Experience with some other Loki rubbers - Arthur China, GTX Pro (inc)

[TensorBackhand]

can you put them against each other (sponge touching sponge) and press them together? Right now it seems only the topsheets are deforming.

Well i tried that, but it doesnt really show anything.

 

[turbozed]

Well I tested Rxton 5 "soft" unboosted. It is one of the worst rubbers ive ever tested.

Every forehand shot feels like its topping out. The sponge is just too soft. There is very little rebound or spin. After 1 game you feel really tired because you need to work so hard.

Bad spin, bad speed, bad control. This rubber is not the same as original rxton 5.

I will try with booster to see if anything improves, but i doubt it.

I might have gotten a sheet of that soft Rxton 5. Even though H41 is stamped on the sponge, I measured it with my Shore O durometer and it came out to 47.5d. For comparison, Loki Rxton 3 Blue and Rxton 1 Plus come in at around 51d on the durometer. These are supposed to be 39d or so on Loki's scale.

This is after a few light layers of baby oil causing it to curl slightly, but I doubt it softened up the sponge by THAT much . Played very nicely right after the boost, but a couple months later tried it again and it's a dead, hard to play rubber.

I purchased it cheap for about $8 from a Lazada seller in Vietnam.

 

[Attitude]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QW5zPWwPwDwskD4z5

Here are my 4 LAC sheets that came in the last couple of weeks.

What you guys are describing with Rxton V is my biggest issue with rubbers that have this low of a pricetag. As you know i love the search for great budget rubbers, but there are usual up to serious drawbacks. The biggest issue is the missing QC and/or great differences between batches.
I had this with Big Dipper BS several times, with J3, even with Big Dipper 2, H3 commercial and some others. All of these rubbers are dealbreakers for because the differences are not just dome degree differences in hardness, but detrimental differences that influences my playing capabilities quite hard.

You can go with it either way (especially depending on your playing style) and have luck, but you will always be at greater risk as you are with some more bucks spending at your rubbers.

Saying that i played 4 other sheets of LAC so far, and all of them were the same. Although I am curious now because of the different stickers on the back you can see on the photos.

The only concern i do have now (thanks to your postings^^) is that Loki itself has close to 0 updated information for me available (at least i couldnt find it).
Their website is a joke (from somewhat 2019) and doesnt even list AC as an exisiting rubber what makes sense though, because AC is from 2020.
And the informations on the rubber in stores differ depending in what store you are searching...

Well as long as i dont get the newer looking rubber (green cover) and it plays completely different, i probably dont care so far, because in the end it doesnt change a thing. Though i do feel sad, that they are not doing a better job at providing information.

 

[mocker88]

I actually still have the rubber cutout from

Well this is incredibly frustrating. I hope some new guy buys Rxton 5 and can verify if the newer ones are hard or medium. I may try to sell this soft Rxton 5 if I can. I guess my only reliable HARD rubbers are Jupiter 3 41 and H3 41.

What about sellers on TTD? @mocker88 @Tony's Table Tennis Are your Rxton 5's legit 41d hard rubbers, or do they feel much softer?

I have one R5 rubber that I use for show, and I feel that this one is really hard, so about 41deg I guess.

 

[lodro]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QW5zPWwPwDwskD4z5

Here are my 4 LAC sheets that came in the last couple of weeks.

What you guys are describing with Rxton V is my biggest issue with rubbers that have this low of a pricetag. As you know i love the search for great budget rubbers, but there are usual up to serious drawbacks. The biggest issue is the missing QC and/or great differences between batches.
I had this with Big Dipper BS several times, with J3, even with Big Dipper 2, H3 commercial and some others. All of these rubbers are dealbreakers for because the differences are not just dome degree differences in hardness, but detrimental differences that influences my playing capabilities quite hard.

You can go with it either way (especially depending on your playing style) and have luck, but you will always be at greater risk as you are with some more bucks spending at your rubbers.

Saying that i played 4 other sheets of LAC so far, and all of them were the same. Although I am curious now because of the different stickers on the back you can see on the photos.

The only concern i do have now (thanks to your postings^^) is that Loki itself has close to 0 updated information for me available (at least i couldnt find it).
Their website is a joke (from somewhat 2019) and doesnt even list AC as an exisiting rubber what makes sense though, because AC is from 2020.
And the informations on the rubber in stores differ depending in what store you are searching...

Well as long as i dont get the newer looking rubber (green cover) and it plays completely different, i probably dont care so far, because in the end it doesnt change a thing. Though i do feel sad, that they are not doing a better job at providing information.

I also got the orange package on my LAC but it is different from yours.
Are your packages with a metallic finish ??

 

[Attitude]

I also got the orange package on my LAC but it is different from yours.
Are your packages with a metallic finish ??

It is glossy and has punches/stamps all over it, if that is what you mean by metallic finish.
But i see what you probably mean, in the picture the cover looks more dull, though it definitly isnt.

