The REAL problem with Chinese rubbers

Do you think there is any difference between the provincial and commercial versions?

cls2222 wrote: Do you think there is any difference between the provincial and commercial versions?

 Yes. Initially any Chinese rubber was guaranteed to be top quality if it was stamped with 'RITC'

I haven't been purchasing enough of the same sets of rubbers to trust, but I have faith in 729, Palio, and Dawei from Cole.

@APW46

You English people constantly moan about nanny state you have in your country and yet you want more REGULATIONS!!!!!11... China is world's biggest exporter so my assumption is that they might be doing things the correct way.

RITC stands for Research Institute Tianjin China and it's an R&D arm of 729 Friendship (manufacturer) I don't believe that RITC sticker has anything to do with quality control checks.

Edited by prott.co.uk - 03/10/2011 at 8:27pm

bluebucket wrote: China might be the biggest exporter but the problem is nothing China has made and I mean nothing is yet as good as the same products that were made in the West before they gave up manufacturing and we were used to a certain amount of quality

I completely disagree. The reason manufacturing has shifted over there is because they make equal to better quality products at the best price.

You have to complain alot to get the same quality from a China factory. Or else they will make changes to decrease costs and hope that you will not complain.

That is why they have so many grades of the same product. Nothing goes to waste. Even the those that dun pass QC some how get sold somewhere.

I haven't had a major problem with Haifu. I've been playing with untuned BWII since it came out (and haven't changed my blade for three years). 

APW46 wrote: Its not the quality, its the consistency. It happens time and time again, there is a new Chinese rubber, the latest I tried Is of the 'Moon' variety. Its really exellent, plays superbly, but I know I can't play with it, because in 6 months time when I order a sheet it will be a poor reproduction of the first sheet I tried.

My older 3 year hurricane 2 and 3 are more tacky and play better than the recent ones I got like 4 months ago.
Either way they were £9 each and still play fine as it doesn't affect me too much because I'm not a high level player. So I can't complain for only £9.

prott.co.uk wrote: @APW46 You English people constantly moan about nanny state you have in your country and yet you want more REGULATIONS!!!!!11... China is world's biggest exporter so my assumption is that they might be doing things the correct way. RITC stands for Research Institute Tianjin China and it's an R&D arm of 729 Friendship (manufacturer) I don't believe that RITC sticker has anything to do with quality control checks.

 Ah, my friend from the Yorkshire dales, how are things up there, as beautiful as ever I suspect.

Yeah chinese rubbers have different batch qualities. I have bought my dhs h3 neo earlier than my team mate's dhs h3 neo. My rubber is 4-6 months old already and my team mate's is only 2 months old but the quality of my rubber is still like new, super tacky just like when it was brand new but unfortunately when i checked my team mate's dhs h3 neo and his rubber is like a sh*tty crap, the tackiness of the rubber was already worn out and i couldnt see any good spots to hit his rubber. Hope china would produce many batches of good quality rubbers not to produce many batches of rubber but with different kind of qualities. 

APW,

You mentioned this, but the thread hasn't really focused on how much of the lack of product consistency comes from fakes and corruption.

By fakes, I mean people producing copies of well known brands/products.
By corruption, I mean employees of the rubber manufacturers stealing the pile of rubbers that failed QC and reselling them as regular rubbers.

729/RITC at least pulls these failed QC rubbers and sells them as training rubbers.

I used to think that DHS was horribly inconsistent, batch to batch, but found that once I used "Genuine DHS Resellers" (the people who buy directly from DHS) and stopped looking for "great deals" from ebay and other questionable sellers, I managed to get the same rubbers, batch to batch to batch.

However, this doesn't work for Provincials, and you just have to "know someone" :D





Disregard below if you don't want to read OFF TOPIC sideways discussion about what "Made in China" often means.

sweetstrike wrote: I think where Apple faulted was rushing their devices to market. What types of failures are you referring to? They are more likely to be design issues than a manufacturing ones. Apple transferred their manufacturing technologies to China, if they couldn't reproduce the same quality and control it, they would not release the product made there. There's no way a company like Apple will put their reputation on the line like that. Also your notion that certain items are purposely made so that they break is a bit tough to take. In a competitive market, all of the manufacturers would have to be in on it, otherwise the companies doing it will lose their reputation and go out of business.

I'm sorry that I was not clear. I wasn't referring to "antennagate" (a design issue); I was referring to devices that were designed to last a "product cycle". Cell phones are a good example here, as every 2 years (the usual contract length) there are "compelling upgrade options" (reasons to resign contracts). Phones with minimal use might last 4-6 years, but heavy users tend to "wear out" both the "penny phones" and the "high end smartphones" in about that time frame; sometimes somewhat earlier, sometimes somewhat later. Because the pace of change in this industry is so fast, and because people have incentives to replace their equipment every 2 years, it doesn't make sense to use components that will last 10 years of regular use; manufacturers use less expensive components and labor.

Apple is particularly guilty of having annual marketing events that get people excited about incremental upgrades and willing to replace their existing devices before wear and general use lead to failure.

It's similar to BMW, a brand that Apple long emulated. A high style, high performance brand that charges a premium. Just like BMW's lease options which help keep you in the latest "ultimate driving machine" (and help you avoid costly repairs by getting rid of the car before it becomes more of a money pit) Apple has found a market where they can succeed. But in many ways, they've surpassed BMW (by marketing a phone that's been designed so Joe-Sixpack can use it, but selling the idea that he is now Joe-Latte). BMW hasn't had that kind of mass-market penetration.

But I'm way off topic here.

And engine technology has improved drastically over the past 30 years, I'm sure you'll also be able to find a much better snowblower now that will last just as long and runs more efficiently. You just haven't had to look for one.

It's not the engine I'm worried about; it's all the other cheaply manufactured plastic parts that are likely to crack and need replacing from general use. The only plastic on my 1965 is are the little tips of some of the levers. The rest is steel ;)

That's why there are only a few methods tat we could utilize

a) buy from dealers who are pushing the vendors for consistency and quality and make sure that tehy do not get crappy product - like Aardvark and Cole, .. and I am sure some others.

b) buy a product which is manufactured in a more transparent and known way. Unfortunately, except for Palio tensors I do not know any other Chinese rubber made outside of China - there must be some others... right?

bluebucket wrote: I have a refrigerator thats been handed down though my family, made in 1954 in Australia, it's been running 24/7 for 57 years, never broken down and never needed new gas. I would like to see a new one out of Asia do that. The only problem with it that it's so heavy it's very hard to move and shipping these days would cost a fortune. But as far as not wasting resources goes, things that last this long are the way to go

your refrigerator is blowing a hole through the ozone layer. Replace it already.

you want a Chinese rubber? buy butterfly. You want quality control, you need to pay for it :D