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

[mattlamperouge]

@mattlamperouge
I see you are using Loki V7rs.
It seems to be HL5 Structure.
Whats your experience with it and can you compare it to similar blades?
If the Loki blades are hight quality and play like other good ones I would consider them for testing rubbers and having it as a second bat to compare to my Yinhe Pro 05.
I would want to test rubbers on a blade like my main one that isnt my main blade.
( Also I dont wanna take the edge tape on and off but thats secondary)
I couldnt find any reviews on it.
Has anyone else tried Loki Blades?

Im actually testing V7rs now, with LAC on BH and boosted reactor thunder on FH. I like it very much. I tested (weight frequency balance) all violent series have good quality for the price, flat surface & sanded wings. v7rs feels good & V9 specially really Stable, great to the touch & also beautiful color.
I didnt test HL5 so i cant compare. Its limba-aoyous-some kind of soft carbon-aoyous core.

Standard head size. My sample Is 6mm and weights 89g, not that head heavy AND the main frequency Is around 1460hz.

It has a bigger sweet spot than my korbels, Still it doesnt feel that hard & fast on low impact. maybe due to the thin limba outer ply. For example my brother viscaria feels harder & More direct, even with the same rubbers feels strange for me to serve & short play. But with V7rs i could serve right away coming from korbel.

Close to the table it feels good, for blocking Is Stable not too bouncy, soft looping or killing the ball vs underspin performs well, it seem to have similar Dwell than korbel. viscaria & Loki W81 are More direct AND have some "catapult" with low impact i feel.

The carbon and bigger sweet spot helps When further away from the table, hitting out of position or engaging hard, it gives some kick compared to korbel. I didnt seal it but I glued & reglued a couple of rubbers to test & with revolution 3 type of glue it didnt Splinter. Positive overall and even More for the price.

 

[lodro]

Has anyone else tried Loki Blades?

I bought this unit because i liked the handle.
It is well made but powerless.
I stripped it of its useless rubbers and added rxton5
This made it playable but it still had a kind of "dead feeling".
Not what you expect of one of their top rackets with carbon behind koto

LOKI 9 Star Super Sticky Table Tennis Racket Carbon Blade PingPong Bat Competition Ping Pong Paddle for Fast Attack and Loop​

 

[mattlamperouge]

I bought this unit because i liked the handle.
It is well made but powerless.
I stripped it of its useless rubbers and added rxton5
This made it playable but it still had a kind of "dead feeling".
Not what you expect of one of their top rackets with carbon behind koto

LOKI 9 Star Super Sticky Table Tennis Racket Carbon Blade PingPong Bat Competition Ping Pong Paddle for Fast Attack and Loop​

Thats a premade racket.. koto what? Core? Black tinted koto top ply? Carbon or imitation carbon? 😬😅🤷

 

[hclnnkhg]

Im actually testing V7rs now, with LAC on BH and boosted reactor thunder on FH. I like it very much. I tested (weight frequency balance) all violent series have good quality for the price, flat surface & sanded wings. v7rs feels good & V9 specially really Stable, great to the touch & also beautiful color.
I didnt test HL5 so i cant compare. Its limba-aoyous-some kind of soft carbon-aoyous core.
View attachment 26557View attachment 26559View attachment 26558
Standard head size. My sample Is 6mm and weights 89g, not that head heavy AND the main frequency Is around 1460hz.

It has a bigger sweet spot than my korbels, Still it doesnt feel that hard & fast on low impact. maybe due to the thin limba outer ply. For example my brother viscaria feels harder & More direct, even with the same rubbers feels strange for me to serve & short play. But with V7rs i could serve right away coming from korbel.

Close to the table it feels good, for blocking Is Stable not too bouncy, soft looping or killing the ball vs underspin performs well, it seem to have similar Dwell than korbel. viscaria & Loki W81 are More direct AND have some "catapult" with low impact i feel.

The carbon and bigger sweet spot helps When further away from the table, hitting out of position or engaging hard, it gives some kick compared to korbel. I didnt seal it but I glued & reglued a couple of rubbers to test & with revolution 3 type of glue it didnt Splinter. Positive overall and even More for the price.
View attachment 26560

I was really tempted by V9 with its look, but now I have tried ALC I don't think I will go back to carbon blade anytime soon.

 

[mattlamperouge]

I was really tempted by V9 with its look, but now I have tried ALC I don't think I will go back to carbon blade anytime soon.

Its really pretty, handle looks & feel amazing in person. Blade Is fast but Stable, mine Is 5.9mm 90g 1450hz. I spected lees Dwell cause of the top ply but it feels good. Its rare cause it has a thinner core, another ply, then carbon, then second ply & a thin top ply. I think It behaves more like a inner carbon. When i Made some testing i rotated between V9 Viscaria Korbel & W81. Most speed difference was with korbel ofc, Outer ALC felt more direct and activated earlier. Hard hitting i felt V9 Is fast & can produce good spin but with good control too.

 

[hclnnkhg]

Its really pretty, handle looks & feel amazing in person. Blade Is fast but Stable, mine Is 5.9mm 90g 1450hz. I spected lees Dwell cause of the top ply but it feels good. Its rare cause it has a thinner core, another ply, then carbon, then second ply & a thin top ply. I think It behaves more like a inner carbon. When i Made some testing i rotated between V9 Viscaria Korbel & W81. Most speed difference was with korbel ofc, Outer ALC felt more direct and activated earlier. Hard hitting i felt V9 Is fast & can produce good spin but with good control too. View attachment 26561

which w81 did you get? inner fibre or outer fibre? I think there are also ALC and ZLC variant. Loki's blade series seem to be quite confusing, like Sword😂 IMO they can benefit from streamlining their blade offering like their rubbers.

