Nexy Rubicon reviews

First of all, I want to thank Nexy for the opportunity to evaluate the Karis M/M+ rubbers and the Rubicon blade and Arg0 for organizing this forum test – it is highly appreciated!

Ok, let me jump straight to it as there is a lot to cover.

Background - I am a 39 yr old USATT 2000+ player allround/spin-offensive player using short pips in the BH. At the time I tested the equipment, I was recovering from hip surgeries 3 months prior. While still lacking a little bit in leg power and mobility, I would estimate that I was back at ~90% of my usual level.

Testing procedure - I evaluated the following five set-ups in this order:

1) Nexy Rubicon WST, Tibhar Evolution MX-P (black, 2.1-2.2 mm), TSP Spectol (red, 1.8 mm)

2) Andro Temper Tech Off+ ST, Nexy Karis M+ (black, 2.2 mm), Spinlord Waran (red, 1.8 mm)

3) Andro Temper Tech Off+ ST, Nexy Karis M (black, 2.2 mm), Spinlord Waran (red, 1.8 mm)

4) Nexy Rubicon WST, Nexy Karis M (black, 2.2 mm), Spinlord Waran (red, 1.8 mm)

5) Nexy Rubicon WST, Nexy Karis M+ (black, 2.2 mm), Spinlord Waran (red, 1.8 mm)

I used brand-new and unboosted Nexy Karis M/M+ rubbers in the tests. The non-Nexy rubbers were also unboosted but had some mileage on them: MX-P (<10 h), Waran (~30 h), and Spectol (unknown), but all playing like new. I sealed the Rubicon with a thin layer of Joola’s varnish prior to use. The Andro Temper Tech OFF+ is a little-known gem of an all-wood blade, which, unfortunately, seems to be going out of production. It is a fast and fairly stiff blade with limba outer plies and unspecified tempered inner plies, that produces a surprising amount of feel and control.

The rubbers were affixed to the blades using Revolution 3 normal viscosity glue (3 layers for the new Karis rubbers). The set-ups were tested over at least two sessions, using 3-star YinHe 40+ seamless plastic balls. After ~15 min of warmup, I played practice matches against my usual training partners.

NEXY RUBICON

Summarizing, citing and/or paraphrasing Rubicon’s marketing material which is found here (http://nexy.com/tabletennis/en/blade/115-rubicon.html) and includes high-quality images of the blade: The outer ply of the Rubicon has vertical lines similar to hinoki plies and like the latter seems to hold on to the ball a bit longer. Rubicon has a hard, thin surface whereas most hinoki blades have a soft, thick surface. Rubicon produces good spin because it offers an embracing feeling, although the feeling is less pronounced than with limba surfaces. Rubicon has been designed to produce a high ball arc resulting in more safety over the net than other blades. Despite being factory-sealed, Rubicon’s surface wood cannot withstand very strong glue. Care should be taken during rubber removal.

Technical data: Head Size 155 x 148 mm, thickness 5.9 (+/-0.1)mm, 7-ply all-wood. Unfortunately, Nexy does not describe the composition of the individual plies.

Unboxing impressions: 

The Rubicon comes in Nexy’s signature stylish black cardboard box. The balance and grip (wide straight - WST) are PHENOMENAL. Perfect symbiosis between hand and blade providing a deep embrace. The wings are sanded just right (no blisters). The balance is tilted towards the head. The blade is beautiful in a rustic ‘woody’ type of way. However, the top ply looks like it is partly devoured by termites or bark beetles in the vertical direction. As indicated by Nexy, this is a recipe for splintering, which prompted me to seal it. My Rubicon weighed 81 g. Bouncing a ball on the blade produces a higher pitch than my Adidas Challenge Force (a Korbel clone) but a lower pitch than the Andro CS7 Tour (a Clipper clone), the NexyZealot, or any of the composite blades that I own (ITC Premier XF/XR; Butterfly Apolonia).

