Yasaka Rakza 7: anyone know about this rubber?

High_Arc wrote: Which one was first? Rakza7 or Blitz? (Btw, is there another 'clone'?)

I would (tentatively) argue that another clone is Donic Acuda S1. I know nothing of Rakza7, but I have played with Acuda S1 and Blit'z. I believe they're all ESN versions of similar products (if not the same, in some cases).

A brief background:

I sent a sheet of Vega Pro to petermoo for him to compare to Acuda S1. He indeed agreed they're similar, but said they're not the same. In hindsight, I can see how he is correct. The top sheets are almost (and possibly) identical, except for the brand stamp, obviously. The sponges are similar but not identical.  Aside from the obvious and trivial differences in color, their densities differ as well as their pores. Petermoo said the Acuda S1 is better in the upper gears, which makes sense to me given it's denser sponge with slightly smaller pores.

Anyway, visual comparison between Hexer and Vega Pro, as well as playing comparison, leads me to believe those two are fairly closely related. In addition, visual comparison between Blit'z and Acuda S1, as well as playing comparison, leads me to believe those two are also closely related. Perhaps Rakza7 is Yasaka's version?

I could be wrong. This is just my opinion based on my limited skills and perceptions. Even so, perhaps my possible wrongness will open the doors for discussion and resolution regarding the similarities/differences of all these ESN rubbers.

If you could go back to post#5 of my link, these are the Chinese text:

左為Rakza7
右為電
兩者的海綿是沒有分別的
而Rakza7比電軟一些

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The rubber on the left is Rakza 7
The right is Blitz
Not much difference between the two sponges
However, the sponge of Rakza 7 is slightly softer

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In post#6:

兩者膠面的磨沙
左為Rakza7
右為電

+++

Both topsheets are 'sand-polished' (I am not sure if sand-polished is the correct word...other native Chinese speaker, help me out here)
Left is Rakza 7
Right is Blitz

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It's made in Germany but Yasaka don't use the TENSOR name on it. Just like Donic and Tibhar, they use other "name" to "their" technology (Formula Donic, SPI..) but all are made by ESN.

Carryboy wrote: Excellent rubber, durable enough but I find it a bit blade dependant. Rakza 7 with a Hinoki top ply is a match made in heaven. I was wondering how long before my fellow forum members caught on to this rubber.

I had a similar experience with Vega Pro on a blade with Hinoki outer ply (Donic Carbo OFF- to be more exact). On this blade Vega Pro behaved like another rubber compared to how it played on YEO or Stiga V1. It had more dwell, more spin and it didn't bottomed out. On YEO it had an erratic behavior and it felt mushy.

Now I'm tempted to try other (cheaper) tensors but I'm not sure how they'll play on non-hinoki blades.


@Anton or somebody else who tried Vega Pro and Blitz: could you please make a comparison between them? (hardness, spin, speed). Thanks.



Edited by Thot - 09/14/2010 at 8:21am

Just thought I'd include my views about this rubber.  I won't go into physical details as that has been thoroughly discussed but I'll just add a few things.  I'm using Rakza 7 Soft Max sponge on a five-ply Hinoki blade.  I've used it for three practice sessions and one tournament.  The sponge has an interesting texture, almost like fine sandpaper.  I'm really not sure if it's a Tensor or not.  I know Yasaka uses the term "Power Tension" for Pryde but the only thing I see on the Rakza 7 package is "Hybrid Energy".  Regardless of labels, Rakza 7 does display some Tensor characteristics.  Nice click on harder shots and very good speed glue effect with regards to spin.

Edited by BeaverMD - 03/24/2011 at 10:58am

somehow i didn't like rakza 7 and have mine for sale. 

Update: tested using a Korbel.  Again, I'm using Rakza 7 Soft version Max thickness.  I am leaning more that this is not a Tensor.  It appears more to be a speed glue effect sponge, which is really very nice by the way, combined with the natural rubber topsheet.  It's nothing at all like Tensors I have used in the past ex. Xiom Omega III Asian.

Edited by BeaverMD - 03/31/2011 at 11:04am

The Paddle Palace just started carrying Rakza 7 and Rakza 7 Soft in 1.8m, 2mm and max thicknesses.   I was thinking of trying it out as a replacement for my old Mark V max.  Do Rakza 7 loops jump out that the opponent like T05 loops do?  If so would this attribute be lost if I went to a thinner 1.8mm Rakza 7 or Rakza 7 soft?   I would be willing to put up with some bottoming out on slams if I can get the extra touchy feely when playing close to the net.  Most of my looping is done aginst relatively slow balls close to the table.

I have used Rakza7, Blitz and Acuda S1.  While they are all made by ESN, they are a little different from each other in terms of pip geometry.

debraj wrote: somehow i didn't like rakza 7 and have mine for sale.  i played vega pro and blitz too.. and many other rubbers. i feel rakzalittle different... with a more lasting grip, but also with some funny irritating non linearity in throw angle. i don't know if it was my blade though... i tried it on Yinhe V-1 only for few hours and then took it off.

koshkin wrote: I have used Rakza7, Blitz and Acuda S1.  While they are all made by ESN, they are a little different from each other in terms of pip geometry. Rakza7, on top of that, also has the hardest topsheet of the three, so it really rewards people who hit hard with a crisper feel than the other two. Blitz has a softer topsheet than Rakza7, but slightly harder sponge so the feel is a little different.  Throw angle of Blitz is lower than Rakza7. Acuda S1 also has a lower throw angle than Rakza7 and, to me, it had less crisp of a feel.  I thought Rakza7 was quite a bit spinnier on big shots and much less prone to bottoming out (both Blitz and S1 tend to bottom out more than I like, so I liked them more on the BH than FH). I ordered Adidas P5 since I heard it has a hard and grippy topsheet similar to Rakza7, but is faster on big shots.  We'll see how it goes. ILya

Rich, regular Rakza 7 is very good on the FH with Korbel.  On the BH, it's still a question mark for me.  But I've only had one session.  As far rolling, I don't do that if the rubber is uncut.  I just flop it on and press down gently.  I will play a couple more sessions and give a review.

I have recently bought:

Rich215 wrote: pnachtwey wrote: I have recently bought: Rakza 7 1.8mm Rakza 7 Soft 1.8mm Rakza 7 Soft max At this time I am not convinced that Rakza 7 isn't a bunch of hype.  I don't think it is that much different from Mark V.  The good thing is that two of the sheets I bought didn't cost anymore than Mark V so that is OK.  I did buy a 3rd sheet for $38. wow, both regular and soft Rakza 7 in 2.0mm are very different to me compared to Mark V 2.0mm.  Mark V is slow/dead-feeling and has less spin in comparison for me.

hey guys
I was searching for Rakza's info and here is very informative, thx for all the posts!
I have a YCA blade with neo skyline 2 on forehand and cj8000 xtreme on back hand, however I am not satisfied with the hardness of both rubbers so I am considering putting regular rakza on forehand and soft rakza on back hand.  Below are my questions:
 1) Since it has softer sponge, the soft rakza supposedly has more control over regular rakza right?
 2) How is the ball feel when performing reverse backhand with rakza soft?
 3) Is it worth trying put rakza rubbers on carbon blade like YCA--the one I have?
Sorry for massive questions and thanks in advance!