Tibhar Ronin Blades

The new Ronin blades from Tibhar were released middle of this year. Tibhar intended this for the polyball era but at a mid-range price.

Tibhar CB6 Blade

Weight: 95 grams

Thickness: 6.5mm

Speed: All+ to Off-

The CB6 blade is a 6-ply all wood blade from Tibhar. Strangely, Tibhar used ayous in most of the layers. The blade is a thick one. One thing about the CB6 is that it lacks vibration. It has this rubber layers sandwiched between the handle and the top layer of the plies. When you press hard against the handle or hold the handle tight you would feel some sort of compression on the handle. I bounced the ball against the bare blade and it produced a loud mid low pitched sound. The height of the ball bouncing was not that high, about 5-6 inches.

I used the Nimbus Delta for this test for the forehand and I used an RITC 755 Long pips for the backhand. The blade is kinda heavy so I had to lp on the other side. The blade feels stiff but not so fast. Even on my drives and powershots, the control is very high. The speed is not much and compared to the Stratus power wood, the CB6 is marginally slower. The CB6 is slow that a friend of mine who is good enough to chop using long pips can chop with the CB6 using the 755 0.6mm.

The CB6 is more or less a controlled looping blade. It is above average in smashing and the blade’s speed is designed only close to the table. This could be a beginner’s to intermediate blade. This could be also for advanced players but for players who prefer to spin more or block more. The blade is very good to block with both in the forehand and backhand.

Tibhar CB6 Blade

Weight: 90 grams

Thickness: 6.5mm

Speed: OFF to OFF+

The Ronin CB is the composite blade of the 2 Ronin blades. They have the same handle design in which a layer on each side of the blade handle has a sponge or foam layer. Tibhar claims to have added their “sensory amplifier” on to the handle design of the 2 CB blades. For me the foam layer really acts as a vibration dampener. In my opinion, blades with ayous and carbon layers have plenty of feel and in some a lot vibrations especially if they have hallow handles. The foam layer removed a lot of bad vibrations upon ball contact.

The Ronin CB is a fast attacking blade but its speed seems to be not a true off+ speed but also it is faster slightly than off level. It is marginally slower than the Samsonov Carbon. Although the CB blade has the same ayous and carbon layers with the Samsonov carbon balde, you can really feel the difference in speed. When you say the Samsonov Carbon is fast, it is blazingly fast. The CB blade is “above average” fast only.

The CB is a good attacking blade when you want a balanced set up that is good for control, spin and additional speed on your attacks. Despite the foam layer or rubber layer between the handle and blade surface, the blade has good and adequate feel. It is controllable and forgiving on your attacks and doesn’t require much skill to use. I attached an MXP on this blade and an MXS also. The MXP is not too fast and you can spin with it well enough. The MXS was a bit slow. Overall, this is a good all around attacking blade that you can basically block, hit and spin with. Due to its playing characteristics, I could recommend this even to just intermediate level players because it is easy to use and learn strokes with.