‘ZX-Gear’ series is a new fiber blade family launched in 2019 by Victas, which established a new C.I. and mae a completely new start by abolishing the traditional TSP brand. Differently from existing ‘Quartet’ series or ‘FireFall’ series, ‘ZX-Gear’ series is a product line directly produced by Victas. While developing new blades, Victas wanted to use a special material that other companies did not use, and as a result, ‘Zxion’ fiber which is soft and provides sufficient elasticity was selected. (‘Zxion’ is a type of arylate fiber, but it is manufactured by a different company and has slightly different physical properties from ‘Vectran’, which is mainly used by Butterfly.) In addition to using new artificial material, Victas also developed new adhesives and bonding method used in plywood manufacturing, for creating new blades those provide unique feeling and high performance. Victas named these new blades ‘ZX-Gear’ after the name of special material ‘Zxion’. ‘ZX-Gear’ series consists of three models – ‘ZX-Gear Out’, ‘ZX-Gear In’ and ‘ZX-Gear Fiber’. Z Carbon (= Zxion Carbon) which is the mixed woven fiber of Carbon fiber and Zxion fiber is used for ‘ZX-Gear Out’ and ‘ZX-Gear, and pure woven Zxion fiber is used for ‘ZX-Gear Fiber’.

‘ZX-Gear Out’ is an outer Z Carbon model of the ‘ZX-Gear’ series, developed for the purpose of increasing the power and the stability of topspin by high elasticity and good feeling of grabbing ball. It provides higher elasticity compared to the inner fiber model – ‘ZX-Gear In’, and as the result the player can easily perform various kinds of topspin from a variety of playing areas.

The new C.I. of Victas has been applied to ‘ZX-Gear’ series. The ‘splitting’ image is printed at the middle of the foreside of head. And, the name of product is printed above that splitting graphic. Below that splitting graphic, elasticity level and the information of construction are printed. The design of handle is based on those of existing ‘Quartet’ series and ‘FireFall’ series, but the color combination is exclusive to ‘ZX-Gear’ series. A very consistent graphic design is the characteristics of Victas blades.

As its name indicates, ‘ZX-Gear Out’ is an outer fiber blade. Z Carbon which is woven from Zxion fiber and Carbon fiber is placed directly under the top layer. The top layer is Limba. The middle layer and the center layer are Ayous. It is an unusual case that the center layer of an outer fiber blade isn’t Kiri but Ayous. Overall thickness is around 5.8mm.

The size of head is around 157mm x 150mm.

Same concept of the printing on the foreside of head is common to almost all Victas blades. The consistency is so strong that you can easily tell it’s a Victas blade at first glance. However, to distinguish individual products, you must check the product name. it is difficult to distinguish individual products. To distinguish individual products, you must look at their names.

The name of blade and the plywood construction (5-ply + outer Z Carbon) are printed over and under the left side of the splitting image respectively.

‘Dyna-shell’ logo and speed sign is shown under the right side of the splitting image. ‘Dyna-shell’ is the name used by Victas to indicate outer fiber construction. (Inner Fiber construction is called as ‘Dyna-core’.)

Nothing is printed on the backside of head. But, on the backside of handle there is a transparent plastic lens that indicates the name of blade.

The width of FL (flared) handle is around 26mm (at head side) ~ 27mm (at bulge) ~ 26mm (at narrowest point) ~ 34mm (at the end). And, the thickness of FL handle is around 22.5mm (at thumb) ~ 23.5mm (at the end). The FL handle isn’t a wide handle, and it is somewhat thinner than ordinary FL handles. But, the stability of grip is good because the surfaces are relatively flat.

The size of ST (straight) handle is around 28mm (width) x 22mm (thickness). Its surfaces are also relatively flat, but not completely flat as the ST handles of ‘Firefall’ series.

One of the characteristics of Victas blades is that the second lens is applied on the backside of handle. The size of the backside lens is same as that of foreside lens, and the name of the blade – ‘ZX-Gear Out’ – is written in the backside lens.

Small aluminum plate that includes engraved Victas logo mark is applied at the end of handle. This logo mark symbolizes the image of splitting V.

‘ZX-Gear Out’ is the new standard model of Victas outer fiber blads. But, the top layer and the center layer are different from those of the standard outer fiber blades of other makers.

Left is ‘ZX-Gear Out’ and right is ‘ZX-Gear In’. Except for the product name and speed level notation, there isn’t any difference in graphic design between two blades.

Same materials are used for both of ‘ZX-Gear Out’ and ‘ZX-Gear In’. The only one difference is in the placement of the artificial material.

The handles of two models looks totally identical. If the rubber is attached, we can’t tell which model it is until we look at the backside lens. This extremely consistent design of Victas blades is intended to promote the name of the new ‘Victas’ brand rather than individual products.

The backside of ‘ZX-Gear Out’ and ‘ZX-Gear In’. The names of two models are shown in the backside lenses.

The design concept of backside lenses of ‘ZX-Gear’ series is of course same as that of previously released Victas blades.

‘ZX-Gear Out’ is more elastic than ‘ZX-Gear In’. But, it also hugs the ball very well and provides high level of stability. ‘ZX-Gear Out’ is expected to be a very good blade for continuous topspin.

Following are the performance indices of ZX-Gear Out (avg.weight = 87.1g) :

– Ep = 1.97

– Ec = 1.59 (Ec/Ep = 0.80)

– Vp = 1.20

– Vl = 1.40 (Vl/Vp = 1.16)

Please note that above are average values and can be updated by further measurement.

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