Abros Blades + ABS Ball - New Korean Company!

Abros Blades + 40+ ABS Ball

Abros is a Korean table tennis company which produces their own blades, balls and an incoming rubber according to my contact. Basing on their website, the company is called Kihyun. This is a fairly new company and now they are releasing their own brand of blades and balls. The rubber is still undergoing ITTF certification which they will probably release within a few months. By my estimate, probably when the new ITTF LARC will be released on October or November.

Abros C50 Spruce Frame Blade

Weight: 88 grams

Plies: 3 Ply + 2 Carbon

Thickness: 5.76mm

Blade head: 150x157mm

Speed: Off+

I really got curious about their blades because of the unique design. The concept of adding a frame to the blade head is unheard of by today’s usual blade designs. Abros said that they want to innovate by designing unique blades in order to stand out from other companies and will be given attention. Let me describe the quality of the C50 Frame blade as a comparable to that of the blades from Butterfly. The top plies are lacquered in order to protect from splintering due to changing of rubbers often times. Despite having a frame, the blade has a very intricate construction wherein the frame and the inner part of the blade fits perfectly that it almost feels like it is continuous with no junction whenever you run your fingers on the blade surface. Abros says that the frame gives additional stiffness or rigidity to the whole blade and at the same time adds protection to the sides of the blade from accidentally hitting the table. The frame is constructed wherein it covers the perimeter of the whole blade. Frame is about 5mm wide. I got the flared version and it feels a little bigger compared to other blades. The flared dimension is 100mm x 33mm x 24mm. The logo is also unique that it looks like a carbon fiber logo printed with the company’s name.

To compare the C50’s Frame blade speed, I would compare the speed as faster than Timo Boll ALC, Yinhe T-11+ or Carbonado 190. It is slightly slower than the Primorac Carbon or Schlager Carbon. I felt the speed the moment I did forehand to forehand drills and topspin drills. The blade is very lively and bouncy. I used a Sanwei Gear Hyper 39 degrees and RITC Battle 2 rubber as test rubbers. When hitting both with regular forehand and backhand drives, you can see the long with medium low trajectory of the ball. Me and a friend tested the C50 near the table, middle distance and far distance from the table.

We both concluded that this is a powerful and fast blade even when you are far from the table. The long trajectory helps you land the ball properly on the table. The sweet spot is about 1 to 1.5 inch from the edge of the frame.

Despite being a very fast blade, the C50 Frame blade actually loops very well. Some fast blades with very stiff feel would give some people difficulty in brushing the ball due to the rebound effect of the blade. This is fairly common among pure carbon blades and companies would add soft layers on the blade to reduce stiffness. Usually, blades with 5.7mm thickness like that of the C50’s have flex especially when they do not have carbon layers or any other composite materials used as 2^nd or 3^rd layer in a blade. The spruce frame adds rigidity to the blade itself wherein despite the thin dimension, it gives the blade enough stiffness for additional speed and keeping the blade thin while also not forgetting the blade’s

flex that will also help in looping against underspin or doing counter topspins. As what was stated, when looping it has a medium low arc that is about 2 to 3 inches above the net.

The C50 is a very stable blade both in blocking strong topspins or doing punch blocks. It is a pretty linear blade with some gears. The rigidity and balance of flex gives you a great feel on your touch. Short strokes or shots need a bit adjustment due to the blade’s speed but it is not a major problem.

Overall, this is a top quality blade that offers grip comfort, excellent feel and speed that an advanced

-level player needs. This is a fresh concept for blades and I would think a lot of people will like this as I

Have. This is a bit pricey with a price tag of 170 USD. This will start selling by August.

Abros A50 Walnut Frame Blade

Weight: 92 grams

Thickness: 4.5mm

Plies: 3 Wood + 2 Arylate Carbon

Speed: Off to Off+

The A50 Walnut Frame blade is the thinnest blade I have ever tried in the market. The last very thin blade that I have tried was a Nexy blade. I have the straight handle version of the A50 and for a 4.5mm blade, it is on the heavy side because at 4.5mm it is at 92 grams!! This blade is pretty solid because of the walnut frame. It felt stiff and has more stiffness compared to the C50 Spruce Frame. I would understand why they made the blade very thin because the walnut frame will make the blade very heavy if they would go with a 5mm blade or greater since the walnut frame should also be as thick as the blade itself. Granting the blade is 5mm it would probably weigh more than 100 grams. Like the C50 Frame blade, it has excellent quality, smooth surface and comfortable handle. The straight handle was a bit slender for me but it is still comfortable. The ST handle of the Abros blades are smaller than the ST blades of Stiga or Sanwei. Like the C50, the A50 has koto outer plies. They only differ in the wood frame and the composite material which is carbon arylate for the A50. The picture in the internet shows it looks like it has limba outer plies but it has koto plies.

I thought this was a slow blade. I was bouncing the ball on the bare blade and it was lower by about 2 inches compared to that of the C50’s ball bounce but when I played with the A50, it was fast and went over the table when I looped the ball. I tested the A50 using the Xiom Tau II and Stiga DNA H Pro rubbers. The bare blade bounce was a bit deceiving because I thought it was slow but when I started doing forehand loops and forehand drives, the speed was surprisingly fast. I can say that the A50 has lots of gears. It was slow when you are gentle with your soft touch shots or drop shots but also fast when you need power for your shots. It is slightly slower than the C50 blade. I would compare the speed to probably just a little above the speed of Timo Boll ALC. It felt more stiff and rigid than TB ALC. It felt as stiff as an Amultart blade. I guess the walnut frame really made the blade stiff with a touch of flex. The blade is bouncy when you apply a small effort when hitting the ball but it can be slow when you want it to.

This is a better looping blade compared to the C50 Frame blade because it has the arc, control and feel that makes you loop the ball easily. The weight of the blade goes towards the head part and it might make some people uncomfortable but that is the catch. The arc was about 2 inches higher than that of the C50. This is a great looping blade that is more on a technical side. This is much more versatile than a lot of blades I know because it acts like an all around blade for short pushes or drop shots, blocking or smashing but has a speed of an offensive blade. The A50 might not be as thick as the C50, but it has power and speed that you would need. I would say looping is the best feature for the A50 Frame blade.

Other shots like blocking is also stable with the A50 when I tried it. The rigidity that the walnut frame greatly helped with the stability during blocks. This is both for passive and active blocks. Also, the blade is wonderful with drop shots near the net. I would assume that this is also a good blade for attacking and blocking with long pimples.

This is a dynamic and versatile blade. Even an intermediate level player can greatly appreciate this blade as long as he or she can afford the price of this blade, This is worth investing and maybe we can see this as a future of blade innovations.

Abros 40+ ABS Ball

I think this is the first ever Korean-made ABS ball that is ITTF approved. I got 1 dozen of these balls and so far the consistencies of roundness of the balls seem excellent. I would say the quality is slightly better than the Yinhe 40+ Premium balls. The ball felt some sort of a mix between an ABS ball and a PVC ball. It has this hardness and feel partly of a PVC ball. Abros told me that the process of ball-making they are using right now is the same to that of the Nittaku Premium. So far the ball seems durable enough and have not experience breakage yet after 3 days of playing.