Alex Table Tennis - MyTableTennis.NET Homepage
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Nexy Arche reviews
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login
tabletennis11.com

Nexy Arche reviews

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 234
Author
VictorK View Drop Down
Silver Member
Silver Member


Joined: 08/08/2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 647
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VictorK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04/08/2018 at 4:28pm

First of all, I would like to thank Nexy for giving me an opportunity to test Arche, and for providing it to me for free. Also, my apologies for taking so long to write a review - I don't want to give excuses, because they would be lame, or I'd have to lie :^)

Background on me:

I’m a “decent-level” all-round two-wing attacking player (slightly biased towards backhand), who relies mostly on ball placement and spin variation, rather than on power or heavy spin to win points. Since December 2017, my primary blade is Xiom Vega Euro, and I have Nexy Oscar as a backup blade (perhaps because my dog's name is Oscar, LOL).  Prior to switching to Vega Euro, I played with Nexy Calix II for almost two years, until I broke it last fall.  My primary BH rubber for the past two years has been Nexy Karis M. I’ve been experimenting a little bit with FH rubbers – currently using Tibhar Aurus Prime.

Specs and general characteristics:

Flared handle, 82 grams, 7-ply (outer ply on FH and BH are different)

Speed: OFF-/OFF

Flex: Average – Even though it’s a 7-ply blade, it’s relatively thin, so it has more flex than many prototypical 7-ply blades, e.g. Stiga Clipper

Superficial impression:

The blade looks nice to me, but I won’t elaborate on the look, since it’s very subjective and anyone can see it in the picture, or on the packaging, as it doesn’t matter to me that much, and it’s irrelevant to how the blade plays. The blade appears to be very well made, as is the case with all the Nexy blades I’ve had direct contact with.

FL handle is very comfortable, probably the most comfortable FL handle I’ve ever used out of the box, which is helped by the fact that the wigs are slightly rounded and don’t have sharp edges.  Please note that I prefer above average thickness of handles, so people who like very thin handles might not like it as much as I do.

Playing impressions:

I used the blade for several practice sessions with, and in practice matches against, players in 2000-2350 USATT range. Using Arche didn't noticeably improve or worsen my game and practice performance. 

The feeling of BH and FH side is distinctly different, even with the same rubber on both sides.  FH feels harder, faster, and has more rebound, especially on harder shots.  BH feels softer and more absorbing, but still plenty fast for most players, IMO.  To me, the overall feel of the blade was more like a 5-ply (on a harder side) all-wood blade, or a thin carbon/composite blade (e.g. Calix II), than a typical 7-ply blade I’ve used in the past (e.g. Clipper, Kong Linghui Euro)

Stroke adjustments were easy for me, as the blade gave me great feedback and “feel” of the ball.

Short game -  Very predictable - easy to push, drop or flick.  BH banana flick was especially easy, perhaps because it’s a light blade with decent flex. 

Spin generation – Very easy on both sides, but especially on BH, since ball appears to “stick” to the blade a little longer.  Slower spinny shots close to the table were especially easy, as was mid-distance looping. Faster/harder loops obviously required much more effort (body rotation and weight transfer), since this blade isn’t designed to be a power/speed monster.

Blocking – FH block was slightly easier for me, probably because of the harder surface.  BH required more active blocking with some more forward motion, but once executed well it was very consistent and allowed for accurate placement, as the ball sits on the blade a little longer due to softer surface.

Power game – Looping away from the table and smashing are more than adequate for most players (assuming at least some body rotation and weight transfer), but these are not the key attributes of this blade, plus it’s a relatively light blade, so it's more suitable for mid-distance and at the table game.  If you are spending most of the time ripping the ball, it’s probably not a blade for you.

Control – Since it’s a moderately fast and predictable blade with very good feedback, most players will find it very controllable - perhaps except “short-pips hitters”.  I observed that I was able to noticeably extend the length of my rallies when using Arche.

Overall, I think that it’s a very nice blade that could be appreciated by a wide variety of offensive and all-round players at all skill levels, except those who have strong preference for very fast, powerful, heavy, or relatively stiff blades.



