My Blades are dying...possible replacements?

Yamin

Hall of Fame
Upper handle has a bit of weight , emptier throat, then pretty a evenly across the hoop there's a little bit missing somewhere in the bottom of hoop.
 

Robert F

Hall of Fame
Does anyone remember how the Blade 6.0 compares to recent versions?
I found a local store that is selling Blade 6.0 for $80. He said this was made without the CV since CV was a flop. But when it came out everyone just wanted the V8 instead.
 

eric42

Semi-Pro
Does anyone remember how the Blade 6.0 compares to recent versions?
I found a local store that is selling Blade 6.0 for $80. He said this was made without the CV since CV was a flop. But when it came out everyone just wanted the V8 instead.
The V6 non-CV reissue is a total limp noodle. Very mushy, muted, and vague feeling. And very low power even as Blades go.
 

Robert F

Hall of Fame
Demoed Blade Pro V9 16x19, Blade V9 16x19, Pure Aero 98 2023, and RF 01 Pro.

The Blade Pro and RF 01 Pro were just too much racquet for me. I was late a lot to the ball. Oddly if I was slower with my swing felt I got a lot out of the racquet--free depth, but hard to really attack the ball. The RF 01 Pro seemed an odd combination of a heavy players racquet but with a very trampolining string bed. Didn't seem to hold the ball well.

V9 wasn't far off from my V7. V9 was heavier than my V7s, so a small adjustment. Also the dead strings didn't help. Wonder if I'd be fine with it with the typical string set up I have.

I was a little surprised with the Pure Aero 98 2023. Hit depth much easier than the blades with less effort. But for me it just has too much feel/trampoline effect.

From my racquet trials, realized I like a muted feel. Anything with pinging bugs me.
I was hoping I'd find something I like better than my current racquets, but I think I'll stick with them longer and when they run their course know I can stick with V9.
 

yourtennisfit

Professional
Demoed Blade Pro V9 16x19, Blade V9 16x19, Pure Aero 98 2023, and RF 01 Pro.

The Blade Pro and RF 01 Pro were just too much racquet for me. I was late a lot to the ball. Oddly if I was slower with my swing felt I got a lot out of the racquet--free depth, but hard to really attack the ball. The RF 01 Pro seemed an odd combination of a heavy players racquet but with a very trampolining string bed. Didn't seem to hold the ball well.

V9 wasn't far off from my V7. V9 was heavier than my V7s, so a small adjustment. Also the dead strings didn't help. Wonder if I'd be fine with it with the typical string set up I have.

I was a little surprised with the Pure Aero 98 2023. Hit depth much easier than the blades with less effort. But for me it just has too much feel/trampoline effect.

From my racquet trials, realized I like a muted feel. Anything with pinging bugs me.
I was hoping I'd find something I like better than my current racquets, but I think I'll stick with them longer and when they run their course know I can stick with V9.

If you don't mind a muted feel and the Pure Aero suited you, how about trying the Vcore 98 ?
It's a great racket, the only thing a lot of people complain about is the very muted feel thanks to the VDM tech
 

Tranqville

Professional
From my racquet trials, realized I like a muted feel. Anything with pinging bugs me.
I was hoping I'd find something I like better than my current racquets, but I think I'll stick with them longer and when they run their course know I can stick with V9.
Thank you for the update! V9 makes perfect sense. If you like muted but connected feel, foam filled racquets can also work. Technifibre TF40 is a direct competitor to Blade, but you may find it slightly underpowered. If you want more power, you can also consider "pleeners" like Pure Strike 98 16x19 Gen. 4 (but might be slighlty pingy for your liking), Speed Pro, Technifibre ISO 305.
 

Robert F

Hall of Fame
My buddy has a Pure Strike 98 16x19 Gen 4. Played with it. A little more lively than the blade but not as crazy as the Pure Aero. Found the Pure Strike to be a little more hefty than my Blades.

He also has a digital precision scale and a swing weight machine. So I wanted to see how things came out compared to the demos.

Blade Pro V9 16x19 Demo
Listed: wt 323g Bal 13.18 inch SW 337 Measure with strings, tape for demo decal and Wilson Pro overgrip: wt 332.55 (high +4) SW 340.5 (high +3)

Blade V9 16x19 Demo
Listed: wt 323g Bal 13 SW 324 Measure with strings, tape for demo decal and Wilson Pro over grip: wt 329.03 (high +1) SW 327.5 (high +3)

Blade V6.5 16x19
Listed: wt 320g Bal 13.1 SW 326 Measure with strings and Wilson Pro Overgrip: wt 326.39 (high +1) SW 313 (Low -13)

Blade V7 16x19
Listed: wt 323 Bal 12.99 SW 328 Measure with string and Wilson Pro Overgrip: wt 324.86 (low -3) SW 322 (Low -6)
Measure with out string, but Pro Overgrip: wt 310.23 SW 295

Blade V7 16x19 (2nd racquet)
Listed: wt 323 Bal 12.99 SW 328 Measure with string and Wilso Pro Overgrip: wt 324.00 (low -4) SW 314 (Low -14)

I assumed an overgrip would add about 5g to the static weight.

Good news is all the racquets are within 4grams of the spec. weight. Thats jus over a 1% difference.
But swingweighs are off as much as 4%. I deffinetly felt the Blade Pro was harder to swing, and even the V9 seemed a little slower to me. So 4% might be a difference I can tell?

Also, keep in my all 3 of my Blades, 6.5 and two 7's are old. So how does that effect the frame? Can enough paint nicks and scratches knock the weight down a few grams?
 

Robert F

Hall of Fame
If you don't mind a muted feel and the Pure Aero suited you, how about trying the Vcore 98 ?
It's a great racket, the only thing a lot of people complain about is the very muted feel thanks to the VDM tech
One of my tennis buds has a VCore. I'll give it a try, not sure if it is the 100 or 98.
 

Robert F

Hall of Fame
Got some V8 on sale. Played with it last night. Overall played pretty well with it. Seemed a little more lively in feel compared to my 7, but at the same time seemed a little less powerful.

Also, the but cap seems much more flared compared to V6 and V7? Did anyone else notice this with version 8?
 
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