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Loki Rxton III Pink Review
- Thread starter Tony's Table Tennis
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Great video! Are you trying to build out your YouTube channel?
I have both Pink and Blue on my backhand side. I don't like it. I think I am used to ESN tensor rubber so I don't want to do all the work. But Rxton 3 pink and blue is $14 a sheet on Aliexpress, compared to $45 a sheet for Rakza series, we have to set our expectation correctly. Even at 30% discount, you can get two sheets of Rxton 3 for one sheet of Rakza 7 at $31 and change. By the way, I think TT11 has raised their rubbe prices by about a dollar each now.
Look forward to your review on Rxton 9.
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Look forward to 9 and 7.
Why don't you like Rxton 3 pink/blue? Is it too slow? Did you try boosting it?
I thought I was mostly done my testing of Aliexpress rubbers, but I think boosting Rxton 1 or 3 might be pretty good option on BH. Maybe I need to go back and test that.
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yes they were boosted. They are just hard with little to no catapult effect. So I feel that they are difficult to play with.
I actually like Rxton 1 Plus instead. The sponge is soft. However, also no catapult effect. I might be pulling that rubber off and replace it with something else.
I also have a Rxton 5. I have not done much with it. I will wait a bit before putting that on a suitable blade and try it out.
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oh ok, so maybe there's no good reason for me to test it then.
They were both slow even after boosting? Did they react much at all to the booster?
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Cannot tell because both were boosted before I put on a blade. I did not put them on a blade unboosted.
I am sure they are hard and once you apply enough power, they are good rubber. I think on WRM-TV youtube Japanese channel they spoke highly of the pink Rxton 3.
But if you are expecting something similar to ESN tensor rubber, then you will be disappointed.
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Not ESN, but Rxton 1 topsheet is quite similar to Big Dipper. If the sponge is boosted, I wonder if it would be like the performance of BD.
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I am a bad person to answer that question for now. I had a Big Dipper 40 degree black and I hated it. It feels like a brick. On the other hand, I do like Sanwei Target National so if someone wants to go from ESN to Chinese rubber, I would advise them to give STN a try before moving all the way to Hurricane. I would not recommend Big Dipper.
However, I do have a Big Dipper 38 degree red sitting on my table right now ready to be fitted onto a Tibhar Samsonov Stratus Carbon blade. The backhand side would be AK47 blue (soft). I can see how I like that set up next week.
I think I am just picky. I have gotten used to H3 39 degree on forehand and soft tensor ESN on the backhand,
Not sure if the boosted sponge of pink or blue will be like BD or not.
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Yes, I made the channel in 2012 and pretty much didn't utilize it. Partially because I was in South Africa and the internet was too slow to really upload anything.
You can see my earlier videos, of which I actually had to compress the video quality to upload and it was something like 10 hours to upload a 10 min clip or something like that lol.
Over the years, I actually have tons of content that I can post, but didn't do it.
I'm digging on what limited things I have on hand (since most of my content is not with me at the moment) and busy posting them on the channel. IE coaches corner at pros training. This is something that is normally closed doors and I thought it would be quite nice to share it to the world.
Some examples in my recent shorts
On another note, I am very close to many pro training centers in Taiwan and I actually want to help them share with the world on how good they actually are.
They are not fluent in English, so if any content is leaked out, it won't surface in western markets.
I spoke to a few head coaches prior to covid on my intentions and did get their blessing.
Covid hit, and that took a break.
So, slowly, but surely, I'm hoping to make some content to share.
Time management is a bit tough though, as it does take many hours to edit a small video.
Hopefully if I can get monetization going, that can help cover for the hours of editing and allow me to put more focus on this part.
I understand if you won't like the rubber.
basically modern table tennis rubber have 3 kinds.
1) Chinese kind
2) Euro/Japanese kind
3) hybrid kind
The Loki range is more towards Chinese kind and borderline hybrid.
Chinese kinds normally do require the trouble of boosting to allow a proper "softer sponge" yet still firm sponge + harder topsheet.
And you are right, for its price, if it works for you, then it is a bargain.
For me, I had those expensive ESN rubbers on my BH, 47.5 was okay, but the newer generation was too soft and I had to go 50 or more.
The cost on those obviously wasn't attractive.
I intially took on the pink for fun (I tried 4 pinks, 3 blues, 1 purple, 3 greens over many brands) and the Loki stayed.
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Great! Looking forward to your future content. There is a lot of TT coaching channels coming out of Japan and China. Taiwan obviously is a powerhouse in table tennis as well. I will be very curious in what they have to say about coaching and competing. I would love to see some matches of their top players.
