Just played with an Air Scirocco SF 2.0 mm (40 degrees) yesterday. It was "gifted" to me by forum member "emihet" because I was hesitant about trying out new Chinese rubbers with Euro/Jap feel after having such disappointments with bubbling Gambler Outlaw and Friendship Battle I lately. I am of those guys that is about 2200 currently, but used to be 200-300 points higher in the distant past, so I still have a loop that is about 2400-2500 level. If a rubber isn't properly glued or fragile (like Gambler Outlaw) I *will* bubble it very quickly. 

In any case, I put the Air Scirocco on my Stiga Allround and battle tested it for about 1.5 hours yesterday. What I already noticed when I cut the rubber to my blade and tried separating the topsheet from the sponge was that there is NO WAY I will be able to ever do that no matter how hard or long I try. This rubber/sponge combination is very solidly glued together...unlike the Friendship Battle I. Also, the pips are rather short, so breakage in the middle (like with Gambler Outlaw) should not be an issue. 

So that was positive! But how does it play? Well, entirely new it's slightly sticky (enough to lift and hold a ball for about a second), but after playing with it for mere minutes the stickiness almost entirely disappears. For the most part it plays like a very god Euro/Jap type of rubber with a slight glue effect built in. Its a very fast rubber so that my combination of a very slow and light (73 grams) Stiga Allround and this rubber creates a combination that can produce 2400+ level loops...full of spin and speed. It's a rather hard rubber comparable to the hardness of Gambler Outlaw when you press on it, but doesn't feel quite as hard in actual play. Very controlled, very spin insensitive, but very capable of creating loads of spin. 

This may finally be the end of the road for me in my search for a chinese made "euro/jap style" rubber...I really prefer the hybrid characteristics (fast and bouncy like Euro/Jap, but spinny and controlled) of these Chinese rubbers over rubbers like Tenergy or Bluefire M1. The price is appealing, too, but that's a minor factor really. 

How come this rubber hasn't taken off all these years? If all Air rubbers are of such quality (ok...the topsheet may not look pretty after playing with it a few times, but who cares about pretty? Still grippy as hell and durable as hell) then Air should be taking off, right? Cole recommended AssassinS to me knowing I loved the characteristics of Gambler Outlaw, but I must say that Air Scirocco is more than a good replacement...it may actually be much better, especially if my suspicion that it won't bubble will become reality. 

At the end of the training session I liked this rubber so much that I specifically drove to where "emihet" lives to pick up another rubber for my backhand. 

I wanted to ask Cole some questions over email but I figured that asking them here is more appropriate as others with similar questions will get their answers and Cole doesn't have to reply to a million identical questions. 

First, it says on your website that you're getting rid of the current batch of Air Scirocco SF to make place for a "reformulated" version that's supposed to be much more sticky/tacky.  Why?? LOL This formulation is great! Just market it better! I'll help spread the word!!  How much more tacky is the new version going to be? Will it be a totally different rubber akin to more traditional tacky Chinese rubbers? Will the current version be available at all afterwards for people like me who like it? 

Second, in case this version of Air Scirocco SF disappears for good, what would be the best Air rubber replacement? AssassinS? Illumina? 

Third...if this version continues being available...how do I continue getting the 40 degree version of it given that you don't seem to be offering it on your website (you offer 38 I believe). I got this from "emihet" here in San Diego, who says he got it from you, so you must have had the 40 degree version at some point. Will you continue stocking 40 degrees in the future *if* you keep the "old" version of Air Scirocco SF around? 

That should do it for now. 

There are just too many similar rubbers in my offerings.  we needed to make something to fit a different niche.   Making a hard, tacky rubber seemed to fill a void in the air offerings.

Alright...if I continue liking the Scirocco (playing again in a few hours) and my current rubbers are too old I'll try Illumina and AssassinS. If their topsheet/sponge glue job is just as good as the Scirocco's then I don't foresee any issues with bubbling. Which one of the two (Illumina/AssassinS) is actually slower/about the same speed as Scirocco? I would prefer the slower rubber actually. 

As for seeing a 2400+ loop in a video (as Skyline asked)...go look at some on youtube and ask yourself if they all look the same and if they actually look the same as some people at that level you have actually seen in person. Plus...the point is that at a certain level you *will* bubble certain badly manufactured rubbers almost immediately, not that my loop is anything extraordinarily special. 

there's still less consistency in the UL sponge hardness's than in the air, esp since air went to red sponge

So, considering pip geometry, hardness, speed, throw etc....to which air rubber is the current Scirocco most similar? Or is it possibly most similar to IQUL? 

