What's the Deal with Palio CJ8000?

[golden_son]

So this comes on the Palio Expert 2 & 3 premades but is also sold separately. I'm looking for a cheap, pure beginner rubber to put on a 5-ply (Fextra 5, Xstar V, or similar) for a friend and I've seen it recommended on Reddit—yes, I know, big grain of salt—and possibly elsewhere for true beginners. The thing about it is it comes in what seems like a dozen different forms (regular, "BIOTECH", "Speed," "Pro", and so on) and different hardness but all labeled "CJ8000". It's also been out for 15 years or more and surely gone through packaging changes. So how is one to differentiate them all? Some Ali sellers do list the hardness (36-38, 39-41, 40-42, 42-44). Are these DHS equivalent, or ESN equivalent hardness ratings? There's a big difference between DHS 36° and ESN 36°! Does anyone know which hardness they use on the premades?

Has anyone actually used this rubber in any form aside from the premade? How would you classify this rubber? A friend has the Palio Expert 3 and it doesn't seem sticky, at least not like a Mercury II. Is it a softer, only-slightly-sticky Chinese rubber, or closer to a classic rubber e.g. Mark V?

What's the deal with Palio CJ8000???

 

[al_111]

Palio has always been trying to produce euro-type rubbers, and CJ8000 is one of the earlier iterations of this process (was out way before the AK47 series). It is a decent mildly to non-tacky rubber that is probably too slow and uninteresting as is, but becomes very pleasant, with some nice spin and a highish throw angle when boosted with PO.

Hardness-wise, think not DHS or ESN, but, well… the Palio scale)) It is none of the above; you might refer to comparative reviews of AK47 — I would say 36-38 is medium-soft, 39-41 and 40-42 are medium-hard, and 45+ will be hard (have not tried the latter personally).

The Biotech series is like DHS’s Neo — kind of slightly boosted out of the package. Regular CJ8000 + PO is much better. When boosted, I would call it a Mercury 2 level rubber but slightly closer to euro-type.

Once upon a time, a top-5 player in my country played classical 2-sided inverted defence with CJ8000 36-38 — so there’s actually nothing wrong with the rubber and the opportunities it provides.

 

[golden_son]

Palio has always been trying to produce euro-type rubbers, and CJ8000 is one of the earlier iterations of this process (was out way before the AK47 series). It is a decent mildly to non-tacky rubber that is probably too slow and uninteresting as is, but becomes very pleasant, with some nice spin and a highish throw angle when boosted with PO.

Hardness-wise, think not DHS or ESN, but, well… the Palio scale)) It is none of the above; you might refer to comparative reviews of AK47 — I would say 36-38 is medium-soft, 39-41 and 40-42 are medium-hard, and 45+ will be hard (have not tried the latter personally).

The Biotech series is like DHS’s Neo — kind of slightly boosted out of the package. Regular CJ8000 + PO is much better. When boosted, I would call it a Mercury 2 level rubber but slightly closer to euro-type.

Once upon a time, a top-5 player in my country played classical 2-sided inverted defence with CJ8000 36-38 — so there’s actually nothing wrong with the rubber and the opportunities it provides.

This is incredibly helpful and frankly more information than I expected to get. Thank you!

And to clarify, PO = paraffin oil? I don't really have any intention of boosting a $5 rubber for a beginner's use, but it's good to know regardless.

 

[al_111]

This is incredibly helpful and frankly more information than I expected to get. Thank you!

And to clarify, PO = paraffin oil? I don't really have any intention of boosting a $5 rubber for a beginner's use, but it's good to know regardless.

Glad to be of help!) Yes, I was referring to paraffin oil / baby oil. It will not turn those CJ8000s into rockets, but it will make them much more responsive. BTW, the residual effect of PO on the Palio JP sponge used in the CJ8000 is pretty much permanent — after a couple of weeks the rubber slows down but remains spinnier than it was unboosted. It does get softer, so I would not go below 39°.