Gewo Nanoflex/Hype testing and giveaway - CLOSED

A couple of months ago, Tabletennis11.com sent me a sheet of Gewo’s Nanoflex FT48 to use in forum testing. I was very impressed by its playing characteristics (review), and intrigued because I hadn’t heard of this brand prior to the test. After reading up a little bit, I found that Gewo has two high-end series, the Nanoflex and the Hype series. Tabletennis11.com has been gracious enough to forward all sheets from both series for forum testing. You only need to pay for the postage (in order to send the rubber to the next tester on the list). All of the rubbers are available in 2.1 mm thickness but come in different colors.

Black rubbers: Nanoflex 40, Hype 47.5, and Hype 42.5.

Red rubbers: Nanoflex 45 and Hype 40.

Incidentally, pingpongdepot.com sent me two sheets from the Hype series (47.5 2.1 mm red & 42.5 2.1 mm black). I have made the executive decision to award these rubbers to the two best reviews.

Please send me a PM if you are interested in testing any of these rubbers. This test will be restricted to US- and Canada-based members to minimize costs and mailing delays. Mailing lists are posted below.

Conditions for testing: 1) post an honest a review on this thread within a week of receiving the test rubbers, including a brief description of your playing style, regular setup and (estimated) USATT rating to provide contextual background for your review; specify the rubber that you are testing as a headline in bold font, 2) keep your testing below 2.5 hours in order to allow as many forum members as possible to test the rubbers in near-new conditions, 3) you shall not boost the rubbers, 4) use only easily-removable non-VOC glue to attach the rubbers (i.e., no vulcanization liquid, speed glue, or Elmer’s rubber cement, 5) after complete testing, please wrap the rubbers using stretch-tite or plastic wrap to preserve the quality of the top sheet, and send it to the next person on the list (or to me, if you were the last one on the list).

Thank you to tabletennis11.com for once again supporting this forum and making these rubbers available to us. A shout-out to pingpongdepot.com as well. 

___________________________

LIST OF TESTERS

 

Nanoflex FT 45

patrickhrdlicka – done

ndotson - done

slevin - done

bptse - done

<<<TEST OF RUBBER HAS CONCLUDED>>>

 

Nanoflex FT 40

patrickhrdlicka – done

bptse - done

ndotson - done 

<<<TEST OF RUBBER HAS CONCLUDED>>>

 

Hype EL Pro 47.5

patrickhrdlicka – done

ndotson - done

slevin - done

<<<TEST OF RUBBER HAS CONCLUDED>>>

 

Hype EL Pro 42.5

patrickhrdlicka – done

ndotson – done

bptse – done

<<<TEST OF RUBBER HAS CONCLUDED>>>

 

Hype EL Pro 40

patrickhrdlicka – done

ndotson – done 

bptse – done

<<<TEST OF RUBBER HAS CONCLUDED>>>

Edited by patrickhrdlicka - 05/08/2016 at 11:12pm

Review: Hype EL Pro series.

Marketing: Gewo describes the Hype EL Pro series in the following manner: “This "Made in Germany" high-tech product meets all the criteria demanded of an excellent a rubber for the modern game: i) When top-spinning, the GEWO Hype EL Pro is incredibly dynamic with an extremely high arc. ii) The EL- sponge (Elastic Rubber), is specially designed for GEWO, it provides impressive feeling when hitting the ball during the fastest of rallies. iii) The DGC40+ (Dynamic-Grip-Concept) ensures a consistent, reliable contact with the ball, preventing any "skidding" with the new poly ball.

Click on the following links for more marketing material and technical stats for the 47.5, 42.5, and 40 version.

Initial inspection of the rubbers: All rubbers were tested in 2.1 mm thickness. The 47.5 and 42.5 versions were provided in black, while the 40 was a red sheet. The uncut rubbers weigh 74 (47.5), 68 (42.5) and 67 (40.0) grams respectively. All of the rubbers smell very ‘rubbery’ but are completely devoid of any doming. Gewo uses the same matte, non-tacky, yet seemingly grippy topsheet on all three rubbers (they have the same ITTF identification number), which seems very robust. The 47.5, 42.5 and 40.0 sponges are orange, white, and yellow, respectively, and have small pores. The sponge of the 47.5 version feels very firm, even firmer than the Rasant Powergrip. Similarly, the 42.5 and 40 versions also felt ~2.5 degrees harder than their labels. My guess is that the topsheet is firmer than in most of the recent ESN rubbers.

