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

[Zwill]

Telson 100 complains.
Couch H. complained his Telso100 within a very short playing time became "flat as a pancake". All the action has gone out of the kunlun- sponge and it all feels like cardboard.
Anybody with similar experience ????

NO, but the topsheet oxidizes like it's made of east german steel on salty winter road (heard of opel vauxhall holden?)

I have to say that the standard Loki Arthus China topsheet is too weak. I have been messing around with it in China and just too soft... Maybe the sponge is also too soft and it's summer too so over 9000 degrees is the norm (hot makes rubber softer) but the commercial Loki Arthur China feels soft and has a bad spin reaction.

The Loki Arthur China Pro is much better. Much harder sponge, much more stable and this is what doesn't compute: while commercial LAC is 52-3g cut, the LAC Pro is 47g cut while being harder.
And the Pro is cheaper a smidge too.

Anyways, the LAC Pro is pretty sweet on outer blades. Is it Yasaka Hovering Dragon Hard level good? Not... But if someone wants a tacky hard light rubber that works for the cheap then it's about as good as it gets. Yasaka Hovering Dragon is not tacky but has many advantages over it, weight, hardness, stability, durability, grip, looks ( blue sponge), while the only disadvantage is that it's fast so needs more control to keep low. But on the other hand it's less spin sensitive so...

LAC Pro yay. LAC commercial nay for me. Best is Hovering Dragon with chinese sponge.

 

[chinacurious]

How many LACs and LAC Pros have you had @Zwill? I have 2 LAC Pros which differ in weight by 10g. They were from the same order. I haven't used them yet. The one regular LAC I have used was great though. Maybe you were just lucky on your Pros and unlucky on regular ones. Just like I must have gotten unlucky on one of the Pros.

 

[kase]

Telson 100 indeed does not last at all. I also had a second one that was pretty bad out of the packet. I gave it up.

My problem with LAC is that it just dies completely without warning. So you may turn up to a comp and find it unplayable one day. I've gone back to Big Dipper as it gradually reduces its properties over a long time instead of suddenly just dying.

 

[Grumms]

Telson 100 complains.
Couch H. complained his Telso100 within a very short playing time became "flat as a pancake". All the action has gone out of the kunlun- sponge and it all feels like cardboard.
Anybody with similar experience ????

My Teslon is 6 months old, but I did not play a lot with it. It's still very good, and it will be my BH rubber for the last tournament of the season in 10 days.

 

[lodro]

My Teslon is 6 months old, but I did not play a lot with it. It's still very good, and it will be my BH rubber for the last tournament of the season in 10 days.

We had this before with many other Loki rubbers some players get a good one and others get a crappy version .

 

[Grumms]

We had this before with many other Loki rubbers some players get a good one and others get a crappy version .

I defy the statistics because over the 15 or more Loki rubbers I tried over the last 12 months, all were of very good quality. I have no complaint about none of my rubbers, or Loki's blade either. My only complaint is that we can't have the LAC BS anymore.

 

[Zwill]

How many LACs and LAC Pros have you had @Zwill? I have 2 LAC Pros which differ in weight by 10g. They were from the same order. I haven't used them yet. The one regular LAC I have used was great though. Maybe you were just lucky on your Pros and unlucky on regular ones. Just like I must have gotten unlucky on one of the Pros.

I'm at my 5th now I guess? One pro, 4 normal. The normal ones for me were always around 51-53g, the pro is quite light. Could be just luck too. I might buy more pro, if I get lucky with light ones the performance is good enough. Wish it had blue sponge tho 🫣🫣🫣

 

[Attitude]

Telson 100 indeed does not last at all. I also had a second one that was pretty bad out of the packet. I gave it up.

My problem with LAC is that it just dies completely without warning. So you may turn up to a comp and find it unplayable one day. I've gone back to Big Dipper as it gradually reduces its properties over a long time instead of suddenly just dying.

Cant relate at all.
Me and one of my training partners are around 10 lac sheets in, and had only the common issue of topsheet breaking up with its sponge. It gets pretty bad after around 2 months of active usage, with more than 10hrs/week of training currently.
I am far from being a loki fanboy, but i still cant find a rubber that gets the job done on this level for such a price (17-20€).

And to pick up your comparison: especially for bh big dipper doesnt get close. On top that rubber is quite inconsistent (changes in topsheet and playing characteristics at least in my experience)
The rubber itself lacks the same quality as well. Less spin, flatter arc and lower throw angle and i even would say that it is slower. Gets a bit better boosted but not good enough.
Big dipper 2 btw was okish for fh and more consistent.

