Yinhe Big Dipper - Review

I told eacheng to carry this rubber 

kucharski wrote: I had used the rubber and observed that after 2-3 weeks of practice the topsheet of the rubber fades.. The tackiness was noticeably lessen..

I've put about 10 hours of use into mine. The topsheet is showing some obvious visual wear, which is pretty quick. However, it seems to only be a cosmetic thing for me at this stage - it still feels as tacky to my finger, and still plays the same. I am using a protector though.

Also - I'm having some really good results with Big Dipper. I absolutely love it.

dual700 wrote: I told eacheng to carry this rubber  They will carry it next week and I will order..

I told Yinhe that no one is carrying they stock
30 mins later they send out a special, where they will send sample rubbers to each store.

Soon more and more stores will carry it

Of the 10 hours use, 2 of those were against the robot, which is more intensive than general play. But even though the topsheet looks worn, it's still tacky in that area. And the grip overall is still huuuuuge.

It just seems to lose the initial glossy shine quickly, and ends up looking worn. I've got no complaints so far - it still performs. My second order of another 2 sheets arrived this morning.

I think this will be one popular rubber...

ttsquared wrote: I've been using the Big Dipper for about a month (given ZA's review). Love the rubber on my FH. I found it generates more spin than 05, with a bit more control. I have a boosted H3 national, which is faster, but I don't have the patience for boosting, so BD is an upgrade IMO - plus it's much cheaper. I also haven't had any wear issues after a month of regular play in matches and with a robot. I do use a protector, though. Incidentally, I ordered two sheets from tt-store.eu (I'm in the US) a month ago and they shipped it promptly, and answered some questions via email - so great service overall. I ordered two more sheets this past week. Frankly, I can't believe this rubber isn't more widely available - stuff would sell like hotcakes. Someone with some clout should get on the horn with Yinhe and tell them to right this wrong.

I guess it's just too new. I hadn't seen or heard anything about it being on the market until Tony's review. It's bound to get a lot of interest once it's available via the usual interweb shops.

That looks like a great setup, by the way...

Can anyone give a comparison to H3 Neo Prov 39deg?

Thanks for the comparison.  Part of me really wants to try it (who doesn't like trying new rubbers?), but part of me worries about the differences.

Doesn't look like http://tt-store.eu has any black left... :(

Anyone know where i can get a sheet in the UK or elsewhere?

ghostzen wrote: Doesn't look like http://tt-store.eu has any black left... :( Anyone know where i can get a sheet in the UK or elsewhere?

If you want, I can look at selling to you from South Africa

Currently SA Post Office is on strike, so only way to get stock out is courier
That may cost a bit though

I ordered the last black one and one red hence my question... Not sure when it will arrive.

tazdevil wrote: Hi Andy, In another thread, you mentioned that you liked DHS H3-50 a lot.  How would you compare Big Dipper to the DHS H3-50?  I felt the sticky topsheet with the soft (I guess bouncy) sponge from H3-50 lacks some punch... taz

Yeah, I think that H3-50 gives H3 a more modern feel. The main problem is the simple lack of speed. It needs a fast blade, or very active stroke, or boosting. If XX does use H3-50 on his BH side, I doubt he uses it in its raw, undoctored form.

BD is quite different. BD's topsheet is thinner, not as tacky, and far more elastic and lively. You have to work H3-50 very hard to make it sing, but BD needs far less effort to use. BD is obviously more bouncy and less linear though.

Oooo, tricky. They are all non-tacky tensors. Making direct comparisons is a bit fiddly.

Hardness - my 38 deg BD has the feel of a medium hardness tensor, so around the P7 mark. Harder than R7Soft, softer than Vega Asia and OVTour. Obviously you can get harder versions of BD (and I would like to try out the 39 and 40 degree versions at some point).

BD has a slower, spinnier short game than any of these tensors for my game, probably due to the tack. Better service spin than these too.

At full speed, BD is probably about as fast as the R7Soft.

Throw is medium-high, along the lines of P7.

