Best rubber under $5?

[Julzig]

Sorry if this is a bit out of place. I just found Tenergy rubbers for under 20Euros on AliExpress.
Those are selled by some weird stores aswell, like one has mostly cycling parts in offer. So strange...
I wonder what you exactly receive when ordering

 

[TensorBackhand]

Sorry if this is a bit out of place. I just found Tenergy rubbers for under 20Euros on AliExpress.
Those are selled by some weird stores aswell, like one has mostly cycling parts in offer. So strange...
I wonder what you exactly receive when ordering

These are probably fake. Do you have a link?

 

[Julzig]

These are probably fake. Do you have a link?

Found 2 and think they are fake aswell.
I wouldn't buy them until someone can 100% assure me their legitimacy.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007670054806.html?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009505413353.html?

 

[JJ Ng]

Found 2 and think they are fake aswell.
I wouldn't buy them until someone can 100% assure me their legitimacy.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007670054806.html?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009505413353.html?

They are fake. If you ok with playing fake Tenergy that plays like a chinese rubber with tacky top sheets for a cheap price, you can always order it and see if you like it.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Found 2 and think they are fake aswell.
I wouldn't buy them until someone can 100% assure me their legitimacy.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007670054806.html?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009505413353.html?

These should be fake.

I did buy 2 sheets of fake tenergy before, and they actually play quite decent. They are similar to Loki Kirin 1

 

[Andrea Jiang]

@Bruschk0v the market has spoken. Looking at alix sales numbers of sub-5$ rubbers, Mercury 2 is by far the best-selling rubber (Medium vs Soft seem equally popular), only trailed by T88 Ultra Spin, with most orders from Ukraine Russia India Pakistan, see alix buyers' comments. i trust the market's voice/decision, so i use Mercury 2 for serious club play, and T88-I for returnboard.

• Mercury 2 Soft: rather light-weight, (old production used to be) veery tacky, resistant top sheet (durable), no catapult; a slowish rubber, which i can appreciate; imho very suitable for all club play (league, tourneys); product from a very strong brand and original manufacturer: Yinhe Milky Way
• T88-I: hardish sponge, not as light-weight, resistant top sheet (durable), very grippy, ~catapult/tensor; a fastish rubber, hence more fun; serious enough for club play but not a good choice for beginners; product from a strong brand and original manufacturer: SANWEI

I choose(!) to be an ignoramus, and ignore all less-big brands (Loki, Roki, Palio, Dawei, Double fishes, whateva), there's no need to behave like an idiot EJ, just focus on the top2-best selling rubbers, with the widest popularity and availability. Friendship 729 is even more popular but not a sub-5$ rubber! Yinhe is becoming the 2nd biggest brand from China behind DHS. For fun rackets during lunch breaks, i'd recommend the T88-I. @Andrea Jiang it has very nice production quality and is easy to maintain. Good spring effect.

I‘m very happy to hear that my friend.
I will make our designers know.😁😁😁

 

[The_TT_Bat_Guy]

Hi,

thanks for these extensive informations.

which of these would you recommend as a "fun" / "pick up and play in the lunch break" type of rackets for club table tennis players used to euro style rubbers?

The Kokutaku 868 is lightly tacky and is easy to maintain. I would steer towards that and the Sanwei T88 Ultra Spin as being to easiest ones to maintain in this category and would definitely fit the fun pick up and play in lunch break for club players. I would steer away from any heavily tacky rubber because they'll pick up a ton of dust and there's no chance anyone would clean them before or after play - even if they're used by club players.

 

[Bruschk0v]

The Kokutaku 868 is lightly tacky and is easy to maintain. I would steer towards that and the Sanwei T88 Ultra Spin as being to easiest ones to maintain in this category and would definitely fit the fun pick up and play in lunch break for club players. I would steer away from any heavily tacky rubber because they'll pick up a ton of dust and there's no chance anyone would clean them before or after play - even if they're used by club players.

There are several version of the Kokutaku 868: Blue, Red, Gold and Black. Do you have any experience / recommendations with respect to the different versions?

 

[Egon]

There are several version of the Kokutaku 868: Blue, Red, Gold and Black. Do you have any experience / recommendations with respect to the different versions?

I tried the blue 868 with Japanese sponge a long time ago. Very decent rubber of the old type, very sticky and tenacious, not fast even with a booster and not heavy in weight. For fast and heavy carbon blades, where you need to slow down the speed and balance the weight, this is good. For its money, it was better than Mercury. But quite a lot of time has passed and perhaps now it is a different rubber.
Recently I tried 730 with a pink sponge, but on the topsheet there is an inscription 868, so this is a completely different rubber - a sponge and a topsheet. It has very little stickiness. The topsheet is thin and the pimples are located often, similar in structure to the Glazer series, but there is no grip, which is not surprising for such a price. The weight is low, the speed without a booster is a little faster then 868 blue japan, but the trajectory is flat. For beginners, a good option, but personally I would prefer Mercury 2.

 

[The_TT_Bat_Guy]

There are several version of the Kokutaku 868: Blue, Red, Gold and Black. Do you have any experience / recommendations with respect to the different versions?

I used the Blue on a beginner build and that was fine though I didn't use it personally. The ones I do more of are the training rubber version, which come in a 2-pack already. They have very low bounciness and are only semi-tacky, so work great for beginners and also hardy enough for office settings. I've got the Black version sitting in my pile of waiting-to-be-tested rubbers....ahem