 

[Egon]

I got a little tired of experimenting and just ordered another Loki N80. For me, this rubber is the best in price/quality for forehand. The downside is the use of a booster + oil. Actually, I have not yet found a rubber that plays similarly without a booster, so this is a conditional downside.

 

[Zwill]

Yes, LAC is convenient for a sticky rubber that doesn't need boosting. If someone doesn't mind boosting then there are better rubbers.
LAC can be air boosted BTW.

 

[Attitude]

Yes, LAC is convenient for a sticky rubber that doesn't need boosting. If someone doesn't mind boosting then there are better rubbers.
LAC can be air boosted BTW.

For bh? Not for me on my outer alc blade. And i tested a lot of stuff over the last years.
H3, H8, Telson... Nothing worked on the same level.
Hurricanes were best in terms of spin but engaging the rubber and getting gears over the table was harder than with LAC. And dont forget that Hurricane rubbers are more expensive.

 

[Angerer]

And to pick up your comparison: especially for bh big dipper doesnt get close. On top that rubber is quite inconsistent (changes in topsheet and playing characteristics at least in my experience)
The rubber itself lacks the same quality as well. Less spin, flatter arc and lower throw angle and i even would say that it is slower. Gets a bit better boosted but not good enough.

Based on my experience, both Jupiter and BD produce much stronger spin than LAC.
LAC is faster, lighter, and has a higher arc, but in terms of spin, it's just 2 levels below.

 

[mattlamperouge]

I defy the statistics because over the 15 or more Loki rubbers I tried over the last 12 months, all were of very good quality. I have no complaint about none of my rubbers, or Loki's blade either. My only complaint is that we can't have the LAC BS anymore.

Same here, maybe some regions have bad luck? We are here just a really small sample though, loki sells thousands of rubbers a month... my Telson is 8 months, still grips the ball really well, sponge feels bouncy, it dies progressive... i didnt boost it yet but experimented with air boost, seems around the same reaction of tenergy 64. Sponge and topsheet does break at edges hits, again same experience as tenergy.

Topsheet oxydation with proper care seems reasonable, again about the same as tenergy. Red Color isnt so deep so maybe its less noticeable.

My rxton 9 is more than a year old, 3 reboost. Still lively, tacky and grippy but it looks really worn out, i think i will change it for a arthur china black soon. An old arthur china red with "low" weekly playing time keeps going, good enough, no bubbles.

 

[mattlamperouge]

Based on my experience, both Jupiter and BD produce much stronger spin than LAC.
LAC is faster, lighter, and has a higher arc, but in terms of spin, it's just 2 levels below.

Tested a BD this weekend, good spin and bounce but it felt clearly softer than lac and rxton 9, not the same power either...easy to use though. I felt that i was able to get more spin with my worn R9 but as always with us amateurs, feelings and technique have more impact on the perception than reality if that makes sense. Without a proper spin measure is hard to tell.

 

[Attitude]

Tested a BD this weekend, good spin and bounce but it felt clearly softer than lac and rxton 9, not the same power either...easy to use though. I felt that i was able to get more spin with my worn R9 but as always with us amateurs, feelings and technique have more impact on the perception than reality if that makes sense. Without a proper spin measure is hard to tell.

BD had decent spin in my experience if i had a good sheet. But the differences were too huge back then, so i made the switch.

Btw i just noticed that R9 is available in many more hardness degrees.
Anyone tested the other versions aside from the 40? R9 could maybe be a good substitute for LAC, especially in terms of durability (aka bond between sponge and topsheet^^).

 

[Zwill]

For bh? Not for me on my outer alc blade. And i tested a lot of stuff over the last years.
H3, H8, Telson... Nothing worked on the same level.
Hurricanes were best in terms of spin but engaging the rubber and getting gears over the table was harder than with LAC. And dont forget that Hurricane rubbers are more expensive.

I just meant it as general. How Egon has mentioned he likes N80 more for FH. I think normal LAC is probably a good option for BH side as is. I don't use it on BH but I think it's bouncy enough to be a good choice. It's a bit heavy tho so some might shy away, I am shy.

On FH it's just too soft for me and when I play with it on outer ALC it just doesn't want me to do the right racket angles. It is my fault probably but the topsheet feels a bit soft and the sponge is a bit soft and it doesn't wanna do H3BS style FH for me. The Pro version is better in this regards, I can find the right racket angles with it and it was lighter too so pretty much a win-win. But I don't think it's as good as a boosted H3BS, but if I wouldn't wanna boost then I think it's one of the best options. I can't imagine the Pro on BH it's a bit hard for that... That being said I quite like the H3BS on backhand

Also the normal LAC is pretty shitty with DHS balls, I'm not gonna lie. With seamless it works very well but with DHS it just doesn't wanna spin the ball and like I say it's so soft.

