Which are the latest generation Hybrid rubbers from ESN?

[haggisv]

It's hard to keep up with all the latest rubbers, but I'm really interest in the recent hybrid rubbers that many brand have released in the last couple of years. I think they can be identified by the mildly tacky (sticky) topsheet with a firm sponge, and a significant increase in price compared to previous models (probably set by ESN). A few I can think off, but not sure if they're the latest generation:
Tibhar Hybrid K3
Tibhar Hybrid MK Pro
Stiga DNA Dragon Grip/Power

So which are the latest generation of these tacky hybrid rubbers from ESN?

 

[Peter93]

Tibhar also came out with Hybrid K3 Pro (55 deg.)

Stiga Hybrid S/M/H/XH
Gewo Codexx Superselect 53/55
Victas V>15 Sticky/Sticky Soft (just came out)
Xiom J&H C55
Andro Rasanter C53/C48

To name some of them

 

[ThePongCommenter]

K3 isn't tacky at all

 

[RefereeNumber2]

I believe "H-touch" is ESN's name for their latest hybrid rubber tech, so you can look for that in the rubber description (e.g., on the back of the packaging). Examples include:

Donic Bluestar series
Stiga DNA Hybrid series
Xiom Vega Pro H
(Maybe?) Xiom Jekyll & Hyde H52.5, possibly C55
(Maybe?) Andro NUZN series

There are probably others, and as you mentioned the retail prices for many of these are all the same and they come in the same varieties of sponge hardness, e.g., the Donic Bluestar and Stiga DNA Hybrid series seem indistinguishable. In my experience the "H-touch" hybrids have extremely grippy but only slightly tacky topsheets and have bouncier/more catapult-y sponges compared to the previous generation of "C-touch" hybrids (which includes DragonGrip, for example).

I personally like the direction this generation of hybrids has taken since (for me) they are easier to play while keeping the extremely high stability and spin potential I expect from hybrid rubbers. But others may disagree since these newer hybrids have less of a Chinese-style feeling.

 

[JJ Ng]

Only hybrid rubber that is tacky is D09c in my personal experience.

I don't touch any hybrid rubber made by ESN.

 

[NoSpin]

Just buy D09c, will save you both headache and money(durable).

 

[haggisv]

Just buy D09c, will save you both headache and money(durable).

I tried that for a while, but it's not as spinny (topspin) as Victas 401 for my style of game, and since my game relies a lot on heavy spin, I'm always interested in these types of rubber.

 

[Ghostzen]

Tibhar also came out with Hybrid K3 Pro (55 deg.)

Stiga Hybrid S/M/H/XH
Gewo Codexx Superselect 53/55
Victas V>15 Sticky/Sticky Soft (just came out)
Xiom J&H C55
Andro Rasanter C53/C48

To name some of them

Isn't there a Hybrid K3 FX out or on its way?

 

[K.K]

Just buy D09c, will save you both headache and money(durable).

that is just nonesense, i play bluestar right now and this is totally different compared to D09c so why should someone not choose the rubber that suits them best?

all of these named rubbers have different attributes and advantages for different types of gameplay

 

[NoSpin]

that is just nonesense, i play bluestar right now and this is totally different compared to D09c so why should someone not choose the rubber that suits them best?

all of these named rubbers have different attributes and advantages for different types of gameplay

Why such much aggressive? Have to buy A1 every month? You can even play cardboard but why mumble about it if OP wanted at least some tackiness so I recommended pretty much the only tacky non chinese hybrid. The OP calmly rejected the advice with perfectly fine reasoning and here comes your post with random aggression.

 

[Creek]

This stupid discussion about stickiness…
First of all, stickiness is not necessary for having a hybrid rubber. Even DHS rubbers are not really sticky anymore!
You can achieve dampening on low impact (initial purpose of stickiness) by other parameters, e.g. rubber mixture, pimple shape, height, top sheet thickness, etc.

