Alternative to Hurricane 3 Neo

[lodro]

Do you mean personally or in my business?

I mean personally , I was talking about the rubbers you say you would like but are not sold in Aussie. Bringing in rubbers is problem free and will always be cheaper than buying in the local shop.

 

[Wakkibatty]

I mean personally , I was talking about the rubbers you say you would like but are not sold in Aussie. Bringing in rubbers is problem free and will always be cheaper than buying in the local shop.

Gotchya.

So WHY don't I bring some in?

Well it's the classic conundrum of ALL equipment junkies really - "Which of the several dozen rubbers I am currently curious about THIS week , do I buy and try-out first?"

Anybody who wishes to lament about the perils of being a TT equipment junkie, needs to try making the stuff for perspective.

I have literally dozens of blades lying around in various states of completion right now, just waiting to be finished and have rubbers fitted to them (and that's just at my home - my workshop is even worse!)

...and with every single one of them, I am constantly thinking to myself "Gee - I wonder what rubber would go best with THAT model?"

I am doomed!

Have pity on the poor wretched blade maker who is addicted to his craft... it's an addiction that exists solely to feed his other addiction, for finding more and better equipment to go have fun with.

 

[lodro]

are ther no pills or creams against this decease ?

 

[Wakkibatty]

are ther no pills or creams against this decease ?

Sadly no... and trust me, I've looked.

Apparently my friends are now laying bets on exactly what type of blade will be torn from my cold dead fingers after I'm dead.

I'm told the short odds favorite is a Wakkibat one-ply boasting MX-Ps front and back

Those idiots!! Clearly they haven't seen my one-plys Putting MX-Ps on those is like strapping handguns to an artillery round - interesting idea, but also somewhat redundant.



(....then again... ....hmmmm... )





[ ]

Siiigghhhh.....

There would be worse ways to go I suppose....

At least its not a Sanwei.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Yinhe is cheap, so nothing to loose there.
It also comes with different sponge hardness, so your choice is a lot wider.

Loki, cheaper ones, Rxton family can do, ie 3 or 5.
more expensive ones, Aurthur China as mentioned above.
I have a couple of samples from Loki, pretty impressed with the rubbers.

H3 on both sides would make it heavy.
Right now a popular trend is H8-80 on backhand, you can look into that.

Just curious have you tried the Loki N80? Is it similar to Arthur China? or more similar to H3 or Rxton 5?

 

[ttarc]

Did someone already mention Dianchi D and YoungShine Dingtian (I don't know if they smell bad or at all)?
Maybe Gewo Codexx EL Pro 52 and EF 54 could also work at least on forehand (too hard for my backhand style) and at least not overprized.
Ceterum censeo: There is no alternative to (boosted) H3(N) scnr

 

[lodro]

Did someone already mention Dianchi D and YoungShine Dingtian (I don't know if they smell bad or at all)?
Maybe Gewo Codexx EL Pro 52 and EF 54 could also work at least on forehand (too hard for my backhand style) and at least not overprized.
Ceterum censeo: There is no alternative to (boosted) H3(N) scnr

YoungShine Dingtian (I don't know if they smell bad or at all)?

This one does hardly smell at all, as for the performance : It is a bit different than H3N, slightly faster, slightly less grippy and slightly bouncier than H3N.
While it might be THE go to rubber for some (Zwill thinks so 😁 )
It is not worth the extra money and costs twice the price of RXTON5 , which is of course better than the Neo as well.

 

[thomas.pong]

I'm also going to throw in Tuttle VIP 2018 and President G20.

I have a sheet of each that I need to boost and try at some point.

Though I'm also waiting for a sheet of H3 Provincial Orange 39' in the mail to try on the FH of my W968, which I'll boost with 3 layers of Haifu.

 

[Wakkibatty]

Getting back to the OP, I'm hearing good things about the 729 Dragon (not getting back into the whole 729 thing again I promise)

It's got a tacky Chinese topsheet with lively sponge. Yet ANOTHER rubber I'd like to try... And probably will do one of these days, once I've worked my way through the Loki catalogue. 🙂

 

[InfermiteG]

Update:

My friend has received all the equipment, gewo aruna carbon basic with yinhe jupiter 2 on both sides so i should be meeting him up on tuesday to pick them up and give my opinion on the rubber and blade!

 

[TensorBackhand]

Getting back to the OP, I'm hearing good things about the 729 Dragon (not getting back into the whole 729 thing again I promise)

It's got a tacky Chinese topsheet with lively sponge. Yet ANOTHER rubber I'd like to try... And probably will do one of these days, once I've worked my way through the Loki catalogue. 🙂

oh yeah? which loki rubbers are you trying?

If 729 can make a lively sponge, why don't they make it on a grippy rubber?

 

[lodro]

If 729 can make a lively sponge, why don't they make it on a grippy rubber?

Well of course my answer has to be, I do not know.
But does it really make sense to make a combo rubber like that ?
How can we make great spin with our grippy rubber when the bloody ball has already jumped off the blade before we can make proper contact with it ???

It is probably why the Hurricanes are so much liked ,because they are so grippy and with gentle boosting we can get the sponge to be nearly as lively as we want it to be .

Or if it suits you do the same with a RXTON 5 at half the price 🤣

 

[Wakkibatty]

oh yeah? which loki rubbers are you trying?

If 729 can make a lively sponge, why don't they make it on a grippy rubber

Right now it's a Rxton 3 red / black in Max on one blade, a R3 black / blue combo on another, and the T3 black & red on a third.