Edited by patrickhrdlicka - 05/24/2016 at 4:16pm

The Nanoflex series is really great !!!

Review: Gewo Nanoflex FT series

Impressed by the Gewo’s Nanoflex FT48, I was looking forward to test the softer variants of this series, i.e., the FT45 and FT40.

Marketing. Gewo describes the Nanoflex series in the following manner; “The innovative revolution of nanoFLEX is the new development with the wow effect. It is a premium rubber with the latest high state-of-the-art technology. Players at all levels have participated during the development and testing of this rubber. GEWO technicians have created a new innovative high tech rubber series with nanoFLEX, a geometry adapted pimple structure.” Click on the following links for more marketing material and technical stats for the FT45 and FT40.

Initial inspection of the rubbers: The two rubbers were tested in 2.1 mm thickness; FT45 was supplied as a red sheet, while the FT40 was a black sheet. The uncut rubbers weigh 72 (FT45), and 67 (FT40). There is a hint of booster smell, yet the rubbers don’t dome. Gewo uses the same matte, non-tacky topsheet on this series (they have the same ITTF identification number). Visually, there is little, if any, difference in the topsheets of the Hype and Nanoflex series. The FT45 and FT40 sponges are cream-colored and yellow, respectively, and have medium-large pores. The hardness of the rubbers is in agreement with the labels. 

Edited by patrickhrdlicka - 05/24/2016 at 4:18pm

The reviews are mostly real there. The ratings are fake / made-up / manipulated.

Review: Comparison of Gewo NanoFlex FT48 & Gewo Hype EL Pro47.5

Gewo NanoFlex FT48

FT48 right out of the gate looked very promising. It has a booster smell but not the window opening level of MX-P. While comparing their sponges the pore structure looks and feels very similar upon touch. Even the top sheets seem the same with the small grainy-very “grippy” feel. The overall hardness is slightly softer than MX-S and maybe the same as MX-P. I decided to put it on my Photino to compare it with the MX-S that was already on there. I’ve been using this setup for well over a month now.

Catapult (bounciness) wise it is nowhere near MX-P. It does have a good spring and elastic nature but it is so much more easy to control from start than MX-P. I’d say speed wise it’s somewhere in between the two and closer to MX-S. Just like MX-S it plays very well close or mid distance, has decent power further back, and can drive through backspin easily. I believe you have a bit of a margin of error for your stroke due to it’s grip. It has a nice kick off the table during active blocks when I added sidespin or when I fish. Once I open up and start FH or BH driving the ball around net high I can feel how easy it is to strike and guide the ball. All the components of the grip and sponge work to provide a very solid controlled feel with sort of a snapping/clicking sound. Topspin is excellent while driving or brushing the ball full swing. It’s very easy to get my wrist involved on the FH. The ball has a medium to medium high throw with a nice late dive. Balls that I feel could go past the table dive and landed safely during topspin exchanges.

On the backhand my loops have an above average top and sidespin with a nice solid striking feel. Again it is easy to grab the ball as it drops down below the table and arch it back over with a nice amount of side topspin. I do like the MX-S a bit more on the backhand because the hitting feel is more solid and it’s a bit easier to counter backspin to that side with MX-S. Over the table pushing and playing the touch shots are easy. Flat hitting excels as well as flicks and punches. Banana flicks could be executed below the net over mid table with lots of spin and speed.

Serving is above average. I could do short side/backspin serves with lots of rotation. Applying backspin seemed to be very easy with above average spin.

All in all it’s a great FH rubber that I could see using it on the backhand as well. It excels in active blocking, counter topspins and playing a relentless topspin game to try to overpower your opponent. It is much easier to play with than MX-P because it tones the catapult down very much but still maintains good high and medium gears. But I think MX-P is better for flat hitting. In another review I read it was compared to P7. Having played P7 a limited amount of time now I’d say it is a much more controllable rubber and feels less bouncy but has less spin on full loops away from the table. What stands out the most is the ease, control and feedback with how it plays that makes this rubber a good FH choice.

Gewo Hype EL Pro 47.5 (Note: This is my own sheet of Hype, not the test version.)

The pips of the rubber are noticeably taller and larger on the Hype compared to Nanoflex 48. It has a very hard sponge similar to NF48 with smaller pores. I put the rubber on the Photino with two thin layers of Rev3 and played 3 one hour sessions in which I wrote notes after each. First off I didn’t really feel any more of a catapult or bouncy effect compared to the NF but the rubber does feel much more solid than NF when the ball strikes the sponge. A bit like how MX-S feels. Forgive me on any redundancies during the sessions.

