The Tecnifibre Carboflex 130 squash racket has been used by Nour El Sherbini of Egypt on the WSA World Tour and Miguel Angel Rodriguez and Omar Mosaad on the PSA World Tour.
Note: This racket has been succeeded by the Tecnifibre Carboflex 130 S
Tecnifibre Carboflex 130 – 2012
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Racket Info
The Carboflex 130 is made of Graphite (boring) and Basaltex™ (exciting) technology. What’s Basaltex™, you ask? Well, according to the Basaltex website, this seems to mean products made of basalt. In case you didn’t know, that’s cooled-off lava.
That’s right: if you play with this racket, you can say your racket is made from lava. Why is that good? Well for starters, you can say your racket is made from lava. But in addition, if you are ever playing squash and the court becomes covered with red-hot molten lava, your racket will be more likely to survive than your opponent’s racket.
If you are really keen on lava-based rackets, you may also want to check out the Wilson Tour BLX.
Here is Mohamed El Shorbagy using his Carboflex 130 in an insanely long rally against Peter Barker, who happens to use the Wilson Tour BLX. In case you aren’t paying attention, this means both players are using rackets made of lava! Unfortunately the court did not flood with lava during this point, so we are not able to witness the high melting point of these rackets, but we are nevertheless treated to an exceptional squash point:
Note: Mohamed El Shorbagy has since switched to the Tecnifibre Carboflex 125.
Spotted
Here’s Miguel Rodriguez:
Photo: usopensquash.com
Also, Henrik Mustonen and Joe Lee both use this. Here’s Henrik:
Photo: Steve Cubbins
Here’s Joe:
Photo via SquashSite ∞
Fares Dessouky also uses this:
Photo by Steve Cubbins ∞
And Nouran Gohar:
Photo by Steve Cubbins ∞
Here’s Georgina Kennedy:
Photo via Steve Cubbins ∞
Tecnifibre Carboflex 130 – 2011
And here is Nour El Sherbini, on fire, with the 2011 version of this racquet:
Photo by Jordan Mansfield for Squash TV
Here’s a big picture of the 2011 version:
You can still buy the 2011 version at these stores:
Racket specs
Name: Tecnifibre Carboflex 130
Colors: White/Red/Black
Manufacturer: Tecnifibre Squash
Weight: Light (130 grams)
Balance: Neutral
Tecnifibre Carboflex 130 – Blue / White
Just spotted this white and blue model at Squash Gear in April 2017. They may have had these custom made for their shop, because I haven’t seen then anywhere else. According to the product description they are strung with Tecnifibre SynGut (so, not one of the “premium” Tecnifibre squash strings). All in all you get a classic racket, plus decent strings, for $108. Not too shabby.
Brent says
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I got confirmation while at Worlds yesterday that the answer is yes. The grommet on the new Carboflex S models is backwards compatible with the previous years.
Pierre Bastien says
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Thanks Brent!
Brent says
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Is the new “removable”headguard grommet frorm the 130 S retrofittable to the old Carboflex frames?
Pierre Bastien says
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Good question, I am not sure.
Alfred says
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Hi
I have been using the Technifibre Carboflex140 for the last 3 years. My wife just bought me the new 130S. The head feels too heavy now for me. Will I adapt or is there a benefit to this? When I compared the 130S to the 130 it also felt very head heavier.
Will it maybe neutralise if I put a overgrip on the racket? Or should I just try and persevere?
Thanking you in advance
Alfred
Pierre Bastien says
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Hi Alfred, you probably will adapt over time. An overgrip might help a little. Let’s see if any other commenters have ideas on adding weight to the handle.
Nektarios Katikas says
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Hi ,
I had commented on this racket three months ago when it was when i first bought it. I am currently experimenting with the sting tension for the 305+ started at 22 lbs but no feeling to it and did not generate that huge difference in power to make it worthwhile. Now was 24,5 lbs but for some reason the sting broke after playing three time. At this tension the racket felt much better but now since it broke restringing at 26 lbs.
As for the racket, i cant say i am 100% there yet. It feels a bit difficult to maneuver. You have to follow the whole swing and be prepared. I realized i tend to hold the grip higher to make the racket more quick. I don’t know whether what i am writing does make sense but it feels that the racket is heavier than what it actually is. So I guess next one will either be the 125 Carbonflex or the the 130 suprem. I am a bit reluctant to go for the Dunergy 117 as i play hard thus I don’t need a racket that primarily generates power.
How about you Pierre any second thoughts after playing this long with the technifibre. Have you changed yet. How about stings? still using the 305+
Nektarios Katikas says
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I have been using the 130 for a few weeks now. Before I was using the suplex 140 grams a bit head heavy powerful but not good in control. The Carbonflex 130 has an excellent control and if you get the right swing the power is unbelievable but after playing half an hour or so, it feels that i have to concentrate a lot in order to hold the racket properly and not to wobble. As for the string 305 + i think its wonderful but you need to be a good player. My previous racket was strung with the 305 green which felt sweeter. Lets not forget I am a novice player with a total playing experience of 1 year.
I might try different tensions when i restring with the 305+ to see if i can generate more power after the half an hour game and them i might try the Green 305 although I am not certain whether this is the right move, since this racket was recommended and strung with the 305+.
All in all I do like the racket a lot but I think it needs for my experience a bit more time to get used to this racket.
Sandeep Bhat says
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Now its also being used by World #9 Omar Mosaad.
http://www.tocsquash.com/images/galleries/gallery13_d/13TC11735.jpg
Pierre says
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Nice catch Sandeep, thanks! I will update soon.
Derek says
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Would you choose this or the prince exo3 rebel? both strung with 305 green 25lbs
Pierre says
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Hi Derek,
Thanks for visiting Squash Source. Sorry but I haven’t used either racket myself so I can’t really say which is better.
Best,
Pierre
Ben says
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Probably a bit late but still, I would recommend the tecnifibre carboflex 130 if you have a budget of £90 or $150, because it comes with some of my favorite strings (305+) and provides power, control and maneuverability, as a good junior player, this world be good because it is a high to mid price racket but is good value for money as no need for string upgrade also this is a very durable racket so i would only buy one because they last years also you can get the 2011 version for a really good price, meaning it is even better value for money but it would need a string upgrade. Despite the fact it comes with tecnifibre x-one biphase, as all the tension has gone from the strings making the useless.
Also the Prince Rebel one of my favorite rackets is a better choice if you want a more developed racket/higher tec. This also provides better control but not as great power, I believe this is because of the strings, as the 305+ is a power string, and the most developed string in the world; also it has a larger sweet spot due to the EXO3 technology, plus the bonus of more racket head speed. However the Prince Rebel is not as durable, also it is more expensive but in my opinion it is a better overall racket. To conclude they are both pretty similar however the prince is more expensive than the tecnifibre, so it depends what your budget is.
Ben