The feel is quite different to all of them, but is probably closest to Vega Asia. The main thing to point out is that BD supports both a brushing and a driving style. One of the joys I've found in using it is that when hitting a loop, I can consciously choose to either hit through with the sponge or brush with the topsheet, and you get a good quality ball in either case. This can be difficult for the opponent, because they get different arcs and bounces coming at them with high spin. I think Vega Asia is the only one on that list which can do that kind of thing to some degree, but not to the level of BD.

I don't think Kanaph is similar to Peterpan - Kanaph has carbon and thick hinoki outers. I can't be 100% sure on how BD will work with Kanaph - I haven't used it myself. BD has a bit of an off/on nature (when the sponge is engaged), and hinoki outers can have that feel too, so combining the two may be too much. I would recommend going for a 40 deg BD to tone down the elastic nature of the rubber. But it all comes down to what you're looking for, of course. If you're happy with an elastic response on the FH of the Kanaph, then I'm sure you'd love it! I used to love that kind of feel on the FH of hinoki-outered blades (but I had fits on my BH side, so I've abandoned this type of setup for now).

BaiMile wrote: Andy, can you compare the BD to other YinHe tacky rubbers - Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Appolo - they are all tacky with a bit of jumpy sponge (some type of hybrid rubbers, let's say). Thanks!

Hmmm. The only one of those I've used for any length of time is Mercury. BD is faster and less tacky than Mercury, for sure. I get the feeling that BD won't be as durable as Mercury though.

I did have a 10 minute blast with the original Apollo many years back. Again, BD is faster and less tacky (a LOT less tacky - Apollo was just like flypaper).

My gut feel is that BD is unlike the old Yinhe range. The topsheet is thin and lively, the sponge is porous and tuned. It feels alive in comparison with the old stuff, which had that dead, brick-like feel. The only one close is Moon Pro. BD is like a pumped-up Moon Pro.

AndySmith wrote: Oooo, tricky. They are all non-tacky tensors. Making direct comparisons is a bit fiddly. Hardness - my 38 deg BD has the feel of a medium hardness tensor, so around the P7 mark. Harder than R7Soft, softer than Vega Asia and OVTour. Obviously you can get harder versions of BD (and I would like to try out the 39 and 40 degree versions at some point). BD has a slower, spinnier short game than any of these tensors for my game, probably due to the tack. Better service spin than these too. At full speed, BD is probably about as fast as the R7Soft. Throw is medium-high, along the lines of P7. The feel is quite different to all of them, but is probably closest to Vega Asia. The main thing to point out is that BD supports both a brushing and a driving style. One of the joys I've found in using it is that when hitting a loop, I can consciously choose to either hit through with the sponge or brush with the topsheet, and you get a good quality ball in either case. This can be difficult for the opponent, because they get different arcs and bounces coming at them with high spin. I think Vega Asia is the only one on that list which can do that kind of thing to some degree, but not to the level of BD. I don't think Kanaph is similar to Peterpan - Kanaph has carbon and thick hinoki outers. I can't be 100% sure on how BD will work with Kanaph - I haven't used it myself. BD has a bit of an off/on nature (when the sponge is engaged), and hinoki outers can have that feel too, so combining the two may be too much. I would recommend going for a 40 deg BD to tone down the elastic nature of the rubber. But it all comes down to what you're looking for, of course. If you're happy with an elastic response on the FH of the Kanaph, then I'm sure you'd love it! I used to love that kind of feel on the FH of hinoki-outered blades (but I had fits on my BH side, so I've abandoned this type of setup for now).

Great comparison.

Imo, I think it is silly to compare them to non-tacky tensors, next people will want you to compare them with short pimples lol.

I think the closes thing to non tacky tensors in a BD is that it is more like a Hybrid rubber - have the best of both worlds.

But, for ones who have not used either "side of the world" type of rubbers, one would not know the feeling of BD.

We also need to note, BD is designed for the new ball - hence more quality on speed and spin (compared to previous Yinhe tacky rubbers). We see this with the other "tier 1" brands - new rubbers too.