Edited by VictorK - 04/09/2018 at 3:20pm
99% practice
1% equipment
0% ratings
Back to Top
Sponsored Links


Back to Top
Actuar90 View Drop Down
Super Member
Super Member


Joined: 01/24/2018
Location: Ireland
Status: Offline
Points: 124
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Actuar90 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04/17/2018 at 6:00pm
I've been playing with the Arche for the last couple weeks. First impressions were that the blade has a very high quality finish. I wasn't the first person to test the blade and the previous glueing had no effect on the finish and there were no signs whatsoever of any splintering. 
Unfortunately, personally I found the straight handle to be uncomfortably big/square but other testers seem to like it so I guess that's down to personal preference. 

I used Tibhar Mxp on both sides. Using the same rubbers on each side it was clear to see that there is a difference in dwell time and trajectory between each side of the blade. The slight extra dwell on the backhand side did prove particularly effective for flicking. 

I found the feeling from the blade to be pretty good, always felt like I had good control and a lot more safety in my shots, particularly on the FH side. Saying that I actually hoped the feeling would be better, the feeling wasn't as good as some of the recent all wood blades I've tried (like the Cornilleau Simon Gauzy Quest Off) or even some of the innerforce carbon blades (like the Butterfly Liu Shiwen), although I appreciate this can be personal preference. 

The blade excelled at backhand flick and blocking. The feeling and speed of the blade really suited these shoots, especially when taking the ball a little bit early. 
For attacking shots the forehand side gives a really nice arc when looping. The issue when attacking with this blade is the speed, it's not a fast blade. The power delivery is very linear but maxes out very quickly. To be honest for an offensive attacking game it's too slow unless you play right at the table/take the ball very early. Once you get any distance from the table you lose the ability to play winning shots.

Overall, I think its a pretty good blade, the craftsmanship is fantastic, the playing characteristics are most suited to controlled attack or a more passive style. However, taking the price point into consideration I actually think there is better out there or blades with similar playing characteristics for much cheaper. 
Back to Top
h0n1g View Drop Down
Silver Member
Silver Member


Joined: 05/03/2005
Location: CA
Status: Offline
Points: 839
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote h0n1g Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04/19/2018 at 2:25am
Here's my review finally. Sorry for being so late with it but the past 8 weeks have been extremely busy for me.
I have now used the Arche for 3 weeks of practice, twice a week, so total play time probably around 12-14 hours. I have only used the Arche in practice sessions, not tournament play.

Rubbers used for testing: Fastarc G1 max FH and BH as well as MX-P/MX-S.

I would class the Arche as a OFF- or ALL+ blade (depending on the side).

Appearance
Very high quality finish and the typical Nexy feel. It's always a pleasure to hold a Nexy in your hand with the exception of the plastic diamond piece that they have embedded into the handle. I literally do not understand why Nexy would do such a thing. It makes the blade uncomfortable without using grip tape. The blade has a decent amount of flex for a 7 ply.

Playing with the Arche
I started the use the blade with two Fastarc G1, both max thickness. The feeling of the Arche is dependent on which side you use. The forehand side feels significantly harder and more springy than the backhand side. I would describe the feeling roughly between bouncing a ball on Koto vs Limba. In some respects, this blade reminded me of the Mizuno Fortius FT, also a 7 ply all-wood blade, because it does not necessarily feel like a 7 ply blade - it could pass as a 5 ply for me in terms of feel.

In regards to speed, the Arche is a very controlled blade. Its significantly slower than what I usually play with and even the harder Forehand side is clearly in OFF- territory. This makes this blade very easy to play with close to the table and the short game is very precise. Pushes are easily controllable and you have a pretty easy time to place them well. If we take the Forehand side as 100%, I'd say the backhand side carries around 80% of it's speed.

What I found difficult to adjust to are the two distinct feelings you get when hitting forehand and then backhand. I got more used to it eventually but it took longer than i expected. I had a hard time "trusting" the blade because i couldnt accurately predict what would happen.

Looping: This blade is very good for looping if you are an average or even advanced player - who usually have a stronger forehand loop than backhand loop. For those players, the forehand side provides them with a good level of directness, lower throw and good spin generation and the backhand side provides great amounts of spin (high dwell) and a higher throw for safety. 

The above however, can also become a little bit of an issue if you are blocking high spin/power shots with your backhand a lot since you will constantly need to readjust blade angle between forehand and backhand when blocking.

