Great review and pictures Carryboy!

so do you guys like it better than BTY blades?

Well thanks for your input.
Going to order one and will test it.

Carbospeed also plays softer than Amultart. But maybe the Sardius is closer because the Amultart has zylon which gives it a very specific feel compared to other hinoki-carbon blades. 

Can you please compare Waldner Legend carbon and Ovtcharov carbospeed to any BTY carbon blades. That would be very kind of you .

Regards

head size of mine ovtharow 161-153

Yes I think you're right... I've got the Ovtcharov Carbospeed which also come in a generic box. This is quite a similar blade. Reminded me of a Primorac Carbon which has similar construction too.

AndySmith wrote: The chap at the Topspin Sports stand was very helpful, and mentioned that this one was made in Japan with the direct intention of duplicting Butterfly specs.  Sounds like waffle, but I can see his point when looking at the finished product.

Not so sure it's made in Japan... I've seen other blades from that series, and I don't think it mentioned on there where they were made, so I'm pretty sure they're made in China. They do seem of good quality though... China can make some very high quality blades.

bryce_fx23 wrote: I have ovtharow carbospeed in FS section with is thicker model of waldner legend carbon. Mine weights 85g, ST, like new condition

Hello friends,

bryce_fx23 can you measured head size of ovtcharov carbospeed and share with us? Thank you very much.

I received this blade about a week ago, maybe a bit longer. Inspecting the blade initially I would say the fit and finish is quite high with a very interesting color scheme used on the handle that really gives the blade a fun look. If we should use Butterfly blades as the benchmark then I would give the fit and finish of this particular blade 8.5 on a scale of 1 - 10. The materials used seem to be of very high quality with a nice hefty/thick Kiso Hinoki top ply evenly grained (really nice). As a matter of fact I would say that the quality of materials used would be a full 10.



Please be cautioned that I have not played any serious matches/games with this blade as yet. Used for the past week on my Robot and practice sessions with other players. So far this is my initial impressions and subject to change over the next two weeks which I will update as time goes on.

DONIC WALDNER LEGEND CARBON
Composition:    Kiso Hnoki/Carbon Fiber/Kiri/Carbon Fiber/Kiso Hinoki  5 Ply
Head Dimension: 155mm wide x 160mm high x 6mm thick
Handle Dimensions:  36mm wide x 24mm high x 100mm length
Weight:  79/80 grams  (My request due to the rubbers that would be used Bluefire)
Surface Feel:  Hard-
Blade elasticity: Stiff (However slight flex during power shots)
Blade Speed: OFF (True Off in every sense of the word)
Type of Play: Looping Purist ( A precision Looping Instrument)
Country of Manufacture: China



As I said these are my initial impressions and subject to change over time. I dressd the Waldner Legend Carbon with Donic Bluefire M2 Max forehand and Donic Coppa X3 Silver 2.0 backhand.



Initial bounce test I found the setup to be not overly bouncy on both sides which indicated in all probability good control and could be on the slow side (or so I thought). I may add that both rubbers are brand new so a bit of break in time was needed. Attachd Bluefire with a light coat of RC and Coppa X3 Silver with Donic Vario Clean and had it in the press on and off for over 48 hours (between playing time). Total setup weight with hand grip is 178 grams which kind of surprised me as I really did not expect the weight to be that heavy based on the blade weight. The blades head is oversized (a lot of real estate) at 155mm x 160mm and a cut sheet of M2  for this blade with a bit of over hang would be around 52 grams. The normal weight of this blade should average 85 grams so the same setup using a 85 gram example the weight would be 183 to 185 grams. The balance of the setup is more towards the head. The handle is very comfortable with the wings/throat  cut high like most Butterfly blades (The Gergely is a good example).



