|
|
Test Pilots wanted - Haifu Inverted Rubbers |
Post Reply | Page <12345 7> |
Author | ||
anubhav1984
Gold Member Joined: 05/08/2009 Location: Snoqualmie, WA Status: Offline Points: 1214 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I received my Haifu White Shark II Factory Tuned today, in the morning.
I must thank Alex for it! The shipping was damn quick and the packaging was absolutely professional. I did not get a chance to play with it today as i was unable to cut it today! I will cut the rubber tomorrow and go for a hit with it then. Initial Impression about the rubber:- The rubber has a factory tuning layer on the sponge, which looks transparent and is not very sticky. It comes with a protective sheet with Haifu written in red diagonally all over it. The sponge was laser etched as 35 degrees and it sure does feel like that itself. It is very soft, softer than a Mark V sponge. It is not all that firm. I guess Sriver EL has a firmer sponge than Shark II. The red topsheet is very very translucent. It somehow reminds me of GKI Euro Chelonz (A high end tensor that i played with earlier). The only difference is that Chelonz was a bit pale red and this is more like a blood red. Otherwise, the topsheet is pretty much translucent. Comparing the pip size with Sriver would be a bit difficult as i don't have a sheet of it readily available, but i reckon that this one has slightly bigger pips than Sriver. The topsheet is grippy and not at all tacky. I am going to play with it tomorrow and update this thread about my findings as soon as i am done testing it. I will take a couple of days to completely analyze this rubber, as i usually do before giving a final judgment on any piece of equipment. But i will definitely post my initial impressions tomorrow. |
||
Butterfly Viscaria FL
FH - Undecided BH - Undecided |
||
Sponsored Links | ||
sadius
Silver Member Joined: 06/17/2006 Status: Offline Points: 667 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
My Haifu Whale 2 National came today. Will write full review soon. |
||
sadius
Silver Member Joined: 06/17/2006 Status: Offline Points: 667 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Haifu Blue Whale II National Review First of all, I would like to say thanks to Mr. Alex Li for the opportunity to test this rubber. It turned out that I had a very good experience with this Haifu Blue Whale II. Visual inspection on rubber: black color, black sponge. Very high quality, top sheet is shiny and sponge is custom tuned by Mr. Alex Li. The rubber is 38 degree hardness Test blade: Butterfly Timo Boll W7 (7 ply wood OFF), FH Haifu Blue Whale 2 National custom tune, BH Friendship 820-40. Day 1: After gluing the rubber onto the blade, the first thing I realized is that the rubber is non-sticky, it couldn�t pick up ball at all like the Hurricane 3 pro or Skyline 2 pro that I had before. Whale 2 National is non-sticky but very grippy rubber and very spinning. Sponge is medium hard, good catapult. The good thing is the rubber is ready to play from the start, unlike Hurricane 3 pro or skyline 2 pro, which needs a lot of play to break in the rubber. I jumped in my car and went to my friend�s house and did some drill, here is the result: Service: very spinning serve, top spin and under spin serve were quite good, good serve feel due to black sponge. Push: short push, long push and fast push quite good, good spin, lots of control. Loop Drive: good speed and spin, faster than Hurricane 3 pro, same speed as Skyline 2 pro with good control, rubber provided medium arc, good control. Still provide good speed about 5 feet back from the table. Slow loop: easy to lift a heavy under spin from my friend�s chop. He is defense player. Flip: good and easy to flip the ball. Block: even rubber is very grippy but didn�t affect much of the incoming spin like other tacky rubber, block is good. Counter Loop: Good control on counter loop. Sound: good click sound. Conclusion: I am very pleased with this rubber�s performance. Quite good for China made rubber and this might be a reason for me to go back to using Chinese rubber. Day 2: Same result as day 1, rubber was perform very well. Easy to used. Did some more smash today: ball was fly very straight forward with good control. Could not find any negative on this rubber yet. Will update again tomorrow. Day 3:The rubber was losing some of it shine but still performed very well. I did replaced BH rubber from Friendship 820-40 to Gambler Wraith. I noticed that the blade weight is now 15-20 grams more than its original setup. The ball speed increased a little bit. The control is great and the feeling is fantastic.
As I promised to Mr. Alex. I will remove the tune on the back of the rubber and try it with out it tuned. I will post some reviews in the next couple of days.
