Red+Black Glory and Pride Blades
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Topic: Red+Black Glory and Pride Blades
Posted By: yogi_bear
Subject: Red+Black Glory and Pride Blades
Date Posted: 12/21/2017 at 4:57am
 Speed: OFF to OFF+ Hardness: Medium Hard</span>Thickness: 5.72mm   The Red+Black Pride blade is another unique blade that I have tried. It is unique because it does not share the usual construction compared to any other blades in the market. Red+Black is not yet a famous brand around the world but the players who have tried and tested the blades they produce swear the high level performance their blades have. I was expecting the Pride blade to be a limba 7 ply blade but I was really surprised when the outer ply is Cedar and not Spruce. It is very thin at 5.72mm but it weighs 92 grams. Their average weight is 90 grams according to their site and box. It is probably the reason why the blade is very thin in order to save weight. The blade is beautifully crafted and itself a work of art. It doesn’t have any modern flashy design like other blades but the blade is beautiful to look at. It has some sort of a thin seal on the blade surface. The bare blade has a very crispy feel. It feels medium hard with some flex when I was knocking it on my skull. It produced a semi-high pitch when I was bouncing the ball in the bare blade.<o:p></o:p></span> The Pride blade plays and feels different compared to a typical 7-ply all wood blade. Whether it is against limba blades or koto all-wood blades, the Pride feels different. It has a semi-hard or stiff feel when you are driving or looping against backspin. Blade feels like the weight is from the lower end of the blade head to the middle so it has the tendency to be head heavy with Chinese rubbers but not an issue for me. The blade is fast. It seems to be faster than just OFF but at times it is not as fast as some off+ blades that are in the same class like Yinhe PD437 or a Sanwei Fextra. Nevertheless, the Pride blade is fast enough even with a Chinese rubber in the forehand like a Globe 999 National. I could say it is slightly faster than a regular Clipper wood but not the CC version. Even if the Pride blade is thinner it can produce shots that are as solid as thicker 7 ply all wood blades. When I was looping with the Pride, I noticed that it has lesser flex compared to blades that are 5 ply all wood blades and are thicker than it. Most 5 ply all wood blades that are made for looping are at 5.9-6.2mm but they seem to offer more flex than the Pride. The spruce plies seem to add rigidity or stiffness to the blade feeling but this is not a huge problem even if you are a pure spinner or looper since the blade can loop good but it is more suited to loop drives and more direct impact strikes against the ball instead of pure brushing and doing slow spinny loops. The Pride favors a more powerful approach like smashing or loop drives. It is powerful enough until mid-distance from the table. I gave this to a skilled developing player and he can do as far as mid-distance counter looping even with a slower Chinese rubber so it shows its power despite the rubber. It is highly recommended for intermediate level players with slower rubbers up to advanced level players with fast rubbers. As I always say, there are lots of blades and rubbers in the market. A lot of them have been getting better in quality and performance due to stiff competition among other brands that companies need to bring out blades that can compete with each other. Red+Black Pride is another quality product which people can try and enjoy despite of it not being as famous as Butterfly or any other major brands but it is really worth it.    The Glory blade is a composite blade that resembles the characteristics of an offensive blade thatis neither too fast but not too slow. The Glory is another high-quality blade from Red+Black. The outer plies are made of walnut with a thin layer of basalt carbon on the 2nd plies. I cannot exactly figure out the rest of the plies. Anyway, this is another beautifully crafted blade. The Red+Black blades have this classic blade designs that are very beautiful to look at but at the same time they play as good as other high end blades.The glory is about 87 grams but it feels lighter while holding it. When I was bouncing the ball onto the bare blade, the sound was not a high pitch sound but rather a medium high pitch. The ball height observed while the ball was bouncing seems to be that of a blade that is not too fast. The handle is also very comfortable and in fact I like the handle of the Glory better than the Pride because it is a bit thicker.The blade looks like it is identical to an Adidas Avenger Carbon blade which has a top ply of walnut but the R+B Glory feels less stiff and does not feel as hard. Even with the lacquered or sealed top ply, the top plies seem to feel a bit softer compared to the Adidas Avenger Carbon. The feel of the Glory is medium stiff. A balanced feeling of hardness and flex when you are hitting the ball is observed.The Glory’s speed is slightly slower than the Kazak, the previous blade I have reviewed which is also very good. If I compare the speed of the Glory compared to other blades, it is faster than the Ma Lin Soft Carbon and probably same speed level of the Timo Boll ALC blade. The Glory does not lack the speed but it has enough punch to give power to your shots. If you are looking for a very fast blade then this is not for you. However, if paired with fast rubbers like Tibhar MX-P, Stiga Mantra H or Xiom Omega VII Pro, then this will be one very fast set up. R+B has designed this for the polyball and you will not lack the power or speed that you require for your strong shots. This is good even far from the table with faster rubbers. The Glory is also a dynamic blade because it can do slow spinny loops, do loop drives above the table and block well. The blade can be considered to some extent as an all around playing style blade but it is more of an attacking blade. It is just that people who have played with it just tell me that the blade can just do about everything and this is with good control and good ball feedback to the hand. ------------- Independent online TT Product reviewer of XIOM, STIGA, JOOLA, SANWEI, GEWO, AIR, ITC, APEX, YASAKA and ABROS ITTF Level 1 Coaching Course Conductor, ITTF Level 1 Coach |
Replies:
Posted By: yogi_bear
Date Posted: 12/25/2017 at 1:24am
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The Pride is impressive the more you are using it. Seems well suited enough with ESN rubbers. The Pride I was using was with an Acuda S2. The Glory is also very impressive. The feel is so pleasant and no unwanted vibrations. ------------- Independent online TT Product reviewer of XIOM, STIGA, JOOLA, SANWEI, GEWO, AIR, ITC, APEX, YASAKA and ABROS ITTF Level 1 Coaching Course Conductor, ITTF Level 1 Coach |