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Gambler mech-tek predator rubber? |
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mizzao
Beginner Joined: 05/24/2018 Location: New York City Status: Offline Points: 6 |
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I like Mech-Tek. However the latest sheet I got from ZP had strange dimples in it after gluing. Note how the surface is not smooth, but there is a shallow "valley": https://photos.app.goo.gl/cWUyi7GLat9Khrwt2 I didn't inspect the rubber carefully before gluing but noticed there were air bubbles between the film and rubber (never saw that before). The ZP people said it was my fault for gluing the rubber wrong and not waiting for the glue to dry before attaching, and that this also happens with Donic Bluefire. However I've glued many sheets of rubber and have never seen this problem. Did I do something wrong or are they pulling my leg?
Edited by mizzao - 05/25/2018 at 12:00am |
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cole_ely
Premier Member Joined: 03/16/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 6898 |
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I've not seen any of that.
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Wavestone St with Illumina 1.9r, defender1.7b
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1dennistt
Silver Member Joined: 03/03/2010 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 533 |
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I've not seen that either, but I have a very small sample size to judge by.
Have you tried to take it off and reglue to see if that helps?
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Donic Waldner World Champion 1989 ZLC (Inner), Donic BlueStorm Pro (Red) Max, ????? (Black) 1.8 mm)
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cole_ely
Premier Member Joined: 03/16/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 6898 |
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I notice the plastic cover is crinkled like you put it down once, peeled it up and reset it. Or is that plastic wrinkle at the top part of the overall problem? Hard to see.
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Wavestone St with Illumina 1.9r, defender1.7b
Please let me know if I can be of assistance. |
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vanjr
Gold Member Joined: 08/19/2004 Location: Corpus Christi Status: Offline Points: 1368 |
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What did you do to press the rubber? That looks like what I have done when the overlying weight I use to "press" the rubber is slightly irregular. I just repress it with a flat, heavy book and things are fine. I suspect the sheet plays fine.
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mizzao
Beginner Joined: 05/24/2018 Location: New York City Status: Offline Points: 6 |
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It arrived in the package with large bubbles between the film and the topsheet. Once I glued and pressed it down, those bubbles got compressed into "crinkles". I've never seen such bubbles before, hence why I thought this sheet was problematic.
I pressed it down on a flat marble countertop with the handle hanging over the edge. By "repress" do you mean re-glue? What is the best way to line up a rubber properly with the blade when re-gluing? The rubber plays OK, despite the dimple in the middle. It seems to add some randomness to my shots—not going exactly where I'm aiming, although I'm not sure if that's because of the rubber or because of me :) On the forehand I have Gambler Burst with Thor's Hammer—just a fantastic rubber. I'd describe it as an almost-boosted Hurricane/Skyline that can counterloop. Still has quite a tacky surface, so it can serve spinny and loop over the table. But has so many gears, from a light short push that barely goes over the net to fast long-distance spinny counterloops. For $14 these rubbers are the real deal.
Edited by mizzao - 05/29/2018 at 9:28am |
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cole_ely
Premier Member Joined: 03/16/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 6898 |
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OK, was it sent in a box or in a flat? Maybe it got bent. Packaging looked OK? |
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Wavestone St with Illumina 1.9r, defender1.7b
Please let me know if I can be of assistance. |
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rocketman222
Gold Member Joined: 01/06/2007 Location: Walnut Creek,CA Status: Offline Points: 1152 |
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After using this rubber for a few weeks, I can confirm the following observations
In 1.7 thickness - Speed - Definitely around that of baracuda and faster than baracuda. Spin - Pretty spinny, not as much as baracuda, but definitely around that of vega pro In 2.1 thickness - Speed - Pretty fast and similar to rasanter r47 Spin - Again like r47 and hard to crack through the topsheet Quirks - This rubber feels too spongey and lacks much feel on 2.1, it requires a higher racket speed than what I can generate, however its an amazing rubber in 1.7 for my level and feels plenty fast and has decent spin.
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vanjr
Gold Member Joined: 08/19/2004 Location: Corpus Christi Status: Offline Points: 1368 |
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I do have a small dent in one of mine that does not affect play. I just did not notice.
I have 2.1 and it is clearly harder than elp or T5 both in max. I think it blocks niceky |
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mizzao
Beginner Joined: 05/24/2018 Location: New York City Status: Offline Points: 6 |
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Sent in a plastic envelope - $1 shipping by ZP for rubber-only orders. Packaging wasn't damaged. They sent out a replacement though which is nice. I'm just playing with a little bit of extra randomness on my BH right now, but will see how the next sheet plays once I'm tired of this one.