 

[Zwill]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QW5zPWwPwDwskD4z5

Here are my 4 LAC sheets that came in the last couple of weeks.

You got all 4 sheets at the same time from the same shop or different time from different shops?

Red sheets are also at 40-41deg or those are softer?

 

[TensorBackhand]

I have one R5 rubber that I use for show, and I feel that this one is really hard, so about 41deg I guess.

Have you sold any sheets to people in your club? Are they all the 41d hard version?

 

[TensorBackhand]

I might have gotten a sheet of that soft Rxton 5. Even though H41 is stamped on the sponge, I measured it with my Shore O durometer and it came out to 47.5d. For comparison, Loki Rxton 3 Blue and Rxton 1 Plus come in at around 51d on the durometer. These are supposed to be 39d or so on Loki's scale.

This is after a few light layers of baby oil causing it to curl slightly, but I doubt it softened up the sponge by THAT much . Played very nicely right after the boost, but a couple months later tried it again and it's a dead, hard to play rubber.

I purchased it cheap for about $8 from a Lazada seller in Vietnam.

What! 47.5d!? That indeed sounds like my soft version, which I estimated at H36.

This is so frustrating. I've never had this issue with Yinhe rubbers.

 

[Attitude]

You got all 4 sheets at the same time from the same shop or different time from different shops?

Red sheets are also at 40-41deg or those are softer?

Same shop - Loki official store on Aliexpress.
It is supposed to be the same hardness.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Same shop - Loki official store on Aliexpress.
It is supposed to be the same hardness.

But your black sheet is also listed as 40d. Are all of them 40d?

 

[Attitude]

But your black sheet is also listed as 40d. Are all of them 40d?

I hope so^^

 

[TensorBackhand]

I hope so^^

Why hope so? I thought 41 is the more "official" version

 

[Attitude]

Why hope so? I thought 41 is the more "official" version

Well i do hope that they all have nearly the same hardness and thus the same playing characteristics.
I cant compare those to the one before in terms of hardness because i dont have the cover of those and i doubt i would feel the difference of one degree

 

[mocker88]

Have you sold any sheets to people in your club? Are they all the 41d hard version?

No sorry. We don't have many players that use Chinese rubbers at all, and those who do can't handle this hardness. They like softer rubbers like Yinhe Big Dipper, 729 Dragon series and Sanwei Gear Hyper. I guess all are the same. I assume that anyway.

 

[Zwill]

Finally, I could make a video playing with it. Shoutout to my friend who was game. Btw I'm the lefty.
Hot and humid conditions didn't help much, but it was good. LAC black on FH and red G-1 on BH, with W968 in between.
I didn't edit the warmup, only the matches and I gave him a 5 points lead. If I win then the next set is 6 points, if I lose next set is only 4 points.

Unfortunately, it was so hot that the end of the 2nd match is missing since my phone got overheated.

As I mentioned before it is very good at 3rd ball killshots.

 

[hclnnkhg]

For those who want

Finally, I could make a video playing with it. Shoutout to my friend who was game. Btw I'm the lefty.
Hot and humid conditions didn't help much, but it was good. LAC black on FH and red G-1 on BH, with W968 in between.
I didn't edit the warmup, only the matches and I gave him a 5 points lead. If I win then the next set is 6 points, if I lose next set is only 4 points.

Unfortunately, it was so hot that the end of the 2nd match is missing since my phone got overheated.

As I mentioned before it is very good at 3rd ball killshots.

looking good! What do you think is the biggest weakness of LAC?

 

[lodro]

Good to be able to put a face to the name , Mr. Zwill 😂

I also had my first outing with my H41 (allegedly) LAC last night at the club .
I might have mentioned that I glued it on the blade "raw" without any boost.
I used my SDC AxC, because that was the only blade that had no rubbers on it.
My BH was a H3 2.1 40. I am sorry to say that I have nothing really "world-changing " to report.
The LAC might as well be replaced with an old Globe 999 or similar.
I shall now try it out again with a couple of layers of seamoon but of course this defies the purpose as i only bought the LAC in the hope to have a rubber that does not need boosting. Never mind.

One thing though might be worth mentioning is the fact that both top and sponge are indeed hard , hard as a H3 40 -41, no doubt about it.

P.S. I just got my pink Rxton3 delivered. It says 2.1 h39 on the sponge but just sqeezing it between thumb and indexfinger it feels more like a h36. more later.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Well i tested out boosted soft Rxton 5. The speed is greatly increase so its better in that it doesnt feel dead, but its still way too soft.

It doesnt feel like a hard tacky boosted Chinese rubber. It feels like a soft tensor rubber like C48 or something.

 

[Zwill]

For those who want

looking good! What do you think is the biggest weakness of LAC?

It's a bit heavy at 54g cut to W968, I guess it would be 53g cut to Viscaria. If one doesn't mind that then really no glaring issues during play.