Gearbox CX14 Ultimate Review

Gearbox hasn't released new paddles since their original CX line, which came out in November 2021. In that time, Gearbox fans have been patiently awaiting new models to fix some of the issues with the original CX14 models, specifically their lack of power. If you are a fan of the CX14, you'll be happy to know that the new models are much improved.

My playtesting of this paddle focused heavily on the CX14H. Unless specifying otherwise, that is what I am referring to.

Specs:

• Price: $250

• Thickness: 14mm

• Weight range: 8.5oz

• Shape: Standard and elongated

• Handle length: 5.6"

• Grip circumference: 3.6” & 3.9”

• Face: 3k woven carbon fiber

• Core: Gearbox SST core

• Swing weight:

CX14H 109
CX14E 119

One of the biggest changes to the CX14 Ultimate is the new swing weights. If you watched my CX11 review, you might remember that I said the reason Gearbox paddles lack power is that their swing weights were VERY low. Well, Gearbox must have agreed because the new models have gone up quite a bit.

The original CX14s had swing weights of 91 (H Model) and 101 (E model); the new swing weights are 109 (H model) and 119 (E model). Both have increased by nearly 20 points on the swing weight scale, which is a substantial change for new models. For reference, most people notice a swing weight change after it increases or decreases by 10 points. Going up 20 is going to feel drastic if you're used to the original models.

That said, the old CX14s were VERY low on the swing weight scale. The H model was one of the lowest swing weights I've ever tested, and the E model was VERY low for an elongated paddle. These new numbers align with regular elongated and standard-shaped paddles on the market.

So long story short, the increase in swing weight is a good thing for those seeking more power, but it will come at the expense of some hand speed from the original CX14.

A few other small notes:

I enjoy Gearboxes' subtle designs. The paddles are sleek and have great subtle color flares to make the paddle stand out in a sea of raw carbon fiber paddles that all look identical. Whoever the design is at Gearbox, great job.

2. If you haven't used a Gearbox paddle and are considering one, be aware of the knob at the end of the handle. Most paddles have the bottom part of the handle protruding a little bit, but I don't love how Gearbox does theirs. It protrudes pretty aggressively, which makes me want to hold my hand higher up the handle and not wrap my hand around the bottom, which gives me less area to put two hands on the handle for a backhand. It makes it feel like I have a 5.3" handle instead of the full 5.6". This is going to be a personal preference, but for me, I don't enjoy the way it protrudes.

Hard to see in the picture, but the Gearbox (right) protrudes out further than other paddles I am used to. It’s more obvious when it is in your hand. Whether this bothers you or not will be a personal preference.

Spin:

Middle to late last year, Gearbox silently added a new texture to their CX14s to increase the spin. While Gearbox paddles get fantastic spin without additional texture, it became apparent to many players that on slices, roll volleys, and dinks, the paddles struggled to generate the same spin as raw carbon fiber. My belief (along with many others) is that the hyper bite technology from Gearbox works best when striking the ball hard, which lets the ball sink into the carbon fiber tubes of the face. You aren't striking the ball that hard on dinks, which is where the new texture came in. This new texture has increased the spin a lot. The CX14H power tested at 1850 RPM, and the CX14E was 1861 RPM. These numbers compete with the best of the best paddles on the market right now, which is great to see.

My only concern is that this texture is going to wear off. It appears to be similar to the texture of the Selkirk Vanguard Power Air, which has seen mixed results among players. My 003 has gone quite some time without degradation in performance, but many people online have reported that they feel significant drop-offs on the Power Air. Some Gearbox users reported last year that the coating wore off after a month or two and became like the original CX14s without grit.

Unfortunately, this is just where we are with paddles right now. If you're a competitive player, those textures aren't going to last you forever. The bright side is that you should still get very acceptable spin because of the SST core.

Power:

Let's talk about the highlight of this paddle, the power. I can confidently say that Gearbox has increased the power tremendously with the CX14 Ultimates.

The original CX14 felt like it had almost no plow-through on the ball. If you didn't nail it square in the center, the ball resisted the paddle more than others on the market. Even when you would nail the sweet spot, the ball wasn't coming with that much pace. Similarly, for resets, balls off-center didn't have any pace to get back over the net.

On the Ultimate models, the pop feels great, and the paddle feels much more penetrating. I would not put it in the same category as the Pro Kennex Black Ace, Legacy Pro, or Selkirk Labs Project 002, but I think you have access to adequate power.

Lead tape

Where you truly unlock better power is once you give it some lead. I added 0.6oz of lead tape to my paddle CX14H to help with the sweet spot (more on this later). I placed it on the bottom two corners and one small strip at the head of the paddle. My primary reason for trying this was that I tried an original CX14 with this lead setup and thought it played pretty well, so I mimicked it for mine. The weight went up to 9.1oz, and the swing weight to 117. It does feel noticeably more sluggish in my hand, but not enough to be a big concern. In addition, the lead helped add some stability and plow through, giving the paddle even more power.

I did the same setup to the CX14E, and the swing weight went up to 127, which felt noticeably more sluggish. It was playable, just like the original Ben Johns Hyperion 16mm was, but I could tell my hands were slower at the net.

The power increase from the lead tape was enough that I could use it for singles comfortably. It wouldn't be my first pick, but I played a few games and didn't think the paddle was holding me back. With the high RPMs and more power, passing shots are easy to fire off. This is a welcomed upgrade because the original CX14 was far too soft for singles.

Control:

Despite having a nice power upgrade, I never found myself struggling to control the paddle. On third shot drops, I could softly brush up the ball and drop it very well. If I struggled anywhere, it was mid-court resets, not because it lacked control but primarily due to the sweet spot. Hitting off-center results in a very weak ball compared to nicer polymer paddles. With the previous CX14, it leaned so far towards control that I had to put way more effort into basic shots like dinks and resets. The additional power of this paddle has brought it closer to an all-court paddle which is why I feel I didn't struggle with anything in particular related to control.

Feel:

If you were hoping for a drastic change in the Gearbox feel, you might be disappointed. It still has that classic Gearbox feel which some love and some hate. On the CX11s, I didn't like how it felt, but with this CX14H Ultimate, I don't mind it with the lead tape. It might not be my all-time favorite, but it was enjoyable enough. The ball pops off the face just a bit harder and has a slightly springier feel to it. The CX14 has always been Gearboxes most similar feeling paddle to polymer. While it still isn't exactly like polymer, the Ultimate with lead tape is the closest Gearbox has been to feeling more like polymer.

Sweet spot:

The area I'm disappointed Gearbox wasn’t able to improve more was the sweet spot. One of my biggest gripes with Gearbox paddles is that they consistently have a below-average sweet spot compared to good polymer paddles on the market. While it is improved noticeably on the CX14 Ultimate, it’s still not what I’m used to from high end polymer. The paddle feels awesome when you nail the sweet spot, but if you're like most players, you aren't doing that all the time. The edges of the paddles have little energy return and feel unforgiving. This is one of the reasons I added lead tape; I needed something to make the edges feel a bit more alive, and the lead helped achieve that. It's an improvement over the original CX14, but that paddle's bar for sweet spot performance wasn't exactly high. I would say the performance of the CX14 Ultimate is acceptable but not above average.

Durability:

I can't give you an extensive report on the durability because I haven't used it for a long period of time, but if anyone has a good track record of durability in this sport, it is Gearbox. They are by far the best-built paddles in all of Pickleball. The primary issue it will have is the grit on the face, which, as mentioned previously, has seen mixed results. Hard to fault Gearbox, though, when almost every paddle has this issue. Some just manage to last a little bit longer than others. Gearbox durability has always been a huge selling point for these paddles. Some people have used the same one for several years without losing performance.

Closing thoughts:

You know, I really haven't said this yet about a Gearbox paddle, but I did enjoy using the Ultimate. 90% of my play was on the CX14H because, for whatever reason, I struggle immensely to use the elongated Gearbox paddles. I had the same experience with the CX11, where I didn't care for the elongated, but the standard shape was much better. While I don't like the lack of reach, I think the sweet spot is better on the standard shape, and with an already iffy sweet spot, getting that increase is a priority for me. I wish that Gearbox could have done more to make this paddle have a sweet spot like the better polymer paddles, but this could be a limitation of edgeless paddles. The 003 has a similar issue too. If lead tape weren't an option, I wouldn't use the 003, but once it has lead, the paddle transforms into something I love. One concern is that since these paddles require lead tape (at least, for my personal preference) the issue with the elongated paddle is that the swing weight becomes less mangeable. I was willing to deal with the Hyperions high swing weight because I loved the performance, I definitely don't love the performance of the CX14E enough to sacrifice the hand speed once I add the lead tape. So just be aware that if you like adding a lot of lead, you have less options before the paddle becomes heavy with the elongated model.

If you are a Gearbox user frustrated by the lack of power in the original CX14s, you will love these paddles. I've never been a huge fan of Gearbox paddles, but this is one of the first I can play with and enjoy a good amount. I don't prefer it over some of my favorite polymer paddles, but it's objectively a good paddle. My only recommendation is that you add lead tape because the performance jumps once you do.

My biggest question is why Gearbox raised the price to $250. In terms of technology, not that much has changed, so why increase it to $250 just for some extra power? The three things that they market as changes on the website are:

Hyper bite 2.0 has added grit to the face, but that was a free upgrade on last year's CX14.

2. Power band technology which they claim helps give the face more of a trampoline effect.

3. Upgraded edgeless frame. They claim this helps with durability and perimeter weighting, which increases power and sweet spot.

So the largest differences are the power band technology and upgraded edgeless frame. I don't know that a power model of a paddle should cost $50 without other enhancements.

But on the other hand, this is what CRBN did with the new X series, and we all loved it. The paddles became more powerful and durable, and CRBN charged $50 more. But with the X series, the jump in performance felt quite substantial, whereas the CX14 ultimate feels like it is what the original CX14 should have been. The Ultimate hits harder but isn't as powerful as the Pro Kennex Black Ace, Legacy, or other thermoformed paddles. That might be the reason it feels like a less substantial upgrade. It went from being very soft to more of an all-court paddle. Whereas CRBN felt like an all-court paddle and went to power.

It’s hard to find reasons that the paddle should have increased to $250, but that’s just where we are with paddles. To Gearbox’s credit, they are one of the few brands that have innovative enough ideas to warrant the price tag.

Price aside, I think Gearbox fans will love this paddle and be very excited to play with it. If you weren't a Gearbox fan in the past, this paddle probably won't change your mind. If I were going to recommend a Gearbox model to try, it would be the CX14 Ultimate over the CX11 and original CX14. I think the CX14 has a much better feel than the CX11, and the extra power and larger sweet spot of the Ultimate make it a much better playing experience.

Buy the CX14 Ultimate (JustPaddles)