Zeio, what innovation did T05 bring to the table, in terms of technology and process?
(Minor pet peeve: in hindsight people seem to like to enforce the narrative of spectacular breakthrough. In the real world, innovation is a grinding process existing of small steps. A far less sexy story, far less heroic, yet more palatable by far — because it brings the realm of innovation within our grasp, dispensing with the need for magical or superhuman ability.)
All righty. I didn't want to answer that because it's a pain to type it out so I'll keep it short.
Bryce was a breakthrough in topsheet, whereas Tenergy was a breakthrough in sponge.
Due to the glue ban, the impact of Tenergy was far more widespread than that of Bryce. After years of dependence, people suffered speed-glue withdrawal. I remember a club mate claiming he forgot how to play without speed glue. That's how bad people craved for that "high" feel. Spring Sponge filled that void with its unique "sucking the ball" feel.
What's so special about Tenergy? The topsheet of Tenergy was essentially an incremental upgrade on Bryce, but the Spring Sponge was a game changer because it literally scared the
shit out of many table tennis fans with
big-ass holes like those seen in Swiss cheese.
EJs won't even flinch nowadays, but it was unheard of back then. Holes this big were seen in kitchen sponge only, which has an open-cell structure for maximum absorption, as opposed to the closed-cell structure for maximum resilience in table tennis rubber.
Manufacturing closed-cell rubber with big holes proved to be a challenge because of shrinkage. They shrink much more than traditional sponge as the trapped air within all these "bubbles" escape. Butterfly went through a lot of trouble getting it to stabilize.