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Was curious about fake ZLC blade from Aliexpress |
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zhuangcorp7
Member Joined: 07/31/2021 Location: san diego Status: Offline Points: 99 |
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Posted: 09/17/2021 at 12:25pm |
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I was wondering if this was a real blade or walmart blade, so I bought it for $20 on Aliexpress. It is Zhang Jike S-ZLC counterfeit.
I tried playing with it. I want to write down my experience. This is NOT a review of a Table Tennis product, because I do not regard it as a real product, but just a curiosity. I glued a Tornado v5 on the forehand, and Loki Rexton 1 on backhand. First, the blade does in fact feel lively and bouncy. I was wondering if its actually just a Walmart blade with a nice painting on it, but it is in fact a legitimate playable blade. My backhand seemed to improve instantly with this blade, Im guessing because of the extra bounce. Quality of shots for serve, receive, loop, drive were all good. On the forehand though, I felt the throw angle was quite low. I felt myself needing to raise my stroke higher to get the ball over the table. So I guess its better for straight hitters, than brush loopers. The blade is not overly stiff, it has a decent flex and dwell time, but I initially didnt love the "feeling". I thought maybe because I normally user a inner-carbon blade, so Im not used to the feeling of outer carbon, or maybe these fake rackets just feature a sort of bland feeling. Ok so this is where the story gets interesting. As the fates would have it, while I am practicing, in walks a guy with a genuine Zhang Jike ALC blade with Tenergy on both sides. He sees my racket and shouts out "Oh you have the ZJK ZLC! I was thinking about getting that one, can I try yours?". So I dont mention to him at all that its not genuine, and we trade rackets. We play for about 30 minutes with each others racket. The Tenergy is just lightning fast and easy to get spin. Its a fun change to play with it once in a while. The ALC blade honestly felt pretty similar to me. I didnt love the "feeling" of the ALC either. Speed and flex felt pretty similar as well. The other guy commented "I think I like your racket a little more". Keep in mind my racket had a $7 and $5 rubber glued to it. I asked him which blade he thinks is faster, and he said he thinks mine is faster. Of course, psychologically he still thinks my racket is the real item. Anyway, this is in no way a recommendation to get the racket. I just think its a interesting psychological experiment, and fascinating curiosity about the world of blades. Am I forgetting anything? Anything you want to know? |
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zhuangcorp7
Member Joined: 07/31/2021 Location: san diego Status: Offline Points: 99 |
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Also, the seller said that the construction is Ayous, Carbon, Ayous, Paulownia, Ayous, Carbon, Ayous. Who knows? Its probably not real ZLC either as that costs a lot more money, so who knows what it is.
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amoy
Super Member Joined: 11/14/2012 Location: Chicago Status: Offline Points: 186 |
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I have a very similar experience where i instead bought a MJ szlc from the same site. I personally have not played with a real MJ szlc but the fake one was certainly much faster than what I am used to.
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piligrim
Premier Member Joined: 06/21/2011 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 5319 |
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Depend what was level that guy with ZJK ALC. if low level player doesn’t feel difference it’s not same when high level player doesn’t feel difference
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zhuangcorp7
Member Joined: 07/31/2021 Location: san diego Status: Offline Points: 99 |
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The guy was about 1400-1500 level, but with strong spinny strokes. I am probably 1500-1600 player, with a topspin drive oriented style. But definitely, Im really curious to see what other more advanced players might think about the 2 comparisons.
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zhuangcorp7
Member Joined: 07/31/2021 Location: san diego Status: Offline Points: 99 |
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Its pretty remarkable that you can get this quality blade for this price, isnt it? What blade do you normally play with?
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piligrim
Premier Member Joined: 06/21/2011 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 5319 |
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I play with Innerforce ZLC |
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TT newbie
Gold Member Joined: 11/25/2011 Location: Far Far Away Status: Offline Points: 1391 |
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But the ZJK SZLC from Aliexpress is much faster than any BTY ALC blade.