Edited by mizzao - 05/30/2018 at 11:25pm |
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1dennistt
Silver Member Joined: 03/03/2010 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 533 |
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It is an interesting rubber, I don't think it feels as hard during play as my Donic M2, but the spin and speed are fine, may even be easier to generate spin in some shots. I haven't used it enough to form any firm opinions yet, but I haven't changed my strokes any, and everything just works. It may not be a direct replacement for my M2, but it is close enough to switch back and forth without any real issues.
I plan on playing with it more extensively in about a month, when I will have a better opportunity to evaluate it.
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Donic Waldner World Champion 1989 ZLC (Inner), Donic BlueStorm Pro (Red) Max, ????? (Black) 1.8 mm)
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cole_ely
Premier Member Joined: 03/16/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 6898 |
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All's well that ends well |
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Wavestone St with Illumina 1.9r, defender1.7b
Please let me know if I can be of assistance. |
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richrf
Gold Member Joined: 06/02/2009 Location: Stamford Status: Offline Points: 1522 |
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Anyone know of any videos of this rubber on action?
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mizzao
Beginner Joined: 05/24/2018 Location: New York City Status: Offline Points: 6 |
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I got tired of the random hitting Mech-Tek on my backhand and glued a new rubber. It (mostly) doesn't have any dimples or pits in it, except a couple small ones near the logo. The sweet spot is nice and flat.
This time I tried very hard to spread one thin, very even layer of glue on blade and sponge. Then I pressed it very carefully. Maybe this is just a hard rubber to glue properly, I don't know... Anyone heard of difficulties gluing large pore rubbers like the Bluefire because of the sponge absorbing the glue easily? Maybe that is what is causing the dents once it is pressed...because the sponge is glued together.
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WingTT
Super Member Joined: 09/16/2010 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 118 |
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I got a sheet of red 2.1 for my backhand a few days ago. The sponge is just way too hard for me to backhand flick underspin. It just goes into the net. So no go for the backhand. I'll try using it for forehand and see how it works out.
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DLC1325
Silver Member Joined: 02/15/2016 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 720 |
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Just got back from using MechTek Predator on my Donic Zhou Yu Two Cpen (Ebony outers, a lot like Ebenholz V) for RPB. I only bought the rubber to put on another blade I was selling, but thought I'd give it a go.
To the touch it feels much softer than MX-S and Skyline 3-60, but it plays very close to S3-60 without being tacky, but very grippy. I can see why it has been compared to R47. It kind of has that Ultra Max feel and has the violent dip at the end of its trajectory. I would say the throw is upper medium, slightly lower than S3-60. 3rd ball RPB looping created heavy spin that my opponents struggled greatly with. Probably not as spinny as MX-S, but plenty of opponent balls went long. Plenty of speed as well, just under ESN levels. Played pretty well on my FH too. I am extremely surprised at MechTek's performance for such low dollars. Win for Gambler.
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DLC1325
Silver Member Joined: 02/15/2016 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 720 |
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Oh, and RPB flicking was a dream.
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vanjr
Gold Member Joined: 08/19/2004 Location: Corpus Christi Status: Offline Points: 1368 |
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Most people could care less, but I have found I can actually chop off the table with pretty good control with mech tek in max sponge on the blades I have it on. Nice to have that ability for an occasional change of pace/surprise.
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Tsunami_72
Beginner Joined: 09/03/2018 Location: Ball Ground, GA Status: Offline Points: 1 |
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This rubber is, IMO, very dependent on the blade for characteristics. I tried a sheet of red 2.0mm on my Gambler Fire Dragon Touch (another experimental product testing from the Gambler line that I absolutely LOVE - adequately taking over spot of JOOLA Rossi Emotion) and the trial was a total flop - it felt heavy and dead on this blade. But then I put it on a stiffer blade (Gambler Zebrawood IM8) and it literally came to life. Not very fast, but not disappointingly slow either, generates great spin on serves and pushes, loops and drives feel predictable and stable. For $14 it's absolutely worth a try.
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Fire Dragon Touch
FH - Rakza 7 Red 2.0mm BY - Rasanter R42 Black 2.0 |
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mizzao
Beginner Joined: 05/24/2018 Location: New York City Status: Offline Points: 6 |
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I recently saw that Gambler recently released the X3 Diamond with Gearz sponge. This is another mechanical grippy rubber that folks are using on their backhand, but it's so new that I haven't been able to find any information online.
How does the X3 Diamond / Gearz compare to Mech-Tek Predator? Faster/slower? Harder/softer?
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