Short Game:  As I thought, very controlled as the setup is not overly bouncy. This is one aspect of this blade (setup) that bothered me at first but I got the hang of it after the fist few hours. You have to play every shot and in comparison to my Li Ping Kitex (Dimension of Kitex is 150mm wide x 155mm height x 6.75mm thick) and basically setup the same way (much more bouncy) a lot of rebound comes into play. I could actually load up the backspin on my short game without any nasty popups or the chance of going over the board unless I am not reading  properly what type of spin is coming back at me. In comparison to the Kitex, I had to adjust the push and touch angle a bit more horizontal in most instances with the Waldner Legend. Backhand and forehand flicks are easy and very controlled but not as spinny as I would like. I will see if it gets better in the coming weeks, probably a little change in technique. The blade has excellent feel and touch with slight vibration. It has a unique feel that is hard to explain, kind of a dryish feel (Kiso Hinoki) and a short quick vibration and pitch with a very sharp feel. Its as if the blade speaks to you letting you know exactly what is happening, a bad shot you know right away. In Comparison to the Kitex the Waldner Legend has more control in the short game but you have to be more active in the short game with the Waldner Legend (short game control very similar to the Nexy Spartacus with a sharper precise feel).



Attacking Shots: The Waldner Legend is a very fast, linear blade with many gears. Together with the Bluefire M2, it is as if both rubber and blade were built to compliment each other. Paired together this becomes one hell of a looping machine. There is a slight amount of flex (6mm) thick plus over sized head (155 x 160mm) plus M2 Max and a dash of that unique feel equals you are in looping territory, a consistent controlled looping instrument. The spin is just ridiculous!!! In comparison to the Kitex the Waldner Legend is more linear and controlled in attacks.  Loop drives borders on Insanity!! Counter loops are good but you have to keep a more horizontal stroke for this shot. However I find the Kitex a bit better at counter looping in this regard and that is probably due to the Kitex being .75mm thicker and less flexier.  Flat hits are fast and hammering and is just as fast as the Kitex. On the backhand side the Coppa X3 Silver while very good in the touch game plays very well on this blade on attacking strokes. While my backhand is weaker than my forehand I was able to loop on that side with good spin and backhand drives were very fast. As I said before the Waldner Legend does not have as much rebound as the Kitex so I was able to really unload with my backhand to finish the point or a beautiful high return and a easy put away.

I will add one more note to power shots. The Waldner Legend Carbon has another upper gear (Super Charged) or so it would seem to me. I will not say much about this aspect of the blade until I can get confirmation from another player here on the forum.



Blocks: I found blocking quite easy with this blade. You will find active blocking quite controlled for placement, if of course you have the time to do this. I am no expert at punch blocking but I did punch block a few back on the board when my training partner erroneously put some weak loose loops my way. I found with this blade/setup, I was putting a lot of balls back on the table, much more than usual which caused my opponents to make a lot of errors.

Serves: Quite good and as I said before due to the low rebound you can serve quite short or load up on some really fast serves.



In summary a quick comparison between the Waldner Legend, Li Ping Kitex, Nexy Spartacus and Nexy Calix;

Speed: WL=LPK>NC>NS
Spin: WL=NS=LPK>NC
Control: WL=NS>LPK>NC
Flex: NC>NS>WL>LPK
Vibration: NS>NC>WL>LPK
Value for Money: WL=LPK>NS>NC

I have have been playing with this blade over the last two weeks after coming off of the Li Ping Kitex before that. With the Waldner Legend I have lost a few games and I have won a lot, and I have had fun during both loosing and winning. The Donic Waldner Legend Carbon is the most linear blade I have ever used. For the money this blade is a must try, for value two thumbs up. At around US$70 I am hard pressed to name any blade at twice the price that I can think of that is truly much better than the Waldner Legend Carbon. As you can see from the pictures shown this blade looks like a fun blade especially with both rubbers used, the color scheme really attracts a lot of stares. Everyone is curious about the Bluefire M2 and the Waldner Legend Carbon, and even the almost antique Coppa X3 Silver has gotten a lot of admiration. I have been using Bluefire M2 for near two months now on my Kitex and no one ever noticed or gave it a second glance. The first minute on the Waldner Legend Carbon and it was in Hollywood, WOW!!!






Edited by Carryboy - 10/26/2012 at 6:24pm

Hello friends,

can you share head size of these blades, thank you very much.

Carryboy

I have ovtharow carbospeed in FS section with is thicker model of waldner legend carbon. Mine weights 85g, ST, like new condition

Thanks, AndySmith. Can I ask: what weight is yours? If it's under 85g, I'm going to have to pick one up.

Then it has the same ply construction with Butterly's Schlager Carbon ?