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TT11 equipment testing scheme

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sherwood Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09/08/2017 at 11:24pm
Review: Stiga Mantra S on a Nittaku S-5 blade and Donic Crest AR+ blade

I tested Mantra S on a Nittaku S-5 blade with Rasant on the other side and also on a Donic Crest AR+ blade with Victas V01 Stiff on the other side.

Bounce test: Though Mantra S has a softer sponge than Rasant, it has a firmer top-sheet and thus feels similar in overall hardness.  When bouncing, Mantra S seems to have nice feel and feedback.  When brushing, Mantra S doesn’t spin the ball quite as easily as Rasant due to Rasant’s softer top-sheet and somewhat tacky surface.

Forehand counter-drive: In forehand counter drives, Mantra S has good control like Rasant with decent feel and sound.

Forehand counter-spin loop: My results when looping were mixed: good on Nittaku S-5 but not so good on Crest AR+.  Like Rasant, Mantra S has good control when brushing on the S-5 blade but, sad to say, it slips too much when brushing on Crest AR+.  The feel when brushing was also good on S-5 but very different from Rasant.  The top-sheet on Mantra S engages the ball firmly but gradually whereas Rasant grabs immediately but softly.  When doing medium loops, loop drives, and fast spinny loops I rate Mantra S as having slightly less control than Rasant but similar feel and sound.  However, on the Crest AR+ blade, only loop-drives felt controlled.  Loops with more spin (but not brushing) lacked control because the rubber would engage some of the time and slip at other times.

Backhand counter-spin loop: Playing characteristics when looping on the backhand side were pretty much the same as on the forehand side.

Conclusion: Given a blade which works well with Mantra S, this rubber could be a good pick for either forehand or backhand – especially if you like the feel of a fairly firm top-sheet.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sherwood Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09/08/2017 at 11:39pm
Review: Stiga Mantra M on a Donic Crest Off blade

I tested Mantra M on a Donic Crest Off blade with Victas V01 Stiff on the other side.

Bounce test: Mantra M felt quite a bit harder than V01 Stiff -- especially the sponge.  It seemed to have decent feedback on flat contact but, when brushing, the feel was muted.

Forehand counter-drive: Like V01 Stiff, in counter-drives Mantra M had good control with a little less bounciness.

Forehand counter-spin loop: When looping, Mantra M had similar control to V01 Stiff but, unfortunately, a substantial loss of feel (muted) and sound compared to V01 Stiff.  I felt as if the joy of looping was gone!

Backhand counter-spin loop: Playing characteristics when looping on the backhand side were pretty much the same as on the forehand side.

Backhand loop against under-spin: Mantra M seemed to have similar control and lift as V01 Stiff when looping against under-spin.

Conclusion: Unfortunately, the loss of feel kills the deal for this rubber.

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slevin View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote slevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09/08/2017 at 11:41pm
Thanks for the reviews, sherwood!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote sherwood Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09/09/2017 at 12:39am
Review: Tibhar Samsonov Stratus Carbon

I tested the Tibhar Samsonov Stratus Carbon blade with Victas V01 Stiff rubber.

Hardness: Overall, the blade has a medium hard feel.  The Limba top layer is slightly softer than the top layer of the Donic Crest AR+ blade (which has an unusually hard outer layer).  The inner layers of the Stratus Carbon are slightly softer than the outer layer but still firm, not allowing as much penetration as the Crest AR+ blade but also less bouncy on touch shots as a result.

Flex: This blade has slightly more than medium flex – it is quite a bit more flexible than the Crest AR+.  The flex, along with the firmer core, make loops a bit more difficult to control than the Crest AR+.

Speed: One characteristic which is similar to the Crest AR+ blade is the speed.  I would rate both as Off- to low-end Off in speed.

Control: This blade has good, but not excellent, control overall.  Looping underspin is relatively easy because of the flex and medium hardness of the blade – it’s less touchy than the Crest AR+.  However, counter-spin loops are more difficult to control than the Crest AR+.

Feel and Feedback: This blade produces a moderate amount of vibration (more than the Crest AR+) but, unlike the Crest AR+, OSP Virtuoso, and other blades with good feedback, the vibration from this blade doesn’t communicate much information.  As already mentioned, the feel is medium hard without much penetration but a fair amount of flex.  The sweet spot is medium-large -- not as large as the Crest AR+ but not bad.  Feedback is good on most shots but, on touch shots, the feedback is not as clear as it is from the Crest AR+.

Conclusion: If you want a looping blade I think there are other alternatives with better control and feel.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sherwood Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12/06/2017 at 12:02am
Review: Xiom Vega Pro

I tested the Xiom Vega Pro blade with the following types of rubber: Victas V01 Stiff, Tenergy 05fx, Andro Rasanter R47, Tibhar MX-S and EL-S.

Hardness: Overall, the blade has a medium hard feel.  The Limba top layer is softer than the top layer of the Donic Crest AR+ blade (which has an unusually hard outer layer).  The carbon layer, which is immediately underneath the outer Limba, feels a bit hard but holds the ball before spitting it out in a controlled fashion.

Flex: This blade has medium flex – about the same as the Crest AR.

Speed: I rate the Vega Pro as off- to off in speed – slightly faster than the Crest AR+ in slow loops and similar to the Crest AR+ in fast loops.  Interestingly, the Vega Pro is less bouncy than the Crest AR+ and could be better in the short/touch game as a result.

Control: This blade has very good control overall with no surprises.    

Feel and Feedback: This blade produces a fair amount of vibration (more than the Crest AR+) but, unlike the Crest AR+, Nittaku S-5, OSP Virtuoso, and other blades with informative vibration, this blade’s vibration seems excessive for the amount of information it communicates.  However, overall feedback is good.  As already mentioned, the feel is medium hard without much penetration but with medium flex and the sweet spot is medium-large.

Rubber: The Vega Pro worked quite well with a variety of rubber types.  I preferred Tenergy 05fx and Victas V01 Stiff due partly to their feel, sound, and feedback in addition to their control and spin.  Due to the “dead-ish” nature of the carbon layer, the blade benefits greatly from the “spring-sponge” in Tenergy and I believe the blade would work well with other types of Tenergy in addition to 05fx.

Conclusion: This is a very good offensive looping blade with very good control and decent feel and feedback.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote slevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12/07/2017 at 1:24am
Thanks sherwood!

This concludes our testing for the above blades and rubbers. For the next (ongoing) TT11 testing scheme, see here.

Great reviews here. 

Winner of the best reviews: anubhav1984 (he wins the Tibhar Stratus Carbon blade).
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