Adidas Accelum Blades Review

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   Adidas Accelum High Speed 5 & High Speed Carbon blades

Recently, Adidas has released the Accelum blade series. These 2 blades are in the mid-range price and are very much affordable while maintaining a high level of performance. The Accelum HIgh Speed 5 all wood blade was designed to be a flexible but can also produce fast and solid shots. The Accelum High Speed Carbon on the other hand was designed as a hard-hitting offensive blade with a koto outer layer. These 2 blades were tested with Tenzone Ultra SF max sponge and Sword King rubber.

Accelum High Speed 5

Weight: 88 grams
Thickness: 6mm (approx.)
Plies: 5 (limba-spruce-ayous-spruce-limba)
Speed: OFF to OFF+
Hardness: medium stiff

This is something different compared to previous 5 ply all wood blades from Adidas had released in the past. The Strike Wood 5, Challenge Force and Avenger 5 blades are very good and the Avenger 5 is favorite but they seem to have a need for a little bit more on speed. Controlwise, they are very good and also great for spinning. Now comes the Accelum High Speed 5 blade which offers more solid and harder feel while having some flex in order to maintain good spinning capability.

The construction is simple. The outer ply is made of Limba wood followed by a spruce layer and with an ayous core. This is similar to the construction of the Stratus Powerwood but as I was testing there was a slight difference as what I will be stating later.

The Accelum High Speed 5 or shall I call it AcHS5 to make it shorter can be quite a surprise for people who would underestimate it for being just a normal 5 ply all wood blade. Speedwise, I would put it in the level of an SPW. It is very fast for its class of 5 ply all wood blade. Compared to other 5 ply Adidas all wood blades that have been released in the past, the Accelum High Speed 5 is the fastest 5 ply all wood blade at present among 5 ply blades of Adidas. If compared to other blades, it comes close to the Mazunov in speed but the Mazunov is still faster by a few notches. Also in terms of hardness, the Mazunov felt stiffer and of course heavier. I like the solidity and hardness of the ball impact when driving using the AcHS5 because it doesn't feel too stiff but the shots are very fast and vibrates minimally. 

In terms of feel, it has this semi-hard feeling when driving or loop driving the ball. Power shots are best made close to the table and to some extent mid-distance but the blade is more suited near the table. Sometimes when you hit the ball it's like you are using a 7 ply blade because of its slightly harder feel. The Tenzone Ultra SF was perfect because it is a medium soft rubber. Other rubbers like the P7 is also very compatible with the Accelum High Speed 5 blade.

What I love about the AcHS5 is that it has some degree of flex and I say it loops better than the SPW. SPW on the other hand drives and smashes better. I like looping with the AcHS5 because of the "dwell" feelling and when combined with the medium soft or soft rubber, spinning the ball is awesome. Also, the AcHS5 is not head heavy because of its compact size.

Accelum High Speed Carbon
Weight: 90 grams
Thickness: 7mm (approx.)
Plies: 7 (Koto-ayous-carbon-Kiri or ayous?-carbon-ayous-Koto)
Hardness: Stiff
Speed: OFF+

I was excited to test the carbon version of the Accelum series because for the first time Adidas has made a thick carbon blade and used koto as an outer ply for this off+ blade. Although they have used koto on their Adidas Hypertouch blade, i consider that blade more as an off blade instead of being a true off+ blade. 

The Accelum High Speed Carbon's design came as a surprise because they already have fast blades like the Radix Extreme and Fibertech power. I think because of the shift to poly ball Adidas too realized the importance of using koto as an outer ply because of it being a hard outer surface and also gives a very fast but stable shots when combined with carbon. The carbon they are using is their RX-Carbon that is also the same with the radix series composite layer. The only thing i need to be sure first is if the central thick layer is ayous or kiri but it looks like more of a kiri wood. 

Speedwise, this is a no nonsense offensive+ carbon blade. The speed is faster than a viscaria and in the same level of speed as a Jun Mizutani but obviously slower than a sardius, schlager carbon or gergely alpha. It is very fast that I had to adjust my strokes into a more compact kind of stroke with very short swings in order to compensate for its speed. I still used the Tenzone Ultra SF and the Sword king rubber as test rubbers for this blade. It has a very long trajectory middle and far distance from the table. Unlike its 5 ply all wood brother, the High Speed carbon is suited even far from the table. The thick central core really helped boost the speed and power away from the table aside from its carbon layers. For smashing and driving, its powerful shots will not disappoint those speed demons who wanted speed and power over some lesser control. 

Spinwise, I would rate it above average in doing slow spinny loops despite its speed. The trajectory arc when looping is like low to medium whereas the High Speed 5 version has medium arc. Spinwise, the High Speed 5 exceeds the High Speed carbon but when you need strong powerful loops or counters away from the table, then the High Speed Carbon is sufficient.
If you pair a chinese rubber on the forehand side then you would have a fast and spinny rubber. The Sword King which i have tuned 2 months ago seemed a bit dead on its bounce on other blades but on this it can still be considered fast despite its condition and usage.

In blocking, I enjoyed the speed of the Accelum HSC because it was a bit effortless to do active and punch blocks. It produces a sharp and low trajectory punch block. 

Control-wise, despite its off+ speed the control is above average. I think the control of this blade is so much better compared to the Radix Extreme or Fibertech carbon blades which i consider to have average level of control only. It's not even hard to do drop shots on this blade after some adjustments. 

Anyway, though I am an all wood blade user I think I would rate the High Speed Carbon version as the better attacking blade. Both blades are not head heavy and are very comfortable to attack with especially the High Speed Carbon.