 

[mattlamperouge]

which w81 did you get? inner fibre or outer fibre? I think there are also ALC and ZLC variant. Loki's blade series seem to be quite confusing, like Sword😂 IMO they can benefit from streamlining their blade offering like their rubbers.

Yes they should make things les confusing, Violent series Is compact & simple namings etc, v5 Is a 5ply all wood, V7 a clipper clone, V5rs 3+2 carbon, etc.
I got the Arthur W81 outer ALC. It has a limba top but still it felt really similar to Viscaria when playing normally, with same rubbers my brother could switch between the 2 while testing without needing to adjust technique angles etc.🤷

 

[lodro]

Thats a premade racket.. koto what? Core? Black tinted koto top ply? Carbon or imitation carbon? 😬😅🤷

Whatever, it is a Loki blade in the end and what the composition and material is concerned your guess is as good as mine 🤣
BTW, the finish on this blade looks better than the one on the expensive Arthur 😂

 

[mattlamperouge]

Whatever, it is a Loki blade in the end and what the composition and material is concerned your guess is as good as mine 🤣
BTW, the finish on this blade looks better than the one on the expensive Arthur 😂

View attachment 26567

yes i saw that image thats why i "asked" what part is supposed to be koto lol, all the samples they send me have good finish, all have sanded wings and smooth handles, no discoloration, splinters, holes or divets either. i dont know if it talks bad about the expensive arthur line or good about the cheaper Violent series

 

[lodro]

i dont know if it talks bad about the expensive arthur line or good about the cheaper Violent series

Both !!

 

[longle]

I really want to boost the LAC, but I'm scared that it will bubble because of what @longle did

I have never boosted the LAC, but it still bubbled

 

[lodro]

I have never boosted the LAC, but it still bubbled

we will probably never find out what went wrong with these rubbers but
I wonder if a young manufacturer like Loki can afford such grave mistakes?
I am not just talking about the LAC but also about , for example, the diminishing quality of Rxton5 and other things.

 

[longle]

we will probably never find out what went wrong with these rubbers but
I wonder if a young manufacturer like Loki can afford such grave mistakes?
I am not just talking about the LAC but also about , for example, the diminishing quality of Rxton5 and other things.

let's just assume they got a bad batch which was distributed to Asian markets. And now that batch is on big sale

 

[lodro]

let's just assume they got a bad batch which was distributed to Asian markets. And now that batch is on big sale

............and that in itself is a bad bad mistake and creates negative publicity.
In this situation one has to acknowledge that a mistake has been made, one has to withdraw the rubbers from the market and compensate those that have been disadvantaged. It is called integrity.
I lived in countries where it was also known as : If you fuck it - you fix it. 😁

 

[hclnnkhg]

............and that in itself is a bad bad mistake and creates negative publicity.
In this situation one has to acknowledge that a mistake has been made, one has to withdraw the rubbers from the market and compensate those that have been disadvantaged. It is called integrity.
I lived in countries where it was also known as : If you fuck it - you fix it. 😁

when's the last time that happened in TT industry? DHS and Stiga are notorious with QC and I never heard about them withdrawing products on a massive scale. If they have please let me know.

Also, a rubber is not designed to last forever. How long should a rubber last before it bubbles? this is largely down to personal preferences. If we are being cynical, we could say @longle is the problem because he is hitting too hard like a professional player

 

[longle]

when's the last time that happened in TT industry? DHS and Stiga are notorious with QC and I never heard about them withdrawing products on a massive scale. If they have please let me know.

Also, a rubber is not designed to last forever. How long should a rubber last before it bubbles? this is largely down to personal preferences. If we are being cynical, we could say @longle is the problem because he is hitting too hard like a professional player

I think the problem lies in LAC itself. Some of the cheapest rubbers I've played are TG3 commercial, Bloom Power, Battle 2 Pro orange all lasted me more than 2 months

Even if Loki admits the issue with that batch, somehow they think: "maybe only 5 sheets that longle destroyed are the worst in that batch so we won't withdraw anything"

 

[hclnnkhg]

I think the problem lies in LAC itself. Some of the cheapest rubbers I've played are TG3 commercial, Bloom Power, Battle 2 Pro orange all lasted me more than 2 months

Even if Loki admits the issue with that batch, somehow they think: "maybe only 5 sheets that longle destroyed are the worst in that batch so we won't withdraw anything"

they could also blame the hot weather in Vietnam, although I am not sure if China is a lot colder 🤣

 

[lodro]

Like i said , it is a matter of integrity and maybe this a character thing, either one has got it - or one does not.
I am not really pointing fingers at a specific company, nationality or anything like that, also not specific to table tennis equipment. Still : either you got it ,or you don't.

 

[TensorBackhand]

My LAC is 41d. Will test it to see how close it is to D09c and Dragon grip

 

[TensorBackhand]

I measured the hardness, and its like 57d on my durometer. So, indeed nice and hard.

Has anybody tried boosting the LAC? How does the rubber respond to booster?