In addition to that: if a non-sticky foil sticks to a rubber, the rubber is sticky. And this applies to rasanter c, bluestar, k3, etc!
So even if their stickiness is only slight and you cannot lift a ball for seconds with them, they all are still sticky!

Back to topic: the newest highend ESN generation hybrids are nuzn, xiom c55.

Others are previous generation

 

[TensorBackhand]

How is the Stiga

I believe "H-touch" is ESN's name for their latest hybrid rubber tech, so you can look for that in the rubber description (e.g., on the back of the packaging). Examples include:

Donic Bluestar series
Stiga DNA Hybrid series
Xiom Vega Pro H
(Maybe?) Xiom Jekyll & Hyde H52.5, possibly C55
(Maybe?) Andro NUZN series

There are probably others, and as you mentioned the retail prices for many of these are all the same and they come in the same varieties of sponge hardness, e.g., the Donic Bluestar and Stiga DNA Hybrid series seem indistinguishable. In my experience the "H-touch" hybrids have extremely grippy but only slightly tacky topsheets and have bouncier/more catapult-y sponges compared to the previous generation of "C-touch" hybrids (which includes DragonGrip, for example).

I personally like the direction this generation of hybrids has taken since (for me) they are easier to play while keeping the extremely high stability and spin potential I expect from hybrid rubbers. But others may disagree since these newer hybrids have less of a Chinese-style feeling.

I found the opposite. I find dragon grip to be way way bouncier and reboundier than Stiga Hybrid H/M.

I really dont like the hybrid series

 

[TensorBackhand]

I tested out Stiga Hybrid M/H a little more today, and I just can't get it to play well for me.

The rebound is much lower than Dragon grip, so when I hit with it on my bh, it often land short on the table, goes into the net, clips the top of the net, etc. It just doesn't really launch the ball very far. I even tried boosting it, and it doesn't help.

I might as well try boosting it again, but it doesn't seem to work well for me.

Anybody else have experience with this rubber?

 

[Tembel]

I tested out Stiga Hybrid M/H a little more today, and I just can't get it to play well for me.

The rebound is much lower than Dragon grip, so when I hit with it on my bh, it often land short on the table, goes into the net, clips the top of the net, etc. It just doesn't really launch the ball very far. I even tried boosting it, and it doesn't help.

I might as well try boosting it again, but it doesn't seem to work well for me.

Anybody else have experience with this rubber?

It takes some getting used to. I also hit the ball too low(often into the net) in the beginning. You need to hit more into the sponge. But for sure the arc is lower with DNA Hybrid than with Dragongrip.

 

[cybershapedragon]

I believe "H-touch" is ESN's name for their latest hybrid rubber tech, so you can look for that in the rubber description (e.g., on the back of the packaging). Examples include:

Donic Bluestar series
Stiga DNA Hybrid series
Xiom Vega Pro H
(Maybe?) Xiom Jekyll & Hyde H52.5, possibly C55
(Maybe?) Andro NUZN series

There are probably others, and as you mentioned the retail prices for many of these are all the same and they come in the same varieties of sponge hardness, e.g., the Donic Bluestar and Stiga DNA Hybrid series seem indistinguishable. In my experience the "H-touch" hybrids have extremely grippy but only slightly tacky topsheets and have bouncier/more catapult-y sponges compared to the previous generation of "C-touch" hybrids (which includes DragonGrip, for example).

I personally like the direction this generation of hybrids has taken since (for me) they are easier to play while keeping the extremely high stability and spin potential I expect from hybrid rubbers. But others may disagree since these newer hybrids have less of a Chinese-style feeling.

C-Touch and H-Touch are at the same generation level but with different styles. C-Touch is harder and stickier. Take donic as example. Bluestar A series are H-Touch and Bluegrip C series are C-Touch.

Xiom C55 is also C-Touch (with a "C" logo printed on the corner of rubber) but H52.5 is H-Touch

 

[IB66]

Only hybrid rubber that is tacky is D09c in my personal experience.