But I think you're going to like assassin, which is more in the direction of outlaw.  firmer and faster

Defender is the least tacky, but it's just as spinny because the topsheet is so soft.  Black is really soft and spinny.  Red feels a little drier, more like it wants to hit.

so defender is like control topspin, assassin is more like topspin drive, and illumina is in the middle.  

In the rest of the makes the black and red are surprisingly equal.

But none of them are tacky, which is why I wanted to make scirocco tacky but with firm sponge, like 45.  I got some sample harder red sponges in and they're nice.

I got in some "new" scirocco samples in this week.  All red 2.1 41. All really nice, but not tacky. Seems too much like assassin.  Back to the drawing board.

I told my guy to go back and use the 45 sponge and make the topsheet tacky like around h3 tacky.  He said that's how the next samples will be.

Anyway, I didn't write those.  Assassin probably does start out what you would call lightly tacky, but they all wear to being just grippy pretty quickly.

this post is good publicity and a good chance to clarify a confusing product lineup.  I'm working with my guy to niche them a little better.

never speak of it again.  

tuning doesn't work out well for us.  I think the best thing is to make a really good product and let those who tune do their thing. I've still got a couple boxes of "tuned" illumina.  The rest I just threw away

@topspinschussI was refering to this particular sentence. I've tried several allround blades, allround classic, allround classic carbon and for me it was very dfifficult to generate good power with them. It makes me wonder what kind of stroke is neccessary to play powerful topspin shots with such pea shooters. 

I don't think so but some people have told me they thought it was.  One guy is a 1900 player I play with a lot when I get to the other end of the state.

you think assassinS is the slowest rubber of the three?  That's not my experience nor the feedback that I'm getting.  

It takes two things...good technique (using your whole body instead of just swinging your arm) and a fast rubber. A Stiga Allround with an untuned/unglued Sriver won't allow you to produce such loops. Having said that, during the fresh gluing era it was very common for European top players to play alround blades with heavily glued rubbers. You get control *and* speed if you need it. This is nothing new. 

Now that rubbers are much faster than they used to be I think it's *best* for most people out there to actually start playing with slower wood blades. I keep joking in my club about how nowadays the lower someone's rating, the faster their racket/rubber combination.   Yes, it feels good if you do actually hit the ball...but there is a reason why your rating is so low...there is no consistency and proper technique is hard/impossible to develop with rocket setups. 

I'd like to hear more opinions about Illumina/AssassinS though...especially now that vanjr says that AssassinS is the slowest of the three. How long did you play with it? Did you wait until the tackiness wore off? 

but if you get a really good swing off, the harder sponge might give a better kick and load?

plus I'd say a lot of players might like the cleaner break of the very non tacky topsheet.  I checked out the assassin topsheet closely today and all I can say is it reminds me a lot of coppa.  maybe that helps.

I honestly think they're all extremely durable.  Red illumina on the bh is great, and it lasts a year easy if you take care of it.  Well, for me it does.  I'm not exactly ripping bh loops 30min each practice.

With these rubbers, is there anything that has a hard sponge and a stiff topsheet that is either very grippy or slightly tacky?

Thanks

ILya

I'd test Illumina and AssassinS on an alternative blade (not my main setup) and report back here if I get my hands on them randomly (or someone gives me his old rubbers), but for now I'm playing with Scirocco and quite happy with it. Don't want to mess myself up by constantly testing things on my main setup. Once my Sciroccos get old...which may just take forever given the topsheet/sponge glue job and grippiness of the surface, I'm definitely going to give AssassinS and also possibly Illumina a try. Maybe even test them on a slow Chinese blade like LKT Instinct or whatever Stiga Allround alternative there is. 

I can confirm with the Scirocco...started lightly sticky (picked up ball) but after playing with it about half an hour turned non-sticky. Still very grippy and tiny bit of stick left...not enough to pick up a ball, but enough so that your finger sticks on the rubber for a fraction of a second. I remember the Dawei Inspirit Quattra and IQUL were the same way. And if I remember correctly, their stickiness completely disappeared after a few days to a week. 

Cole...a good rubber should last at least a year for higher level players too without bubbling. I can rip one loop after another for years with Sriver or Mark V without them bubbling. Yes, their surfaces get old, but the bubbling issue is a real downer with so many Chinese rubbers out there due to quality control issues. I bubbled every single Giant Dragon rubber I tested, too (Karata Hard and Superspin G3). Those companies aren't doing themselves any favors. I don't remember ever bubbling an (untuned) Inspirit Quattro. 