BW2 National Untuned review:
I removed the tune last night, and glued the rubber back on to my W7 , and let it sit over night for the rubber to return to its original state (untuned). Here is the result after playing tonight. The rubber felt harder without the tune, it still has a good sound but more sharpper. The spin is still good but the speed was reduced a little bit. The BW2 is similar to the H3 pro. The hard hit and topspin is still good.
The tune that Alex put on the rubber really works. The rubber provided some speed but the thing that i liked the most is the feel and sound of the rubber. The tuner made the rubber feel softer and sound better.
The BW2 National Tuned and Untuned comparison:
Speed: Tuned is faster because the bond acts like you have a thicker sponge compared to no tune
Spin: I would say it is the same
Sound: They both loud, but the tune provided the warm sound, the non-tune is more like a crack sound which i don't like very much
Feel: The tune felt much better, the ball strike feedback felt fantastic. Non-tune felt a little hard
Control: BW2 has very good control, even flat hit. I could hit the ball to both table corner with confident.
Summary: BW2 National is a good rubber, easy to used and it provided good speed and spin, control is great. Nothing could go wrong with these rubber. |
||
729 FX
Silver Member Joined: 03/16/2009 Location: Malaysia Status: Offline Points: 619 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I think China rubber is getting better to catch up with their Japanese and European counterparts.
|
||
anubhav1984
Gold Member Joined: 05/08/2009 Location: Snoqualmie, WA Status: Offline Points: 1214 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Alex, can you please tell me how you tuned the sponge of this BW2? I am interested in knowing the secret behind your tuning process!
|
||
Butterfly Viscaria FL
FH - Undecided BH - Undecided |
||
Skyline
Premier Member Joined: 07/01/2007 Status: Offline Points: 3864 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I used the BW2 Factory Tuned(on a Clipper WRB) for the first time yesterday. The topsheet is very grippy and the sponge is medium hard. The rubber has a tenergy like spring effect. The topsheet spin is very good, but the mechanical spin was not great because the sponge is still a little stiff (it needs to loosen up quite a bit more). It does play like a chinese rubber, it's sensitive to incoming spin, meaning that you need to close the blade more when blocking and need to adjust the racket angle when recieving serves, and also ofcourse in the shortgame. Serves are very spinny. Loops have a strong catapult effect with great spin.Blocking was good as long as I closed the racket angle. On flat hits it feels firm and powerful, but I noticed when I hit at full speed the ball was floating a little, and it's ofcourse sensitive to incoming spin a lot more than rubbers like Boost TP and Outlaw, but that's normal for a chinese rubber. The shortgame is fine, I had to adjust my racket angle though. Recieving spinny serves is a little trickier with this one as the spin really bites, but again after adjusting it was ok. Compared to the Hurricane 2 Blue sponge it definitely feels springier and more powerful, compared to H3 Tuned by TTrubberman I guess the speed is quite similar but the the catapult effect is even stronger. I quite like this rubber, and after some adjustments I was able to play pretty well with it. Oh I forgot to mention that my combo clipper+BW2+Boost TP was a lot quicker than my practice mates combo persson power play v1+T25+Boost TP.
