Tibhar Evolution MX-P

The previous reviews are very detailed, but I would like to add some missing things.

The rubber is not or should not be labeled heavy. Actually modern attacking rubbers are nearly at the same weight, which is 0.24 grams per square milimeter in max thickness. This is totally true to Evolution MX-P, Tenergy 05, Xiom Omega IV Pro, Bluefire M1, Acuda S1 Turbo ... (actual values may vary between 0.238-0.250 g/mm2)

This rubber is a mixture of the Bluefire M2 sponge with a semi chinese topsheet like TinArc 3 (a bit softer than that). This properties give this sheet a very controlled and very linear behaviour. Tolerance for mistakes and incoming spin read is outstanding.

Boosting the rubber with oil or other stuff makes it even faster and spinnier without negative effect. The original sheet smells from some sort of belgian booster, so after a mounth I reapplied booster to restore the original size.

Durability is outstanding, no abrasions. I clean my sheet after every training and it still preformes well (90-95%) after 3 mounths (120 hours overall).

Welcome to my new reviews! Every week I’ll be reviewing a different rubber, blade, or other equipment from my sponsors TIBHAR, the first of which is my personal favourite - the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P rubber. This rubber is currently available from my UK sponsors Bribar Table Tennis at a sale price of £34.99, reduced from £46.99. You can view and buy it here: http://shop.bribartt.co.uk/tibhar-evolution-mx-p.html

I play with this on both sides of my blade, both backhand and forehand, in 2.1mm sponge thickness which is the thickest sponge available with this rubber in order to ensure the combined thickness of the sponge and top sheet do not exceed ITTF restrictions on these things.

I first tried the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P last year and I was so impressed with it I decided I wanted to change in order to help my game. I had to wait a little while as I had matches approaching, and wanted to get a good week’s worth of practice in after playing with my old rubbers for any matches or competitions after this.

The thing I love about the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P is the medium hard sponge which provides me with just the right level of ‘rebound’ and feeling when I’m serving, opening up with my first heavy topspin loop from my opponents return and then attacking aggressively. The feeling is just right for my game, I never feel that it’s too fast so I still have the right level of control but at the same time it helps me generate a really good level of speed from my rubber which I find really important.

‘Medium-hard’ is difficult to quantify apart from by actually playing with the rubber yourself, but what I mean by this is it’s hard enough to produce really good speed but not so hard that ball dwell time on the bat is too low, making things harder to control and less easy to produce spin with. I have marked the rubber out of 10 on different aspects as above to try to help players with different styles work out if this is the best rubber for your game, if I had to mark this rubber out of 10 for the hardness of the sponge I’d say that if 1 was soft and 10 was hard, this would be around an 8 which for a player with my style is perfect.

The top sheet is a traditional European style rubber, which is slightly tacky but not like a Chinese style very tacky top rubber sheet, and again this is the perfect combination for me. I need a rubber top sheet which has the elasticity to let me produce heavy topspin on my attacking strokes and different levels of spin on my serves, but which is not to tacky as this is a very different type of feeling that isn’t quite suited to the way that I like to play. It’s a TENSOR style highly stretched top sheet and I really like the feeling that it produces.

I have found that the rubber is very durable for an attacking rubber of this level and quality. I change my rubbers regularly for my matches in the Belgian League, when playing for England and at ITTF World Tour events as I like the new and fresh feel, but these rubbers last longer than others I have played with in the past.

For speed, this rubber has to be king. I have scored it 9.5 from 10. It’s very fast, and suits the attacking player who likes to take the ball early at the table or from mid distance and play hard, attacking shots with a huge amount of spin. The rubber is not so quick that it lacks any feeling or control – the balance is excellent.

For spin, this rubber is also really excellent. I have scored it 9.5 from 10, but remember this is when talking about a player with my style. A defensive player for example may like the spin level but might find that a different sponge thickness is suited to them with the range of shots they employ. When it comes to attacking from both wings I find the level of topspin I can produce with the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P to be really brilliant.

For control, I have scored this rubber 9 out of 10. When you consider the speed it can help you to produce on your shots and the topspin it can help you generate, the control level is very, very high. It’s all about the balance and this rubber really excels in that department.

To sum up - If you like to topspin the ball strongly from both wings, open up from a backspin push or chop ball with heavy topspin, attack on the third or fifth ball aggressively, loop with heavy spin and speed from mid distance or block quickly but with control, then the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P is an absolutely first rate choice, and 100% the correct choice for me.

My first review

Its the second set of MX-P I bought. Like many people I'm used to play with Tenergy both side, and boosted Tenergies are for me the "benchmarks" of today's rubbers.

Opening :
Nothing special about the packaging, packed like most of todays rubbers (Tenergy, Calibras...), no additional protective sheet is provided by Tibhar like it is with the Nimbus rubbers for example.
The Sponge is red/Orange, with very big bubbles (like bluefire M1 turbo sponge).
The topsheets are glossy. The rubbers are heavy (73gr uncut, 50gr cut to usual butterfly shape).
Topsheet and sponge are very flexible and elastics, no tack. The overall combination looks medium/hard, a touch harder than T05.

