Tecnifibre Carboflex Airshaft 130 Squash Racket- Squash Source

The Tecnifibre Carboflex Airshaft 130 is part of the 2020 Carboflex range and replaces the X-Speed 130 in Tecnifibre’s lineup.

Update: in 2022 this racket is being replaced by the Tecnifibre Carboflex X-Top 130

Product Info

Release year: 2020
Price: £110 / $200

Tecnifibre Carboflex Airshaft 130 Review Transcript

A look at the technophobe er carbo flex air shaft 130 that’s the beauty in here I haven’t even taken it out yet so you’re seeing it when I do compared to the 125 which I already did a review on so the 130 has got the they look very similar the 130 is the one in front here with the card on it and it’s got the red throat and the blue in the head whereas the 125 is the opposite blue throat so the 130 is the red so these are the same exact shape by the way just gonna have some slight weight differences the 130 is whoops that’s your beanie Marlins racket over here it’s 130 grand factory weight after this outdoor session we’re gonna go wait inside the squash source underground laboratory what’s up everybody quick update from the underground lair we have the stats there in this is the carbon flex 130 so it’s 130 gram racket the all-in weight on my scale is 157 point eight grams that’s including strings and grip and everything besides the frame the balance of this guy it was it’s 53 percent of the way is in the head using the relatively new true scale method thanks teared to reference it to some other rackets at some eye on the beam and that’s thirty six and a quarter centimeters but 54 percent of the weights in the head which are started 53 percent which is pretty much identical to the 125 which had a 54% number I was surprised to see that these that they were the same it this felt in the hand a little heavier in the head but it did not pan out that way on the scale so the biggest difference really is it’s just five extra grams all in on the weight the stringy pattern is 14 by 18 and the I think this is a five hundred centimeter square head okay that’s all from the underground layer back to the outside testing location
big thanks to technophile for sending me this racket and to two others to 125 and 125 NS to review even though we don’t have the typical review conditions but we have developed this great outdoor testing laboratory just to continue our reviews which must go on we’re gonna hopefully have dealt with the wind noise in this video but I’m only gonna find out after I recorded so let’s go the 130 and the 125 I did hear a couple things from Tecna Fiber after the last video just a couple of notes one was the string so just the dynamics
don’t mind that the dynamic string that’s what this is strong with dynamics VP this is 17 gauge here they have an 18 thinner gauge as well I think the factory strings are 17 gauge or maybe even 16 gauge on the factory strings 1.25 this one says 17 gauge is one point two millimeters so these might be 16 gauge it’s a new string is the point that I want to make compared to the old dynamic string they they change the formula it’s not just the renaming so it’s supposed to I think it was a different coating on the string I’ve forgotten now sorry but it was a slight change in how they manufacture it and it’s supposed to provide a little more power so we will we’re gonna check it out here against the wall for some target practice what else I want to show you oh the other thing was the I mentioned in the last video the extended string holes are mentioned up here and I’m gonna try and show you with a close-up photo but what these actually are they actually are different from the prior generation I’m going to hold up the other racket in a second the one that you heard clattering to the ground these actually are different from the prior generation of Karbo flexes and the best way to say is you can see the if you can see that they flare out a little bit the grommets so I think that that gives you more of a feeling of probably stiffness is my understanding and kind of the feel I get from these racquets I think the string vibrations as you hit are just not touching the grommets so it’s it’s almost like they’re they’re not a you know making the frame vibrate as you hit wind is strong today my little wind sock up here the marketing card is just blown away all right we better get this testing on the road
always wear eye protection and squash
all right quick first impressions here the 130 feels just a solid all around as the 125 did just it hits great right out of the right out of the bag already scraped it on the ground sorry ticket to favor I feels great right out of the bag and I just did a little comparison to the 125 the 130 definitely feels to me like more of the weight is up in the head so as I’m sitting here there’s gonna be more kind of power as long as you’re prepared I’m gonna come through a bit harder on the ball and also I like that feeling of coming through with a bit of weight on drop shots just so you don’t kind of decelerate through it the 125 actually was a lot easier for me to do this little sort of volley thing up here because it’s it’s more maneuverable it’s really quick when you’re moving through this sort of volleys this was a little easier the 130 was harder to kind of get through that but on a squash court when I’m sitting up there and I’ve got my racket prepared I might like just a little bit of extra weight so quick response is you know and again great design is similar to the previous generation they haven’t changed too much they’ve made some changes as I mentioned in the 125 video to the to the shaft and also as I we talked about earlier to the grommets and the string is the dynamics string now but it’s still a continuation of a very successful line the carbo flex and the car will flex 1:30 has as shown to be almost as popular as its cousin the the 125 so thanks again to techno fiber for providing this to review and I’m going to be back with a review of the 125 NS which is the one with the smaller handle that nourish of neuralgia beanie plays with so thanks a lot

Here’s a roundup of this model vs the 125 and 125 NS:

This is Paul’s review for PDH Sports:

Spotted

Marwan’s photoshoot: