THE PADDLE REGISTER · 2026 · CURRENT
Gearbox GBX Power
Raw power for less money. Stiff, with limited touch and spin. For 4.0+ players who swing big.
- List price
- $179.99
- Launched
- Mar 16 preorder, 2026date known to the day
- Build
- Polymer honeycomb
- Thickness
- 16mm
- Shapes
- Elongated · Hybrid
- Made in
- China
- Warranty
- 6 months, plus 6 more with registration
photos and colorways at gearboxsports.com ↗ its row on the 2026 calendar
Certification note. USAP listed the Elongated Oct 15, 2025 and the Hybrid Dec 5. Not on the UPA-A list.
Status checked Sep 21, 2026. Lists change; confirm on the USAP and UPA-A lists before a tournament.
TIMELINE
- Oct 15, 2025 APPROVAL USA Pickleball lists 'GBX Power Elongated 16mm'. equipment.usapickleball.org ↗
- Dec 5, 2025 APPROVAL USA Pickleball lists 'GBX Hybrid 16mm' (name as shown on the list). equipment.usapickleball.org ↗
- Mar 14, 2026 PREORDER GBX Power Elongated and Hybrid listings published on gearboxsports.com (Shopify published_at). gearboxsports.com ↗
- Mar 16, 2026 PREORDER Gearbox Facebook post: GBX Power Series pre-order begins March 16. facebook.com ↗
- May 25, 2026 NEW VARIANT Pickleheads publishes its GBX Power review ($180 MSRP). pickleheads.com ↗
HOW IT IS BUILT
Carbon face over a honeycomb core with a Gen 3 feel. Matt's Pickleball: cold-bond Gen 3 at $180.
- 1Gen-3 suspended PPE (polypropylene) honeycomb core
- 2one-piece molded unibody frame, handle and face plies (ColdForm cold-bond process)
- Face
- raw unidirectional carbon fiber
- Edge
- low-profile edge guard
- Colorways
- Blue-Green
Construction per gearboxsports.com ↗
Gearbox's first Gen-3 (thermoformed-style) honeycomb paddle, built with a cold-bond process aimed at core crush; grip is 4 in. Not on the official UPA-A list as of 2026-09-21 (only GX2 Power models are). Weight range 7.8-8.2 oz comes from Pickleball Central; Gearbox lists 8.0 oz.
VARIANTS · PUBLISHED AND MEASURED NUMBERS
| Variant | Shape | Length × width | Handle | Core | Weight | Swingweight | Twistweight | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GBX Power Elongated 16mm | elongated | 16.5 × 7.375 in | 5.5 in | 16 mm | 7.8-8.2 oz | — | — | gearboxsports.com ↗ |
| GBX Power Hybrid 16mm | hybrid | 16.2 × 7.8 in | 5.5 in | 16 mm | 7.8-8.2 oz | — | — | gearboxsports.com ↗ |
Swingweight and twistweight are each lab's own measurement of its own sample. Unit-to-unit variance is normal.
MEASURED BY THE LABS
The register does not re-measure paddles or copy a lab's numbers wholesale. Power, pop and spin belong to the people with the radar guns; go read them.
FIELD REPORTS · AFTER YOU BUY IT
Reviewers measure a paddle new. Nobody measures it at hour sixty.
Loading field reports…
Keep a bag on Rally: log the hours you put on this paddle, when the grit fades, and when it goes dead. It stays on your device until you press "send a wear report", and the report carries no name.
Open the bag on Rally ↗ Compare with…CHANGES TO THIS RECORD
- Sep 21, 2026CORRECTEDLaunch re-anchored to the Mar 16 preorder; the earlier date was a review date. USAP approved, not on the UPA-A list. gearboxsports.com ↗
Every change to the register, with an RSS feed.
NEARBY IN THE REGISTER
the whole register · everything from Gearbox · the 2026 calendar · CC0
