Fast Chinese rubbers?

Seguso

Palio Blitz is actually an ESN german tensor and the reason it's sold at a cheaper price than it's Joola equivalent, is because it's marketed and sold through Hong Kong; with the Chinese and Asian markets in mind.

Mainstream European vendors don't stock and sell Blitz because they stock the Joola equivalent, which they sell at a higher price.

Although I've not played with Vega Pro on the Offensive Classic; I like the performance of 2mm 47.5% Blitz on the blade.

The Shark II medium sponge feels a bit too hard to me, a lot like a new sheet of Moon 38.  The BWII medium sponge however, felt quite Eurojap-like to me.  Maybe the hard version plays like the H3, but the medium version definitely does not.  Neither rubber is very tacky.  Both have medium-ish throw, not sure if you'll like that.  Otherwise, I much prefer the BWII medium sponge over the Shark II medium sponge.  My BWII's topsheet was kind of ruined by speed glue, so that it lost all surface friction and thus could no longer generate spin via brush looping, but it was very fast and bouncy.

Don't be so shocked sa01, keep in mind that the Whale and Shark series used to range from like 33 degrees to 41 degrees, now it's just soft, medium, and hard.  I doubt they actually use 3 separate processes to make those three sponges, they most likely just divided say 36-38 as medium, 38+ as hard, and 36- as soft or something like that.  It's entirely possible that I got one that's 38 degrees, and you got one that's 36 degrees.  My T64 is 36 degrees and feels like it, while I have a new sheet of Moon at 38 degrees, and the difference in hardness is pretty darn big!

sa01 wrote: dingyibvs wrote: Don't be so shocked sa01, keep in mind that the Whale and Shark series used to range from like 33 degrees to 41 degrees, now it's just soft, medium, and hard.  I doubt they actually use 3 separate processes to make those three sponges, they most likely just divided say 36-38 as medium, 38+ as hard, and 36- as soft or something like that.  It's entirely possible that I got one that's 38 degrees, and you got one that's 36 degrees.  My T64 is 36 degrees and feels like it, while I have a new sheet of Moon at 38 degrees, and the difference in hardness is pretty darn big! if tenergy 64 is 36 degrees my shark medium is 34.

Blue, this might be why I disliked my Shark II even though we tend to have similar taste in equipment.

I had been using the Moon 38 for 6 months prior to trying out the Shark II, I think they behave fairly similarly(at least when compared to a new sheet of Moon 38 before it softens up).  You're right though that the T64 is quite different, I was thinking that it'd be just a faster, softer version of the Moon, but I'm still having trouble adjusting to it after a month and half of play.  Heck, whenever I twiddle my bat around and use my H3 on the BH, I still play better!  Maybe I should just use H3 on both sides or something, but I've already made a new year's resolution of no more EJ'ing(though I've been switching between varying degrees of the H3, as well as provincial vs. commercial ones.  The ITTF considers them all the same same 24-008, so I consider it as a loophole in my resolution ), so I'm stuck with this setup for the remainder of the year.  I'm sure I'll adjust to it in due time though.

update: today I discovered I had a CHinese rubber in my bag which is as fast as a tensor. Read on.

I tried on a stiga OCR:

Galaxy mars2 34 red max
Sword Hero FT black max
Sword Hero FT red max
DHS NEO hurricane 3 max, tuned

results:

the mars2 is a quasi-tensor: it is fairly faster than neo h3 tuned, and what's more, more reactive: it has kick both in kill shots and in passive shots. almost a tensor. throw is slightly lower than neo h3.

sword hero FT black was a surprise: it was much faster than mars2. it was as fast as a tensor like Vega pro. Also, it has huge spin (never seen greater spin) and very high throw. only problem, it is crazy hard, much more than neo h3. It needs a blade with a lot of flex and dwell like stiga OCR. red sheet was a bit different.  I reviewed the rubber on tabletennisdb.com in detail. Click here to read the review.

to be frank, NEO H3 looked like crap in comparison to both rubbers.


Edited by seguso - 02/13/2012 at 5:39pm

dingyibvs wrote: Yes, I was talking about the red sponge version. Seguso:  Damn, you're really tickling my EJ'ing itch!  Have you tried tuning it?  Maybe it can soften up the sponge a bit.

some oil mixed with some speed glue softens any rubber in a couple of applications....


Edited by sa01 - 02/13/2012 at 9:07pm

dingyibvs wrote: Yes, I was talking about the red sponge version. Seguso:  Damn, you're really tickling my EJ'ing itch!  Have you tried tuning it?  Maybe it can soften up the sponge a bit.

I'll tell you the story of this rubber. I cut it almost two years ago. I used it 2 months then I changed it because it was too hard and too reactive for me and with too little dwell time. I put everything on it: kerosene, baby oil, olive oil, but I could not make it softer. I then lent it to a friend of mine who used it for another 2 or 3 months. Then he gave it back to me and I left it alone, unwrapped, for more than 1 year. The topsheet is visibly worn with the ball marks. Now I stick it on a blade and it plays like I said, even though any tuning must have worn off by a long time.

beowulf wrote: I have been using Shark II soft for my backhand for last 4 months. The rubber has lost it's click sound but is still playing beautifully. I just want to know if there is any such rubber but with a bit of higher throw. Otherwise, I am going to order the same rubber again..!!  So please give me some suggestions guys..!!

beowulf wrote: Thanks Imago..!! But does any other rubber in current Tensor rubbers line comes close to Shark II soft..?? Just curious..!!

EJ madness :)! don't make me buy Acuda S3

beowulf wrote: Thanks Imago..!! But does any other rubber in current Tensor rubbers line comes close to Shark II soft..?? Just curious..!!

Edited by Imago - 02/15/2012 at 4:37am