The rubbers were mainly tested on my Butterfly Kong Linghui Special blade (special made blade), pictures here :
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2015/14/1427724200-kls1.jpg
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2015/14/1427724196-kls2.jpg
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2015/14/1427724201-kls3.jpg

Rubbers have been tested also on all the blades you see below, feel free to ask anything about the potential combination you consider :


No booster or any kind of tunning was used

Warm Up :

You will immediately feel a huge catapult effect with the mx-p, the rubber feels very linear, the innerpower of the rubber feels rather accessible.
Very good feeling, solid feel, not as hard as you would expect i think, meaning that the dwell time is particulary good with mx-p.

Forehand topspin :
It is my best stroke, my principal source of points during competitive matches.
You will immediately notice the very high throw angle of the rubber and that the catapult on topspins is huge. Rubber is linear and predictable despite huge catapult effect.
Good touch provided by the racket permit to easy adjust your stroke.
The spin and speed are generated quite easy. The rubber can be used close to table as well as mid-distance.
Close your racket for countertopsins, nearly "as much as you can".
MX-P really shines against backspin balls, making a strong a fast topspin agaisnt backspin balls is realy easy, just as easy as making a classic openning loop with lot of spin but slow.
Just go for the power topspin on backspin balls.


Backand topspins :
Backhand topspin is not my best stroke.
With MX-P I was able to make strong and fast topspins against backspin balls. It is one of the very few rubber permitting me to do this.
Most of my errors were because I didn't close enough my racket, the result is that the MX-P is realy good for topsins over the table, even on backspin balls.
The rubber won't make you the new FZD or ZJK with awesome backhand topsin over the table, but it will make you better on that very popular stroke.

Blocks :
Once you get adjusted to the high throw, you will love the MX-P for any kind of blocks.
The rubber doesn't forgive technical errors like other rubbers can (lets say for example ; T80 and Calibra Tour M, those rubbers are less sensitive to incomming spin than MX-P).

Serves :
So far, one of the best rubber I ever used for serves. The hard topsheet has awesome grip. You will love the rubber when it come to serves.

Serves returns :
Just like with blocks, the rubber doesn't forgive technical errors as much as other rubbers can.
The rubber is sensitive to incomming spin, you will "break" the incomming spin easy if the serve is long, with a FH or BH strong topspin, or even with a BH over the table topspin.
But you will need strong technic to keep your returns low and short or to realize regular flicks.
The rubber will remind you T05, requires a good technic and anticipation on passive serves returns.

Other things and some comments :

I didn't tried the rubber on a all wood blade, but the rubber felt amazing on IF AL which is not far from a 5 ply all wood blade, with limba outer and very good flex (picture here http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2015/14/1427724201-ifal1.jpg ).
Tenergies felt, to me, really akward and inert on IF AL, like losing their "spring sponge" on flexible blades, it is not the case with MX-P and the rubber remains fast and "springy" even on flexible blades.
The rubbers are really heavy, you might really dislike it even if you enjoy the rubber.
This is my second pair of MX-P's. Durability is top end. Since I can't stand playing with an "almost not new" rubber, MX-P can last me 6 weeks (to compare, a T80 last me about 3-4 weeks). The lose of speed and spin is very linear and pretty slow, you will enjoy the durability of MX-P.


I hope you enjoyed this review, I'll try to answer your questions if you have any.

MX-P is the power weapon of choice for a player who likes to fast loop open or counter loop from mid-distance with authority.

MX-P is best used on a heavy, solid, stiff OFF or faster class blade, preferable a composite balde. It will feel "Wrong", "Not Lively" and "Ackward" on a lighter, flexy looping blade.

Hard sponge means you get a little extra leeway on soft touch returns and it is less spin sensitive than many modern rubbers on those slow shots.

The basic serve, push drill is similar to a modern rubber, but on flips, you want a little more solid contact. That holds true for any shot that is short of big swing or a countershot. Opening topspin vs underspin is possible, AND it is heavy, but you gotta know how to operate your blade and your body or it is epic fail city.

When you get into a rally where you are either hitting the ball, countering the ball, fast looping the ball, re-looping the ball from a step off the table, or smashing... you will greatly enjoy this rubber. You get an extra burst of pace and spin on your solid hit re-loop in a rally, unique to MX-P. If you are a T05 user with a composite blade, you won't have to change your stroke much for this. Softer struck balls will come off much lower and with much less spin. it is real difficult to assign a spin rating that makes sense, becuase you really only get the extreme spin on a well struck shot vs incoming topspin. That shot will carry rocket pace and insane topspin, so will your opening putaway fast loopkill vs a long underspin ball, like a long push off your serve. You can still make a heavy slow opener, but WHY with this rubber? It is less profit.

Serve/smashers will crave this on an OFF+ blade. Fast loopers and those who like to park a step or two away from the table and let 'er BANG in topspin to topspin rallies will absolutely pee in their pants waiting for the glue to dry to get a crack at operating MX-P on a solid fast blade.