|
||
alexli
Administrator Joined: 01/25/2003 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 1467 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
There is not secret. I use the Haifu Water Solubility Bond and applied it about 10 layers on the sponge. Dry it with hairdryer on each layer. |
||
anubhav1984
Gold Member Joined: 05/08/2009 Location: Snoqualmie, WA Status: Offline Points: 1214 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Haifu Shark II Factory Tuned Review
I had a play with this rubber today and i am going to pen down my findings here. Note:- I used a normal VOC based glue to stick the rubber to my blade. I applied one very very thin coat on the blade and a very thin layer on the rubber. The glue that i use has a pretty strong hold, hence the smaller quantity. The rubber was marked 35 degree (laser etched onto the sponge) and it really felt soft. Blade Used:- I used a Galaxy K-5 (supposedly a BTY Viscaria Clone) to test this rubber. Initial Impression:- I started hitting with this rubber and immediately noticed that it was really very soft as compared to the 39 degree BW2 that i have. It felt more like a Euro/Jap sponge to me. Infact, i have been told that Haifu actually uses Japanese Sponge for their rubbers, hence their high costs. So i guess the feel justifies it all for me. The rubber had a pleasing TENSOR like sound. I have a friend of mine who plays with Donic Coppa JO Gold and the sound of this rubber was nearly as loud as JO Gold. This might be due to the tuning layer on the sponge too. I would only come to know of the source of sound once i take this rubber off my current blade and put it on some other blade. For now, i can only say that it has a very very pleasent sound. It does not make annoying sounds like the BW2. The BW2 goes CHIT CHIT CHIT and this one goes CHAT CHAT CHAT.I really don't know how to describe the difference more effectvely. In simpler terms, you can hear the sound of a Tensor from it. Speed:- The ball sinks into the sponge very nicely and it lets you feel the ball longer. However, the disappointing part of the story is that it is not as fast as a Tensor at all. I know that it is not fair to compare a chinese rubber with a Tensor, but the kind of expectations the look and feel of this rubber had given me, I had to compare it to a Tensor. Infact, it is not even close to Outlaw's speed for that matter. I know that outlaw is damn fast and i should keep it out of discussion here; but i personally feel that JO Gold and Platin are faster than Outlaw. I expected a lot more speed from Shark II. Somehow, i feel disappointed in the speed but i guess the other factors, namely the feel of the ball, might compensate for that for some people. Spin:- Nothing out of the league like BW2. The spin on Shark II is moderate. It can be compared to the likes of Sriver and Mark V, but its just a bit better than those classical rubbers. Control:- Here comes the really nice part of this rubber. Amazing control while blocking hard topspins from your opponent. The soft sponge gives you appropriate amount of feel of the ball and the control is at par with rubbers like Donic Sonex JP Gold, JO Gold and the other good control Tensor range. This is one quality that i like in a rubber very much. Nothing goes out of the table while blocking. The speed on blocks is also pretty nice. Short Game:- This rubber gives you a better short game than Mark V and Sriver because of the fact that it does not react all that much to the incoming spin. I know its strange, but its true. It does not make sense to me too. For such a soft sponge and grippy topsheet the short game should not have been this good. But then again, the fact is, that it really is better than those two classics in this aspect. It lets you place the ball where you want it to be. Flips:- Not so easy to flip anything from it from the forehand as compared to BW2. But again much better than an ordinary Mark V. Comparable to Sriver EL here. Service:- Serves better than Mark V and Sriver family. Has a tad bit more spin on the serves and it makes it a bit more difficult for the opponent to return your serves as compared to serves from Mark V and Sriver. However, the spin on serves is no where close to the amount of spin a BW2 can generate. Someone who is used to serving with BW2 will have to adjust his serving stroke to keep the ball low. The rubber is very bouncy and hence the serves tend to stay on a bit higher. It needs a little amount of practice to serve low with this rubber. But then again, that is the case with most of your Euro/Jap rubbers. Ability to loop underspin balls:- Not as good as BW2. I would say it is just about decent in this department. Throw Angle:- Medium to Low. This rubber does not have as high throw angle as BW2. But on the other hand, it's throw angle is definitely higher than Mark V and Sriver. This is the reason why it is better than the likes of Mark V and Sriver in looping underspin balls. Ability to counterloop:- This is where this rubber excels. I guess this is the best factor in this rubber. You can counterloop from mid distance with ease with this rubber. I really feel that this is more of a linear rubber. The more effort you put into this rubber, the more speed it generates. Unlike the tensors which give you hell of a lot of speed at the most compact of strokes, this rubber gives you what you put into it. With counterlooping the rubber is great because it picks up the speed on the incoming ball and translates it into return speed. It does not lack power from mid distance too. Great for counterlooping i would say! Here is a short comparision compilation of this rubber compared to other commonly known rubbers:- Speed:- Donic JO Gold >> BW2 > Shark II (Factory Tuned) > Sriver EL > Mark V Spin:- BW2 > Donic JO Gold > Shark II (Factory Tuned) > Sriver EL > Mark V Control:- BW2 > Donic JO Gold = Shark II (almost equal here) > Mark V > Sriver EL For most of the testing time I had put this rubber on my FH only. Then i changed it to backhand to see how it behaves there. I would still take another session to identify its true colors before posting anything about it on the Backhand. I will write another review of it once i am done playing with it on the BH. If anyone wants any specific comparision of this rubber to any of the other rubbers (mentioned below), please let me know. The rubber that i have played with are mentioned below:- Gambler Six Shooter, Gambler Outlaw, Dawei IQUL, Donic JO Gold, Donic JO Platin, Donic Sonex JP Gold,Sriver EL, Sriver Fx, GKI Euro Chelonz, GKI Euro Jumbo, Mark V, Mark V AD, Mark V M2, Haifu BW2 (Untuned), H3 Commercial, Palio CJ8000 Biotech 36-38 deg, Nittaku PF4, Stag Explosive, Stag Thunderspin. Overall Final ratings of this rubber:- (assuming speed of Coppa JO Platin to be 10, Spin of BW2 to be 10 and Control of Sonex JP Gold to be 10) Speed:- 8.6 Spin:- 8.5 Control:- 9.4 |
||
Butterfly Viscaria FL
FH - Undecided BH - Undecided |
||
anubhav1984
Gold Member Joined: 05/08/2009 Location: Snoqualmie, WA Status: Offline Points: 1214 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
One thing which really confused me about this rubber is why people instantly compare it with Sriver.