However, control is poor. And it´s not just because it is so fast. The ZLC used in such blade is not like high quality Zylon+Carbon Fiber BTY uses. Actually I suspect it´s only carbon fiber, without any Zylon on it. |
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achoomai
Silver Member Joined: 11/09/2004 Status: Offline Points: 737 |
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ZLC is just common material used in Table Tennis Blade but there are different in quality and density depend on how the material is woven.
So, speed is not the question vs ALC as well as lower control. Many Chinese blade maker can make blade with different material at low cost. So, it should not be fake ZLC but it is fake BTY brand blade.
Edited by achoomai - 09/17/2021 at 9:50pm |
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My feedback : http://www.mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=58844&PN=1#726094
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ddoocc
Member Joined: 08/24/2020 Location: China Status: Offline Points: 25 |
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I used to have one fake zjk-szlc, and I disassembled it eventually.
There is no zylon fiber inside actually, just carbon and some plasitic, makes it looks like ZLC. It plays like a carbon blade, speed is fast, no spin, no control, just garbage. For $20 you can buy a very good all wood blade.
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zhuangcorp7
Member Joined: 07/31/2021 Location: san diego Status: Offline Points: 99 |
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Why do you all say there is no "control"? How do you measure how much control there is? I dont have any problem controlling it at all, for me the block, receive, serve are all really great. The biggest thing I have noticed, is that the throw angle is very low. (although this is also a common criticism of the real ZJK ZLC) For most shots its fine, but the biggest area is looping against underspin. I have to really raise my stroke at a high angle to get the ball over the net. I might try it with Hurricane 3 Neo to see if that helps.
I dont know why you say no spin. For me, the flex is good and spin is good. I compared it to V-14 Pro, and the speed is pretty similar, but the throw angle is the biggest difference.
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mykonos96
Gold Member Joined: 07/19/2018 Location: Southam Status: Offline Points: 1951 |
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How is the v14 pro angle?
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zhuangcorp7
Member Joined: 07/31/2021 Location: san diego Status: Offline Points: 99 |
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V14 Pro angle is much easier to make it over the net against underspin. It definitely feels like a more normal throw angle compared to the fake zlc blade.
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andzejgolot
Super Member Joined: 10/26/2018 Location: Poland Status: Offline Points: 309 |
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I had zhang jike zlc, and I can say the throw is very high, the ball is going 2metres away without any words, of course I can't judge fake blades, you can find on revspin guy GeralDino who makes reviews about fake replica and he is like the biggest fan of this type of blades.
For me at my level I can judge the difference in control, but no one pays me when I consider my 600+ blades tested by myself so I don't waste time for fake replicas and I can't judge guys who lost their money and time, but there is no wise words about control because it depends from your quality. buying ZLC from USA, their ZLC is transported in special fridges, delivery+ cutting+ paying for workers+ paying for players....= high % btw Yinhe V14 pro plays like my Zhang Jike blue dragon :D
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zhuangcorp7
Member Joined: 07/31/2021 Location: san diego Status: Offline Points: 99 |
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All the reviews I have read have said that ZJK S-ZLC have very low throw again. So, I dont know what to make of your comment. Now the fake ZLC in question is not identical, so it may even have a lower throw angle.
What is your method to judge control? Is it just subjective or objective? After playing with this racket, I can say that loops, drives, pushes, serves, receives are all fine and easy to control. The only shot that is hard to control is opening loop against underspin, because of the low throw angle.
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MarcPong
Beginner Joined: 09/18/2021 Location: Scarsdale, NY Status: Offline Points: 4 |
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It is probably illegal to buy a fake blade, with actual name of a player on the genuine blade or such.
