I’ve been playing with this CRBN 1 (13mm) pickleball paddle for about four months. It’s been great. Tons of spin, and a high quality carbon fiber surface. I did a full YouTube review of this paddle below if you want to learn more about it and how this compares to others I’ve tried.
There are two cosmetics. This one has black text:
Product Info
Price: $180
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Buy (US): pickleballgalaxy.com
Search:It also comes in this alternate cosmetic, with white text:
Product Info
Price: $180
Affiliate Links
Squash Source receives a commission when you buy through these links. Thanks!
Buy (US): pickleballgalaxy.com
Search:CRBN 1 (13mm) Review
Transcript
What’s up you guys it’s pickleball day here at Squash Source and today I have a review of the CRBN 1 13mm pickleball paddle.
I’ve been using this since November so about four months. The reason that I wanted to try this paddle in the first place is because it has a carbon fiber surface. T700 carbon fiber.
What’s the big deal with carbon fiber? Well number one is it’s supposed to give you additional spin. You can hear and feel that this has grit on the surface and that’s going to impart more spin on the ball. Number two carbon fiber is supposed to be durable. It’s supposed to last longer, both in terms of holding together the entire paddle and also retaining its spin and grit over time.
Overall I’ve been very happy with this paddle for a few reasons. Number one is it did give me more spin. I could feel that immediately as I transitioned from my prior paddle to this one. I could tell right away.
Over time I’ve only noticed more and more spin coming off this paddle. Well how’s that possible? Actually it’s because my technique is getting better. Coming from squash, I’m used to putting slice on almost every shot and moving to pickleball it’s been a transition to learning how to actually hit topspin on a consistent basis along with hitting slice. So, the surface of the paddle Isn’t everything. Most of it’s your technique but if you’re the same person, trying a carbon fiber surface paddle you’re probably gonna get more spin than on a more conventional surface.
Number two this paddle has had great durability. I mentioned I’ve been playing with it for four months which might not sound like a lot to you if you’re a squash player, but I’ve had problems with my prior paddles breaking in a couple different places, number one inside the honeycomb core that’s underneath this carbon fiber surface. I’ve had paddles crack there. I’ve also had paddles crack right at the join between the handle and the face. And this thing is going strong after four months. I’ve also noticed no real degradation of the spin that I’m getting off the surface of this paddle. It still feels solid contact all over the place as it was when I first pulled it out of the wrapper.
One thing that’s nice about the CRBN design is that the carbon fiber surface extends all the way down through the grip to provide extra durability. It’s hard to snap off here between the head and the handle when this carbon fiber material — it’s a little hard to see, but if you peel this off, you can actually see that the surface goes all the way down through the handle over the honeycomb core that’s inside. o that’s going to provide additional stability here in the throat, preventing it from cracking there like happened to me with some prior paddles.
Number three the sweet spot on this baby is pretty large. This is something that’s taken me a while to get used to in pickleball but the sweet spot is higher up on the paddle and I feel like a very large surface area there for the sweet spot, bigger than the sweet spot on this prior paddle that I was using which is a little bit smaller.
Number four I like the grip shape on this paddle. It’s a little on the smaller side: 10.5 millimeters around and it’s got kind of a nice octagonal shape that feels comfortable in my hand.
This paddle is USAPA Approved for tournament play and it comes with a nice cover to keep it clean and dry and free of dings and scratches.
The reason that I went with the 13 millimeter version of the CRBN 1 is because the prior 16 millimeter paddle that I tried — Franklin’s Ben Johns Signature paddle — had a thicker grip. If you notice, the honeycomb core that’s inside this paddle goes all the way down through the grip and then you have these bevels pasted onto the outside to create the grip. Well, when you have a thicker paddle it made a thicker grip that didn’t feel quite right. It felt kind of…like flat on the edges.
I’ve since come to learn that CRBN paddles might not be designed that way. This is conjecture, I think I saw this in another video, they may have some bevels on the edges here to make it feel like a larger but still octagonal grip and not feel so weird like the Franklin one did. So I…kind of wish I had maybe tried the 16 millimeter paddle and I think I may actually try that next.
The reason to try a 16 millimeter paddle is just cause it’s supposed to give you a little bit more control. I’m not a banger! I’m not a banger…
CRBN also has another line of paddles called the CRBN 2 which are a little shorter and a little wider. I went with the CRBN 1 just because I prefer this kind of elongated shape. I don’t really know why but I just prefer it.
That’s it for now, let me know what pickleball paddles you might want me to review next and if you’re a paddle manufacturer out there and want me to review your stuff please get in touch. That’s it for now! Thanks, I’ll see you next time, bye!
CRBN Paddle Ban
One thing I neglected to touch on in my review is the 2022 ban on CRBN paddles. Basically, first-generation versions of this paddle were banned by USA Pickleball for tournament play and the company essentialy did a recall. The paddle I tested is a second-generation paddle that is approved for tournament play. All CRBN paddles currently for sale are approved. The way to tell the difference is approved newer-generation paddles have a serial number on one side of the paddle, like this:
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