I really did not find any great resemblances between the two except for those mentioned. I really feel that my Shark II is better than Sriver (not speed glued). But when it comes to Sriver FX (speed glued), it definitely outperforms a hell of a lot of rubbers that are available today. But let's not go the speed glue way. Finally, i would like to say that this rubber is definitely better than unglued Sriver and is definitely different than Sriver family of rubbers. The topsheet is softer than Sriver. Overall it is a better option. |
||
Butterfly Viscaria FL
FH - Undecided BH - Undecided |
||
sadius
Silver Member Joined: 06/17/2006 Status: Offline Points: 667 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Update day 2 for BW2 National.
|
||
729 FX
Silver Member Joined: 03/16/2009 Location: Malaysia Status: Offline Points: 619 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Good review guys.
|
||
silverhair
Gold Member Joined: 07/13/2009 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1452 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
+1 |
||
chris.b40
Platinum Member Joined: 03/12/2009 Status: Offline Points: 2505 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
this is another interesting perspective , notes taken.
|
||
AVALOX BLUE THUNDER
|
||
anubhav1984
Gold Member Joined: 05/08/2009 Location: Snoqualmie, WA Status: Offline Points: 1214 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
May i ask, which review are you talking about?
|
||
Butterfly Viscaria FL
FH - Undecided BH - Undecided |
||
chris.b40
Platinum Member Joined: 03/12/2009 Status: Offline Points: 2505 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Haifu Shark II Factory Tuned Review written by anubhav1984
|
||
AVALOX BLUE THUNDER
|
||
JimT
Premier Member Joined: 10/26/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 14602 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I got my BW2 Tuned on the blade today. Weighed it before cutting - the uncut sheet of Red 38 deg rubber is 75 g. That means that density is (with 16.5 x 16.7 cm dimensions) therefore around 0.27 g/sq.cm which is in line with the previous measurements made by other people.
That's pretty heavy, guys! Anyway - the actual review will follow shortly. |
||
Single Ply Hinoki Club, Founding Member
Say "no!" to expensive table tennis equipment. Please... |
||
anubhav1984
Gold Member Joined: 05/08/2009 Location: Snoqualmie, WA Status: Offline Points: 1214 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
chris.b40:- How do you feel about the review? Do you find it appropriate? Have you tested Shark II anytime before? If yes, what were your findings?
Just curious to know if i can actually be helpful to you guys like you all have been to me!!!! |
||
Butterfly Viscaria FL
FH - Undecided BH - Undecided |
||
beginner90
Member Joined: 08/26/2009 Status: Offline Points: 5 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
good review
|
||
sadius
Silver Member Joined: 06/17/2006 Status: Offline Points: 667 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Update for day 3 for BW2 National. Still like it very much
|
||
nicefrog
Platinum Member Joined: 06/12/2008 Status: Offline Points: 2398 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I'm a little/lot worried about this, does BW2 have "H3 effect" where you get hard hit loops floating straight and long?, I'd be pretty dissapointed in it if it's like that. I didn't get a sheet for testing however I was going to buy one to play with next season, but if it's like H3 in that aspect I wouldn't be able to play it |
||
|
||
chris.b40
Platinum Member Joined: 03/12/2009 Status: Offline Points: 2505 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
anubhav1984 I never tested the shark line of Haifu rubbers . Your review was professionally outlined and nicely put together.As a matter of fact I would like to read your findings on BW 3.....Thanks
|
||
AVALOX BLUE THUNDER
|
||
anubhav1984
Gold Member Joined: 05/08/2009 Location: Snoqualmie, WA Status: Offline Points: 1214 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
chris.b40 :- Thanks a lot! I don't have a sheet of BW3 to test and neither do I have the kind of money to test it! But i have written an extensive review about BW2 sometime ago. You can search for it on this forum! It was framed in the similar way as i framed the Shark II review.