Playing impressions with set-up #1 (Nexy Rubicon WST, Tibhar Evolution MX-P, TSP Spectol): I went into this test with minimal expectations. Chatter on our forum seemed to suggest that the Rubicon is a slow blade. I was, therefore, hugely surprised after hitting the first couple of FH’s. The feeling with MX-P is absolutely fantastic. The contact is crisper than with the Korbel clone, which works well for FH/BH drives. The feeling and control on loops is stunning – above average dwell time allowing for production of high spin levels and a medium-high throw that provides plenty of safety over the net, all while having plenty of power for a mid-distance game style. The blade has an ambivalence to it: at slow racket speeds it feels like a fast ALL+ or OFF- blade allowing for excellent spin production and control on touch shots and serves. With faster racket speeds it is as if an extra gear is engaged, squarely propelling it into OFF range. As correctly stated by the marketing information, the Rubicon offers an embracing feeling with an extra snap. My Spectol short pips felt reasonably crisp in the BH, allowing for effective blocking, although these pips tend to work even better on harder blades. FH flat hits with the Rubicon are probably the weakest aspect of this blade – they are perfectly doable and generate sufficient speed to win points, but you don’t get the same vulgar testosterone-filled feeling like with other blades.

For playing impressions with set-ups # 4 and 5, see the Karis M/M+ reviews below.

Conclusion: The Nexy Rubicon is a wonderful blade that in my opinion can be used across all levels, from beginners to professionals, from young to seasoned (especially due to the low weight). Only extreme hard-hitters might be disappointed with this blade. In my opinion, this blade is best paired with Euro/Jap rubbers up to ~48 degrees hardness – harder rubbers, especially tacky Chinese rubbers, will benefit from stiffer and faster blades such as Nexy’s Zealot. One major point of criticism: The price tag. In my world, no blade is worth $120 regardless of the craftsmanship. There is a plethora of excellent blades available below $75, making it hard to justify to shell out the MRSP of $120. Hopefully, Nexy will lower the MRSP of the Rubicon, because this is a blade that deserves wide-spread adoption.   

NEXY KARIS M/M+

Condensing and paraphrasing Nexy’s marketing for the Karis M/M+ rubbers: With the introduction of the poly ball, rubbers need to be more powerful. Many manufacturers have focused on combining a hard top sheet with a hard sponge. These rubbers, however, are less forgiving of improper technique and footwork. Softer topsheets have been combined with hard sponges to offer more feel. However, players who are accustomed to powerful topspin shots, require the hard top sheet + hard sponge composition. With the advent of the Karis rubbers, Nexy appears to have identified a hard/hard formula that yields very predictable, powerful, yet more forgiving rubbers.

Unboxing impressions:

The rubbers come in black (M) and red (M+) glossy cardboard packaging that - I am guessing - is depicting the grainy surface of the topsheets. Both of the Karis rubbers have a unique rubbery smell that made me reminisce the 1980’s and 1990’s – that’s how I remember rubbers were smelling back then. Both Karis rubbers dome significantly as you can see in the unboxing videos. The topsheets, which are identical in the two rubbers, are matte, semi-translucent, very grippy, but without any hint of tack. The surface is slightly granular, although less so than, e.g., the Stiga Airoc Astro rubbers. The topsheets have ~13 pips per 5 cm in the horizontal direction and ~22 pips per 5 cm in the vertical direction. Both Karis rubbers have blue sponges with small-to-medium sized pores.

The uncut sheets weigh 64 g (M+, 2.2 mm black, 170 mm x 168 mm) and 62 g (M, 2.2 mm black, 170 mm x 168 mm). Karis M+ is medium-heavy, weighing 47 grams when cut to a 157x150 mm blade. It is, accordingly, lighter than other hard-sponged rubbers such as Hurricane 8 (53-57 g), Tibhar Evolution MX-S (52 g), Xiom Omega V Asia (51 g), Victas V>15 extra (50 g), or Hurricane 3 Neo (47-50 g). The Karis M weighs 45 grams when cut to a 157x150 mm test blade, which puts it among some of the lightest rubbers that I have tested, e.g., Tibhar Evolution FX-P (46 g), Hurricane 3 (43 g) and Nittaku Fastarc S-1 (43 g).

Nexy Karis M+

Playing impressions with set-up #2 (Andro Temper Tech OFF+, Nexy Karis M+, SpinLord Waran): The first couple of FH drives quickly reveal that this is an interesting and somewhat unique rubber. The feeling upon contacting the ball is closer to a traditional Chinese rubber than hard ESN rubbers, i.e., it is a disengaged, numb feel. The Karis M+ is slower than other hard-sponged rubbers such as Tibhar Evolution MX-S, Xiom Omega V Asia, or Andro Rasant Powergrip, but faster than prototypical Chinese rubbers. Most importantly, it is, indeed, more forgiving of less-than-perfect footwork and positioning than Hurricane 3 Neo. It is a very linear rubber. FH drives are solid. Slow FH loops can be loaded with spin and produce a noticeable kick off the bounce. The Karis M+ is grippy and opening loops against heavy backspin are effortless despite the rather low throw angle. Blocking is solid and easier to execute than with traditional Chinese rubbers due to the absence of tack. For the same reason, the Karis M+ is also far less spin-sensitive, which facilitates flat hitting and aggressive serve return. However, the latter require good timing as the Karis M+ lacks the tackiness to ‘guide’ the ball over the net when executing flips. Serving with the Karis M+ is excellent – a ton of spin can be imparted on the ball – at least as much as with the MX-S, but less than with H3 Neo. Touch shots can be played with excellent control, low over the net with a good amount of spin.

