Experience with some other Loki rubbers - Arthur China, GTX Pro (inc)

[Egon]

Finally, I could make a video playing with it. Shoutout to my friend who was game. Btw I'm the lefty.
Hot and humid conditions didn't help much, but it was good. LAC black on FH and red G-1 on BH, with W968 in between.
I didn't edit the warmup, only the matches and I gave him a 5 points lead. If I win then the next set is 6 points, if I lose next set is only 4 points.

Unfortunately, it was so hot that the end of the 2nd match is missing since my phone got overheated.

As I mentioned before it is very good at 3rd ball killshots.

Hey, great game! I imagined you completely different, but this is normal for forums
It can be seen that it is very hot in the hall and in my hall where I am playing now it is also very hot and in connection with this there is a problem - my hand sweats a lot and because of this I cannot aggressively work with the backhand brush for fear that the racket will fly out . How do you deal with this? And yet, how do you like LAC in comparison with Jupiter 3, does it make sense for me to switch to LAC from Jupiter 3?

 

[Zwill]

Hey, great game! I imagined you completely different, but this is normal for forums
It can be seen that it is very hot in the hall and in my hall where I am playing now it is also very hot and in connection with this there is a problem - my hand sweats a lot and because of this I cannot aggressively work with the backhand brush for fear that the racket will fly out . How do you deal with this? And yet, how do you like LAC in comparison with Jupiter 3, does it make sense for me to switch to LAC from Jupiter 3?

I hope reality is not too disappointing

Against the sweat it's really hard to manage. My palm doesn't sweat but my lower arm does and I get sweat onto my palm from there. I think the handle of the racket matters a lot, if it can suck up the moisture or does it get grippier from sweat or more slippery. I have seen both cases where a slightly damp handle had more grip in my hand. I like the handles that are made from compressed sawdust or whatever it's called, these cheap DHS handles that are a bit rough too. The roughness acts like sandpaper in a way.

The Jupiter 3 and LAC I think are made with the opposite philosphy. J3 has a soft topsheet and an unyielding dense sponge. LAC has a harder topsheet with a small pored but compressible sponge. Jupiter 3 has way more flat arc, it also feels faster but has less spin too. The topsheet is soft but can't stretch because the dense hard sponge denies it.
LAC's topsheet can stretch easier with the small pored sponge under it and since it's not so soft of a topsheet it snaps back strongly, so it makes a higher arc and more spin.

For sure J3 is lighter around 49g cut, vs 54g, that 10% is nothing to sneeze at. And for a very specific usecase I have no doubt J3 is better. If someone smashes hard and blocks I think J3 would be a better choice. And I am wondering if it would suit a modern defenders FH side since the dense sponge with that topsheet is very stable. I can't chop even if my life depended on it so I am just wondering.

LAC is more of a versatile rubber for me. It also has some aspects that it really excels in, for me is 3rd ball attack and over-the-table countering. Unfortunately, I couldn't do much over-the-table countering yesterday since my friend doesn't really do open-ups, and the "open-ups" he does are mostly knuckleballs.

 

[Egon]

I hope reality is not too disappointing

Not at all, on the contrary!
Thank you for comparing these rubbers and especially for the weight, for me these 5 grams will be critical, since I am not Gozo and can only play rackets with a total weight of up to 190 grams

 

[7sagittarius7]

Yesterday I received LAC from the Loki official store on Aliexpress. It says that the sponge hardness is 40d.
I measured 55 with the shore O durometer.
Today I will do a short training session with it.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Yesterday I received LAC from the Loki official store on Aliexpress. It says that the sponge hardness is 40d.
I measured 55 with the shore O durometer.
Today I will do a short training session with it.

Interesting. So even 40d Chinese rubber is as hard as D09c

 

[damszelfly]

Regarding LAC, there could be a definide difference between the two main product versions.
From the BEO store, I got the greenish package version, and both black and red sheets were around 64.5 g heavy uncut (no printing regarding hardness info on back of the sponge).
From another store, I got the orange package version, the black sheet was 65.3g heavy (printed H40), but the red sheet weighed 75.9g (printed H41).

For some reason, when I order a pair from any of the AliExpress shops, I end up getting a significantly heavier red sheet than black. Once I got DHS PF4-50 with black sheet weighing 60.3g, red weighing 75.6g - I could not even imagine this would happen until I saw it. Sponge thickness was identical, but the red version practically didn't have any visible pores.

 

[hclnnkhg]

Regarding LAC, there could be a definide difference between the two main product versions.
From the BEO store, I got the greenish package version, and both black and red sheets were around 64.5 g heavy uncut (no printing regarding hardness info on back of the sponge).
From another store, I got the orange package version, the black sheet was 65.3g heavy (printed H40), but the red sheet weighed 75.9g (printed H41).