BTW, i see BW3 in your signature. Can you share your thoughts about it? And any direct comparisions to its predecessor, the BW2?
|
||
Butterfly Viscaria FL
FH - Undecided BH - Undecided |
||
tpgh2k
Platinum Member Joined: 09/14/2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2103 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
that's the problem i had with h3!!! but with bw2 as long as you can get on top of the ball it will stay on the table. no matter how hard you hit. jeff saw how the loops were when i hit hard. he said that they fly straight then drops like a rock on the table. so i think that bw2 will not have any problems in that regard. plus i have my sheet here too (bought). |
||
www.youtube.com/gsutabletennis
Timo Boll Spirit FL H3 Blue Sponge Black FH Tenergy 64 Red BH |
||
sadius
Silver Member Joined: 06/17/2006 Status: Offline Points: 667 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
The BW2 national that I am using now is very good for hard hit. The ball just go straight down to the table corner with out any floating like H3 pro or Skyline pro that I used before. |
||
nicefrog
Platinum Member Joined: 06/12/2008 Status: Offline Points: 2398 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Ok guys that's good to know:!) "H3 Effect" is very bad news :)
|
||
|
||
JRSDallas
Silver Member Joined: 09/03/2005 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 585 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I have updated my original review above to include initial impressions of Shark II.
I have not yet gone through and made notes on how Shark II or Whale II perform on specific shots such as flips, pushes, etcetera but I will try to get to that. Right now my reviews are reporting my observations with respect to my playing style � forehand loop and drive, backhand opening loop, counter and block. |
||
Galaxy T1 89 gm
FH: HRT Huaruite Wujilong 2 - Dragon 2 II, Max, Black Donic Acuda S2, Max, Red |
||
sadius
Silver Member Joined: 06/17/2006 Status: Offline Points: 667 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I have review with BW2 national untuned version
|
||
beeray1
Premier Member Joined: 07/03/2008 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 5169 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
don't worry nicefrog. But I would recommend to you the 39-41 hardness. I have played 41 to success. If you hit as hard as I think you do, You'll like it. I'm currently playing with 39, but not as satisfied. I think 40 is where I want to be.
this rubber is excellent at heavy low straight arm loop kills over the table, even when you brush it.
|
||
Skyline
Premier Member Joined: 07/01/2007 Status: Offline Points: 3864 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
this was when flat hitting at full speed, not when looping.
|
||
JimT
Premier Member Joined: 10/26/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 14602 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Here is my first impressions from Haifu BW II Tuned. Played today for about 20 minutes with it.
1. First of all, a very pronounced click - on par with the old SG-tuned rubbers. I am not sure if I care about that at all, but some people like that. 2. Not as tacky as I was led to believe. Mild tackiness, I think... hopefully it will last. 3. I do not see a huge improvement in serve spinniness and/or deception. Some, but not huge. 4. On my soft blade (729 V-6) it feels a bit too soft as a combo (38 degs feels more like 35-36 degs Sriver) - as a result the FH topspins are good and spinny but not too powerful. But I suspect that this will be remedied when I move BW II to a faster stiffer blade. I plan to put it on my Galaxy T-4 next (let's see if I end up losing too much control). But first I want to do another practice, wait till it fully settles then I will write here some more. 5. Good in blocking, no dead feeling. 6. Very good control in short game, at least on par with the previous rubbers I tried such as Gambler Aces Pro, LKT Rapid Speed. Might get better after I play more. 7. Throw angle is about the same as the rubbers I mentioned above - I liked that. On the other side I have 729-08 (making this combo on the heavier side) and that rubber's throw is certainly higher (for those who would want a comparison here) So far tests nicely, except for the overall "too soft and a bit too heavy" feel... |
||
Single Ply Hinoki Club, Founding Member
Say "no!" to expensive table tennis equipment. Please... |
||
Post Reply | Page <12345 7> |
Tweet
|
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
Forum Home | Go to the Forums | Forum Help | Disclaimer
MyTableTennis.NET is the trading name of Alex Table Tennis Ltd. |