As you will have guessed by now, this blade does not suit my personal play style very well. However that doesn't mean its a bad blade. I think for newer and intermediate players or those that are still developing their technique, the Arche can be a great blade. I think it's also a great blade if you aren't sensitive to throw angles and you are looping a lot and your weak stroke is the backhand top spin. I've rarely played a blade that made the BH top spin so easy to play and control.

If you are used to the power of composite blades, I think the Arche will likely be too slow and when your game involves a lot of hitting and smashing, the Arche is likely too flexible for great results in that area.

As always, it depends on the player and what you want out of a blade. The Nexy Arche is fine craftsmanship that offers great control and an interesting ply combination for people who struggle with their BH and like to play a variable offensive game that where top-spin is the primary attack stroke.



Back to Top
ohwell View Drop Down
Super Member
Super Member


Joined: 08/04/2017
Location: NY
Status: Offline
Points: 232
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ohwell Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04/19/2018 at 11:42am
I was also extremely busy over the last months, so I tried to comment as much as I could on the thread while knowing I wouldn't write my full review for a while.  Here it is, finally.

****

My level isn’t very high, so I will be focusing on aspects of my experience with the blade that I don’t consider to be tied to quirks in my game.  I play an offensive minded looping game, but with more emphasis on placement and spin variation than on all out aggression - so, IMO, among the game styles that Arche suits very well.


(For the folks who want details about playing level, here is more.  Unranked.  My serve and receive game is very weak.  


My looping and short game technique are much better than my playing level - I’m quite new to TT but my background in other racket sports has been helping me ask the right questions in improving my mechanics.


That said, my long term muscle memory for TT is weak, so the quality of my technique varies quite a bit with how much I have been playing on a given week.  I rely much more on short and mid term muscle memory than players with more experience.  So if I don’t play lots on a given week/month it needs to be built back up over a few hours. 


My background with musical instruments makes me particularly attentive to feel, sound, and very interested in blade construction.)


*****


With the blade: 40-60 hours (not sure).  

Rubbers: MX-S 1.9mm on both sides.

Weight: 83g.



*****

BOUNCE TEST OBSERVATION (And the issue of speed relative to other blades)


Frequency on bounce test: 1331hz


For reference, I get the following values on other blades:


  • BBC Flashdrive (88g): 1402hz [Off-/Off 7 ply Koto outer / very thin carbon / 3 ply all-round type core.]  
  • Donic OTC (84g) 1536hz   [Off/Off+ 7 ply Koto outer + ALC type blade. ]
  • Xiom Offensive S (85g) 1404hz; (82g) 1293hz. [Off- 5 ply Limba/Ayous]  
  • Stiga Allround Evolution (92g) 1134 [ALL+ 5 ply Limba/Ayous] 


  • Sanwei Fextra (82g) 1325hz  [Off- 7 Ply Limba/Limba/Ayous-Ayous-Ayous (slight variation on Clipper style - limba under top, instead of ayous + slightly thinner (6.2mm or so))] 


On bounce test, this places it in the range of classic Off- (some would say off-/Off) 5 and 7 ply constructions.  


Among my blades - so from my own tests, with the same equipment  - that’s very close to the sanwei fextra. (Clipper style.)  Slightly above, and and slightly under my two Xiom Offensive S. (There is a broad range among these; based on my observations of similar blades, it seems like the faster 5 ply limba/ayous constructions often have a spread of as much as 100 hz to 200 hz for a same blade model.).  It’s slightly below my off-/off thin carbon outer BBC Flashdrive.  


It’s also about 200hz above the Stiga Allround Evo, and 200hz below the Donic OTC.


From tests run by others (www.ttbla.de), 1331hz is very close to:

  • Xiom Feel ZX3 (1335hz)
  • Tibhar SPW (1337)
  • Butterfly Innerforce AL (1326)
  • Nexy Calix (1320hz); Color (1320hz) Arirang (1337hz)
  • OSP Virtuoso + (1337hz)
  • ITC Premier XF (1345hz)
  • Nittaku Acoustic (1333hz) + acoustic carbon (1347)
  • Stiga Clipper Wood (1313; 1344); Maplewood (1330)


In other words, it’s a value very close to that of 

  • Fast 5 ply wood blades
  • Classic 7 ply wood blades
  • The slower offensive carbon blades - usually inner layer carbon, but in some cases outer.


