Airoc Astro Soft

[TableTennisDaily]

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[Sirimindz]

4 out of 5 rating for Airoc Astro S

This is my first post on this forum. Hope you like it and useful to you.

Airoc Astro S red max 2.1 on Intensity NCT and the other side is Evolution El-p.
This combination doesn't feel head heavy and it is well balance even the blade is about 87g.
This is my second stiga rubber in 20 years after Almana sound! which it doesn't let me down at all.
The first look of AAS has caught my eye as the rubber seems to have some glitter in it. The sponge is blue color and it's not with many big pores like other makers are trying to copy spring sponge from TG05 or whatever.

Here comes to the points which I will compare directly with Rakza 7 soft and Evolution El-p which I used it on Intensity Carbon.

Spin: about 30% better than R7S but a bitless than El-p.
Speed :about 20-30% faster than both R7S and El-p
Control and block : about 20% better than R7S and 30% better than El-p.

When I play R7S I use it on forehand as I don't like the mushy feel of soft spong on back hand side. But in case of AASis different, I can use both backhand and forehand and don't have that mushy feel. The feeling is greater than both R7S and El-p.
The placement of the ball is also great and more powerful than R7S.
The AAS is very forgiving rubber with easy to use and not that sensitive to incoming spin.
If you want any question, and if I can answer, I will respond.

 

[yogi_bear]

5 out of 5 rating for Airoc Astro S

Stiga Airoc Astro S
Sponge Version: Max
Weight: Approximately 62-64 grams uncut
Hardness: around 45 degrees
Speed: OFF

I received the soft version of the Airoc Astro a few weeks ago testing on a variety of blades. I predominately used the STIGA Rosewood V blade and tested on other blades including the Yinhe T-1 as a fast composite blade and an ITC XF for a controlled carbon blade. I also tried the Airoc Astro S on a STIGA Clipper Wood. The rubbers were glued using a water-based glue. I used a polyball and a celluloid ball when testing the rubbers.

The Airoc Astro Series was released this year as players wanted more spin on the poly ball, this rubber is an advancement to last years Airoc rubber. The older sample of the Astro rubber has a calibra topsheet with Airoc sponge, this was very good however STIGA decided not to use this as the Astro series according to them had increased in quality. This rubber is simply the same as the Airoc topsheet however with a new, reformulated sponge.

The sponge of the S has a reactive and springy feel when pressed hard. Initially the first bounce seems to have a high rebound. The sponge has small pores and the topsheet feels grippy.

The speed of the astro S feels slightly faster than the Airoc series. I can feel more of a spring effect with the s version on drives and smashes. The Soft is harder than other STIGA rubbers such as the STIGA Sound rubbers. The S speed is faster than the Evolution EL-P.

On serves and receives the rubber performed superbly producing lots of spin. Both rubbers are insensitive to incoming spin which me like this rubber in this area of play. When receiving using shots such as flicks or drop shots there is high control.

When playing spinny loops, I found the S to be spinnier than the M version. The improved sponge certainly helps in this area. Comparing the astro S and the M the S was spinnier the ball grabs into the sponge more. I think if you placed a euro or Chinese rubber on the Astro topsheet, you would have one complete spinny and fast rubber. The Astro M has a low to medium arc when doing loops and the Astro S has a medium to high arch doing the same stroke.

Overall,the Astro S version is a very good and complete all around rubber which offers good spin and excellent attacking in all strokes. The rubber pairs well with both all wood and with composite blades. The Astro S is very versatile and plays good with any carbon blade with off or off+ speeds.

 

[Vishyrich]

4 out of 5 rating for Airoc Astro S

Really good allround rubber, not quite the speed or spin of Tenergy and Mxp but a good alternative if you want a flatter throw. Touches take time to get the hang of, and if you catch serves wrong then it's not very forgiving.

 

[williamlimpo]

5 out of 5 rating for Airoc Astro S

My best Stiga rubber so far. Im using it niw in the intensity carbon and all my shots are amazing. Fh and bh topspins are superb. Drives and underspin loops are the best. The only bad news is touching. The less amount of gear makes touching super low, but gew adjustment makes touches with this rubber deadly. Im an rbp penholder with chinese style of technique, with this thing counter loops and topspins are efffortless. Serves are good too

 

[williamlimpo]

5 out of 5 rating for Airoc Astro S

At last I will permanently use this rubber for my BH. It was very good. Spin, Speed and Control everything is amazing. I'm turning from the Chinese style play into Hybrid play of Chinese and Euro/Jap style. Very good. Now My RPB is much much better than before. Well, its fast and with a bit medium throw. But still good

 

[dirtyD]

3 out of 5 rating for Airoc Astro S

Slow for a rubber engineered around speeding up the game for the poly balls. Not to bash this rubber all the way, but the durability isn't good. Spin fades off in days and your left with a dead, slow rubber.