Regarding the price LAC is pretty cheap, about 12EUR but prov H3BS at 23EUR is more but like not killing me. I understand in Europe these prices are double at minimum but even then I wager H3BS lasts longer enough to kind of worth it.
But I'm kind of tired of boosting so H3BS is sidelined for now and LAC Pro is welcome, so is Hovering Dragon.

I have 2 Inspira plus blades I might set them up with one LAC Pro and one YHD on forehand and use the more suitable for the club and ball etc...

 

[Angerer]

Tested a BD this weekend, good spin and bounce but it felt clearly softer than lac and rxton 9, not the same power either...easy to use though. I felt that i was able to get more spin with my worn R9 but as always with us amateurs, feelings and technique have more impact on the perception than reality if that makes sense. Without a proper spin measure is hard to tell.

Maybe my experience is due to the lack of boosting LAC (and R9 40 for that matter). I have always viewed Loki rubbers as the ones being effective without booster, thus worth trying. I boosted J2/J3 and BD 38/40, and they were much spinnier than unboosted Loki rubbers.

 

[Attitude]

I just meant it as general. How Egon has mentioned he likes N80 more for FH. I think normal LAC is probably a good option for BH side as is. I don't use it on BH but I think it's bouncy enough to be a good choice. It's a bit heavy tho so some might shy away, I am shy.

On FH it's just too soft for me and when I play with it on outer ALC it just doesn't want me to do the right racket angles. It is my fault probably but the topsheet feels a bit soft and the sponge is a bit soft and it doesn't wanna do H3BS style FH for me. The Pro version is better in this regards, I can find the right racket angles with it and it was lighter too so pretty much a win-win. But I don't think it's as good as a boosted H3BS, but if I wouldn't wanna boost then I think it's one of the best options. I can't imagine the Pro on BH it's a bit hard for that... That being said I quite like the H3BS on backhand

Also the normal LAC is pretty shitty with DHS balls, I'm not gonna lie. With seamless it works very well but with DHS it just doesn't wanna spin the ball and like I say it's so soft.

Regarding the price LAC is pretty cheap, about 12EUR but prov H3BS at 23EUR is more but like not killing me. I understand in Europe these prices are double at minimum but even then I wager H3BS lasts longer enough to kind of worth it.
But I'm kind of tired of boosting so H3BS is sidelined for now and LAC Pro is welcome, so is Hovering Dragon.

I have 2 Inspira plus blades I might set them up with one LAC Pro and one YHD on forehand and use the more suitable for the club and ball etc...

Curious, in terms of hardness the rubber shouldnt feel too soft, should it?!
And should the pro version not feel almost the same?! I mean there is not even a difference stated somewhere. The pro version is weirding my out, so i never tested it^^

Cant relate to your DHS ball experience at all. We train with DHS balls because we got a cooperation with Li-Ning and i can almost do the same thing on the same level with DHS as i can with Nittaku balls.

I agree with the H3 part at least for FH but as ive said, i cant bring out the same quality on bh as i can with lac, therefore i had to switch back to it.

I dunno maybe the different feeling and experience come from different blades or with actually play quite different, i dunno.

 

[Attitude]

Maybe my experience is due to the lack of boosting LAC (and R9 40 for that matter). I have always viewed Loki rubbers as the ones being effective without booster, thus worth trying. I boosted J2/J3 and BD 38/40, and they were much spinnier than unboosted Loki rubbers.

I cant recommend boosting lac. Topsheet seperation will more likeley accur.

I dunno how you measure you spin quality.
I tested it with my best training partner in the club and with spinsight back then, from another club at least with the J3. I could reach higher speed with J3 but spin was lower than with lac by a decent amount.

 

[Angerer]

I cant recommend boosting lac. Topsheet seperation will more likeley accur.

I dunno how you measure you spin quality.
I tested it with my best training partner in the club and with spinsight back then, from another club at least with the J3. I could reach higher speed with J3 but spin was lower than with lac by a decent amount.

I measured it by looking at the rebound after the opponents attempted to block my topspin.
I am a spin-oriented penholder and I emphasize putting heavy spin instead of power during strokes, and usually boosted J3 causes serious troubles for the opponents, as their blocks often fly off. LAC is almost always blocked to my side of the table. Maybe LAC requires full-body engagement like H3 to produce solid spin, but in that case I would use H3 instead But on brushing and medium-power topspins LAC feels too easy for my opponents.

My coach, a former Olympian with a very powerful technique likes LAC much better, and he scores points easily with it, however he chooses placement wisely. But at the same time, when he uses H3/Hammond Z2on forehand, they're on another level of power -- blocking/countering is impossible wherever he hits it.