Xiom Cho Dae Seong Blade Review

Xiom Cho Dae Seong Blade

Weight: 87 grams

Plies: 7 (Koto Outer – TMX 2^nd and 4th layers)

Speed: Off+

Thickness: 5.8mm

It is common in other brands to have a blade with similar construction re-made into another blade with a different name. Believe me I used to have my reservations on this kind of practice since when I tried the original blade and compared it with the new re-made blade with a different handle. For the test, I have used the Jekyll & Hyde rubbers and also the new Vega Korea rubbers alternately on each side. The quality of the blade as expected is superior to most European brands. The quality and finish are topnotch and the blade construction and quality can rival the blades from Japan. The CDS TMX blade has a very beautifully made handle. It is apparent upon unboxing of the blade. Xiom is famous for its flashy designs even back then with their older generation of blades and shirts. The handle is very colorful, I think it is safe to say that this is the most colorful handle I have ever seen in the market today. The handle has color combinations that are vibrant and very pleasing to the eyes. This also has the most comfortable handle among the blades I have owned. I will discuss it further in the review. The blade handle also has its distinct metal emblem and logo on each side and the bottom of the handle. The blade surface is larger than regular Xiom blades as it is a PRO version and has a blade head dimension of 160 mm x 152 mm.

This is a very fast blade. The Trimetrix layer kicks in the moment you loop or drive the ball. As what I have discussed in my other reviews of Trimetrix blades from Xiom, the ball feel is quite different and the Trimetrix is the best of 3 worlds and not just 2 because it is a combination of 3 widely used composite materials like arylate, carbon and zylon fibers. This is a very fast blade as it is considered as an off+ blade. This is as fast or faster than those ZL blades in the market that are popular coming from major brands. This is comparable in speed or even faster than blades like Zhang Jike ZLC Fan Zhedong ZLC blades. Having used the Vega Korea rubber which is not considered as fast as other premium ESN or German rubbers, the combination can still be considered as offensive plus since bounce is really evident on every topspin or drive shot. With rubbers like Jekyll and Hyde 50X or Jekyll and Hyde 47.5X, this is where the blade becomes a very fast attacking setup even away from the table. I guess the latter blade/rubber combination is leaning towards follow up attacks like forehand and back hand re-topspin or counter looping after your initial attacks that you have to stay away from the table.

I would rather dwell more on the overall performance of the blade since in my opinion, blades nowadays do not emphasize too much on speed or power but rather on the balance of speed, control and ability to generate speed. You can add the characteristic of having good feel when the ball hits the blade. You see, modern blades nowadays are not as fast as the blades we have before. Yes, there are still off++ blades with very stiff carbon blades but modern blades nowadays have a built-in flex that are found in the blade’s characteristics because a shift towards a more balanced blade in terms of producing spin, having a good feel and control, and good amount of speed instead of just having speed and power as the top characteristics in a blade. The change in the ball by the ITTF fostered the need for these modern blades with improved modern characteristics. I think the Trimetrix will soon be a common composite material among modern blades but with different names depending on the brand using them. For now, 2 brands are using the Trimetrix composite materials with different names. How does this blade feel like looping an underspin ball? There is a mixed feeling of softness when looping the ball but at the same time it doesn’t feel as soft as a 7 ply all-wood blade. When you loop an underspin ball, it feels more than enough to properly brush it but it does not feel too repulsive. The feeling and blade response towards the ball to say that it is very balanced is an understatement. For a blade and not just the rubbers I was using during the tests, the CDS TMX blade has the right amount of gears. It gives you the feeling that it can be slow on very delicate shots but can be very fast when you are attacking every type of spin given to you that is in all distances from the table. Above the table, with shots like drops shots and flicks, the control and speed are pretty balanced but at the same time accuracy even when using very fast rubbers like 50X are surprisingly above on what I was expecting them to be. It also acts like it has flex that when blocking initial loops or follow up on counter topspins, the CDS TMX blade has the control and accuracy on placements that will suffice. When attacking near the table, the CDS TMX blade acts like a pure carbon blade with fast speed but then again it has better control due to the presence of its ZL and AL-C components. Unlike pure carbon blades that are too stiff and have diminished feel, the CDS blade can give you the best of both worlds where the feel which is an important factor for controlling the ball during fast attacks near the table are present in the blade but also the required speed needed by most higher-level players that will not make players want more. Attacking away from the table will not disappoint you since the CDS blade has the higher gears to produce powerful shots away from the table but at the same time still has some flex to produce the best possible amount of spin you need especially during counter looping rallies. I understand that rubbers play a huge part on this part of the game but having the right blade also is an equal and important factor.

Overall, this is the best feeling composite blade I have ever tried and it feels really different that one has to try it first to check on what I have experienced on this blade. Bottomline is, if you want a blade that has the feel of Viscaria but feels faster yet has a better feeling of flex and has a more feeling of softness, has a better speed than most ZL blades, the Cho Dae Seong blade is one blade you should really try.