[VIDEO UPDATE] XIOM TAU I REVIEW

mertus wrote: jabemu wrote: Hi, I can suppose that all the users of Tau I are using it without booster??, if it is so I dont understand. I had one in black some months ago and after 15 minutes I get off of the blade...to much spin with very high arc but without speed, a player with medium level can smash all my topspins, my conclusion was: it need booster.   jabemu, are you normally using chinese rubbers in your forehand? IMHO if you are coming from euro/jap rubber and have just recently used a chinese rubber then it must be your stroke.

I have been used hard and very tacky TG2 in my FH for many years with speed glue, now I give "live" to that rubber via different ways

Chronos is using my Tau now, I don't know if it is different to the rest ones (bought at tabletennis11)
Joel, can you say me how have you found that rubber with your blades??





Edited by jabemu - 09/13/2013 at 7:27am

Tau is good stuff - I trained with this for about a month, the rubber still looked new.

I have been trying Tau for 2 weeks now and the conclusion is - sorry Generalspecific, I fully respect your opinion and enthusiasm about it - it is not good and a waste of money.

I had expected it to be a LOT more consistent than the average Chinese rubber at around USD 15 and this rubber far from that it. It almost feels like a commercial H3 except the topsheet is a bit more supple. It does not give more spin than the newest generation tensors but it gives you more inconsistency

As was said before, it is non-reactive to boosting. So to those wondering whether it is as good as a H3 for USD 80: not at all.

I went from a jap/euro to H3 prov. boosted and I don't think that I could go back for the f/h rubber.

Hans I have to challenge your post.

Interesting gatorling I had the opposite experience - the rubber was great when I went all out but the lack of feeling made medium shots a little harder for me over h3.  The lower throw was a little dangerous when hitting hard as well, easier to hit the net compared to h3.  I should really try it on other blades.

Tau is very predictable in all range of shots, but yes it requires more precise technique because of its extremely hard sponge. What I discovered just recently is that it plays better on carbon blades - the same thing was true with Thor's - I am not talking about higher speed (which is quite obvious), the overall feel and ball control are much better with carbon.

comodoensis wrote: Sorry for necroposting, I decided not to add another thread related to this rubber How does Tau performed when using plastic balls nowadays ? Cheers

Not a problem I'm still around . I haven't really used Tau much in quite a long time. I did briefly hit with a friend of mine's blade and the new ball. I'd say that the new ball definitely allows a little more room for error than the celluloid ball but Tau is still a very difficult rubber to use against topspin. For someone who loves Chinese style rubber and has the proper form and constant athleticism to match, Tau is still a great rubber and a fine choice for that type of player with the new ball.

Though, the reason I gave up on Tau is that it's just plain difficult to handle incoming topspin with it and to counterloop with it.

I hope that helps.