Session 1

During match play I immediately saw it’s spin potential on the first serve. On a back/sidespin serve the ball seemed to break trajectory and jumped to the side right off the bounce more than any serve I’ve done and my usual opponent completely whiffed/missed the serve. I didn’t replicate it again but my opponent said there was a lot of spin on pushes and chops. On rallies I felt like it took a bit of an adjustment to open up my FH drives and loops. I hit quite a few into the net at first. Compared to the NF the throw angle seems lower and it didn’t seem as fast except during high gear. I had to adjust my loop drives to get the ball over the net. Slow loops seemed to be below average on spin but blocking was very good as was hitting through backspin. Using the Hype on the BH seemed like a better option. Hitting through the ball felt smooth, very solid, and very good. BH blocking was easy as well as banana flicks and loops. I was able to stand 3 to four feet away and easily topspin rally with my backhand. Over all it was a rubber I felt has potential but I would have to spend some time with it. I didn’t like Rasant Powergrip until I moved it to my Calix 2. I didn’t like MX-P until my third or 4^th session. When I say I don’t like something it’s generally because it’s harder to control and land shots I feel I would normally hit with more consistency. There seems to be some very good spin potential with this rubber which is always good if the control is there. Speed didn’t really stand out although it seemed to have enough power about 4 feet away without me having to swing my arm any faster.

Session 2

Today I felt like the rubber was very much more controllable. Starting out on the FH I was able to do all the serves I enjoy and backspin was very good. I got my opponent to bite on a few resulting in a net ball. FH loops and loop drives were much easier than yesterday and I could swing full speed. Again being a new sheet of rubber, it doesn’t feel overly “bouncy” like some ESN’s when they are new (MXP, P7, Rasant PG, Bluefire) except on high gear. My Nanoflex doesn’t really have much either but this rubber seems more subdued to me. You also don’t feel the ball grip into the rubber like I do the NanoFlex where I feel the NF gives great feel on FH drives. But non the less I was satisfied and would say it played good for FH attacks and active blocking and the speed is about the same if ever so slightly faster than NF. Topspin was good. I felt like the Hype stood out once again on the BH. Very easy to block, drive, or topspin; very easy to impart top/sidespin on reverse penhold BH strokes, and banana flicks were very powerful. This rubber handles very quick motions like punching and flat hitting as well.

Session 3

Today the rubber felt like it was firing on all cylinders. Starting out on the FH my active blocking of my opponents topspin loops had really good feel with a nice low arch trajectory. Backing away from the table I could counter his topspin drives with my own winners. I could drive smash backspin good and flat hitting was good. On the BH blocking and looping worked really well. I was hitting some low trajectory loops right at table height that I felt I could with my more “flexy” Calix with Rising Dragon on the BH.

Moving the Hype to my faster Adidas Radix Ultimate (If I gave the Ultimate a speed rating of 9.5/9.6, Photino would be about a 9.2)

I’ve been using the Hype on my Backhand and a new sheet of MX-S on the FH for several sessions with much satisfaction. I can attack and loop very well at close range and a couple of feet away. The high spin on loops give a huge left to right trajectory about medium low height. It has a similar feel to MX-S when smashing the ball. Maybe a lower throw and slightly softer. Serves have a lot of spin. Not as much as a new sheet of MX-S.

Standout differences between Nanoflex FT48 and Hype EL Pro47.5. Speed is close with Hype bringing more top speed on topspin drives. Spin is close but I think Hype brings a bit more except on slow loops. Serving felt like it had heavier spin as well. Feel and control I’d have to give the edge to Nanoflex. It just gives your hand confidence during the stroke. The throw angle again seems to be the biggest difference. Hype is lower but I’d have to give the edge to Hype on faster full strokes and the edge to Nanoflex on slow looping and fishing and net play. I would choose NF for my FH and Hype for my BH. In disclosure my NF 48 has about 30 hours on it compared to my Hype. 

