it is massive (more than the TB-ALC family, more than MJ). Quite deceiving as it does have walnut outers. It also grabs the ball (ball-bite) better than the koto-based ALC family does. The other attribute that sets it apart is that in other OFF+ blades, one sometimes finds oneself having to hold back the power. Here you don't have to. On the flip side, you have to put more effort into your stroke than you have to with a TB-ALC or a MJ. This is purely a looper's blade. I wouldn't buy if if I'm a hitter.

If someone is interested to buy a BF, it is on expecial offer on tb11 for $169 USD :) 

Mizutani, Jun. (Blade) or Michael Jackson ;)

Edited by J.P. Gatien - 07/03/2014 at 2:13pm

What MJ means?

BF is more a looper's blade than a hitter's. It behaves like the glassfiber dust layer was dampening the walnut hardness. Regular barwell is much more fitted for drives and smashes but also keeps the looping ability.
to comparé with a well know blade, I would say that BF is a bit slower than MJ, has à better control, is softer . Its biggest asset is its ability to provide abnormally heavy Topspin. Very powerful and spinny loops. Pair it with xiom sigma II euro and you will have a lethal weapon . If, like me, you are not a national champion, do it with barwell (regular) and you will have the same juicy feel but with a better control.

ttping85 wrote: BF is faster than JRE, has more power than TB-ALC but is less bouncy, slower than MJ but much more control.

slevin wrote: Jolan wrote:  agree ! I recently switched from barwell fleet to barwell because fleet was a bit too fast for my level. I feel much more confident with regular barwell and it is indeed a bit slower than BF. How fast is the BF relative to the TB-ALC, JRE or MJ?

peter79 wrote: I've tried to bounce Barwell, Barwell Fleet and Yasaka Extra Special at kokusai takyu. Yasaka Extra Special is the fastest and cheapest. I ended buying Barwell Fleet But I already sold it to my friend. If only Nittaku can make 2 kinds of FL handle like Stiga, then I might consider to buy Barwell again...

ttping85 wrote: really? That does not make sense and in practice the Fleet is clearly faster.

agree ! I recently switched from barwell fleet to barwell because fleet was a bit too fast for my level. I feel much more confident with regular barwell and it is indeed a bit slower than BF.

well I believe you TTPING, but Nittaku's own website, paddle palace, and TTdb all have Barwell rated faster.

really? That does not make sense and in practice the Fleet is clearly faster. 

I think Barwell Fleet is the fastest Nittaku wood or glasfiber blade.

Barwell Fleet is now my favorite blade. I am using it for the last few monthes despite I am testing dozens of other blades and rubbers combined to them, I keep comming back to Barwell fleet. I agree it is not a speed monster OFF++, but still I find it faster than Ludeack fleet. Oddly, it has a rather soft touchy feel. Eventhow it has walnut outer ply, it feels softer than Ludeack fleet which has Limba. My loops are heavy and I don't have to force my motions to get such result. Combination with Xiom Sigma II euro is just perfect. Much better than with T64 or T05. I feel that Xiom rubbers are good enough to be favorably compared with best BTY products.

Anyone tried Barwell Fleet with H3 ?

<<Glassfibre is supposed to be there but is not felt or seen.>>