[VIDEO UPDATE] XIOM TAU I REVIEW

As regular forum members may know, I've had extensive use of Palio Thor's and Xiom Vega China and have reviewed both of them. They both are excellent rubbers. I'm here now to tell you that Xiom Tau I is even better.

Having said that, I'm not saying there is nothing negative about this rubber. Xiom Tau is NOT a high control rubber at all and I also find it to be quite sensitive to incoming spin. Choppers and allrounders please stay away from Tau. This is a rubber that is meant for pure forehand offensiveness. Tau is fast, really fast. The first 48 hours it was Tenergy 64 fast. After that point it plateaus at something a little faster than Tenergy 05.

The topsheet is a little tackier than Vega China. I would say about as tacky as H3 Neo's topsheet. It's capable of lifting the ball for at least 1 second where Vega China could lift it about half a second.

Serves are excellent. It's really very good at being able to provide dead ball serves that look like backspin. Of course serves can be really spinny also. What I'm trying to say is that serving offers a ton of variability with slight alterations. Really great.

Smashes are great for a Chinese rubber but of course Eurojap rubbers are better at it.

Drives to me are interesting. I find flat driving a little difficult to keep consistent. However, simply add a little spin to your driving and the effect is superb.

Looping backspin is fantastic. Even against decent backspin, with a fast enough arm motion I'm able to loop it consistently and can keep it low with tons of spin that shoots forwards.

Counter-looping is unparalleled. Here is it's specialty (and the reason most people are looking for Chinese style tensors). Xiom Tau is THE best counterlooping Chinese style rubber ever produced as of the time of this writing. It is equal to a speedglued H3 Neo provincial/national and you don't have to reglue it all the time. I can't even imagine how amazing it would play speed glued for those who do that. While counterlooping, despite the extremely hard sponge (probably at least 42 degrees DHS scale), when engaged there is this almost "sinking" feeling to it that feels oh so good.

Side-spin looping with Tau is perfect. When I used Palio Thor's I really enjoyed it's tremendous side-spin and I was a little disappointed when Vega China seemed to have lost that. Xiom Tau has brought it back. The trajectory it provides is wicked and very difficult for your opponent to predict.

Blocking was pretty good. Again, it is sensitive to spin but that sinking feeling with the sponge comes into play during blocks which seems to help provide a little more quality to them.

In a nutshell, Xiom Tau I is H3 Neo Provincial/National speedglued with just as much spin and at least as much speed. I would even recommend it above H3 because the sheets are more consistent, you don't have to constantly speed glue, and it's available for about $45.

Xiom Tau is an excellent sequel to tacky tensors. I'll compare it to the way software is released.

Palio Thor's is the alpha, Xiom Vega China is the improved beta, and Xiom Tau is the final product.

Each iteration has improved and seems to have built off from the last. I Hope Tau II and Tau III do not screw up the formula. I don't think they will but only time will tell.

Feel free to ask any questions. Thank you for reading and watching the highlight video.

Direct link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpGDP6TcCmA

crackfst wrote: since when do euro rubbers smash better than hard chinese?

Since the Chinese National team started twiddling to their eurojap backhand rubber for smashing.

GeneralSpecific wrote: crackfst wrote: since when do euro rubbers smash better than hard chinese? Since the Chinese National team started twiddling to their eurojap backhand rubber for smashing.

yeah i guess the spin sensitivity must have been the reason why flat smashes and drives didnt work out too well

So you say that Tau is as fast as tenergies? 

Benigma wrote: So you say that Tau is as fast as tenergies?

Yes I do.

interesting, did you try red or black?

Thanks for the excellent review. How about the weight of the Tau?

You say it's 42 degrees DHS scale? That sounds REEALLYY hard. How difficult is it to engage the sponge? If it's too hard, that would make distance-loops more difficult and somewhat flatter...




Edited by 128YinYang - 04/14/2013 at 1:06pm

GeneralSpecific wrote: Well I squeezed my friend's 40 degree neo sponge and it is definitely harder than that so I'm guessing it's around 42.

That's probably not the best comparison, as the Neo sponge (even when marked at 40deg) is much softer than a 38deg Hurricane rubber. Also DHS sponges vary so much, even when marked with a value. I'll try a sheet myself shortly (thanks General Specific ) and will weight and measure the hardness.

Harder sponge, yet lighter? Sounds improbable. Definitely need actual weight and hardness measurements.

I have bought eight sheets of TAU black MAX so far. When cut for IF ZLC C-Pen, the weights (grams) of them are 53x3, 52x3, 51x1 and 50x1. For the same blade, VEGA CHINA is around 49 grams and H3 Neo Nat tuned is around 50 grams. Therefore I believe TAU is one of the heaviest rubbers.

kickass wrote: Harder sponge, yet lighter? Sounds improbable. Definitely need actual weight and hardness measurements.

Yeah, I could be wrong. It's hard to tell without a scale.

On the Xiom hardness scale all the Pro sponges are 47.5, Vega China VM is 54 and Tau is 57.5.

 @Koshkin