I don't touch any hybrid rubber made by ESN.

you gotta be joking!!!

 

[jammmail]

I tested out Stiga Hybrid M/H a little more today, and I just can't get it to play well for me.

The rebound is much lower than Dragon grip, so when I hit with it on my bh, it often land short on the table, goes into the net, clips the top of the net, etc. It just doesn't really launch the ball very far. I even tried boosting it, and it doesn't help.

I might as well try boosting it again, but it doesn't seem to work well for me.

Anybody else have experience with this rubber?

I bought Hybrid M and put it on a cybershape - i disliked it so much I just sold the whole racket to a clubmate as it annoyed me so much I didnt want to use Stiga anymore - haha

 

[RefereeNumber2]

I tested out Stiga Hybrid M/H a little more today, and I just can't get it to play well for me.

The rebound is much lower than Dragon grip, so when I hit with it on my bh, it often land short on the table, goes into the net, clips the top of the net, etc. It just doesn't really launch the ball very far. I even tried boosting it, and it doesn't help.

I might as well try boosting it again, but it doesn't seem to work well for me.

Anybody else have experience with this rubber?

The Stiga DNA Hybrid is slightly to a lot softer (depending on the version) than Dragon Grip, so it should be slower. The DNA Hybrid H is 50 degrees for example, while Dragon Grip is 55.

My impression that the H-touch are bouncier than the C-touch rubbers comes from comparing K3 (which I've played extensively) and Bluestar A1 -- both of which are advertised as 52.5 degree sponge hardness. The A1 is distinctly bouncier and more catapult-y, particularly for generating pace from mid distance (for me). I've only tried the Dragon Grip briefly, but it felt more like K3 rather than A1. So if you like the Dragon Grip feeling, you probably won't like the H-touch rubbers as much. But for the sake of comparison, it would probably be better to compare to the harder H-touch rubbers like DNA Hybrid XH or Bluestar A1 (both 52.5 degrees). As an aside, my hunch is that the Bluestar and DNA Hybrid series are identical (since they're priced exactly the same and come in 47.5/50/52.5 degree hardness varieties), but I haven't compared them directly.

 

[TensorBackhand]

The Stiga DNA Hybrid is slightly to a lot softer (depending on the version) than Dragon Grip, so it should be slower. The DNA Hybrid H is 50 degrees for example, while Dragon Grip is 55.

My impression that the H-touch are bouncier than the C-touch rubbers comes from comparing K3 (which I've played extensively) and Bluestar A1 -- both of which are advertised as 52.5 degree sponge hardness. The A1 is distinctly bouncier and more catapult-y, particularly for generating pace from mid distance (for me). I've only tried the Dragon Grip briefly, but it felt more like K3 rather than A1. So if you like the Dragon Grip feeling, you probably won't like the H-touch rubbers as much. But for the sake of comparison, it would probably be better to compare to the harder H-touch rubbers like DNA Hybrid XH or Bluestar A1 (both 52.5 degrees). As an aside, my hunch is that the Bluestar and DNA Hybrid series are identical (since they're priced exactly the same and come in 47.5/50/52.5 degree hardness varieties), but I haven't compared them directly.

What is H touch and C touch?

I'm fairly confident that DNA Hybrid and Bluestar A1 are NOT the same. A1 is quite fast and bouncy.

Hybrid feels quite dead and slow.

 

[RefereeNumber2]

What is H touch and C touch?

I'm fairly confident that DNA Hybrid and Bluestar A1 are NOT the same. A1 is quite fast and bouncy.

Hybrid feels quite dead and slow.

This whole thread is about H-touch and C-touch. Generally speaking they seem to be ESN's names for different kinds of hybrid rubbers. Some (most?) brands label their ESN hybrid as either "C-touch" or "H-touch" on the packaging. For example the Bluestar packaging has a big "H-touch" on the upper left.

Good to know re. DNA Hybrid vs Bluestar.