Andro releases Rasanter R53

Hey Airoc,

What is the one big difference for you?

Airoc said:

Well, for me there is one big difference. I have never said that. And quite some pieces of rubber have passed through my hands ...

This of course is of no relevance to you, since you don´t know me.

It is of importance for friends in 4th league (semi-pro) who trust my expertise and agree after testing.

I fully understand your reservations. But, if this kind of rubber appeals to you in principal, you might really want to try it.

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Airoc said:

Well, for me there is one big difference. I have never said that. And quite some pieces of rubber have passed through my hands ...

This of course is of no relevance to you, since you don´t know me.

It is of importance for friends in 4th league (semi-pro) who trust my expertise and agree after testing.

I fully understand your reservations. But, if this kind of rubber appeals to you in principal, you might really want to try it.

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Well, you really are tempting me. After all the EJing, I've sworn to myself to stop buying new blades and rubbers to try around. But your raving review about R53 is hard to ignore. And then there's this other guy who says R53 feels like H3 boosted.

I've been playing with boosted H3 for quite some time and been looking for somewhat hard euro/jap rubbers because I got tired of boosting. I'm currently playing with D05 and can't say I'm completely satisfied with it.

What blade are you pairing your R53 with?

Hey Vik,
I said it feels like boosted H3 cz the short game and service is very nice cz of the hard sponge and the grippy topsheet. And Its very nice to loop underspin with it even when one is out of position.Hurricane 3 neo is tacky and this one is very grippy.Except that the playing characteristics are very close i.e. ease of short game but lot of spin and very very fast.Moreover, i am using w968 too which is like Hurricane long 5 that u are using.I am very happy cz the hassle of boosting every 2-3 weeks is gone.

vik2000 said:

Well, you really are tempting me. After all the EJing, I've sworn to myself to stop buying new blades and rubbers to try around. But your raving review about R53 is hard to ignore. And then there's this other guy who says R53 feels like H3 boosted.

I've been playing with boosted H3 for quite some time and been looking for somewhat hard euro/jap rubbers because I got tired of boosting. I'm currently playing with D05 and can't say I'm completely satisfied with it.

What blade are you pairing your R53 with?

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I assume you are using R53 is the Max 2.3mm?

Do you happen to know your total weight setup?

I've got Long 5x and Rhyzer 50 max and T05 max and with overgrip tape on the handle it is 194g.

I really starting to prefer the harder rubber even for backhand. I'm looking to replace the T05 but I wonder how much extra weight would the R53 max add...

guni4you said:

Hi Guys,

I tried andro rasanter R53 on forehand of dhs w968 blade. Just loved it. It is very fast but great on blocks and playing short. And the rubber grips the ball so nicely as good if not better then tenergy 05. I can smell some king of booster.If the durability is good then this rubber is a big winner.

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guni4you said:

Hey Vik,
I said it feels like boosted H3 cz the short game and service is very nice cz of the hard sponge and the grippy topsheet. And Its very nice to loop underspin with it even when one is out of position.Hurricane 3 neo is tacky and this one is very grippy.Except that the playing characteristics are very close i.e. ease of short game but lot of spin and very very fast.Moreover, i am using w968 too which is like Hurricane long 5 that u are using.I am very happy cz the hassle of boosting every 2-3 weeks is gone.

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I'm quite surprised that this rubber is easy to lift underspin with. Chinese rubber is extremely hard but is easy to lift the spin because of its tackiness. I would think it'd be harder to lift spin with euro rubber at 53 degrees because of the sponge hardness and the rubber isn't tacky at all.

Maybe I really should give those latest 50+ degree sponge a try. R53 is already on sale this week at TT11 lol.

Airoc and guni4you, what thickness R53 are you guys playing with? And is it just FH?

guni4you said:

Hey Airoc,

What is the one big difference for you?

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Vic rightfully pointed out that over the years many rubbers have been called t05 alternatives, while lacking spin.

The difference to me was that I never said that, having tested quite a few.

It actually still feels strange to say "this has more spin" or "this is better than t05", having had reservations and experience.

But the more often I say it, the better it feels.

I got max thickness. I just tried it on forehand side.

vik2000 said:

Airoc and guni4you, what thickness R53 are you guys playing with? And is it just FH?

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vik2000 said:

Airoc and guni4you, what thickness R53 are you guys playing with? And is it just FH?

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Ultramax. Mostly on FH, but to fully understand it on BH as well.

On BH, I like it in controlled situations, when my coach kindly plays directly into my racket. It is by all means still a hard rubber, and while I liked t05 for my backhand even in match situations where position to the ball matters more, I don´t think I´d master R53.
On FH, I think I might be able to play it in competition as well.

And yet, this is not the essence of the test, which is why I always test rubbers in training situations (coach: 3rd league) to understand the rubber, not find out is it good for me.

That is what makes such threads as "t05 alternative" so bizarre. Someone might say "BlueStorm Z2" - and it is totally credible that this player plays more easily with it, with enough spin for his game, and so on. In other words, this player prefers 70 % of the power for 70 % of the money, fair enough.

