Decent Chinese rubbers that resemble European rubbers?

This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Oct 2017
240
85
564
Looking for recommendations on decent Chinese rubbers that somewhat resemble European non-tacky rubbers like Xiom Vega Pro. Not for me, but it is nice to have an ok racket to lend to someone or even as a cheaper recommendation for both beginners and intermediate players.

This is to be paired with a Yinhe / Galaxy Earth E-3 blade which I have found to be quite good. I have been using 729 Friendship Super FX 1.8mm/2.0mm in this setup so far, but I am sure that there are even better rubbers out there that aren't very expensive :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: thomas.pong
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Oct 2017
240
85
564
Thanks for the good suggestions, IVegita. I noticed that TT11 has a discount on Stiga DNA Future M for €20.57 per sheet. I believe this is an ESN tensor rubber. It is quite tempting to order a couple of sheets instead of looking for Chinese rubbers in the €10 - €20 range.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Sep 2018
527
568
1,893
Just found this. Déjà vu, haha.

Glad you liked E3 :)


Thanks for the good suggestions, IVegita. I noticed that TT11 has a discount on Stiga DNA Future M for €20.57 per sheet. I believe this is an ESN tensor rubber. It is quite tempting to order a couple of sheets instead of looking for Chinese rubbers in the €10 - €20 range.
In that case, I would probably do the same.

But If you are willing to put some more money on it, I would actually just by a new pair of my current rubbers, and put my current used ones on this spare blade.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Oct 2017
240
85
564
Deja Vu, indeed ;) I guess I have not found any Chinese rubbers I really like to recommend, yet. Good point about just putting some old rubbers on a spare racket.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thomas.pong
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Feb 2018
1,088
754
2,410
Read 2 reviews
The AK47 rubbers are fairly decent imitations of old school Japanese rubbers.

The new Loki rubbers may be something to look into even though I haven't tried them (but yogi did post a mini review). There's even a Swedish reseller that most likely would ship to Norway:
http://www.lokisport.se
 
  • Like
Reactions: whocarez
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Oct 2017
240
85
564
Wait for the Sanwei Gears Hyper to be released. It is what exactly you are looking for.
Thanks. Read your post about this rubber. It looks quite interesting. Still not able to find any price information, but hopefully it will cost less than €20. How do you think it would compare to Stiga DNA Future M, which right now can be bought for around €20? (normally around €30). Or even to Xiom Vega Intro which I guess is also a cheaper ESN rubber at the same price point as Stiga DNA Future M.
 
Last edited:
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Dec 2016
496
388
1,723
Kokutaku 868 (factory tuned for the closest results, the one with the ludicrous party cover) is really quite good, also KTL Rapid Speed. More recent ones like the 729 Presto tend to cost as much as the DNA you've found...
I personally don't like the AK-47 (tried blue and yellow), the sponge is decent but I find the topsheet really lacking in terms of grip. The two rubbers I mentioned have more traditional style translucent rubber, worked a lot better for me in terms of brushing the ball and quick reaction type situations. Not all out tensor, still lively and powerful enough, worked well on five-ply limba such as yours (I got a sheet of the 868 from someone else and stuck it on my Offensive S, not the fastest or craziest of all but very easy, fun and consistent).
 
Thanks. Read your post about this rubber. It looks quite interesting. Still not able to find any price information, but hopefully it will cost less than €20. How do you think it would compare to Stiga DNA Future M, which right now can be bought for around €20? (normally around €30). Or even to Xiom Vega Intro which I guess is also a cheaper ESN rubber at the same price point as Stiga DNA Future M.

I have tried both and the Gears Hyper
felt more like Stiga Mantra M though the Gears felt having more spin and power on powershots.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Oct 2017
240
85
564
Thanks guys, a lot of good suggestions in this thread :) Funny thing, I really recommended a beginner to spend around $40 on a decent Chinese blade with rubbers that have a little speed and some friction, but this was clearly too expensive. The person came back with a $10 racket from the recycle bin surely not worthy the "Yasaka" name on it. Hard to explain to someone that at least some friction and feeling is needed to learn the right strokes, rather than playing with a hard frictionless plank.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marko
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Dec 2019
115
30
217
Thanks guys, a lot of good suggestions in this thread :) Funny thing, I really recommended a beginner to spend around $40 on a decent Chinese blade with rubbers that have a little speed and some friction, but this was clearly too expensive. The person came back with a $10 racket from the recycle bin surely not worthy the "Yasaka" name on it. Hard to explain to someone that at least some friction and feeling is needed to learn the right strokes, rather than playing with a hard frictionless plank.

Agree, my friend was looking for a new racket and I recomended him a 50 euro racket from a guy neer by that resells them, the butterfly carbo x5 blade that alone cost more than that and some decent cheap chinese rubbers. He bought a premade racket for 30 euros that isnt even close to the one I suggested him and will probably way less longer.
 
Top