Durable modern thin topsheet - thick sponge rubber

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Hi folks,

I bought a sheet of Donic Bluestorm Z1 and after 2 months or 40 hours of play it is quite strongly worn out. Are all of these new rubbers so bad or is there something more durable that I could buy???

The main problem is the TOPSHEET. Yes, the rubber shrunk somewhat - factory tuning disappears. Yes, the sponge is a little bit slower - less catapulty, but the main problem is the topsheet - safe topspinning is possible, but maximum spin is not there when serving, pushing or topspinning.

I had a similar problem with Bluefire JP01, rhyzm and Vega Japan - 1st month very good, 2nd month wearing down, 3rd month very strong wear-down up to slippery. The Vega Japan was the worst of all.

Best regards, Milan
 
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Most of ESN rubbers last more or less the same.. Some that have 100% natural rubber topsheet last a little more, like Target Pro GT line and Rakza X line but those are not "modern thin topsheet" models..
 
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My Gewo Nexxus EL Pro top sheet is still grippy and spinny after two months, with playing 6 to 7 hours per week. But, I do see scuffing on the portion where my finger rubs. This rubber is the same ESN generation as Bluestorm. It does get nicked up more easily than thicker top sheets do, but it's not bad at all. Worth a try, but don't expect dramatic improvements over the norm.
 
I have almost 3 months, about 50 hrs wth Xiom O7Asia and its still in perfect condition.
I bought a second pair for half price on Black Friday for my second blade and the difference between the two pairs is very very slight.
I had some doubts about durability because of the softer topsheet, but it proofs very durable.
 
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Hi,

I have checked the Omega VII rubbers and they are 12 EUR more expensive than Bluestorm Z1 per sheet, which I can get for 31 EUR, so OVII needs to last 1/3 longer to have the same price/value proposition and is not really worth a try. But there is a certain Vega Tour at 34 EUR which might be worth a try?
 
Hi,

I have checked the Omega VII rubbers and they are 12 EUR more expensive than Bluestorm Z1 per sheet, which I can get for 31 EUR, so OVII needs to last 1/3 longer to have the same price/value proposition and is not really worth a try. But there is a certain Vega Tour at 34 EUR which might be worth a try?

Now I remember that there is a certain Japanese rubber, forgot the name but someone may help, which is about 30 usd and has a lifespan of at least 2 years. It is specially created for students, I'm not familiar with its properties, but the 2 years lifespan is guaranteed.
The lifespan of Vega rubbers is usually 2/3 of those of Omega. There is almost nothing common in the play of BS Z1, O7A and VT, so how do you think - which is worth a try?
 
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I have a friend who's been using Acuda Blue P3 on backhand for about a year now and his rubbers are incredibly spinny. He practices 3 times a week, 3 hours each practice.

It looks worn, but incredibly spinny.
Maybe it's the soft sponge and proper cleaning after a session
 
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yeah, the durability has really gone down - I could use a Tibhar Torpedo for a whole year during fresh-glue era, now it is two months with the modern rubbers...

I am thinking of Z1 Turbo and Golden Tango PS as my next buys. I have checked the Z1 again - the topsheet looks really bad, but it feels still grippy so maybe it is the overall package of tuning, sponge and topsheet that lets it down. The turbo has a 50-degree sponge which should keeps it characteristics for longer.

If I could manage to play with a Tacky rubber that feels like ESN than the problem would be solved, therefore I will try the Golden Tango PS as well, as the tacky rubbers do not have this topsheet durability issues - if the tack goes away, they are still extremely grippy...
 
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I have andro r42 (also new gen topsheet) and indeed i feel it is already tired after 60-80h

The seller of my tt shop told me a normal durability is 80h. Is it true ? Sound short to me

Yes, 80 hrs is the tipical lifespan of modern rubbers. If you are a pro and you play 4 hrs sessions 20 days per month, it will make a month.
If you play 2 hrs 2 times per week, it will make 2-3 months, but while you are not a pro, usually you would decide to change rubbers after 6 months. For amateurs the common formula is to change rubbers per annum as how many days per week they play. If you play once weakly you change rubbers once per annum, if you play 4 times weekly you change rubbers every 3 months. Of course it depends on the style, how hard and with what tempo you hit and the way you hit. Harder rubbers last longer, some brands last longer. But at the end its more important what rubber you need, than the exact lifespan.
 
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with what Langel said, other than hours/days
one also need to factor in the density of the training

if it is 3 hours multiball vs 3 hours of social play, that is like few hundred times different the amount of "hits" on the rubber
the power of shot also plays a big role in rubber life span
 
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Hi folks,

I bought a sheet of Donic Bluestorm Z1 and after 2 months or 40 hours of play it is quite strongly worn out. Are all of these new rubbers so bad or is there something more durable that I could buy???

The main problem is the TOPSHEET. Yes, the rubber shrunk somewhat - factory tuning disappears. Yes, the sponge is a little bit slower - less catapulty, but the main problem is the topsheet - safe topspinning is possible, but maximum spin is not there when serving, pushing or topspinning.

I had a similar problem with Bluefire JP01, rhyzm and Vega Japan - 1st month very good, 2nd month wearing down, 3rd month very strong wear-down up to slippery. The Vega Japan was the worst of all.

Best regards, Milan

I am on my 3rd month of Vega Japan on a bat I use for 40 hrs a month. Still fine performance from that rubber, feels like it is only 25-30% at worst down the road of its useful life I estimate to be around 200+ hrs.
 
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Modern inverted rubbers deteriorate even if you do not play them - they often are pretuned in some way - so even if you play only one a week - the rubber will not last a year at its peak or at least good performance.
 
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I personally believe it is unrealistic to expect to get one year of acceptable performance life out of a rubber, unless one only plays once a week.

I do not at all like this, I would very much like for my rubbers to have acceptable performance longer than they actually do.

That is one reason I moved away from Tenergy. In Korea, I would play 5 hrs a day 7 days a week. I couldn't get a month out of Tenergy, no matter what I did. I could get 2-3 months out of Aurus no problem in same conditions.

At $50 USD a sheet in 2011, and using a $8 BH rubber that lasted 3 months, I could afford a new sheet of T05 for FH every month no problem, but when price went up to $70-80 USD a sheet, I said Sainara good bye real quickly.
 
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Here go my two cents, the longlasting rubber till now were, Hurricane 3 neo, G1, MX-P, but no one is thin topsheet, I am using a MX-P, EL-P since 3 months ago and they are very spinny even using it in a Maze clone blade, Hurricane lasted 1 year and till now is very grippy but the sponge it separated from the topsheet and the sponge broke from the mid so i messed around with it. The not recommended aurus prime, select, both not very durable, rakza 7 may be bad batch but not very durable either

My training is close to 30hs/month
 
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I would peel off my Aurus after 2-3 months, then my Korean friend would insist on taking it and use it for another 3 months or 200 hrs. He didn't play as much as me.

You're right, I know two players who use regular Aurus and keep them all year long, balls feel extremely heavy even on five-ply and would outpower a fair chunk of people here, I am pretty sure. Mean spin, too; that's on max sponge.
 
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