But I see nothing wrong with buying clones (imitations). My thought on this is that I would first buy an imitation blade and if I like it then I will buy the real one if I can afford it. You can of course test a real blade from your friends, but they should be willing to use it for a week or so. You can't just play one match or one session & decide. Lot of times when a new blade arrives, you are all excited out of your mind & feel like a 2600 player on day 1 & then reality strikes. Most of the Chinese imitations seem to be decent & more than sufficient for beginners to intermediate players. I am always open to hearing your justification for these players dishing out $500 for their first racket, other than feeling like Ma Long
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HuLimei
Super Member Joined: 07/10/2017 Location: BTY Factory Status: Offline Points: 276 |
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I feel like the direct trajectory you mentioned should be attributed more to the rubber (RXton I) than the blade. From what I can gather the Rxton I sounds like those basic entry level rubbers I've used over the years (729 Tackspeed, 729 Cream Transcend, Geospin, DHS PF4, Globe 999...)
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Butefly Wiscaria Cold Edition (w/Black Tag)
FH: Tee-Oh-Five Hardest BH: Tee-Oh-Five Hardur |
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mykonos96
Gold Member Joined: 07/19/2018 Location: Southam Status: Offline Points: 1951 |
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I have known players that love sticky rubbers and tried fake H3 that play very close to the real deal same goes for blades.
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zhuangcorp7
Member Joined: 07/31/2021 Location: san diego Status: Offline Points: 99 |
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Actually its not the Rxton 1 that is causing me trouble. I use the Rxton 1 on my backhand, and I am loving it. It can really do everything. Drive is good, loop is good and spinny, control is good, block is good, I actually cannot find anything not to love about it. To think that its $5 is insane to me.
I have the Tornado V5 on the forehand, and the throw angle is quite low. The hardest shot is looping against underspin. Although I tried again and it was better the 2nd time around, because I was way more mentally prepared for the low angle.
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MarcPong
Beginner Joined: 09/18/2021 Location: Scarsdale, NY Status: Offline Points: 4 |
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I said in the every beginning that even buying a fake blade is probably illegal (let alone making them) . That goes for rubbers as well such as with your H3 example Imitation (or clone) items are different. They do not carry the logo of the original maker or endorser (such Butterfly or Zhang Jike etc) . They are perfectly legal. There probably are 10 to even 50 blades that have the same layer composition. So what do you suggest. Nobody make them ? Also if some other manufacturer clones H3 and puts a distinctly different logo other than H3 on it , there isn't a damn thing you can do, even if it was patented. What are you going to do ? Sue ? Good luck with that . There is a very clear difference between a fake & an imitation (clone). Edited by MarcPong - 09/19/2021 at 2:25am |
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astaroyd
Super Member Joined: 11/02/2020 Location: hebemes Status: Offline Points: 279 |
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lots of different products have replicas. for example weapons, most of them have a replica that looks just like the original the problem would be if the aliexpress sellers were charging 400 USD for the blade and saying "this is a genuine item". but this is not the case.
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andzejgolot
Super Member Joined: 10/26/2018 Location: Poland Status: Offline Points: 309 |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsD7tyR6bTA&t=342s
example how materials work. zlc from butterfly and xiom plays with the same attitude. sometimes when your equipment is too fast you lost a grip, super zlc is sharp as hell so I understand that people say the throw is low. ZLC has less Zylon and more stability :)
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zhuangcorp7
Member Joined: 07/31/2021 Location: san diego Status: Offline Points: 99 |
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In the case of the fake ZLC blade, there probably isnt even Zylon in the blade. It probably has regular carbon. What would cause the throw angle to be so low?
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andzejgolot
Super Member Joined: 10/26/2018 Location: Poland Status: Offline Points: 309 |
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yes it is in my opinion part of "carbon"
Tamca has very low throw textreme too |
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ddoocc
Member Joined: 08/24/2020 Location: China Status: Offline Points: 25 |
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The control is poor especially in short game, e.g receiving light under spin, very easy to over bounce. The spin is poor when compared to my many other blades with same rubber, some of them cost me like $10.
However there are many different versions of fake ZJK SZLC, maybe that one you played has better quality.
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