Yinhe Big Dipper - Review

vic#74 wrote: May be it's a rubber for an all wood blades. Who knows...may be booster will do the job....

I didn't want to try booster, I didn't want to make it softer lol
In fact, I want to wait for factory booster to wear out :p

Got a 39 degree black from taobao and it is pretty decent for a Chinese rubber. It got kick and all. Easy to play slow and fast brush and drive. And I particularly like the glue sheet pre attached to the sponge. I just stick it on the blade and cut without the need to mess with glue and worry about any rubber expansion or shrink after removal. Also it is one easy rubber to cut clean and all ready for play in just a minute or 2. It makes a lovely click and glue effect. Not bad for the price.

BTW does all BD come with this pre attached glue sheet? I did not hear anyone mention it so I wonder if all BD is the same. I think it is a really nice touch and I love it 100%.



Edited by TurboZ - 10/29/2014 at 8:00am

Good to know Andy. Thanks.

I have not use any glue on both blade and rubber but it seems to stick pretty well on the problematic Stiga NCT surface. I have used heavy glue and slight sanding before but rubber still come off several times so I am very happy with this Yinhe approach.

Vic - I wonder what you actually got then? An untuned version? Prototype?

Did it come in the white, stiff card packaging?

AndySmith wrote: Vic - I wonder what you actually got then? An untuned version? Prototype? Did it come in the white, stiff card packaging?

OK, so I tried a 40deg red Big Dipper last night. I really, really love BD 38, but it does feel unpredictable sometimes. Passive play is great, active play is fast and dangerous, but the bit in the middle can be difficult to judge due to the elastic response. Every so often I misread the incoming speed and the result is a bit wild.

So I went for the 40deg in red. I'd have got a black one, but eaching were out of stock. It's quite a lot harder. I understand what people are saying about BD feeling softer than H3N at the same hardness rating, but this is still pretty hard overall IMO. Being porous, the sponge just doesn't have the same solid feel as H3, which for me is a plus. Makes it hard to compare the two directly though.

Anyhoo, back to the subject. The 40deg is more linear, less bouncy, lower arc on big shots. It has more of the "classic" (ha!) hard Chinese sponged rubber feel - hard hits give that crunchy, cracking feel you might be familiar with. It feels far more stable on brushing strokes, and spin is REALLY high here too (nice to have a fresh sheet). Hitting and blocking are easy to judge but need some effort from the user to be truly threatening.

For me, the main point is the arc and the style of play. Compared to the 38, the 40 deg one plays linear but lower arc - more like a slightly boosted but traditional Chinese rubber. So obviously suits close-up play more IMO. As much as this is expected behaviour, I do miss the feeling I get with the 38deg where everything clicks together on big loops and the arc is higher. I'm probably more steady and efficient with the 40deg, and make fewer mistakes. But it's more boring and I'll probably miss the slightly more wild child, unshaven armpits nature of the 38deg.

I did have a 39deg in black too, but another player was keen to give it a try and nabbed it. Bah. That might be the ideal compromise.

Edited by AndySmith - 11/04/2014 at 8:02am

can anyone compare big dipper with saturn and moon , I currently have moon on my t-11+ i need to generate more spin ...

As far as i know T88 is one of the heaviest rubbers? for t 11 weight is very sensitive.. I am also curious how big dipper is compared to saturn

I had a league match last night, and I went in with the 40deg BD. I did OK, but I just wasn't comfortable with it. After the first match I switched back to the 38 and all was good with the world. I'll probably just stick to the 38 now.

Thinking about the hybrid-type feeling of BD...I tend to prefer medium/soft eurojap rubbers. I remember really loving the feel of Bluefire M3 on my FH, for example, which isn't a universal opinion. In a way, my experience with BD 38 reminds me a lot of how I felt about M3. Some would say it's too soft for FH use, but it works really well for me so I'm through second guessing it now.

yohan wrote: As far as i know T88 is one of the heaviest rubbers? for t 11 weight is very sensitive.. I am also curious how big dipper is compared to saturn

I'm sticking with my 38deg for now on the FH side. Loads of performance for the money.

1. The topsheet suffers visible wear quite quickly. It has lost a *bit* of surface tack, but remains incredibly grippy.

2. I'm not sure about the tuning. It still feels as fast as it ever has to me.

I'm going to keep this sheet on until xmas (half way point of my season) and then replace with a fresh sheet.

Edited by AndySmith - 11/10/2014 at 9:55am

Yinhe Big Dipper one day sale for $11 per sheet (50% off):
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Yinhe-Galaxy-Big-Dipper-Max-Tense-Tacky-Pips-In-Table-Tennis-Rubber-With-Sponge-black/2052869383.html

Same vendor also has the Yinhe 40+ seamless balls on sale $12.25 box of 12 (50% off):
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/12x-YINHE-3-Stars-3-Stars-New-Materials-40-Pingpong-Balls-White/1032072_2052825570.html 

Had another training with Big Dipper but now tuned with two layers of Falco Long. I tend to keep my first opinion - crappy Chinese rubber. Nothing special even for the price. Very good for serving though. AWFUL for driving and especially for blocking on FH side. Sorry to be alone against all others. Good luck with it, I'm getting off this train.

rusttt wrote: I tried it out on the FH side of a custom Leidy 5 ply.  I found it easy to use for any active shot.  Generally the only adjustment I had to make was taking a bigger swing at everything due to the less bouncy sponge compared to tensors.  Passive shots were so much slower than Rhyzm that I lost a lot of points short or in the net until I started to push it harder. Compared strictly to other Chinese rubbers, it reminded me of TG2 NEO with a bit higher throw.  I'll stick with Rhyzm for my FH but I definitely think this is a fun all around rubber.

I think this will be the general impression people will get with this rubber. Coming from tensors, it will feel slow. Coming from untuned Chinese rubbers, it will feel more lively and less stable. It won't suit everyone, but for those who want something in the middle of both camps, it works.