Fastest affordable Chinese rubbers?

[Michael Zhuang]

What are the fastest Chinese rubbers? I know Big Dipper and AK47 are quite fast. What other affordable Chinese rubbers are comparable or faster?

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Friendship Battle 2

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Friendship Battle 2

Oh right, I hear this name a lot. Is it a factory tuned rubber? Given that it costs quite a bit more than Big Dipper or H3Neo, is it faster? is it worth it?

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Oh right, I hear this name a lot. Is it a factory tuned rubber? Given that it costs quite a bit more than Big Dipper or H3Neo, is it faster? is it worth it?

It is factory tuned, hence it is contemporary of DHS neoH3. As to whether is it fast or slow. Let me answer you this way: Chinese rubber are not power sponge assisted. Fast of slow is entirely up to the power of the user. In this sense, it is very fair and linear. This is a pro and also a con, depend on the players personal preference.

Is it worth it? Yes for me.

 

[mocker88]

The fastest Chinese rubber I've tried out is Yinhe Apollo 5. A bit tacky, and really good speed. I had the H36 version. Yinhe Moon Pro Hard is quite fast as well. The 729 Battle II Prov/Gold versions isn't quite as fast as the H3N, what I felt anyway. Then there is LOKI T3. This one felt very fast, grippy as well, but not that easy to produce good spin with. Really nice fast blocking style rubber.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Are the Loki rubbers fast? I have a rxton 1 that i just bought for fun because its $5. I think its a pretty nice rubber for the orice, not slow or dead feeling. Are the higher end loki rubbers even better by a lot?

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[mocker88]

Are the Loki rubbers fast? I have a rxton 1 that i just bought for fun because its $5. I think its a pretty nice rubber for the orice, not slow or dead feeling. Are the higher end loki rubbers even better by a lot?

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I have only tried the N80, GTX, Arthur Asia, Arthur Europe and T3.

The Asia was too hard for me, and I'm used to the H3 41 deg The Europe was kind of nice on forehand, but you have to put in a lot of power to get it working, looping.
The T3 is the fastest, but I had difficulties producing enough spin, so this one ended up on my backhand.
GTX is the one closest to Euro/Jap rubbers. Quite bouncy, not so much for brushing. Good for attacking game.
N80 feels like the one closest to my H3N, but not quite that deadly brush looping wich H3N gives you, but almost. The nicest thing about this one is when blocking, it gives you a softer feeling than H3N, and you can land more balls on the table. This one gives you the best spin of all the LOKI rubbers I've tried. Works for me on both forehand and backhand. Most of the LOKI rubbers above are quite heavy. Weight cut to a normal blade: GTX=48g, N80=50g, T3=53g, Arthur Asia=54g and Arthur Europe=55g.

I haven't tried any Rxton rubbers, but I understand that they are good compared to the price.

 

[Zwill]

Yinhe Moon Speed is pretty fast.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

I have only tried the N80, GTX, Arthur Asia, Arthur Europe and T3.

The Asia was too hard for me, and I'm used to the H3 41 deg The Europe was kind of nice on forehand, but you have to put in a lot of power to get it working, looping.
The T3 is the fastest, but I had difficulties producing enough spin, so this one ended up on my backhand.
GTX is the one closest to Euro/Jap rubbers. Quite bouncy, not so much for brushing. Good for attacking game.
N80 feels like the one closest to my H3N, but not quite that deadly brush looping wich H3N gives you, but almost. The nicest thing about this one is when blocking, it gives you a softer feeling than H3N, and you can land more balls on the table. This one gives you the best spin of all the LOKI rubbers I've tried. Works for me on both forehand and backhand. Most of the LOKI rubbers above are quite heavy. Weight cut to a normal blade: GTX=48g, N80=50g, T3=53g, Arthur Asia=54g and Arthur Europe=55g.

I haven't tried any Rxton rubbers, but I understand that they are good compared to the price.

Â

Gotta say those rubbers sound really good. And the branding looks cool and modern. Are the rubbers factory tuned? Or just naturally fast?

 

[mocker88]

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Gotta say those rubbers sound really good. And the branding looks cool and modern. Are the rubbers factory tuned? Or just naturally fast?

I can't find any info about if they are factory tuned, so just naturally fast I guess

 

[Michael Zhuang]

I can't find any info about if they are factory tuned, so just naturally fast I guess

How does T3 and GTX compare to ak47 or moon speed?

 

[Zwill]

Well if 20-30USD is still considered affordable, then there are the 729 presto rubbers too.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

I have only tried the N80, GTX, Arthur Asia, Arthur Europe and T3.

