Palio AK47 appreciation topic

[h3llary]

Anyone besides me really likes palio ak47 rubbers?
I prefer red for FH (as it has lower and longer throw)
and yellow for backhand as it has less speed, higher and shorter throw.

When I switched to another racket that had new sheet of Tibhar MX-S on it, I could barely see any difference between the red ak47 and MX-S. Who else thinks these are amazing rubbers for the price? Anyone else have different experience here with them?

 

[TensorBackhand]

Anyone besides me really likes palio ak47 rubbers?
I prefer red for FH (as it has lower and longer throw)
and yellow for backhand as it has less speed, higher and shorter throw.

When I switched to another racket that had new sheet of Tibhar MX-S on it, I could barely see any difference between the red ak47 and MX-S. Who else thinks these are amazing rubbers for the price? Anyone else have different experience here with them?

I LOVE AK47 Red on the bh. It is very very fast and catapulty. Really fun to use, and very cheap.

But it does have 2 drawbacks. 1) The topsheet is moderately grippy, but not very grippy. 2) The topsheet is somewhat fragile and chips up quite easily.

 

[h3llary]

I LOVE AK47 Red on the bh. It is very very fast and catapulty. Really fun to use, and very cheap.

But it does have 2 drawbacks. 1) The topsheet is moderately grippy, but not very grippy. 2) The topsheet is somewhat fragile and chips up quite easily.

I have bought mine in March and it did detoriate a little bit on the sides but nothing crazy, the topsheet remains very grippy still. I never experienced any ball slippage though. Probably because I live in a very dry climate

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

MXS and AK47 red do share a similar steady and predictable feeling, but I think the only thing MXS has vs AK47 red is higher shot quality when you are really hitting hard, otherwise AK47 is a bit more transparent feeling and easier to activate. My main gripe with the AK47 series is that when you take them off the blade after the initial attachment, mine have always curled up pretty aggressively towards the sponge side making it more difficult to reglue.

 

[TensorBackhand]

It is grippy enough. But I would say it is about 10-15% less grippy than real tensor rubbers.

I have bought mine in March and it did detoriate a little bit on the sides but nothing crazy, the topsheet remains very grippy still. I never experienced any ball slippage though. Probably because I live in a very dry climate

 

[h3llary]

It is grippy enough. But I would say it is about 10-15% less grippy than real tensor rubbers.

True, it's just that I don't notice that difference. Since I know a lot of people said it is not that grippy, and less reactive to incoming spin, more shots end up landing on my opponents side due to this so it's all good

 

[Kuba Hajto]

I think its one of the best rubbers for beginners BH. The top sheet is quite spin insensitive but still can produce reasonable amount of spin.

 

[Nima Abadi]

I think in terms of price/performance it's one of the best, if not the best. I had AK 47 red on my BH for a long time and really enjoyed it.

It was easy to play with, was light and super fast but I couldn't generate as much spin as I wanted with it. It simply wasn't grippy enough for me and as I leveled up, the lack of (enough) spin was becoming more problematic for me as my opponents could easily block or counter hit my BH shots.

 

[Loop Lob Smash]

I agree with the comments above about it being a decent rubber that is good value for money. I do not use it myself, however do purchase it for my son who is learning to play and is quite hard on equipment. For that purpose it is glued to Sanwei Fextra, which is an unbeatable value combo imo.
We tried the other colours AK47, and based on that single sample, I would not recommend them to anyone. For someone wanting a less aggressive setup than mentioned, I would just go with the red AK47 on a slower 5-ply blade.

 

[hclnnkhg]

Just changed my BH to AK47 red. Non-tacky topsheet looks quite grippy. The sponge has small pores. Quite light, about 44g cut. Let see how it plays tomorrow.

 

[TensorBackhand]

View attachment 27670View attachment 27671View attachment 27672
Just changed my BH to AK47 red. Non-tacky topsheet looks quite grippy. The sponge has small pores. Quite light, about 44g cut. Let see how it plays tomorrow.

One thing is, it's marked as 45-47d hardness, but mine feels like 52d. It is quite hard

 

[hclnnkhg]

One thing is, it's marked as 45-47d hardness, but mine feels like 52d. It is quite hard

I shall find out tomorrow. Just by bouncing the ball, it feels somewhere between Moon 12 M+ and Rxton 3 blue.

 

[TensorBackhand]

I shall find out tomorrow. Just by bouncing the ball, it feels somewhere between Moon 12 M+ and Rxton 3 blue.

yeah that sounds about right

 

[Dominikk85]

I never really liked it much but I have a 1 ply jpen bat with it and I really like hitting forehands with it. I rarely play it though because I prefer RPB over TPB but for forehand I like it.

 

[h3llary]

View attachment 27670View attachment 27671View attachment 27672
Just changed my BH to AK47 red. Non-tacky topsheet looks quite grippy. The sponge has small pores. Quite light, about 44g cut. Let see how it plays tomorrow.

can't wait to read your review

 

[hclnnkhg]

can't wait to read your review

It is quite linear, speed-wise it is fast enough, but no free-speed like some tensors. Spin is sufficient, but I am not really getting "kick" out of it. I find myself trying to drive and punch more with it than doing big spinny loop with AK47 red. When I try to loop, I don't feel much dwell with this rubber. The topsheet is slightly on the tough/hard side.

 

[mightymouse]

I use AK47 yellow and/or red when testing a blade. I like to keep the same rubbers when testing different blades, so that the only variable changing is the blade itself. I used to use Mark V both sides, but as the price is getting more expensive, I switch to AK47 yellow initially, but currently I use AK47 red.

I am not looking for the performance of the rubber, I just like them because it is easier to clean the glue residue when switching the rubbers between blades.

But if I have to use them for serious play, I think they are excellent in term of value for money aspects. They are not excellent, as there are lots of tensors better than them, but for amateur players who don't participate in any competitions, they are doing well.

 

[TheProfessor]

MXS and AK47 red do share a similar steady and predictable feeling, but I think the only thing MXS has vs AK47 red is higher shot quality when you are really hitting hard, otherwise AK47 is a bit more transparent feeling and easier to activate. My main gripe with the AK47 series is that when you take them off the blade after the initial attachment, mine have always curled up pretty aggressively towards the sponge side making it more difficult to reglue.

What blade would you say is best for AK47 Red? Thanks

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

What blade would you say is best for AK47 Red? Thanks

Its not a picky rubber but I'd rather use it on a less flexible blade, for more support and easier speed.

 

[TheProfessor]

Its not a picky rubber but I'd rather use it on a less flexible blade, for more support and easier speed.

Guess, I'll slap it on a Viscaria clone and see how that goes. I made the Palio AK47 Blue popular in my country back in the day and sold them like hotcakes. People were using the Blue version on both forehand and backhand, boosting them to make them chunkier/overall rubber much more tensioned and used them on stiff blades. No one really liked the Red version for some reason, so I wasn't able to test that as much.