New Blade

Timemaster wrote: After some additional research (a lot actually !)  I narrowed down some stuff... Anyone knows anything about the stiga tube carbo ? Also it says it has 5W,1C.. how does that even work, isn't it supposed to be symmetric ?

Thanks for the helpful comments !! It sound encouraging ! Do you know how it'd compare with the leopard ? From what I could gather, it's not as fast, but has more control...

Here's where I'm at in choosing my new blade:

1. Petr Korbel (OFF): seems to be the most popular/polyvalent one. But not available in AN in the US, a bit reluctant to order it from asia
2. Stiga Tube Carbo (OFF+): a more offensive blade, faster but less control than the korbel

3. Yasaka Mark V Special Edition (OFF-): lighter than the other 2, seems well in all aspects of the game, slower. but I've hear NOTHING about it !
4. Yasaka Offensive 40 (OFF): I've heard mitigated stuff about it, I'm not sure how good it is

5. Stiga Tube offensive (OFF): Sounds like a nice blade, but less appealing than the Tube carbo, so might as well get the other

The muzanov looks like it'd be a perfect replacement for the leopard, but I'd like to change a bit, add more control since I'm not playing as much offensively as before.

Any more information/review that would help me decide between the 5 would be great ! And a comparison/explanation instead of just saying "get xx" would be even better :p

As I said, it's not available with the AN handle in the US, they only have the FL version. And I want AN !

My budget is "not much" :p between 40 and 60... The blades I mentionned are in that range

tiehwen,

When I said from asia, that's the online store I was mentioning ! But I was thinking ordering everything from paddlapalace (blade-rubbers-accessories), it'll come assembled and everything, instead of placing 2-3 different orders... I guess presport can do that too. Anyway I'm not settled with the korbel yet...

So I gather you've tried both the tube carbo and the pkorbel ! Could you please compare the 2 for me ?

I'm pretty much an all-around offensive player, I can spin with both BH and FH, and chop with both. The leopard blade was the 1st serious one I got, and I got very used to it. I never thought about changing (until it broke :$), so I never looked into blades, and I know very little about them..

Thanks again, your posts are very helpful !

tube carbo is a good looper's blade, lesser vibration than most stiga blades and is available in all types of handle

Just get the Korbel AN from presports or iruiru.com, as mentioned earlier.  This is a classy blade that will suit your allround game better than the ultra-hyper-mega carbo stuff.  Both these sites have the Korbel that is made in Japan, as opposed to the less consistent one made in China that dandoy carries.  Both of these asian sites are trusted, classy retailers with top notch customer service, and they won't cheat you with a huge markup like the North American retailers.  Just get the blade and rubber separate and assemble yourself or have a tt buddy do it for you.  An important thing to do with the Korbel is to coat the wood with some lacquer or hairspray so the wood won't splinter when you remove rubbers.

Thanks for your replies guys, it's been helpful !
presport offers to glue the blade... What does that mean if I don't buy rubbers to go with it ? And would it better to buy the rubber from them too ? And would they assemble the racket ?

mdjenders,
Out of curiosity, how would you know where it has been manufactured ?

how can you see the diff between the ones made in jap and the ones made in china? can you enlighten me plz

mdjenders wrote: Just get the Korbel AN from presports or iruiru.com, as mentioned earlier.  This is a classy blade that will suit your allround game better than the ultra-hyper-mega carbo stuff.  Both these sites have the Korbel that is made in Japan, as opposed to the less consistent one made in China that dandoy carries.  Both of these asian sites are trusted, classy retailers with top notch customer service, and they won't cheat you with a huge markup like the North American retailers.  Just get the blade and rubber separate and assemble yourself or have a tt buddy do it for you.  An important thing to do with the Korbel is to coat the wood with some lacquer or hairspray so the wood won't splinter when you remove rubbers.

[QUOTE=mece]how can you see the diff between the ones made in jap and the ones made in china? can you enlighten me plz.

I think presports also provides free glueing rubbers on blade service free. Go check the front left corner or somewhere of their website. They did mine, was excellent and a clean cut/glueing job. As far as I know, PKorbel-An. of mine from Presports.com is GENUINE, but not sure about the rest EXCEPT Iruiru.com/e, of course! Look at the pic. I posted and the 1 posted by Masterpong. A pic. really tells the whole story!

are the ones form butterflyonline made in Japan?

tiehwen wrote: [QUOTE=mece]how can you see the diff between the ones made in jap and the ones made in china? can you enlighten me plz.   Check the link I provided above/here it is: http://mytabletennis.net/Forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11049&KW=korbel&PID=119826#119826

Yeah I sent them a msg last 2 weeks ago in the "ask the experts" section and never got an answer... I just hate it when it happens !

hmmm, have an idea how much that's gonna be ? Let's say just for 1 blade, or 1 blade and 2 rubbers... I have absolutely no idea, it can be 1, 10 or 100$ !
Iruiru doesn't have the AN handle, so I'm thinking presport. I send them a msg through their site asking for specifice (make, handle, weight...). Hopefully I'll get an answer by monday and i can order

not sure but the petr korbel is a good choice...

My leopard is 108g ! 93 will feel light enough :p I like heavy rackets, I don't like it light, I'm not used to it...

Do u know how long before they ship it ? (give the tracking number and all)

And how about  my rubber choice ? I was considering catapult / cermet for the FH, but I decided to go less specific...