Non-shrinking ESN rubbers

Originally Posted by Konrad Bak

Fastarc G1... they started to boost them...

Do you have a source for that information?

So far it seems like hybrids and older gen ESN rubbers don't shirink at all or not that much. I think the "original" Vega series, Fastarc G-1, Rakza 7 are all pretty close to 10 or even more years old.

I think the older style rubbers have superior topsheet. These new thin rubber ultramax sponge sheets are a bit weird, like they have inferior topsheet strength.
Maybe they have better static grip when new. They seem to have some coating on them which lasts for a week or two.
I heard a few players complain about the Gewo Nexxus sheets, I've seen and they said that in some cases when they would need to sheet to bite the ball just slipped off and during a push the sheet did bite and the ball just kicked away.

Maybe it's not an accident that quite a lot of pros still use Fastarc, Evolution or V15 Extra and not the newest gen sheets.

After peeling it off a few times from several blades, my G1 haven't shrink anything. Topsheet is also way more durable than any other tensors too.

Fastarc G-1 sounds like a really good one. So far I enjoy the V>15 extra on both sides but next time maybe I will request a black V15 and a red G-1 from my club. The blue V15 is like 3g heavier than the black after cutting them, probably it's a bit harder so I use the blue one on FH.

I used to have old gen rubbers like Mark V, Sriver, Vario or JO Waldner that were shrinking a lot after being unused and left in their cardboard package for some months, without using speed glue ! that's the way it is for ANY sponge: as long as there are bubbles, there's air, and that air evaporates whatsoever.

Take for example any football, soccer, volleyball, handball or basketball ... ball: if you left them in a place being unused for some time, they will loose their air and deflate, say: shrink. It's not a matter of factory tuning: there's less air bubbles in chinese sponges like the H3, or those bubbles are tinier and that's why why those sponges have more density, that's why without boosting them they'll never shrink, and that's why when you boost them them they take way more time to shrink because of the sponge's stronger density.

It's not rocket science. It's not about factory tuning. That's the way it is with air: it evaporates due to climatic fluctuations, the air pressure does vary depending temperature and moisture, simple as that. Thaty's also why a rubber won't react the same because of the temperature and moisture fluctuations depending on the sport venue, the time of the year (summer and winter are dry seasons), the location (more moisture and higher temperature in south asia for example, more dry and cold in central europe,etc...), and so on.

I am confused - Fastarc G1 has been a problem shrinking considerably for me (red 2.0mm, not stretched when fitted).
I now cut it several mm oversize for the first fitting, play it for several sessions, then peel, re-glue then trim properly
which solves the problem.
The worst ones for shrinkage I have used are Joola Rhyzer 43 and Gewo Nanoflex FT48.

Mmm, my Fastarcs don't shrink, at least, not that I'm aware of. Not that that helps much; I take them off to transfer them to a different blade (and head shapes vary slightly, even for blades with the same head size) or to scrap them.

Originally Posted by zentt

I am confused - Fastarc G1 has been a problem shrinking considerably for me (red 2.0mm, not stretched when fitted).
I now cut it several mm oversize for the first fitting, play it for several sessions, then peel, re-glue then trim properly
which solves the problem.
The worst ones for shrinkage I have used are Joola Rhyzer 43 and Gewo Nanoflex FT48.

Yep. Also confused about what I'm reading here. Any high tension rubber will shrink if you glue it on and subsequently remove it. I always cut my rubber sheets slightly large to avoid this problem. G-1 will absolutely shrink if you peel it off (mine just did this).

Do all ESN rubbers shrink? What causes this shrinking?

I have a sheet of Friendship Presto Max Speed, which is not even a ESN rubber. But to my surprise, it seems to have shrunk quite a lot after taking it off the blade.

The sponge is an ESN/Jap type on that rubber, kind of chinese version of an ESN/Jap rubber, not the "typical" chinese sticky rubber so. And Yes all ESN/Jap rubbers shrink, some less than other, but the explanation is quite obvious: larger air cells in the sponge that will deflate after some time, being factory boosted or not does not matter in that case: the old 70's to 90's Euro/jap rubbers like Mark V and all its versions (GPS, HPS, 30°), Vario (or Vario soft), Donic JO Waldner used to also . Harder hybrid ESN/Jap sponges deflate/shrink less because the air cells are way more tiny.

Chinese sticky ones does not shrink because there's tinier air cells in those über harder sponges. If you want catapult, you need air.