Friendship 729 battle 3

[AndySmith]

Woah it's rare to see something truly different when it comes to TT rubber but two different layers of hardness in the same sponge?

This is very intriguing stuff!

As ever, this kind of thing has been done before. KTL did Golden Star back in 2012. A deep cut for the truly insane EJs out there. Now the can of worms is back open! Is it legal, what does it do, who's buying it etc.....

 

[Zwill]

As ever, this kind of thing has been done before. KTL did Golden Star back in 2012. A deep cut for the truly insane EJs out there. Now the can of worms is back open! Is it legal, what does it do, who's buying it etc.....

Funnily enough the KTL logo is on the packaging of this Battle 2 version.

 

[Leno]

Someone I know bought it and will be testing it on sunday. I'm so intriged

 

[_ak]

I kinda understand when softer sponge goes 1st and activated on mediums force strokes, then harder sponge may kick in. Could give non-linear effect but who knows. 2nd option when topsheet is glued to the harder sponge with softer sponge at the bottom is really puzzling.

 

[AndySmith]

I kinda understand when softer sponge goes 1st and activated on mediums force strokes, then harder sponge may kick in. Could give non-linear effect but who knows. 2nd option when topsheet is glued to the harder sponge with softer sponge at the bottom is really puzzling.

Yeah, back in the day I used the "loop" version of golden star and that had soft-first. Low-effort spin and lifting backspin was great but when the 2nd sponge kicked in my brain just gave up. I never tried the hard-first version, and this was a non-tacky rubber back then. I wonder what this Taichi will bring to the table. The listing does mention a different process for bonding the two sponge layers, which is promising because Golden Star had a habit of falling to bits when you removed it from your blade....

 

[_ak]

Got a black B3 38d. Boosted it lazily with 1 layer of Seamoon and without glue layer. Some sponge spots absorbed the booster faster so I just spread residues with my finger 2 or 3 times. It gave a decent dome, similar to what I usually get with 2 thin layers via glue.

So far had only 1 lazy doubles session at work, to be honest feels not much different than B2 39d unboosted 100% tractor tire 🙄

How do you soften it? Should I pull it off and slam with a wooden/rubber hammer? 😁

Interesting that when I boosted 39d BD out of the box it felt like well broken in 38d unboosted.

Will definitely play more and see. I just want a hybrid with more or less elastic topsheet possibly not the fastest, tackiest or most spinny, just one that feels right.

So far boosted G09c on carbon blade feels the closest.

 

[mocker88]

Got a black B3 38d. Boosted it lazily with 1 layer of Seamoon and without glue layer. Some sponge spots absorbed the booster faster so I just spread residues with my finger 2 or 3 times. It gave a decent dome, similar to what I usually get with 2 thin layers via glue.

So far had only 1 lazy doubles session at work, to be honest feels not much different than B2 39d unboosted 100% tractor tire 🙄

How do you soften it? Should I pull it off and slam with a wooden/rubber hammer? 😁

Interesting that when I boosted 39d BD out of the box it felt like well broken in 38d unboosted.

BD? Yinhe - Big Dipper?

Will definitely play more and see. I just want a hybrid with more or less elastic topsheet possibly not the fastest, tackiest or most spinny, just one that feels right.

So far boosted G09c on carbon blade feels the closest.

Check out Loki - Rxton IX 39deg. It's not a hybrid, but a Chinese rubber with quite elastic top sheet.

 

[TensorBackhand]

BD? Yinhe - Big Dipper?

Check out Loki - Rxton IX 39deg. It's not a hybrid, but a Chinese rubber with quite elastic top sheet.

Is Rxton 9 slower or faster than Big Dipper?

 

[Westy]

Is Rxton 9 slower or faster than Big Dipper?

More linear in speed.

 

[latej]

Is Rxton 9 slower or faster than Big Dipper?

I didn't play with R9 H39 (only with H40,5) and I have the BD H38 on Viscaria on the BH, but I don't play with it now. So, with that said, I agree with @Westy, slower on slower impacts, maybe faster or faster impacts. But for me, the diff. in speed really doesn't matter here, both are not really comparable to ESN/Butterfly. What matters is the diff. in top-sheet, the R9 has better (for me) and more elastic top-sheet. You know, BD is not really a rubber for me, not really what I want neither on the BH, neither on the FH. But that is personal, others may prefer the other way...

 

[mattlamperouge]

R9 has a elastic top sheet, 40.5 has great topend speed, it also take booster really well. For a bit more bouncy soft feeling you can test R9 Speed if you can find it, it's 38d in theory.

 

[endrew]

I got B3 from aliexpress for 22 USD. I see in other stores it costs twice as much. Did I get a fake?

 

[ttarc]

Anti-counterfeiting query http://en.729sports.com/product_1.html if in doubt.
$19.83 excl. VAT from https://www.dhs-729.eu/gb/rubbers/174-friendship-729-battle-3.html?SubmitCurrency=1&id_currency=10

 

[TensorBackhand]

I got B3 from aliexpress for 22 USD. I see in other stores it costs twice as much. Did I get a fake?

doubt it

 

[turbozed]

R9 has a elastic top sheet, 40.5 has great topend speed, it also take booster really well. For a bit more bouncy soft feeling you can test R9 Speed if you can find it, it's 38d in theory.

Does the 40.5 need to be boosted? I have a sheet from an Ali sale last year and my first LAC is probably nearing the end of its life. Going to try it next.

 

[mattlamperouge]

Does the 40.5 need to be boosted? I have a sheet from an Ali sale last year and my first LAC is probably nearing the end of its life. Going to try it next.

Not really since it's dynamic and boosted from factory + glue like hurricane neo, but it takes booster quite well👍 I used mine no problem for a couple months then "reboosted" with a layer of seamoon to "revive" it a bit when I needed to reglue, it looks worn now but it still plays really good.
For my brother i changed his old boosted 39° hurricane on viscaria so I tested boosting R9 with two thin layers of seamoon, it domed nicely. It plays amazing! great power & spin with good control.

 

[turbozed]

Not really since it's dynamic and boosted from factory + glue like hurricane neo, but it takes booster quite well👍 I used mine no problem for a couple months then "reboosted" with a layer of seamoon to "revive" it a bit when I needed to reglue, it looks worn now but it still plays really good.
For my brother i changed his old boosted 39° hurricane on viscaria so I tested boosting R9 with two thin layers of seamoon, it domed nicely. It plays amazing! great power & spin with good control.

I'll probably try it unboosted then. I haven't boosted my LAC and the performance is more than enough for me.

Did you keep the factory glue or remove it prior to gluing to your blade? For some reason having different types of glue layers doesn't seem ideal to me, so I've always removed factory glue.

 

[mattlamperouge]

I'll probably try it unboosted then. I haven't boosted my LAC and the performance is more than enough for me.

Did you keep the factory glue or remove it prior to gluing to your blade? For some reason having different types of glue layers doesn't seem ideal to me, so I've always removed factory glue.

For my first test I just used glue on the blade and used the factory glue for the rubber, but you can remove and use your own. To boost I removed the glue. Each player has its preferences.

 

[endrew]

Anti-counterfeiting query http://en.729sports.com/product_1.html if in doubt.
$19.83 excl. VAT from https://www.dhs-729.eu/gb/rubbers/174-friendship-729-battle-3.html?SubmitCurrency=1&id_currency=10

Thanks!
Where do I find the number to enter? On the rubber there was a QRcode that leads to a site I cant access from my country and a number that turns out to be a phone number.

 

[ttarc]

Below the silver/gray stuff with red text in the middle (Google translates the text on it as "scratch query")