For some reason, when I order a pair from any of the AliExpress shops, I end up getting a significantly heavier red sheet than black. Once I got DHS PF4-50 with black sheet weighing 60.3g, red weighing 75.6g - I could not even imagine this would happen until I saw it. Sponge thickness was identical, but the red version practically didn't have any visible pores.

do you have any photos of the green package? I am really interested in their official description (if there's any difference with the orange version), thanks.

 

[damszelfly]

do you have any photos of the green package? I am really interested in their official description (if there's any difference with the orange version), thanks.

Here is the item listing from the shop:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003152401096.html

Spongle looks exactly like on the black sheet of the old version, but without any prints, totally blank.

Another difference is: the old version has opaque red rubber topsheet, but the new has translucent.

 

[mattlamperouge]

Regarding confusion about Green package (i didnt see it on any of their official listings or promotional material) i asked my agent, since i "trust" Beo store im curious about the green package. i also shared images & asked her to clarify the different labels. i will report back my findings if i receive a clear answer on the matter.

 

[hclnnkhg]

Regarding confusion about Green package (i didnt see it on any of their official listings or promotional material) i asked my agent, since i "trust" Beo store im curious about the green package. i also shared images & asked her to clarify the different labels. i will report back my findings if i receive a clear answer on the matter.

It seems that the orange package said 特制超黏 (Special version, super tacky) but the green package doesn't.

 

[Zwill]

Wang Hao's curse got me too.

It's right in the dead center for me.

 

[mattlamperouge]

It seems that the orange package said 特制超黏 (Special version, super tacky) but the green package doesn't.

maybe Green package is a customized version or something, when i asked my agent about Arthur Internal Energy she told me "Because this rubber is customized by my major customers, I did not sell it in my store." i understand that they dont have permanent stock of those rubbers to sell on the official store (just like T3 81pro) and they do give the option to customize rubbers at large quantities (MOQ 500) so its a possibility (a bit confusing though)

 

[TensorBackhand]

Wang Hao's curse got me too.
View attachment 25872
It's right in the dead center for me.

what happened? this doens't look like a bubble

 

[Zwill]

It is a huge bubble. I think I know the problem. Glues don't stick to the sponge too strongly, it's super easy to remove glue layers from this sponge, I think the top sheet's glue also can't stick to the sponge too well so it let's go. Not a boosting issue or anything else, it's how the sponge is. It's really a pity actually 😭

 

[mattlamperouge]

For reference here are some official promotional product videos:

 

[BaRanchik]

It is a huge bubble. I think I know the problem. Glues don't stick to the sponge too strongly, it's super easy to remove glue layers from this sponge, I think the top sheet's glue also can't stick to the sponge too well so it let's go. Not a boosting issue or anything else, it's how the sponge is. It's really a pity actually 😭

Which glue did you use? Maybe using one that adheres better, but harder to remove would fit this better. Also, is your version the orange or green packaging? The one I ordered is from BEO so I assume I'll be getting the green. Hopefully it survives at least a couple of months.

 

[turbozed]

It is a huge bubble. I think I know the problem. Glues don't stick to the sponge too strongly, it's super easy to remove glue layers from this sponge, I think the top sheet's glue also can't stick to the sponge too well so it let's go. Not a boosting issue or anything else, it's how the sponge is. It's really a pity actually 😭

I wonder if heat and humidity play a role in bubbling. You said where you were was hot and humid. Longle is from VN where it's very hot and humid too. Maybe related.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Which glue did you use? Maybe using one that adheres better, but harder to remove would fit this better. Also, is your version the orange or green packaging? The one I ordered is from BEO so I assume I'll be getting the green. Hopefully it survives at least a couple of months.

Seems like you're thinking about the rubber separating from the blade, this is the topsheet separating from the sponge

 

[Zwill]

I wonder if heat and humidity play a role in bubbling. You said where you were was hot and humid. Longle is from VN where it's very hot and humid too. Maybe related.

Yeah, neither of those are helping for sure, but... I don't know. I don't wanna buy frequently since it bubbles up.

Which glue did you use? Maybe using one that adheres better, but harder to remove would fit this better. Also, is your version the orange or green packaging? The one I ordered is from BEO so I assume I'll be getting the green. Hopefully it survives at least a couple of months.

I have the orange pack from the official Loki store. As Scarfed said I meant the topsheet separating from the sponge not the sponge from the blade. I just mean that it's super easy to remove glues from the sponge, in my case I used Winion which I am assuming to be Haifu water based glue. When I removed the rubber from the blade the glue stayed on the blade and the sponge was totally "naked".
I am implying that the adhesive that Loki factory uses to bond the topsheet to the sponge also has a hard time and can separate from the sponge. I don't think the sponge or the pips break and there is really no other way how this can happen.

Alternative e-peen theory:
I'm just toooooo strong


@longle you see I managed to do it in the sweetest of sweet spots 😁

 

[lodro]

Alternative e-peen theory:
I'm just toooooo strong

The proof shall be in the pudding, as they say. I am the opposite of you, an old decrepit weakling.
If it bubbles up it will most definitively not be because of me hammering it too strongly 😂