The Asia was too hard for me, and I'm used to the H3 41 deg The Europe was kind of nice on forehand, but you have to put in a lot of power to get it working, looping.
The T3 is the fastest, but I had difficulties producing enough spin, so this one ended up on my backhand.
GTX is the one closest to Euro/Jap rubbers. Quite bouncy, not so much for brushing. Good for attacking game.
N80 feels like the one closest to my H3N, but not quite that deadly brush looping wich H3N gives you, but almost. The nicest thing about this one is when blocking, it gives you a softer feeling than H3N, and you can land more balls on the table. This one gives you the best spin of all the LOKI rubbers I've tried. Works for me on both forehand and backhand. Most of the LOKI rubbers above are quite heavy. Weight cut to a normal blade: GTX=48g, N80=50g, T3=53g, Arthur Asia=54g and Arthur Europe=55g.

I haven't tried any Rxton rubbers, but I understand that they are good compared to the price.

Are the GTX and N80 both tacky or semi-tacky rubbers? How is their speed compared to H3 Neo?

 

[mocker88]

I think that N80 is more tacky than GTX. N80 is similar tacky to H3N. Speed of N80 is a bit slower than H3N. Gtx is a bouncier rubber. Hard to compare to H3N. They are fast in different ways.

 

[IB66]

Loki Arthur Asia rubbers are pretty well priced compared to other manufacturers from Europe/Japan whose rubbers are made Germany.
Arthur Asia/Europe, semi tacky hard and medium hard sponges.
Arthur Europe Diamond is a non tacky Tensor type rubber, this is quicker than its brothers because of the lack of tackiness. Medium hard sponge.
All the Arthur series produce good spin but not as good as H3Neo.

As Mocker88 says N80 is the best Loki rubber and the brands ‘flagship’ rubber, cheaper than the Arthur series rubbers, around the same price as commercial H3Neo, but perhaps the N80 quality is more like a provincial H3Neo? which is twice as expensive as the commercial H3Neo!!

I haven’t tried any of the other Loki rubbers so can’t comment on them.

Another rubber to consider is Xiom Tau2, has a little more bounce in the sponge, tackiness is reasonable and seems to last. Maybe plays a little faster than H3Neo. Spin is good, priced reasonably as well. A very good H3/H3Neo alternative.

If you want more speed with tackiness then ‘Hybrid’ rubbers are an option (Loki Arthur Asia/Europe are in that group, tacky top sheet, harder tensor type sponge.) But these ‘Hybrids’ may not be as cheap if purchased from Euro/Japanese brands.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

I think that N80 is more tacky than GTX. N80 is similar tacky to H3N. Speed of N80 is a bit slower than H3N. Gtx is a bouncier rubber. Hard to compare to H3N. They are fast in different ways.

Since you said T3 is a non-tacky rubber, how is its speed compared to a AK47?

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Loki Arthur Asia rubbers are pretty well priced compared to other manufacturers from Europe/Japan whose rubbers are made Germany.
Arthur Asia/Europe, semi tacky hard and medium hard sponges.
Arthur Europe Diamond is a non tacky Tensor type rubber, this is quicker than its brothers because of the lack of tackiness. Medium hard sponge.
All the Arthur series produce good spin but not as good as H3Neo.

As Mocker88 says N80 is the best Loki rubber and the brands ‘flagship’ rubber, cheaper than the Arthur series rubbers, around the same price as commercial H3Neo, but perhaps the N80 quality is more like a provincial H3Neo? which is twice as expensive as the commercial H3Neo!!

I haven’t tried any of the other Loki rubbers so can’t comment on them.

Another rubber to consider is Xiom Tau2, has a little more bounce in the sponge, tackiness is reasonable and seems to last. Maybe plays a little faster than H3Neo. Spin is good, priced reasonably as well. A very good H3/H3Neo alternative.

If you want more speed with tackiness then ‘Hybrid’ rubbers are an option (Loki Arthur Asia/Europe are in that group, tacky top sheet, harder tensor type sponge.) But these ‘Hybrids’ may not be as cheap if purchased from Euro/Japanese brands.

Why does Loki have so many lines? the N80 line, the Rexton line, the Arthur line?

Can you explain the concept between these lines?

 

[mocker88]

Since you said T3 is a non-tacky rubber, how is its speed compared to a AK47?

Sorry. It was quite a while since I played the AK47, Red version at the time. I could guess that T3 is a notch faster, but AK47 is a more light weight, softer rubber that works good in a spin/loop oriented game engaging the sponge more than T3. T3 has a harder sponge and harder top sheet, which gives you a more direct speed, more suitable for faster blocking, and perhaps easier in the short game.

 

[IB66]

Why does Loki have so many lines? the N80 line, the Rexton line, the Arthur line?

Can you explain the concept between these lines?

N80 is just one rubber,
like a lot of manufacturers there are different versions of the same rubber. The top sheet is likely to be the same, the sponges are often slightly different as far as hardness is concerned. For example Andro R53/R48 and now R45, I think these have the same top sheet with the same sponge (composition/technology) but the sponges have different hardnesses.
Loki have different blade ranges as well, generally based on price and composition. They could give all the blades different names, but instead they tend to have a group of 3 or 4 blades under one name, x1/x2/x3/x4 y1/y2 etc, it’s just the way they market their products!!!

 

[ferngourley]

very good information, thanks everyone.