For reference and scale with some other rubbers I have listed this chart in the order of my favorite rubbers the past couple of years. TT db kind of dictated where I started my baseline. For instance I have played with H3 Neo quite a bit and I started and adjusted from there. MX-P is the fastest rubber I’ve tried. The only tenergy I’ve tried is T80. My overall ratings for FH & BH are based off averaging percentages of the main 3 components (speed, spin, control) with multipliers tweaked for what I look for in a BH or FH rubber. They are all very close but I do have my favorites. If I theoretically had to play only one rubber on both sides of the paddle it would be probably be YRD or MX-S because I feel it has great control on both sides for my form but there a few that are pretty equal for different reasons. I’ve loosely logged my hours on a spreadsheet the past couple of years as well. The Gewo Rubbers very surprisingly are good rubbers if I leave out duration and cost. I did also try out Flexxon a while ago and I’d have to say I believe that rubber is pure garbage. I felt like I could spin better with a bare paddle than with Flexxon.

I’m guessing I’m around a 1600 level aggressive/close to the table penhold player that looks to finish with a FH drive/smash or Reverse Backhand flick, smash, or loop. I like Hard to Med/Hard rubbers on both sides. I used to be a traditional one sided short pips penhold player. I play singles and doubles every day except for weekends for at least an hour.  My normal setup is the Calix 2 with MX-P max (FH) and Rising Dragon max (BH). Lately I’ve been enjoying the Photino with Gewo NanoFlex FT48 max on the FH and MX-S max on the BH. Past setups: YEO with Stigga Clippa & Tenergy 80. Juic Kalinic with H3 or H3 Neo

Excellent review! Many thanks bptse.

I have seen Gewo just released the new generation of Hype Pro series: Gewo Hype XT pro 50 & 40. According to the manufacturer, they are:
"The premium product of the GEWO Hype series – ultimate speed in a new dimension! FLEX-TECH technology provides for maximum precision in any attacking situation, while the DGC40+ top sheet guarantees constant and reliable coupling when the bat hits the ball. These groundbreaking technologies are ideal for higher-level players. They are fun-toplay and feature convincing catapult effect, high trajectory thanks to maximum surface tackiness and great power with optimum energy transfer for point-winning topspin rallies. The two-year development focused on high forgivingness without compromise as regards speed, control and spin. Despite all the speed and dynamics of its 50° hard sponge, GEWO Hype XT Pro 50.0 still provides for great control for modern, spinny serve/return play thanks to its tacky surface. Unbelievable control for passive balls, blocking and opening flips thanks to FLEX-TECH sponge/rubber design. Truly a new standard in modern table tennis! "
I guess these are improved version of Hype Pro.

ndotson wrote: ... Overall: I’m a fan of the Nanoflex series. It probably won’t replace T05 for me, but it is a nice alternative. Whenever it’s on sale at Tabletennis11.com, I’ll likely buy a sheet or two.

Edited by Egghead - 04/14/2016 at 8:26pm

Review: Gewo Nanoflex FT 45

Edited by slevin - 04/15/2016 at 11:27am

Stay tuned for tests of the two new Gewo rubbers 

I am happy to announce the winners of the Gewo giveaway.

To be precise, it outplayed MXS on arching loops and away from the table loops. Speed was better too.

After about two months use, these are my impressions of the 42.5 Hype 2.1. I have not tuned it whatsoever and only used VOC to fix it on the blade. It started out as a somewhat stiff rubber and the topsheet felt a little rigid and I had to pay attention to make the rubber grab the ball. This rigidity subsided after about a month and the rubber became pleasantly softer. And this is where it beats Tibhar's MXP which is unpleasant to play after about two months because its topsheet becomes dry and unflexible and only tuning can bring some life back into it. The Hype is still good and reliable. I have hit over 50 hours with the Gewo, removed and glued it back  about 10 times with VOC and it is still good to play. It certainly beats the MXP in terms of durability so far.

As far as technique is concerned, the MXP maybe easier to play for a larger number of people, from intermediate level up but I tend to think that once you have solid strokes and footwork to accompany it, the Gewo 42.5 can be equally efficient or maybe more. Their throw angle is different for sure so the Hype needs a little more attention but it is nothing that you cannot get used to. It rewards a FH that moves forward and not upwards.

For you to be able to position in compared to other rubbers: definitely faster than Acuda S2 (but control is more difficult as it is not as forgiving). In exchange it is spinnier and deadlier even from 3-4 meters off the table. Compared to MXP my impressions is that they are about equally fast but the Gewo requires better technique. Spin: similar but the different arc on the ball may cause you to perceive MXP better in this regard. Actually, loops from the MXP tend to jump up at the opponent by default while from the Hype they tend to fly on in a flatter arc.

For me and my wallet, the Gewo seems to be a better option in the long run.  As the league season is at pause now, I cannot tell you how it performs against tough opponents but I trust it does good.