Tibhar Genius (vs Donic Baracuda)

I would say to stick to Baracuda, is a great rubber, and if needed just add some booster.

Genius is an absolutely excellent rubber.
It's the most used rubber in my club.

I'm not a fan of the lifespan of these rubbers though.

iamsan said:

hey guys,

as already outed Baracuda fanboy they say the Tibhar is similar but due to a softer topsheet it's less sensitive to incoming spin with a bit of sacrifice in terms of spin and throw. also the Tibhar should be better in half-distance play but also strong near table.

i would like to hear some more comments about the rubber (+ maybe a comparison to the baracuda) before dishing out money for one session.

thx guys in advance

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Can you compare how this rubber to a Tenergy? I've always used Tenergies and every time I try to switch to a tensor I don't have a good experience. The nearest I've tried to the Barracuda was the Genius Sound and didn't like it.

eduardo1995filipe said:

I've always used Tenergies and every time I try to switch to a tensor I don't have a good experience.

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The underlying philosophies are still too different.

Of course, you may achieve a similar performance, or in other words play just as well with a Tensor rubber. The feeling on ball contact will never be the same, though.

If you want the closest feeling to tenergy05, you might want to try Stiga Mantra M - made in Japan, not a Tensor (German) by definition, but a great rubber.

If you want to try a Tensor rubber again, you might want to opt for a newer generation. Many people have switched to Tibhar Evolution MX-P (due to clever marketing thinking it was Japanese, which at that time was still all the rage), with bluefire M1 and Rasant (turbo/PowerGrip) being quite similar. There are quite a few more rubbers that have served people well, such as XIOM Vega pro, a currently (due to recommendation from a pro) discovered GEWO Hype EL and of course all the new stuff like Rasanter, Aurus Prime (probably the closest in feeling to tenergy05) or GEWO Nexxus.

As for the comparison of Baracuda to Genius, they are pretty close siblings from the same generation, but I found the Baracuda a bit easier to play (softer topsheet/sponge). I would not spend money on Genius (otherwise on itself an excellent rubber, make no mistake) just to find that they are quite similar.

The newest tensor generation (Rasanter/Rhyzer/...) are spinnier and bouncier than all old tensors. In fact, I found Rhyzer to be spinnier than MX-P which kinda surprised me. Never played with Tenergy though. I wonder what would be the benefit/difference.


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I've played with Genius for a while. I would suggest sticking with Baraxuda because the durability really isn't that great and the rubber changes its playing characteristics over time

perham said:

Never played with Tenergy though. I wonder what would be the benefit/difference.

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This is very difficult to say. About a year ago, one of my friends (third league Germany) in good supply of "select pro" Tensor rubbers (in other words almost the best that most companies can supply ...) said that t05 "speaks a whole different language".

I know this doesn´t translate into speed, spin or even throw angle comparisons ...

Depending on how you play you might not even find a benefit, but you´d sure feel a difference.

In technical terms, tenergy is obviously still able to produce more spin than European rubbers - in the right hands. On amateur level I think it´s a matter of preference and money. I love the way t05 feels, but it costs 60 Euro (no discount). The closest I know (Mantra M) I can get for 35, the closest Tensor I know (Aurus Prime) for even less. And the ones I play, I mostly get for free, and they´re easily good enough for higher skills than mine, so that´s money saved and no considerable disadvantage for me. But I have friends from third league and beyond who get to try every new Tensor generation and don´t ever think about switching.

The bad thing is none of my friends play with it either, so I can't even try it out. Not even the pro players I know use them. For me, trying Tenergy is just out of pure curiosity, since there's absolutely nothing wrong with Rhyzers I have. They're almost perfect.

Airoc said:

This is very difficult to say. About a year ago, one of my friends (third league Germany) in good supply of "select pro" Tensor rubbers (in other words almost the best that most companies can supply ...) said that t05 "speaks a whole different language".

I know this doesn´t translate into speed, spin or even throw angle comparisons ...

Depending on how you play you might not even find a benefit, but you´d sure feel a difference.

In technical terms, tenergy is obviously still able to produce more spin than European rubbers - in the right hands. On amateur level I think it´s a matter of preference and money. I love the way t05 feels, but it costs 60 Euro (no discount). The closest I know (Mantra M) I can get for 35, the closest Tensor I know (Aurus Prime) for even less. And the ones I play, I mostly get for free, and they´re easily good enough for higher skills than mine, so that´s money saved and no considerable disadvantage for me. But I have friends from third league and beyond who get to try every new Tensor generation and don´t ever think about switching.

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How bout MXS instead? Genius chips on the edges easily. Omega V Tour is also good.