Playing impressions with set-up 5 (Nexy Rubicon WST, Nexy Karis M+, SpinLord Waran): Combining the Karis M+ with the Rubicon blade yields a set-up that is rather slow and which doesn’t offer a good feel on aggressive shots. The ball contact feels very disengaged and while I could play FH drives and opening FH loops fairly competently, the set-up lacked power - forcing me to use a much more open bat angle and larger swings, especially on smashes. Quite simply, this set-up resulted in a less favorable touch. I had major difficulties getting the contact point and bat angle right when playing against my regular practice partner’s heavy backspin balls (he plays with long pips on the BH using a push-blocking style).

Conclusion: The Karis M+ is a hybrid between hard ESN rubbers and Chinese rubbers, being closer to the latter with respect to feel, and closer to the former with the respect to speed and spin production. It is a very linear rubber that does everything reasonably well. No hidden surprises. Nonetheless - I don’t love it. I dislike the disengaged numb feel too much. I don’t enjoy playing with it as much as I do with other rubbers. All-in-all, the Karis M+ is a great rubber, and it could suit a broad range of players all the way to advanced players. Unless paired with a fast and stiff blade, I think high-level players will find the M+ to be too slow to support a modern aggressive game style.

Nexy Karis M

Playing impressions with set-up #3 (Andro Temper Tech OFF+, Nexy Karis M, SpinLord Waran): Going into the test, I was expecting the Karis M to be a very similar, perhaps slightly slower version of the Karis M+. This expectation was immediately shattered within the first couple of FH drives. It is a completely different rubber. The Karis M feels much more like a prototypical ~45 degree ESN rubber – it even produces a pronounced click when playing drives, loops and flat hits. In fact, the Karis M/Temper Tech OFF+ setup feels very similar to the Donic Acuda Blue P1 / Nexy Zealot that I reviewed 1-2 years ago on MyTT. The feeling on drives and, in particular, loops is very crisp and almost speed-glue like. The fast blade compensated for the lower inherent speed of the Karis M and allowed FH loops against heavy backspin to clear the net with sufficient safety. Spin generation on slow loops is good, but it does feel as if spin production reaches a lower plateau on faster loop-drives relative to the Karis M+. The control while looping with this rubber is excellent, allowing for the execution of highly angled shots. All-in-all a very reliable rubber, and although a catapult is felt, it is appropriately balanced. Flat hits are a pleasure, in part, because the characteristics of the underlying blade are felt through the soft sponge. I was able to make numerous “reflex slap-shots” out of position that hit the target with this setup. Blocking with the Karis M is solid. Touch shots were a little harder to keep short and low than with the M+, but that is probably only a question of getting used to it. Serves seemed slightly less spinny than with the M+, but respectable amounts of spin were still produced. This is a great rubber for a clean controlled-offensive game style, but it might lack a couple of percent in spin production relative to harder sponged rubbers especially at high racket speeds.

Playing impressions with set-up #4 (Nexy Rubicon WST, Nexy Karis M, SpinLord Waran): Most of the impressions that I formed about the Karis M rubber while playing with set-up #3 also apply to this set-up. Very crisp feeling on drives, loops and smashes. Respectable spin levels on opening loops and serves. The Rubicon/M combination felt surprisingly fast on loop drives and was only slightly slower than the Temper Tech/M combination on these shots. The biggest difference caused by the blade change was on slow touch shots and serve returns, where the Rubicon’s low gear became obvious – initially, I had a tendency to put these shots into the net and had to utilize a more active stroke.

Conclusion: The Karis M is an easy-to-play and fun rubber and excellent addition to ~45 degree ESN range. It is forgiving, provides a dynamic and speed-glue like feeling, all while producing respectable spin levels and providing good levels of control for all types of players. It paired well with both test blades, which suggests that the choice of blade will be less critical than for the M+.