Has Tenergy been surpassed?

cole_ely wrote: i tried razka not long ago...that counts right?  I tried a xiom or two, but that's japanese made, right?

JimT wrote: patrickhrdlicka wrote: I am fully in the P7 camp. Fantastic rubber. I will soon be testing Tenzone Ultra SF, which I have very high expectations for. It is indeed a very good rubber but very heavy - about 49-50-51 g weight of the cut sheet. That's way too much, if you ask me. But for some players, who are OK with heavier setups, it would be OK.

Also - as far as I recall - P7 is at least as expensive as Tenergy, sometimes (in some stores, I mean) even more expensive. Where is the point then, really?

geardaddy wrote: ...but considering how well Vega Europe plays and its durability...

Matt Pimple wrote: I found the durability of VE to be particularly bad

Yes, me too. But it's quite an old ESN rubber. Current generations are much better for durability. For example....

slevin wrote: Xiom Omega V Europe. The sponge is exactly the same hardness as T05 (I'm not basing this on reading somewhere - I actually compared 2 new sheets of T05 & XVE last night). However, the topsheet is softer (typical Xiom) giving it a distinctly softer feel. So, in a way, it is like Tenergy 64 (in that it is a 45 deg sponge but plays softer than T05 due to the topsheet) but with better spin. I like it's soft topsheet feel for BH.

OVE is a FANTASTIC rubber, and I'm always suggesting it as an alternative to T64 (along with Omega V Pro as an alternative to T05, which is more of a contentious opinion). I've had a few hours with Omega V Asia recently too, which is a fab rubber for loop driving (and the best ESN I've tried with the poly ball too).

The idea that Tenergy is some sort of peak for rubbers is outdated now. It has it's own definite unique properties for sure, and once you're used to it you'll struggle to find a direct replacement for the Tenergy feel, but in general performance terms it's no longer head and shoulders above everything else.

Surpassed though? I'm not sure that's the right way of looking at things. Personally, I play much better with modern ESN rubbers than any Tenergy, but it all comes down to technique (or lack of, in my case), play style and expectations. So for my needs yes - ESN has surpassed Tenergy in most of the criteria I use to select rubbers. But that's just a subjective personal opinion, and I'm sure many would disagree,

I think a general 2-wing looper could do just as well with lots of different rubbers as with Tenergy and save a stack of cash in the process.

Vega europe died on me after 2.5 months of playing 3x/wk for 2-3hrs per session

No way - I get Adidas P7 for a lot cheaper than Tenergy - normally can get it for 40 USD in Europe but managed to get it for around 30 USD from easter European shops (Polish, Romanian, Hungarian) 

I really want to try p7 especially at 30 usd so tell me exactly where did you buy it?
I checked polish shop inters.pl and the price is 44,79 usd. shipping included. Romania doesn't have dealer for adidas and I can not understand Hungarian language.

Clarence247 wrote: No way - I get Adidas P7 for a lot cheaper than Tenergy - normally can get it for 40 USD in Europe but managed to get it for around 30 USD from easter European shops (Polish, Romanian, Hungarian)  Tenergy is fixed at what....60+ USD? big difference in price,  but price is not part of this argument - the point is.... to discuss whether other rubbers have surpassed it's properties or improved upon it, or whether another rubber with different properties may be better now. JimT wrote: JimT wrote: patrickhrdlicka wrote: I am fully in the P7 camp. Fantastic rubber. I will soon be testing Tenzone Ultra SF, which I have very high expectations for. It is indeed a very good rubber but very heavy - about 49-50-51 g weight of the cut sheet. That's way too much, if you ask me. But for some players, who are OK with heavier setups, it would be OK. Also - as far as I recall - P7 is at least as expensive as Tenergy, sometimes (in some stores, I mean) even more expensive. Where is the point then, really?

Victor_the_cleaner wrote: Tenergy is still VERY VERY different than anything else. T05 and T64 feel very different, one going straight and the other curving like crazy, and yet they both feel like tenergy. Same great top sheet bite, same unique sponge sling. I don't know about surpassing, and it depends on personal preference, but one thing is 100% sure: you remove Tenergy from the market, and there will be a big hole. No, there are no clones yet, nothing feels like tenergy.

I do not think that Tenergy has been surpassed. Typically when I am warming up before the start of a match, players will say, "Are you playing with a Tenergy rubber?" Thus, Tenergy's sweet spot and power can be recognized by players almost instantly. I doubt that any other rubber can yield the same results. 

adishorul wrote: I really want to try p7 especially at 30 usd so tell me exactly where did you buy it? I checked polish shop inters.pl and the price is 44,79 usd. shipping included. Romania doesn't have dealer for adidas and I can not understand Hungarian language.

The answer is no for me. I used to believe Tenergy wasn't necessarily the best rubber, that's why I've tried countless number of other rubbers: Rasant, Rasant Turbo, Rakza 7, Tibhar Evolution el-p, xiom OVT, Acuda S1, etc. I had high hope for each of them and tried each for at least one or two months, but in the end, I went back to Tenergy and I realized none of the other rubbers I tried gave me the consistency that Tenergy gives me. Now I'm using T80 and I don't think I will try another rubber on my Fh until there is a new rubber become as popular among the pros as Tenergy.

balldance wrote: The answer is no for me. I used to believe Tenergy wasn't necessarily the best rubber, that's why I've tried countless number of other rubbers: Rasant, Rasant Turbo, Rakza 7, Tibhar Evolution el-p, xiom OVT, Acuda S1, etc. I had high hope for each of them and tried each for at least one or two months, but in the end, I went back to Tenergy and I realized none of the other rubbers I tried gave me the consistency that Tenergy gives me. Now I'm using T80 and I don't think I will try another rubber on my Fh until there is a new rubber become as popular among the pros as Tenergy.

JonathanVN wrote: AgentHEX wrote: JonathanVN wrote: I do not think that Tenergy has been surpassed. Typically when I am warming up before the start of a match, players will say, "Are you playing with a Tenergy rubber?" Thus, Tenergy's sweet spot and power can be recognized by players almost instantly. I doubt that any other rubber can yield the same results.  Furthermore, I actually recently tested out the Andro Rasant Turbo rubber that a friend from my club had been wielding. I was utterly shocked when I discovered how weak the shots were and how dead the rubber seemed, even though it was only a few weeks old. With that being said, I think Rasant is a quality rubber, and the Razka 7 and Hurricane Neo series are comparable as well. However, saying that Tenergy has been surpassed seems like an erroneous statement at this point in time.  I can't imagine any recent higher-$ ESN product is "weak" esp when it comes to speed/elasticity. They just don't have the same surface friction, which some of the commenters above claim is addressed in a few of the very latest. Well, please note that I never said the rubber in totality was "weak." I am simply saying that in terms of power, some of the counter drives are not nearly as powerful as Tenergy's. I believe that Rasant and similar rubbers are very strong in certain regards, juts not strong enough to surpass Tenergy.

ESN is elastic enough, just not enough topsheet grip for fwd/high-throw drives that still dip.

As I have stated before, imo P7 offers a better spin/speed/control ratio than the Tenergies that I have played with (T80/T64/T05fx), realizing that some very offensive players may find the P7 a tad too slow.