This style of bounce test doesn’t give a very thorough picture of what’s going on, and has notorious flaws.  But it’s generally thought to give helpful clues about what to expect about a blade’s speed, especially compared to other blades of a similar speed class, and roughly similar construction.  (There are quirks comparing 1 ply wood blades and 5+2 wood/carbon.  Likewise for defensive, spin reversal blades vs offense oriented blades.  There are also some outliers.  But in many cases there’s quite a bit of overlap in the speed of blades that have very close values on the bounce test.)


I’m going into details about the bounce test to highlight the following: going through the above reviews, and based on my experience, it seems to me like other people quite consistently rate the blade’s speed in the territory of fast 5-7 ply wood blades (fast, but not the absolute fastest); and slower offensive carbon blades.  Which is exactly what the bounce test suggests.  


Make of this what you will, but if you are looking for something significantly faster or slower than the blades I just listed, you should probably stay away from Arche.


*****

Overall play impressions:


I found the blade extremely easy to adjust to coming from Off-/Off blades, some with hard outer plies and carbon underneath (BBC Flashdrive), some all wood with softish outer plies (Xiom OFF S, Fextra, etc.)


To me, the sweet spot feels wider than the classic 5 ply wood blades I’ve used, but not quite as wide as my outer layer carbon blades. But unlike some of the faster blades I have used, (Donic OTC especially, to a lesser extent BBC Flashdrive) the speed of the Arche never seems to cause issues with control.


It also has great stability under pressure, and very predictable behavior at different speeds. (For me, the BH side seems a little bit better than the forehand on these points.  But both are great.) 


 IMO that’s a very, very nice spot for a blade.


******


Feel Vs Other Blades:


Very vivid feel.  I seem to get as much information on ball impact (location and depth) as with my most responsive 5 ply wood blades (Allround Evo and Offensive S).  Much, much more than with my more muted feeling blades (Donic OTC and Fextra).  Still more than my BBC Flashdrive, which is extremely vivid and responsive for a 5 + 2 blade.


To get as good a feel as responsive 5 ply wood blades, but with a wider sweet spot is very impressive.


To me, blades with soft feeling outer plies tend to grab the ball better than very crisp, hard feeling outer plies.  But high grab, soft feeling outer ply blades can sometimes feel a bit cushy/pillowy to me: giving less information about contact depth and location than I prefer, and feeling like there is sometimes a looser connection between what I’m doing with my body, how the ball feels on the blade, and what the ball does upon leaving the blade.  To me the high grab, but very crisp feel of Arche sits in a fantastic spot on this issue too.


******


Feel differences between the two sides.  


As many have pointed out, there is a noticeable difference in feel between the two sides.  You can tell from the first shots you make with the blade.  And having let others play with the blade, it doesn’t seem to take any special effort or skillset to notice.  Feel-wise, it’s a lot like using two slightly different rubbers on each side of a symmetric blade. (In terms of behavior, I find the two sides of the Arche to be closer than many rubber combos people feel happy to use, while still being noticeably different.)


To me the biggest feel difference between the two sides can be put in terms of ball grab and crispness.  The FH side feels like it embraces the ball a bit more, so more grab, but it also feels a tiny bit more cushy.  The BH side feels like it has a bit less grab, while being less cushy.  To be honest, Mr. Moon’s description in the designer notes seems like the best way to describe the difference in feel to me: there is a bit more of a point feel to the way the bh grabs the ball, and a bit more of a plane feel to the way the fh grabs the ball.  (Where the point gives a bit more info on location, but the plane embraces the ball a bit more.)  However, both sides still grab the ball very well while having more than enough crispness.  


I tried flipping the blade around (I use the same rubber on both sides), but for my money it works best as designed.  Unlike some other reviewers, I can’t say I would prefer the blade with either 2x ash sides, or 2x lati/wenge/mystery wood sides.  I am sure I would still love those too, but the asymmetric design works great for me.



Edited by ohwell - 04/19/2018 at 11:44am
Back to Top
kevo View Drop Down
Super Member
Super Member
Avatar

Joined: 01/16/2012
Location: ireland
Status: Offline
Points: 469
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kevo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04/26/2018 at 9:53am
Nexy Arche Review or: A Combo Dream for LP/Anti Players

As noted in previous reviews, thanks to Nexy for providing the test blade and ArGo for organising the test rota.

I received the blade two weeks ago and have been using it since, totaling about 6 hours play. 

