In depth review: Tecnifibre Carboflex Airshaft 2020 squash rackets

We take to the squash court to review Tecnifibre’s latest range of rackets – the Carboflex Airshaft 125, Airshaft 125NS, Airshaft 130 and Airshaft 135.

Purchase links
Amazon UK
PDHSports (UK)

There’s few squash rackets as popular as Tecnifibre’s Carboflex range of rackets. Ever since they launched the range over 15 years ago, they’ve been almost unstoppable in their drive to find their way into the hands of squash players across the globe. 

Endorsed by none other than Mohamed Elshorbagy, Marwan Elshorbagy, Nouran Gohar, Nour El Sherbini and many other world class players, Tecnifibre have brought their top range of rackets to the masses.

The latest iteration, the Carboflex Airshaft, aims to continue the success of the Carboflex range. With an overhaul in the shape and design of these rackets, how do they compare to their previous versions? Read on to find out.

Side note – I made the decision to review the full Airshaft range within one article, rather than reviewing each racket separately. I’m hoping this approach will help players to make a better comparison between each racket to help choose which one may suit their game the most.

Design, construction and strings

If you’ve used Carboflex rackets before, the first thing you’ll notice about the Airshaft range is their new racket mould. They’ve remodelled the shaft of the racket, where it’s now thinner from a top down view, and thicker from a sidewards view. This has been done with the aim of increasing the stiffness of the frame. 

The head of the racket frame also appears a little thicker than previous versions, though this may be the new paintwork playing tricks on my eyes.

I really like the paintwork on the new rackets. Tecnifibre has moved away from their sleek black designs, and have embraced their French heritage with a red, white and blue colour scheme. The 125, 130 and 135 rackets are almost indistinguishable – with minor changes in the red/white/blue/black placements being the only way to tell the rackets apart. Nour Sherbini’s 125NS version is a little more obvious as it has a bright turquoise paint strip on the inside.

Speaking of Nour Sherbini’s racket – the Carboflex Airshaft 125NS – I was happy to see this make a reappearance after its introduction in the X-Speed range. With a thinner grip than the other three rackets, it’ll suit players who find the regular rackets’ grips too thick.

All four rackets are strung with Tecnifibre’s new Dynamix VP strings, which claims to offer more elasticity and more power. I enjoyed the feel from the strings and definitely had no complaints generating power. It would be interesting to compare two identical rackets strung with the new VP and the old DNAMX strings to get a good idea of how much of an improvement Tecnifibre have made. On the whole though, it’s another great set of strings from Tecnifibre.

Weight and balance

The racket range is split into three different weights. The lightest is the Airshaft 125/125NS, then you have the Airshaft 130, followed by the Airshaft 135. 

All four rackets have exceptionally similar balances. When lined up over the edge of my workstation, the balance point of each racket was almost identical. The only exception is the 125NS, which is a little more head heavy thanks to its smaller grip.

One thing I found particularly interesting was comparing these rackets to the older Heritage and X-speed models. Where older Tecnifibres were billed as being evenly weighted, the new Airshaft range appears to be more head heavy, with the balance point almost 2cm higher up the rackets. That may not sound like much, but it makes a noticeable difference. By weighing the 125 rackets across two scales like this, I found the new Airshaft rackets had around 7g more weight in the head.

As a quick caveat, I have a different set of strings in the Heritage and X-speed rackets, and the bumpers are a little worse for wear. This will account for a slight decrease in head weight. Though having said that, I still believe the new Airshaft range is more head heavy than previous versions ‘off the shelf’.

Racket	Head weight (g)	Grip weight (g)	Overall weight (g)
Airshaft 125	84	72	156
Airshaft 125NS	85	70	155
Airshaft 130	83	73	156
Airshaft 135	85	74	159
Heritage & X-speed 125	77	71	148

My biggest criticism of the Carboflex range is that I feel the weights are too close to one another. Racket manufacturers have a +/-5g weight tolerance off the production line. This means in theory a 135g racket could weigh the same as a 125g racket. Looking at the measurements above, you’ll see just how similar each racket weighed in real terms. The 125 and 130 were pretty much identical. You may find some lighter copies of the 125, and possibly some heavier ones of the 130. This is just one of the realities of racket manufacturing. 

I’m certain there’s a number of reasons for keeping the three weights so close to each other – manufacturing costs, customer demand, marketing and so on. Still, I would love to see something like a 120, 130 and 140g range to give more distinction between each frame.

Manoeuvrability

The 125 and and 130 rackets felt nice and manoeuvrable through the air. With their slightly head heavy balance, they’re not the fastest nor lightest feeling rackets available, generally speaking however, I had no issues with manoeuvrability. I was able to quickly lift the rackets and generate a decent amount of racket head speed through my swing without straining my arm.

Given the 125 and 130’s similar weights on the scales, I had a tough time differentiating between the two rackets. Generally speaking, the 125 should feel more manoeuvrable than the 130, should you purchase a racket that’s exactly-to-specification.

The 135 felt slower and heavier through the air – I definitely noticed extra weight as I swung through and made contact with the ball. Though again, given its relatively similar overall weight, the difference was far less obvious than I’d originally anticipated.