Want to try the Arthur series next, see how we go.

So far I'm a fan of the regular R3 rubbers (black & red), a HUGE fan of the R3Blue& pink (really they are whole new rubber entirely) and don't mind the T3 frankly either (not a favourite of mine, but a good rubber for what it is).

Already tried the R1 regular... not bad for the money, but the weakest of the lot so far.

Tempted to try the R1 Special next (with the hard carbon sponge) and the blue sponge version of the R3, which you only get if you buy it in as part of a factory-made bat.

I'm deliberately going deep into exploring a limited line of rubbers this time round, rather than spreading myself too thin.

As Loki are currently experimenting with different sponges and top-sheets with these rubber lines (but keeping the exact same pimple structures throughout for each rubber), it provides me a fantastic opportunity to get a feel for how pimple structure contributes to playing feel, as well as how different sponge styles contribute to speed & spin. You just don't get this kind of data from a rubber manufacturer usually (unless you're a developmental play tester).

 

[ShoutGuy]

oh yeah? which loki rubbers are you trying?

If 729 can make a lively sponge, why don't they make it on a grippy rubber?

They made. Dragon F is tacky and Dragon L is grippy

 

[TensorBackhand]

They made. Dragon F is tacky and Dragon L is grippy

How is it? Is it like a tensor rubber?

 

[InfermiteG]

Update:

finally got my set up today from my friend and already glued the rubbers to the blade and here are some initial thoughts:
the blade is quick, its carbon so of course but it does have safety but it is balance between speed and control
the rubbers in my opinion didn't live up to my expectation. i expected them to be like H3N but ig my expectations were too high. they are good rubbers for the price and the topsheet wasn't as tacky as H3N but definitely was there. what i didnt like too much was the sponge. i though it would be as hard as H3N but it wasn't so when im using my backhand i get this weird feeling where i can feel the bounciness of the rubber. i honestly wouldn't buy again but maybe i have to use it in an actual match, but i just need a harder sponge. this new setup is definitely faster than my previous and the aruna blade is beautiful

 

[ShoutGuy]

How is it? Is it like a tensor rubber?

I only tested the tacky version. It is fast for a chinese rubber but doesnt feel like a tensor

 

[TensorBackhand]

I only tested the tacky version. It is fast for a chinese rubber but doesnt feel like a tensor

Is it as fast as a tensor but doesn't feel the same? or is it slower than a tensor?

 

[ShoutGuy]

Is it as fast as a tensor but doesn't feel the same? or is it slower than a tensor?

It has less catapult effect but good top end speed. It has less catapult than Rakza Z for example in my opinion

 

[Zwill]

Hmmm, holy crap I really didn't comment on this topic?

H3N orange sponge, I would call the orange sponge an unbouncy sponge. Not particularly elastic, pretty slow, maybe easy to use for some, possibly the National version is pretty decent but I don't like it much. There are a few rubbers that come close to imitating this. Mainly from ESN the pored sponge hybrid rubbers. Like Joola Golden Tango PS, in a way Rakza Z, Battle 2 Golden, these are just a few I tried. From these probably the Rakza Z is by far the best.

And there is the H3N blue sponge. That is a completely different beast. The blue sponge to me feels very difficult to compress, has a metallic sound on semi-hard contact, but I like it when it always has a metallic sound. It should sound like @lodro 's basement when he's educating people how to spank some booty. Sorry for the PG18 rating.

So a few rubbers that qualify as a H3N BS alternative from the ones I tried: Yinhe Big Dipper (budget option), Dingtian Young Shine (still budget at 20USD a pop), Battle 2 blue sponge, Tibhar Hybrid K2 (best option for light weight and no boost), Donic Bluegrip C2, Nittaku Hurricane 3 turbo blue, but you need a BMW inline 6 engine for this at least, it's a heavy MOFO at 63-65g cut to Viscaria. No weak ass inline 3 with any turbo trickery will handle the turbo blue.

Honestly speaking for the average westerner, pale skinned, lazy bumm who wants to feel the closest to Ma Long should just buy Tibhar Hybrid K2. If you are a less lazy bumm you should get the Dingtian Young Shine and boost it with 2 layers of Falco tempo long or Seamoon. And if you are a failure (by Steven He) just get Yinhe Big Dipper. Honestly the Big Dipper is already pretty decent and they give you factory boost and even factory glue layer not to mention 2 plastic covers. I don't know what those Hebei province folks are smoking when they determine pricing but send some to me too, let me fly with you. Btw I <3 Yinhe blades.

Whaha Zwill, wtf Tibhar K2 is not even available in the western world! Well yes, you can tell Mr Tibor Harangozó's sales team to lick a hedgehog, but indeed it's a bit difficult to get this rubber. Aliexpress or Prott or TTNPP will be your friend, they all have it, prott pricing is pretty good too.

If you are a bit more clever like I assume myself to be you can look at Joola Golden Tango (not the PS just the normal) or recently Gewo has started selling Codexx EF 54 Pro. These all look super similar to K2 and K2 pro and they are both available in EU and possibly US too. There is also Donic Bluegrip V1, but as far as I know it is going out of production.

TL;DR My best recommendation is Codexx EF 54 Pro and Dingtian Young Shine.

PS: blade pairing matters, I would not pair blue sponge type stuff with hard outer ply, aka koto. I think Viscaria and similar blades are a bit troublesome with that type of rubber. Limba outer ply feels better. Don't need to be DHS HL5, other limba outer ply works too, I have been testing my Joola Trinity blade and it is very good.