I’ll skip the composition details as they’ve been covered in other reviews and skip straight to the review of the playing characteristics.

Firstly, a word about my style and current setup. I have returned to using—after using the Dr. N Matador for 2 yrs—a Nexy Labyrinthos Combo blade with Tibhar Grass DTecs OX on the BH and Tenergy 05 max on the FH. I play a close to the table long pips blocking, FH attacking game. I play in the 1st Div. of the Dublin regional league where I win roughly 50% of my matches. This sounds better, likely, than it is as we rotate our team’s players based on who we’re playing etc. and I’ve had the same drop in form when using the ABS balls as every other pips/anti user but hey, them’s the breaks…  

So, with that out of the way, I was eager to give the Arche a try as a combo blade user and a lover of Nexy blades generally. I also thought that my perspective might be somewhat unique in that I would be testing the blade with LPs on the BH side.

The FH:

Pros: The FH side of the Arche is a close-to-the-table looper’s dream and reminded me very much of my memories of the Stiga Offensive Classic I used for many years though with maybe a bit faster, bigger, truer, sweetspot. The throw angle with Tenergy is medium high/high—T05 having a high throw itself—and the dwell is lovely and long. There is a real sense of high spin-control about this set-up and a real feeling of ‘this is a top end all-wood blade’ about the Arche FH. The speed is in the All+/Off- level, I would say, but the FH of the Arche is noteworthy for its linear control. You feel you can put the ball exactly where you want no matter how hard you swing, provided you’re relatively close to the table. You get loads of control and spin on serves, much more than with something as hard and crisp and carbony as the Labyrinthos I use now. It’s no speed demon but if you win the bulk of your points with spin, Arche is ideal.

Cons: No real cons, though you won’t be playing massive counter loops from 20 feet off the table with the Arche. It has decent power close up and from medium distance but after that, you’re gonna want something heavier or with carbon. This ain’t no con, man, it just is what it is! The headsize is somewhat smaller than I’m used to, and might do with being a tad bigger if Nexy intends to tap into the LP/anti user market—which I highly recommend, more anon—but that’s probably just me, used to the Labyrinthos.

Oh yeah, there is a major con, to do with the handle—and the ST handle is brilliant in the hand as you’d expect of a Nexy which makes this all the more…connish!  What is up with that stupid, plastic, pale blue diamond thingy on the bottom of the FH side of the handle just under the lens? I mean really… It’s bothersome when you feel it—which is not often, admittedly—when you are playing standard FH shots etc. but when you do feel it, twiddling or on certain serves? Totally annoying. Like a bad tooth. It also looks like someone robbed it from a Barbie vajazzle set and stuck it on with Gorilla glue for laughs. If the blade was mine and not a tester, it’d be plucked out like an unopened mussel from a plate of pasta pescatore!

And now back to the love-in that this review is meant to be…

The BH:

Pros: This is where the Arche really shined for me. The backhand had a lovely soft yet stiff, crisp—you get me?—feeling under the OX LPs, giving blocks a nice, linear trajectory. Again, the DTecs is known for this but the blade has a bearing on it too, and the Arche delivers really good backspin off incoming loops. But what’s more, and what makes this the ideal blade for LP users, is how, despite the crisp feel, there is a dampening effect to the Arche BH which I normally associate with balsa. Now, the Arche does not feel like a balsa blocking blade at all. It has far more control and lacks the punch balsa gives when it is engaged offensively. But I would really recommend this blade to the LP user who does not like balsa and prefers controlled blocking and pushing over offensive pip use. I would imagine it would be great under frictionless antispin as well which does not work at all under balsa. It is a light-ish/mid-weight blade—around 80-85 grams—so again, perfect for close to the table blocking. Some other reviews have mentioned the Arche feeling head-heavy but with the LPs it was not the case at all and felt perfectly balanced.

Cons: Can’t really come up with any. Again, if you’re used to balsa, as I am, it won’t feel/be quite as dangerous as a snappy/full-blown-balsa-blocker-blade but you will land a hell of a lot more of your blocks.  

Overall: The Arche works really well as a Combo blade. The FH loops lovely and the BH blocks with great control and feeling. Topnotch construction and performance. Highly recommended for LP/Antispin users who also attack with their FHs and for those needing a tiny blue plastic diamond for...something? Anything?