That must be contact dependent.  Some years ago, I recall I finally gave up on Sriver EL because it would bubble after 3-4 hours of practice and I am not nearly as good as you are.

Then again, that was during glue days, although I was not a heavy gluer.

I ended up progressively playing with harder and harder rubbers partly because they lasted better.  Still, I do not think I have ever played with a rubber that could last a year of even moderate practice.

When I practiced three times a week, nothing lasted more than 6-8 weeks and that is really just 50 hours of practice.  With matchplay, rubbers lasted quite a bit longer though.  

The typical failure mode was pips breaking underneath the topsheet where I make impact most of the time.  The topsheet was still grippy, but with broken pips you effeectively had a dead spot.

ILya

I wasn't implying that it was going to bubble.  I was more guessing you would wear the topsheet slick.

What color sponge was under your scirocco?

Yeah, I agree with you.  Certainly for me the softer sponge is easier to spin.  But I think some (and I could be wrong) players with big enough swings get more spin out of the firmer sponge.  They can still deform it and when they do it snaps back harder?  The topsheet is a little different feel...perhaps he prefers that and just feels it as more spin?

Really, they're all fairly similar to me.  That's not to say they're all not different, but it's subtle.  I'll certainly welcome anybody else trying it out.  Maybe I should make a "family pack pick 4" different rubbers with the air trio and UL.  Right now while my stock's high, I would sell that for $40 plus 5 ship.  You can pick your own specs, but it has to be one of each.  

I probably should pay $50 marketing fees to the house for this. 

Don't worry about the house, just pay me! I take credit cards, too. 

I know. I was just making sure that we're all on the same page. :)  Both of my sciroccos have a yellow sponge. Looks remarkably similar to what I remember Inspirit Quattro used to have.  Why are you asking? 

Yeah, glueing and tuning can make it easier to bubble rubbers. I was talking about untuned and unglued rubbers. When I talk about bubbling rubbers I always refer to rubbers that I play the way they came from the factory. Even with heavy tuning I only managed to bubble Sriver once...and we're talking about a rubber that was stretched about an inch or more from its original size. Obviously great gluing job Butterfly did. 

What I noticed about the Scirocco is that it is also very tear resistant. I took a thinner section of the cutout and pulled it as much as I can to see when either the topsheet or both the topsheet and sponge will tear/snap. Took LOTS of strength to cause a snap. With Outlaw you pull a little bit and the topsheet already tears/snaps even before the sponge snaps in two. My conclusion would be that Scirocco is not only going to be hard to bubble, it's also going to not easily crack or tear. 

A couple of the last batches came on white or red sponge.  Yellow was the standard version for years.

I actually like the yellow one...I think you should keep it and not replace everything with the red sponge. I've seen all the Air rubbers you carry on all kinds of sponges on the Internet (mainly in the German speaking world...I'm originally from Germany). I assume AssassinS is on a red sponge? Well, here it's on a yellow one (in Switzerland)...seems identical to the sponge my Sciroccos are on (click on the second thumbnail under large pic): 

http://www.errateam.ch/product_info.php?info=p1224_air-assassins.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.errateam.ch/product_info.php?info=p1224_air-assassins.html

In Germany it' been sold since August last year (2014) with the red sponge and all the rubbers (including scirocco) come in "sound, "balance", and "attack pro" version depending on sponge hardness (in increasing order from left to right in this case).  I've also seen Scirocco with a red sponge. 

It would be nice to have consistent versions out there over a few years (and market the hell out of them so they get established) so that people that do end up using them can be assured that the rubber will still be there *in that version* years from now. There is nothing worse than finding a rubber that you really like...and the manufacturer decides to change it..or get rid of it altogether. 

I've not seen assassin on yellow sponge.

But I agree, there is a bit of a marketing kick from blue sponges

Also...what's the deal with the red sponge? Is it even faster than the already fast yellow sponge? Louder? More glue effect feeling? 

Which is why I've focused on selling it in 1.5 and trying to get out an accurate description of the rubber whenever possible

I used to try to let the ball drop and loop it up but my back won't let me do that anymore.  Always my serve has been my strength and my serve return is pretty good as well.  about the only ball I let drop is a backspin now.  I stand my ground even if the ball is going by me.

Against most loopers my strength is in that short game serve and push, and I like being attacked with topspin and blocking or light countering back.  I can hit pretty flat with the thinner sponge, although it doesn't carry real well.  I can topspin a backspin really well in limited amounts, but struggle if I get into a counterlooping game.

