Vladimir Samsonov changed forehand rubber. Does anyone know what it is?

KaJMaN007 · Aug 3, 2017

Hi, today i saw this picture on Vladimir Samsonov's facebook page. He seems to have changed his FH rubber. The sponge looks a bit like commercial Hurricane 3. Does anyone know what he's using now? Thanks.

Airoc · Aug 3, 2017

Don´t speculate too wildly. Vladi is THE player loyal to his sponsor, so it should be something from TIBHAR.

That said, I can´t really think of any - serious - TIBHAR rubber with that sponge colour.

There is a Quantum X on the newest LARC, maybe he´s trying that? Previous Quantum rubbers are no competition for Evolution rubbers, but who knows ...

Archosaurus · Aug 3, 2017

Could just be some super secret TIBHAR pro rubber.

AndySmith · Aug 3, 2017

I'm going to blow your minds.

It's Hybrid K1. Or K1+.

I know, I know. But still! It's tibhar, Vladi keeps messing with his rubber and cleaning it off (like it's tacky). It has the right sponge colour. And - crucially - you get a reasonable look at it when Vladi is messing round before serving at 3-1 in the Killzone. You can't make the logos out really, but the grouping of the logos, and the geometric shape of the middle logo, gives it away.

Airoc · Aug 3, 2017

AndySmith said:
It's Hybrid K1. Or K1+.

I know, I know. But still! It's tibhar, Vladi keeps messing with his rubber and cleaning it off (like it's tacky). It has the right sponge colour. And - crucially - you get a reasonable look at it when Vladi is messing round before serving at 3-1 in the Killzone. You can't make the logos out really, but the grouping of the logos, and the geometric shape of the middle logo, gives it away.

Very possible indeed. Since I don´t know anything about these Hybrid rubbers I didn´t take them into consideration, but Vladi has tried Grip One before, which was just a Chinese rubber with a different label, and so a tacky yet elastic rubber with dynamic sponge makes sense.

Airoc · Aug 3, 2017

Even that would have to have a label on it so it could go for something that exists on the LARC.

Jabugo · Aug 3, 2017

AndySmith said:
I'm going to blow your minds.

It's Hybrid K1. Or K1+.

I know, I know. But still! It's tibhar, Vladi keeps messing with his rubber and cleaning it off (like it's tacky). It has the right sponge colour. And - crucially - you get a reasonable look at it when Vladi is messing round before serving at 3-1 in the Killzone. You can't make the logos out really, but the grouping of the logos, and the geometric shape of the middle logo, gives it away.

Yes, it's Tibhar Hybrid K1 or K1+ (the rubber top sheets look identical, but the sponge hardness is different: 38-40 deg vs 39-41 deg) .
It has massive grip, semi-tacky, high throw, and plays like boosted H3Neo. The control is far better than MX-P, but it does not have the catapult
of MX-P. I don't think Hybrid K1/K1+ is boosted. But correct me if I'm wrong.

AndySmith · Aug 3, 2017

I don't think it's boosted out of the packet, but of course you can boost it yourself. Maybe vladi is being a bit naughty, maybe Tibhar are doing it for him.

PolishTT17 · Aug 3, 2017

Chien Chen An, also a Thibar Player, had the combination today. But the K1 or K1+ on Backhand!

Baal · Aug 3, 2017

Archosaurus said:
Could just be some super secret TIBHAR pro rubber.

It has to be on the ITTTF LARC (list of approved coverings).

Suga D · Aug 3, 2017

AndySmith said:
I don't think it's boosted out of the packet, but of course you can boost it yourself. Maybe vladi is being a bit naughty, maybe Tibhar are doing it for him.

Is this rubber produced by ESN? If so then maybe ESN has done it Otherwise I could imagine that these guys here could do the job.

http://www.tt-tuning-center.de

AndySmith · Aug 3, 2017

Yup, K1 and K1 plus are ESN. The sponge is very reminiscent of Baracuda, or Adidas P7, but harder. The topsheet has the semi-tack you see on other ESN tacky rubbers like Xiom Tau. It's a great rubber, if you accept the hybrid nature of it. I would imagine that when boosted it can do an interesting job for a better player than me. It might become more popular now that a real-actual-I-can't-believe-it-pro has been seen using it.

RajaLoopah · Aug 4, 2017

I believe CCA is using 5Q VIP.

PolishTT17 · Aug 4, 2017

Suga D said:
Is this rubber produced by ESN? If so then maybe ESN has done it Otherwise I could imagine that these guys here could do the job.

http://www.tt-tuning-center.de

What are these guys doin'?

Is this a professional boosting company?!

Suga D · Aug 4, 2017

PolishTT17 said:
What are these guys doin'? Is this a professional boosting company?!

Exactly.
But it´s not easy to become a customer. They say [officially] that they only have companies as their customers. So one must be owning or at least somewhat related to a TT-company

Suga D · Aug 4, 2017

AndySmith said:
Yup, K1 and K1 plus are ESN. The sponge is very reminiscent of Baracuda, or Adidas P7, but harder. The topsheet has the semi-tack you see on other ESN tacky rubbers like Xiom Tau. It's a great rubber, if you accept the hybrid nature of it. I would imagine that when boosted it can do an interesting job for a better player than me. It might become more popular now that a real-actual-I-can't-believe-it-pro has been seen using it.

Thanks. I didn´t know that. Actually sounds pretty interesting to me. Too bad it´s nowhere to be found at TT-Shops over here. Maybe i have to order one from China or Japan (which doesn´t make a lot sense since it´s produced over here, but i guess there´s no other choice.)

AndySmith · Aug 4, 2017

Suga D said:
Thanks. I didn´t know that. Actually sounds pretty interesting to me. Too bad it´s nowhere to be found at TT-Shops over here. Maybe i have to order one from China or Japan (which doesn´t make a lot sense since it´s produced over here, but i guess there´s no other choice.)

ESN do this with a few rubbers, Musa III China springs to mind. Made in Germany, Asia market only. I've had 4 sheets from ttnpp in total and ordering has been super-smooth.

Airoc · Aug 4, 2017

PolishTT17 said:
What are these guys doin'? Is this a professional boosting company?!

Same street adress as soulspin, manufacturer of blades. And Nittaku Germany.

Don´t think the boosting keeps em busy enough ...

Airoc · Aug 4, 2017

AndySmith said:
ESN do this with a few rubbers

Just to be clear, it isn´t ESN´s decision, but that of the brands. Some demand exclusive rubbers for certain territories. However, with places like ttnpp or others you can quite easily re-import everything of course.

An example: From everything I´ve seen, DHS Gold ARC 8 seems to be a nice enough made in Germany tensor rubber. But whereas in China this might be special, over here it´d be "me too". However, if you can buy it for 30 dollars plus shipping it might be an alternative to 49 Euro rubbers sold over here ...

Suga D · Aug 4, 2017

Airoc said:
Same street adress as soulspin, manufacturer of blades. And Nittaku Germany.

Don´t think the boosting keeps em busy enough ...

Also the same CEO...
[Emoji6]

Vladimir Samsonov changed forehand rubber. Does anyone know what it is?

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