CJB's Blade Ratings/Reviews

Back to cjb's Profile

Here are CJB's ratings and reviews. These ratings are useful because CJB has his/her own standard and will rate and review the ping pong equipment accordingly, giving you accurate and useful ratings and reviews to aid you in your next online purchase.

Donic (2)

Donic Appelgren Allplay

Speed	7.0
Control	9.0
Stiffness	5.0

Hardness	5.2
Consistency	5.0
Overall	8.0

Review of Donic Appelgren Allplay

Along with the Stiga All Round Classic and Yasaka Sweden Classic, this is a solid and affordable all-round all-wood blade. It does everything well from loops, blocks, and pushes to chops and serves, and it is well balanced (tend to be around 80g, but can fin them lighter than that). It has good feeling, then, and it is more in the ALL+ category I would say (the Yasaka Sweden Classic is a little slower) and definitely has enough speed to end a point, especially if you pair it with Tensors. It has an abachi core and then layers of limba, so it's flexy and has quite a lot of vibration. Many people spend far too much money on equipment in search of the perfect combo, and many players below 1800 (US) and 1500 (UK) level would do well to just choose a do-it-all blade like this and enjoy the high consistency and forgiveness. If you want something slower and equally affordable, go for the Donic Defplay Senso and re-size it as the ayous wood in that makes it more forgiving and (even) more flexy. (Incidentally, I use long pips on one side of the Appelgren for chopping with either 1.3mm or 1.5mm sponge, and it can be quite lively, but the flexibility works well with the pips if you are primarily cutting the ball, in my opinion, and the ALL+ make up gives you more options on the inverted side than a DEF+ blade.)

Dec 15, 2022

Donic Defplay Senso

Speed	6.4
Control	9.4
Stiffness	3.0

Hardness	2.2
Consistency	5.0
Overall	9.5

Review of Donic Defplay Senso

My style is close to modern defence but with long pips (Curl P-1R) on forehand and thinnish inverted (a 1.8 Dr. Neubauer Domination) on backhand, and I re-sized the Defplay to 157 x 149. The oversized blade was way too heavy and unwieldy, and felt like I was trying to swing one of my mum's old frying pans from the family kitchen. However, a few sessions with the oversized blade, out of curiosity, told me that is borderline godly for defensive play, with long-distance chops and fishes hitting the table with an amazing consistency. Re-sized, it became stiffer, more predictable, and faster (probably ALL- or even ALL), and doesn't feel that much slower than my old Applegren Allplay. However, it is significantly spinnier than any other all-round blade I have tried, and it obviously suits pips out and spinny chopping. Indeed, it has great dwell and feedback, although I lessened both and sped the blade up by lacquering it, even when I know that Donic blades tend to play better without varnish and are cheap enough to replace if you do rip off some wood when changing the rubbers. The upshots of the (relative) speed, though, are that long-distance chops tend to reach the other side of the table without a problem and point-ending attacks are made even easier providing you put your body into them Chinese style. As with most defensive equipment (Curl P-1R, Neubauer stuff, slowish inverted chopping rubbers, etc.), full commitment is necessary to maximise the spin from the Defplay as well as to make your shots consistent. Once you have got the hang of the blade, including the flex and the hollow handle, you can really cut the ball in two, and the amazingly comfortable straight handle really suits twiddling, too. However, the fact that the handle is hollow does affect the blade's balance even when it's resized, and if you plan on using the Defplay as a 149 x 157, you'll need to find a way to make it 5-10 grams lighter than your normal set up if you want a shorter transition period.

Jan 28, 2024

Tibhar (1)

Tibhar Samsonov Carbon

Speed	9.4
Control	7.8
Stiffness	7.0

Hardness	8.2
Consistency	0.0

Review of Tibhar Samsonov Carbon

I've hit with this many times. It's great for blocking and smashing, and surprisingly reasonable for serving and pushing given its speed. That said, I found it too lively overall and not always consistent. Not exactly sure of the point of it (especially with cheaper materials used), but I guess over-the-table blockers and smashers would enjoy it. I gave mine to a friend and he enjoyed playing with it, maybe because he had that Samsonov style. (Incidentally, I had one of the softish Acuda rubbers on it, which was definitely not the right choice. Use harder rubbers on this thing.)

Dec 14, 2022

Xiom (1)

Xiom Stradivarius

Speed	9.0
Control	9.0
Stiffness	7.0

Hardness	8.2
Consistency	10.0

Review of Xiom Stradivarius

A looper's dream. Provides can't miss feeling on topspins. It's fast, especially when paired with fast and hardish Tensors, but in my experience it works best with softish rubbers that tame the beast a little. A lot of people at my club (we have a local supplier of Xiom products) use it with the Vega Europe series or one of the other Xiom rubbers. The spin is excellent, blocks are a dream, and I even learnt to chop effectively with it when it was the only bat I had when I spent a few years abroad. That fact alone should highlight that this is not an OFF+ blade as Xiom quote, and is more like an OFF. In fact, my old one with the dull-coloured handle instead of the red one played more like an OFF-, whereas a few newer ones I have tried seem to be a bit faster. Short game is good considering it's carbon, weight is around 85g, and handle is comfortable. An excellent blade overall, and the price and workmanship cannot be beaten for what you are getting. Just make sure you have the skill and the set-up to get the maximum purchase out of it.

Dec 14, 2022

Report a Problem?