And now for some of that pasta pescatera… 



Edited by kevo - 04/26/2018 at 10:02am
Back to Top
Magic_M View Drop Down
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Avatar

Joined: 05/31/2012
Location: Germany
Status: Online
Points: 2217
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Magic_M Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/03/2018 at 1:45am
I still love this blade. Big smile


Back to Top
arg0 View Drop Down
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Avatar

Joined: 07/22/2009
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 2023
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote arg0 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/03/2018 at 3:06am
I suppose your latest buy is the one on the right, because it still has the blue diamond...!

Edit: Would you mind commenting on how you removed the diamonds? Other people complained that they are uncomfortable, so maybe they'll want to remove it, as well.


Edited by arg0 - 05/03/2018 at 3:10am
Nexy Arche & Nittaku Violin LG.
Join the Nexy Clan!
Also member of Violin & 1-Ply clans.
Back to Top
Magic_M View Drop Down
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Avatar

Joined: 05/31/2012
Location: Germany
Status: Online
Points: 2217
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Magic_M Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/03/2018 at 1:42pm
Of course you are right. Wink The blade on the right side is the newest.
I will remove the crystal as I did with the first two blades. 
When I do this, I will make a picture of the "removing-equipment".
Back to Top
Magic_M View Drop Down
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Avatar

Joined: 05/31/2012
Location: Germany
Status: Online
Points: 2217
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Magic_M Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/04/2018 at 5:04am
For sanding the crystal I used this toy:



and here you can see the result (comparison between original and sanded crystal):





The crystal is not completely removed, but it does not bother any more.



Edited by Magic_M - 05/04/2018 at 5:05am
Back to Top
ohwell View Drop Down
Super Member
Super Member


Joined: 08/04/2017
Location: NY
Status: Offline
Points: 232
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ohwell Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/04/2018 at 1:52pm
Love it Magic_M!!!  Might take my Dremel to it as well.  


Back to Top
AndySmith View Drop Down
Premier Member
Premier Member
Avatar

Joined: 11/12/2008
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 4378
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AndySmith Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/25/2018 at 8:24am

I've had the test Arche for a few weeks now during its Euro tour (sent on via kevo - many thanks for the fast shipping).  I've had 5 sessions with it with a variety of rubbers.  Here's what I think.

Physicals

Build quality is very high, as usual for Nexy.  I find Nexy to be the absolute best in terms of comfort - the shape of the wings always seems to fit me perfectly.  Your mileage (and hands) may vary of course.  I'm not a massive fan of square-ST handle shapes (the Rubicon's WST handle option was great) but if it was my own personal blade then I'd sand the edges down a bit to make it more round.  The gem doesn't bother me, but I'm not twiddling.

In Play

The basic speed of the blade feels towards the upper end of OFF-.  Slower than the true 7 ply powerhouses (Clipper) or popular 5+2 composites, faster than classic 5 ply all woods.  The feel is sharp and definite in low-effort situations, but when applying any sort of power the hardness gives way to more dwell, so it avoids becoming too bouncy or runaway.  Nexy seem to have a habit of producing blades that slot somewhere in a vague area between 5 and 7 ply behaviour (Lissom, Rubicon etc), and this is another case.

Looping gives a relatively surprising (considering the harder outers) impression of dwell and the blade has a solid, reassuring linear nature.  This makes it easy to generate arc safely and consistently.  I really enjoyed how Arche lends itself to "pressure" looping - you can generate enough spin to force the opponent to block, and then looping against block is very effective to continue to build pressure during the point.  The blade lacks raw top speed though and IMO needs fast, hard rubbers if you want to hit massive winners all the time or if you spend your time looping from distance.

The short game is precise and the lack of too much bounciness helps a lot with handling incoming spin.  It's definitely a tad harder/bouncier in very passive situations when compared to, say, a 5-ply all-wood with limba outers, but we're not talking about the aggressive bounciness of hardwood over spruce by any means.

After the first few sessions with a variety of Rasanters, I tried Hype KR on the BH and Aurus Prime on the FH and it made a world of difference.  For me, Arche makes more sense with harder, lively rubbers.  The additional punch and catapult helps when transitioning from close to mid distance.  The Rasanters feel too inert on it.