Agree. We just play very differently so we like different rubbers. I ordered the Rxton 1 plus, Rxton 3 pink, Rxton 3 blue and Rxton 5 a while back from BEO store. I just recently started putting them on the proper carbon blades. I cannot do much with it.
But like I said, WRM-TV youtube Japanese channel, I saw a video of it and they spoke very highly of the pink Rxton 3. Those people are probably at least 2200-2400 USATT rated, much better than I am.
My current favorite rubber is Rakza 7 soft and I think it is 37-40 degree ESN. very soft. I have a green sheet of Rasanter R47 and I find that too hard, so I put it on an even slower carbon blade right now.
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Yes, Taiwan is the only TT powerhouse on this planet that doesn't get recognized.
some people said, but Lin is famous and Chuang before them
But Taiwan has been a top 3 or top 5 TT country for decades. I blame Taiwan for the lack of foreign affairs and marketing and that is what I've offered to help with and they said sure.
Taiwan has one of the top cadet/junior development systems in the world, and it is maybe not behind China by much.
This is the words from a Swede that was a national player/coach himself and travels the world and knows way more than I do.
I do feel Taiwan is maybe on par with Japan for tied 2, or maybe just behind them for number 3.
The centres I am close with are cadet to juniors ones.
In one of my videos, there is a top 3, 10 year old training in the background, the one using Ma Long's arranged rubbers.
on the left table, in black.
There is a cadet tournament of almost 5000 people that is happening now (total of 4 cities, over 5 periods, of almost 30 days collectively - I will need to get the correct stats).
I will go to the ones in 2 weeks time and do some filming there, to show how crazy it is to have 5000 people in a pre round and to quality 460 for the finals.
I school I saw has 78 players take part....over 4 age groups, boys and grows, that is maybe only the "good ones"
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I think language barrier is an issue. They start learning English early on but they emphasize grammar and stuff like that, but not speaking or listening.
Agree. Taiwan teams have done very well in teams' events. I would put them right around Japan and Korea as well even though Japan has a much larger population to choose their players from so Taiwan is doing very very well relatively.
I grew up watching Chiang Peng-lung since I played Jpen starting out. I was not interested in Chinese penhold players at the time. Then Chuang was slightly younger than Chiang but Chiang has long retired but Chuang is still playing!
Lin is also one of the most exciting players on the tour right now. Looking at his backhand flip serve return is mind boggling. We all know how hard it is to do that consistently against anyone. Lin is just returning those serves with his backhand every SINGLE time against world's best players. And the top players on the other side of the table know that Lin was going to do the same backhand return but they still could not counter Lin's strategy. Lin must read spins very very well. He makes every return look so effortless. I am still pissed that Ovtcharov beat Lin in the Olympics. That was one classic match.
As for Ma Long's arranged rubbers, have you hit with it? Is it very very good?
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Yes, you are right on the language.I think language barrier is an issue. They start learning English early on but they emphasize grammar and stuff like that, but not speaking or listening.
Agree. Taiwan teams have done very well in teams' events. I would put them right around Japan and Korea as well even though Japan has a much larger population to choose their players from so Taiwan is doing very very well relatively.
I grew up watching Chiang Peng-lung since I played Jpen starting out. I was not interested in Chinese penhold players at the time. Then Chuang was slightly younger than Chiang but Chiang has long retired but Chuang is still playing!
Lin is also one of the most exciting players on the tour right now. Looking at his backhand flip serve return is mind boggling. We all know how hard it is to do that consistently against anyone. Lin is just returning those serves with his backhand every SINGLE time against world's best players. And the top players on the other side of the table know that Lin was going to do the same backhand return but they still could not counter Lin's strategy. Lin must read spins very very well. He makes every return look so effortless. I am still pissed that Ovtcharov beat Lin in the Olympics. That was one classic match.
As for Ma Long's arranged rubbers, have you hit with it? Is it very very good?
Chiang?
You mean this Chinese tea maker?
Chiang, former world number 3 for the ones who don't know. Jpen player with one of the most fearsome BH traditional block/punch shots in the world.
During speed glue era, his BH bunch is faster than many peoples forehand.
Sadly, with the ban of speed glue, his BH threat was no longer and that was also the start of his decline.
He has been national mens coach for Taiwan for a good few years now.
Ma Long's rubber - yes.
I took the kids bat, gave it a few hits.
Straight away I told the kid's coach, the rubber quality is beyond mine.
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Took my 1 month old Rxton 5 off to make room for my Rxton 3 Pink on the FH.