Overall, these rackets are fairly easy to manoeuvre, even with the additional weight in their heads. They’re not ‘ultra light’ rackets, though they’re far from feeling ‘heavy’ too.

Power

Driving the ball up and down the side wall with these rackets, you’ll immediately notice the amount of power you’re able to generate when you hit the ball correctly.

When you find the sweet spot of these rackets, the ball flies off the strings. It’s no wonder you see Mohamed ElShorbagy hammering the ball so hard into the front wall (though something tells me he could hit it just as hard with a frying pan, if he was that way inclined!). 

Joking aside, the additional weight in the head of these rackets really helps to inject some additional power into your shot. I found myself hitting the ball harder and with greater ease than with the previous Carboflex rackets. 

Much like with manoeuvrability, the 125 and 130 copies I tested felt remarkably similar, therefore very difficult to tell them apart. In theory, the 130 should be the more powerful out of the two, again if both rackets were perfectly weighted according to their manufacturing specs.

With the 135 being the heaviest racket, it should deliver the most power. In practice though, I didn’t notice a huge amount of difference. Perhaps it was a smidge more powerful, though it was hard to tell. Realistically, all three rackets should deliver as much power as anyone would ever want/need.

Touch/feel/control

One thing the Carboflex has always been popular for is the amount of touch and control they offer. I’m happy to say nothing’s changed here. Thanks to their stiff frame and dense stringing pattern, feel off the strings is plentiful. By that, I mean there’s a good amount of feedback through the racket as you hit the ball – you know exactly how it’s going to travel as it leaves your strings. 

I found the 135 had the least amount of feel on contact with the ball. The additional weight meant the ball had less of an impact on the racket when they made contact, resulting in a slightly more muted feel. Though again, this wasn’t a hugely noticeable difference from the two lighter rackets.

I really, really enjoyed using the 125NS when taking the ball in short. I found the thinner grip gave me more control over my shots and was generally more comfortable in my hands. The grip itself isn’t much thinner, only by a couple of millimetres, but it made a noticeable difference for me. Though this is definitely a personal preference – some players prefer thin grips, some prefer thick. 

One area which was previously a weaker point for the Carboflex rackets was their small sweet spot and fairly unforgiving feel. Thanks to the Airshaft’s redesign, Tecnifibre claim they’ve increased the sweet spot of these rackets. In practice, I did feel they were more forgiving than older rackets, which is a welcome change. They still don’t have the biggest sweet spots when compared to something like the Dynergy APX range – you’ll still know about it when you don’t find the sweet spot, though it’s certainly an improvement on older frames.

For advanced squash players with good technique and timing, the smaller sweet spot is a total non-issue. However, for club level players still developing this aspect of their game, they’ll have a harder time consistently finding the sweet spot, and therefore the unforgiving feel is going to be a little more noticeable. 

Overall

To summarise the new Tecnifibre Carboflex Airshaft range, they continue the tradition of being well balanced, all round rackets suited to a wide variety of playing styles. Whether you’re a traditional player who rallies the ball up and down the side walls, or a technical player who likes to take it in short and go for nicks at every opportunity, there’s a decent chance this racket will suit the way you play. There’s a good reason so many top players choose to use this racket over other Tecnifibre models.

Their new head heavier balance has made generating power with these rackets easier than with previous versions, though this does mean they feel a little less manoeuvrable than before. I don’t want people to think it’s a huge change – it really isn’t, it’s more an evolution than a revolution. Those familiar with older Carboflex models shouldn’t have an issue moving on to the new versions.

I can’t help but feel these rackets are well suited to more advanced players, mostly due to their smaller sweet spots demanding good technique and timing. Though it’s not to say amateurs shouldn’t be able to use them by any means – they just won’t be as ‘easy’ to use as other rackets designed for intermediate players – the rewards will still be there when the racket is used correctly.

I would personally like to see a little more variation in the weights of these rackets. One of the difficult things I found with this review was being able to differentiate between the three weights, especially given the crossover due to manufacturing tolerances. There is an argument for having the rackets weighted closely as it lets you pick one that’s very specifically suited to your game. I do however think Tecnifibre got it spot on with the Dynergy APX range, offering a 120, 130 and 135 – I’d love to see this same approach with the Carboflex.

Finally, which would I choose?

For me, my favourite racket from the test was actually the 125NS. I really found myself liking the thinner grip, which was quite surprising as I have fairly large hands. The only way I can think to describe it, is that it gave me what felt like more precise, ‘pen-like’ control. Does that even make any sense? I hope it does. It’s totally a personal preference, I know some players that put three grips on their rackets and swear by it – whatever works for you!

Pay no attention to the fact Tecnifibre market the NS as a ‘women’s’ racket – if you prefer rackets with a thinner grip, it’s well worth a go. You could always add an over-grip if you change your mind down the line.

As with every review, I try to be pragmatic and factual in my approach. Though it’s worth remembering that what I find ‘good’, you may find ‘bad’, and vice-versa. The best thing I can do is suggest you try out a racket before you part ways with your cash, and enjoy the process of finding a racket that works for you!

Purchase links
Amazon UK
PDHSports (UK)

Header images – PDH Sports.