Combo Properties

I've experimented with combination blades in the past and unless you consider the more extreme defensive constructions (using really asymmetrical ply constructions), the results tend to be quite subtle.  I find Arche quite interesting because the difference between the two sides seems more obvious depending on the shot context you find yourself in.  On hard hits, or very passive situations, I can't feel much different at all.  The middle ground feels special though - opening up against backspin, controlled counterlooping, "relaxed" active blocking (i.e. not punch blocking at max strength).  In these situations, the ash side offers more dwell and a slight drop in speed, so the arc increases.  This really helps me when using it on the BH wing when I can't get enough wrist action on the ball - the result is safer and the pressure of reading incoming spin/speed is a touch lower.  The harder wenge (or whatever) side needs a more aggressive approach in comparison, but the mechanical possibilities of the FH stroke mean you're generally getting more action on the ball naturally anyway.  This seems to be a very clever design for a blade considering how the BH receive game has evolved in recent years.

To try to get a feel for the difference in the two wings I put new sheets of R47, black, ultramax on both sides in my second session with the blade and twiddled each hour or so.  What stood out to me when doing this was how the ash side made BH flicks, flips, banana receives quite a lot easier and more reliable, while the wenge side gave more speed and penetration when I was in those "generic" looping exchanges we all find ourselves in.

Overall

Putting the combo properties aside for a bit, Arche is an excellently made thin-ish 7 ply all wood with solid feel, nice feedback (without a lot of vibration), and real-world usable upper OFF- speed.  I really enjoyed using Rubicon, but Arche fixes the issues that stopped me from adopting that fully by being slightly faster overall, but more linear at the same time.  Controlled looping from close to mid distance, linear response, easy-to-handle speed - this ticks a lot of boxes for a player like me.

The negatives would be the lack of raw speed and flex - if you need that, you'll be needing fast rubbers on Arche (switching from R47 to Aurus Prime helped me a lot during later sessions).  The combo configuration is only useful if it makes sense to your individual game - I liked it, but it's not a make-or-break feature for me.  I did miss having a bigger sweet spot at times (my recent blades have made me a little lazy in this respect I fear).  And it's expensive.

As much as I liked Arche, I feel that the combination construction is a little wasted on me.  This has made me very interested to check out the Tibhar Akkad when it hits the market.

Many thanks to arg0 for arranging the tour - I really enjoyed spending time with this one.

This was a great signature until I realised it was overrated.
Back to Top
Magic_M View Drop Down
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Avatar

Joined: 05/31/2012
Location: Germany
Status: Online
Points: 2217
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Magic_M Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/27/2018 at 5:53am
Originally posted by AndySmith AndySmith wrote:

I find Nexy to be the absolute best in terms of comfort - the shape of the wings always seems to fit me perfectly.
That's exactly what I feel. The Arche-handle also fits to larger hands (like mine), in opposite to some other brands like Xiom with their ZX3.


Is there anyone, who wants or prefers such silly deep wings like Xiom uses?
In my eyes only players with small hands would feel comfortable with such a handle.

Another big winner is the shape of the Arche handle. While most flared handles are too thin near the head and too wide at the end (which feels uncomfortable if you have larger hands), Nexy designed a moderate flared handle, which combines the advantages of flared and straight handles. For example I (normally) prefer straight handles, but I love THIS flared handle and I like it more than the straight handle of the Arche.

@ all brands and blade-makers:
Please look at this flared Arche handle and try to copy it. In my eyes almost every FL player and every ST player will feel comfortable with this handle. For me personally this is the perfect handle. Clap
Originally posted by AndySmith AndySmith wrote:

Looping gives a relatively surprising (considering the harder outers) impression of dwell and the blade has a solid, reassuring linear nature.  This makes it easy to generate arc safely and consistently. I really enjoyed how Arche lends itself to "pressure" looping - you can generate enough spin to force the opponent to block, and then looping against block is very effective to continue to build pressure during the point. 
+1 Thumbs Up
Originally posted by AndySmith AndySmith wrote:

This has made me very interested to check out the Tibhar Akkad when it hits the market.
You are not the only one who is waiting for this "Arche forehand on both sides" Wink
 

Back to Top
kevo View Drop Down
Super Member
Super Member
Avatar

Joined: 01/16/2012
Location: ireland
Status: Offline
Points: 469
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kevo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/27/2018 at 1:12pm
As always, great review, Andy. I agree whole-heartedly with most of it, particularly the need for hard, catapulty rubbers to get the most out of Arche. And yes, Magic_M, Nexy make the best handles of any brand of blade I've tried.
Back to Top
Sedis View Drop Down
Super Member
Super Member
Avatar

Joined: 01/31/2015
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 214
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sedis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06/16/2018 at 10:49am

First of all many thanks to arg0 for organising a European leg and allowing me to test the Nexy Arche


I have been particularly keen to test this blade as I currently use a 5 ply combination blade made for me by Ross Leidy, with Maple on the forehand side and black Limba on the backhand, so was interested in what a commercial combination blade would play like.