But what about peak performance? Where t05 excels, most of the so called alternatives just fall through.

I cannot fully engage such rubber´s potential, which is why I play with people who can.

So to give it one more conclusion:
Would it make sense for me to choose R53 over R47? It probably wouldn´t hurt much, but it is not necessary.
But is it better than t05? I think yes, and so did my semi-pro friends.

I'd like to see more comparisons to rubbers in the 53-54 degree range.

Omega VII Tour
Tenergy 05 Hard
Etc...

The guy in the video review seemed to think that it was similar to T05 Hard, but slightly slower.

Anyway, it sounds less difficult to use then I would have assumed. That's encouraging.

The impression I've been getting on T05H is that it is much harder to use than some of the latest 50+ degree ESN rubbers because T05H does not utilize the soft topsheet unlike R53, which seems to make it very explicit that it feels much softer than 53 degree hardness.

vik2000 said:

I'm quite surprised that this rubber is easy to lift underspin with. Chinese rubber is extremely hard but is easy to lift the spin because of its tackiness. I would think it'd be harder to lift spin with euro rubber at 53 degrees because of the sponge hardness and the rubber isn't tacky at all.

Maybe I really should give those latest 50+ degree sponge a try. R53 is already on sale this week at TT11 lol.

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Well, the answer is in the topsheet - its softness, elasicity and grippiness and yhe way it grabs the ball.
Xiom Omega V Asia is about 50 deg with harder topsheet, the Omega 7 Asia is 52.5 deg with softer and more elastic topsheet. With O7A its much easyer to lift backspin and to attack backspin merciless.

Does this Energy Cell marketing term Andro uses specifically apply to R53? Or do R37-53 share the same technology?

I think Just R53

guni4you said:

I think Just R53

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Correct.

It is also the reason why the rubber feels softer than you would expect. Like I said, the step from R47 to R50 is bigger than the one from R50 to R53. And the topsheet, as far as I know, is the same for all.

Hey Airoc,

So topsheet is same for all rasanters? How is the durability of the topsheet? For how long does it remain grippy?

Airoc said:

Correct.

It is also the reason why the rubber feels softer than you would expect. Like I said, the step from R47 to R50 is bigger than the one from R50 to R53. And the topsheet, as far as I know, is the same for all.

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guni4you said:

Hey Airoc,

So topsheet is same for all rasanters? How is the durability of the topsheet? For how long does it remain grippy?

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I've actually played with R47 & R42 in the past quite extensively and found the durability to be good.

Do you boost the R53 first? Have bought a sheet which will go on a OSP Virtuoso+. Are in 2 minds whether to boost the R53 with a layer of Haifu Seamoon first.
Backhand will be Stiga DNA Pro H. Also considering boosting first.
What do you guys think?

I would not boost it if it is the first time you're using. At least get to know the rubber first and determine whether you want to boost it or not.

There are some extensive reviews coming out on this rubber (unfortunately for most people it's Japanese). Below is one recently released by WRM. I usually take their reviews with a grain of salt because they tend to exaggerate the strength of a rubber, but in this case it was quite informative. I was also okay because they are comparing R47 with R53, so if anything they are just cannibalizing their own product.

https://youtu.be/_3CHlSzfNVM

The guy in the middle is among the top players in Japan and is an Andro representative.

Overall summary:
1. The rubber feels surprisingly softer than they expected. Despite 6 degree difference, they sound almost the same too. They were surprised by how well the sponge grabbed the ball despite testing it on Kanter which is a relatively stiff Balsa blade. They even felt like "the rubber almost does the job for you".

2. The top sheet is very grippy and it's very easy to lift the ball even when it's dipping below the table. They even said it's easier to lift than using R47, but I would say with a caveat that only if you are an advanced player that can brush the ball.

3. Much easier to generate spin in serves. They feel the rubber bites the ball very well and it spins the ball well while keeping it short. Whereas with R47, due to its bounciness, the ball gets pushed out more without generating the spin. If you go to the section where Xia (the penholder) serves, he was doing some full stroke serve while still making the ball bounce twice on the opponent's side.

Overall, they really make it sound like it's a fairly easy rubber to use. At some point they also said it felt softer than R50, likely due to different sponge technology used for R53.

Below is another review on how well R53 pairs with 5-ply and 7-ply wood blades: Andro Wanokiwami AO and REN.

https://youtu.be/b9_NFWDPlWQ

Overall, they said R53 pairs very well with either blades.

I did end up buying a sheet when it was on sale last week on TT11, thanks to Airoc's and guni4you's enthusiasm and I plan to slap it on my Acoustic to give it a try maybe in a couple of months.

I've always loved using boosted H3 on Acoustic but I stepped away from H3 due to the hassle of boosting. Now I'm using Long 5 with D05 but I can't say I like this set up more than Acoustic + H3. Once my D05 wears out, I'll try Acoustic and R53.

R50 uncut is 76 g
R53 uncut is ? g
Those with weak wrists should not try this rubber.

OT: The manufacturers should state the weight of their rubbers. Rubber selection is difficult as it is given the range of choices. To add insult to the injury, one is forced to search forums to guesstimate the weight.