With my setup, I struggle to put away dead balls and maintain an attack against drop shot type players. By nature I play much better with spin than against people that kill spin.  When I do loop, it's usually a kissing loop loaded for spin more than pace.  I don't miss the sponge very often.

When I lull an opponent to sleep and they push long, I can put a lot of spin on that ball even in 1.5.  With thinner sponge I feel some ability to chop down some opening topspins or turn an opened point back into backspin, which I didn't used to have for a while with the illumina 1.8.

I have spent most time with AssassinS and Illumina Alpha.  DefenderS was short lived because I greatly struggle with sponges softer than 40 degrees in the short game and I only played Scirocco SF for two sessions, but I'll give my experiences based on use with a 5-ply OFF- looping shakehand blade and a 8.5mm 5-ply Jpen.  Also, I am not very good at being objective when giving reviews.  I only know how I've performed with each.

Illumina Alpha - 41 degrees, topsheet softer than AssassinS and grippy with slight tack.  My first love.  Blocking machine.  Even two of my buddies who crush or loop everything commented on the ease of blocking and feel of the Illumina.  Good looping, awesome all-arounder with good speed.  Incredible placement accuracy.  I tell all the new guys who are looking at Mark V to save their money and get a faster, better Illumina.

AssassinS - Sponge is marked 37 degrees but the topsheet is harder than Illumina.  It is grippy as well but has less of a tack feeling than Illumina.  This is my favorite rubber of the bunch due to the incredible amounts of spin I am able to generate, specifically with RPB and SH BH.  I've used tons of ESN rubbers and hybrids and none of them have been able to produce the heavy second-bounce dive of the AssassinS.  Maybe it is a product of my form but I've won lots of points due to the ball diving below opponent's blades.  I think once you get past the topsheet with enough force it brings out the spinniness of the softer sponge.  This is where I concur with Cole that a heavier stroke brings out more spin and snap.  It has replaced Illumina as my "comfort and consistency" rubber on BH.  Also, I have never had better BH flicks than I do with AssassinS--low, fast and spinny.

DefenderS - 37 degree sponge, softest topsheet of the bunch and very grippy, superb quality topsheet.  Was able to generate monstrous spin, lifting backspin was comedically easy, and service spin was awesome, but I struggled to get the ball over the net when looping a few steps back from the table.  Due to this I would say DefenderS is the slowest of the bunch.  The short game was bouncy and I struggled to keep pushes low and blocks accurate, but as I said <40 degrees+soft top and I have never gotten along.  I really wanted to like this one due to the easy spin, but to no avail.  Maybe 1.9 could tame some of the bounce (mine was 2.1).  Also, choppers or more defensive players might enjoy this rubber.

Scirocco SF - 45 degrees, waxy topsheet.  I play mostly with hard, tacky chinese FH rubbers like Battle II, H8 and hybrids like Big Dipper so I was looking forward to trying Scirocco SF though it isn't really tacky or bouncy.  The hardness reminded me of hard and tacky chinese rubbers (probably softer), but without the tack I didn't really find anything to write home about.  For me it felt very much like a "normal rubber" without any outstanding features which I had never experienced before.  I actually think I should have let it break in more for a full conclusion.  For some reason my service really struggled with this rubber--balls into the net and couldn't generate enough spin (too many dead ducks).  My brain couldn't quite pick out whether to serve Chinese or Euro/Jap style.  Mine was the newer version with the red Air sponge in 2.1, so I don't think its the same as topspinschuss'. 

Speed:  AssassinS > Illumina>=Scirocco SF > DefenderS

Spin:  AssassinS=DefenderS=Illumina=Scirocco SF  (This is kind of misleading because the spin is different with each rubber)

Blocking:  Illumina > AssassinS > Scirocco SF > DefenderS

Short Game:  Illumina >= AssassinS > Scirocco SF > DefenderS

Service Spin:  Illumina=DefenderS > AssassinS > Scirocco SF

Let me know if you guys have any questions.

I wonder the same because in my opinion the quality, performance and durability surpasses other companies like Yinhe/Galaxy, KTL/LKT, 729, and even some ESN rubbers I've tried.  They would surely last a year with care as mentioned (if only I could stop EJing...).  Its a joy opening one up an gazing upon the beautiful red sponge!

I can see that.  Although I played Mark V and Sriver for a long time and I could never generate the speed and spin that I can with AssassinS.  I think its more deadly (yes, another pun).