Weight is essentially the same as R5. My finger test suggests that R3P is slightly harder than a used R5, but if my memory is correct, it is not harder than a new R5. Tack is slightly lower with R3P, it will not lift the ball up more than 5-10 cm. Dropping the ball on R3P at ~20 cm will bounces 4 times before coming to rest.
I will test it tomorrow and planning to use it in the club's tournament in a month, more reviews to come.
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Just come back from TT, I had played with the new setup for 4 hours. Rxton 3 Pink (R3P) on FH of Rutis Revo J, Presto Max Spin on BH.
If I have to describe R3P in one line, I would say "R3P is Rxton 5 (R5) taking one step away from Chinese rubber and towards Hybrid rubber". The sponge of R3P is softer than R5 (even used), making it easier to get speed out of R3P. R3P has a crisp feel when I engage the sponge, whereas R5's sponge feels tough. The sponge of R3P seems to be small pore cake sponge.
I find it easier and more rewarding to engage the sponge when I use R3P. On the other hand, I need to pay more attention to my contact and keeping my grip loose in order to get spin out of R3P. Once I do that, the spin level is similar to that of R5. I have no problem topspining against long pushes with R3P.
R3P does not give you "free speed". More effort is required to get speed out of R3P compare to ESN rubbers or even non-tacky Chinese rubbers like Presto MAX on my BH. For me, it is a matter of preference, not a weakness of the rubber. Top speed is more than enough for a winner, and I would not call R3P slow in general, more like medium.
R3P has less tack, lower throw than R5. But its surface is grippy. I have no problem doing short spinny serves, which I struggled with Rasanter R47. In the short game (push & flick), I find R3P hits the sweet spot in terms of surface grip and sponge responsiveness. It is only a little tacky, making it less spin sensitive than R5; it is not bouncy at low impact, makes it more controllable than Rasanter R47. Long push is especially impressive - fast, low, spinny. Flick is better than R5 because of spin insensitivity and ease of getting speed out of the sponge.
Overall, I think R3P is a versatile rubber that does everything well at low impact and medium impact. If you play relatively close to the table (<1m most of the time), R3P can be a very good option for both FH/BH (depending on your preference on sponge hardness). It will do well in pushes, flicks, blocking, opening up and counter-topspin over the table.
If I have to describe R3P in one line, I would say "R3P is Rxton 5 (R5) taking one step away from Chinese rubber and towards Hybrid rubber". The sponge of R3P is softer than R5 (even used), making it easier to get speed out of R3P. R3P has a crisp feel when I engage the sponge, whereas R5's sponge feels tough. The sponge of R3P seems to be small pore cake sponge.
I find it easier and more rewarding to engage the sponge when I use R3P. On the other hand, I need to pay more attention to my contact and keeping my grip loose in order to get spin out of R3P. Once I do that, the spin level is similar to that of R5. I have no problem topspining against long pushes with R3P.
R3P does not give you "free speed". More effort is required to get speed out of R3P compare to ESN rubbers or even non-tacky Chinese rubbers like Presto MAX on my BH. For me, it is a matter of preference, not a weakness of the rubber. Top speed is more than enough for a winner, and I would not call R3P slow in general, more like medium.
R3P has less tack, lower throw than R5. But its surface is grippy. I have no problem doing short spinny serves, which I struggled with Rasanter R47. In the short game (push & flick), I find R3P hits the sweet spot in terms of surface grip and sponge responsiveness. It is only a little tacky, making it less spin sensitive than R5; it is not bouncy at low impact, makes it more controllable than Rasanter R47. Long push is especially impressive - fast, low, spinny. Flick is better than R5 because of spin insensitivity and ease of getting speed out of the sponge.
Overall, I think R3P is a versatile rubber that does everything well at low impact and medium impact. If you play relatively close to the table (<1m most of the time), R3P can be a very good option for both FH/BH (depending on your preference on sponge hardness). It will do well in pushes, flicks, blocking, opening up and counter-topspin over the table.
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Define "fast". Or give me a few examples of fast rubbers (unboosted). Compare to my previous FH rubber Rxton 5, Rxton 3 Pink is negligibly faster, probably due to lower tack. It is not a slow rubber, you get enough speed out of it, but you need to put in the work.
Rxton 1 is softer, tackier than Rxton 3 Pink. Can't say much more because I never have Rxton 1 on my main blade.
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According to the table that Matt uploaded, Rxton 1 and 3 Pink both share the K-type sponge. So I was thinking they should perform relatively similar, especially after boosting. Rxton 1 is just $5 right now on Ali, so i'm tempted to stock up on a few if they boost well. The greatest feeling for me is to take a dull, boring rubber and transform it into a monster with boosting.
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