I am a pretty average allround type player, probably slightly more versatile with my backhand and have been playing 3 or 4 times a week at a club for the last four years after just playing recreationally for quite a few years before that.


I managed to get about 7 hours playing with the blade, initially with Stiga Mantra M on both sides, swapping the backhand side out for Mantra S for the second half of the test. This is the combination I played with all of last year, so I am very familiar with it.


The blade is really good quality, which you would expect at the price point, but I was still impressed at how new it looked despite being tested by a few people before me. I particularly liked the way the shoulders were quite high and had been sanded/rounded off, which made it really comfortable to hold. I normally use a flared handle, but this is really just due to habit, I expect a straight handle might actually suit my game a bit better and I didn’t find the straight handle held me back in anyway.

The ‘jewel’ in the handle is not to my personal taste, but I found it more annoying than I thought I would. Some of this might be down to the fact I was twiddling to test both sides of the blade, but I also found myself catching my little finger on it when returning to my normal grip after serving .


I took a few measurements before attaching the rubbers. The blade was 80g on my scales, which I think was what was mentioned before it went out for test. I like blades on the lighter side, so this was only slightly lighter than I am used to and suited me very well.

The blade was 5.98mm thick with no deviation or unevenness.

I did the bounce test and got a reading of 1313hz on both sides - interestingly my own combination blade gives a reading of 1356hz on the Maple side and 1335hz on the Limber. I don’t know how much to read into this, but the results were the same when repeated several times.


Nexy Arche Shoulder

I started by doing some basic backhand and forehand drills with someone I practice with regularly. I found the speed to be perfect for me, I would say a fastish OFF- or a slow OFF.

It had a nice solid feel, in some ways closer to 5 ply blade with a hardwood outer veneer. It felt very controllable and quite linear. When hitting the ball harder it felt a little more direct.


When twiddling the racket to try the different sides, doing these drills I found the difference to be extremely subtle. With my own combination blade, although the power is pretty much the same on both sides, the feel is quite different, with the Arche it was not so noticeable. I did not have to make any adjustments at all when swapping sides.

Next I tried doing some slower loops and lifting backspin. Here I felt there might be more of a difference. I felt I might be getting a bit more spin on the Ash side (possibly more dwell?), however I also got a few more surprises where I hit the ball into the net or long, when I didn’t think I had got it that badly wrong. I think this was probably to do with not knowing the subtleties of the blade, I found it happened less when I swapped to a softer rubber on the backhand and I had, had more time with the blade.


In the short game I found the blade slightly livelier than I am used to, but not ridiculously so and I was able to adapt very quickly. Again I could not feel much difference between the two sides, likewise when blocking, although the blade felt great when blocking and very precise, I couldn’t really tell any difference between the two sides.


Overall I think this is a great blade, there aren’t that many good quality OFF- blades available, so it’s nice to have another addition. I feel this would suit anyone who doesn’t want or need a massively fast blade and prefers a slightly harder feel.

I am less sold on the combination aspect of the blade, it is a bit too subtle for me. I would either prefer there to be more of a difference or just have the same both sides and make any changes solely through rubber choice.

That said I applaud Nexy for trying something different and hope they continue to do so - something with different wood veneers or even different composite layers might be right up my street.

It has also convinced me of the general quality of Nexy blades.


Nexy Arche forehand side
Nexy Arche backhand side
Nexy Arche Composition


Edited by Sedis - 06/16/2018 at 10:51am
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 234
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.01
Copyright ©2001-2018 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.516 seconds.

Become a Fan on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Web Wiz News
Forum Home | Go to the Forums | Forum Help | Disclaimer

MyTableTennis.NET is the trading name of Alex Table Tennis Ltd.

Copyright ©2003-2024 Alex Table Tennis Ltd. All rights reserved.