Palio AK47 appreciation topic

[BaRanchik]

Used Red on BH for a couple of months. It's definitely good value, but I found it to be extremely difficult to play with.

For some reason, getting a good touch out of it was very difficult for me on regular loops and loops against backspin. The ball rarely penetrated the sponge compared to the various other rubbers I have used, most of which are as hard or harder, which is weird. My completely unbased theory is that the topsheet itself is very hard, and it's also very smooth, so any balls you don't hit into enough just slide off the rubber -- this happened to me so so many times.

That being said, when I did manage to have a good touch, the ball would have great quality. I think this rubber would work great for advanced players, who can make really powerful shots while still brushing the ball properly to get immense spin. At my level, I'm happy with my G1 and can make great shots.

For my level (2 years in) and style of play, where spin is more important than power, it simply did not fit.

 

[skibiditoilet]

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.

Yay philippines!

 

[hclnnkhg]

I'm using the yellow ak47 as my bh rubber for rpb, and I find that the non tacky matte top sheet tends to feel slimy after playing for awhile and having sweat from my fingers on it. But this slimy feeling does not occur when I'm using tacky rubbers for my bh. Does anyone feel this way too?

I have Palio AK47 red and its topsheet is similar. It would slip if I try to brush the ball too thin. It is more suitable for speed drives and punches than brush loop. Much better if you can engage the sponge.

 

[enoxzr]

Gonna play my first session tonight with an AK47 Red on the BH.
Teammate loves his AK47 Yellow, which is a bit too mushy for me on my main blade. Only drawback is that the edge chips like it's trying to be a Tenergy rubber.

 

[ShoutGuy]

I have Palio AK47 red and its topsheet is similar. It would slip if I try to brush the ball too thin. It is more suitable for speed drives and punches than brush loop. Much better if you can engage the sponge.

I had the same experience. I really liked the sponge but the topsheet is much inferior to the Eurojap

 

[Wakkibatty]

Quick straw-poll people: what would be the closest match to an AK-47 Red for performance and playing feel, that is *also* good value for money with a better quality top sheet?

 

[Wakkibatty]

Used Red on BH for a couple of months. It's definitely good value, but I found it to be extremely difficult to play with.

For some reason, getting a good touch out of it was very difficult for me on regular loops and loops against backspin. The ball rarely penetrated the sponge compared to the various other rubbers I have used, most of which are as hard or harder, which is weird. My completely unbased theory is that the topsheet itself is very hard, and it's also very smooth, so any balls you don't hit into enough just slide off the rubber -- this happened to me so so many times.

That being said, when I did manage to have a good touch, the ball would have great quality. I think this rubber would work great for advanced players, who can make really powerful shots while still brushing the ball properly to get immense spin. At my level, I'm happy with my G1 and can make great shots.

For my level (2 years in) and style of play, where spin is more important than power, it simply did not fit.

Yeah, the reds are particularly prone to this problem in my experience -- the blacks don't tend to have this problem though, as their top-sheet isn't quite as shiny or 'slick'.

 

[Lando]

I just put an ak47 blue on my bh to learn to rpb. It seems like a decent rubber so far

 

[TheProfessor]

Quick straw-poll people: what would be the closest match to an AK-47 Red for performance and playing feel, that is *also* good value for money with a better quality top sheet?

Try the 729 Presto series. That's really good and not that much of a price bump, it's basically just like a tensor but made in China.

 

[Wakkibatty]

Try the 729 Presto series. That's really good and not that much of a price bump, it's basically just like a tensor but made in China.

Thanks for that 🙂 How does the grippiness of the topsheet rate compared to a mid-range Japanese rubber? I like the AK47 and will keep using it for blade development, but the top sheet is lacking as far as demo rubbers go.

 

[TheProfessor]

Thanks for that 🙂 How does the grippiness of the topsheet rate compared to a mid-range Japanese rubber? I like the AK47 and will keep using it for blade development, but the top sheet is lacking as far as demo rubbers go.

Yes the grippiness is great. tensor/daiki type topsheet grip, no tack at all.

 

[hclnnkhg]

Yes the grippiness is great. tensor/daiki type topsheet grip, no tack at all.

My Presto Spin MAX topsheet oxidizes rather quickly, but it held up 40-50 hours before I pull it off. The actual grip loss is not that serious, but the appearance deteriorates quickly.

 

[zz00nn33]

He Guys need an advise here.
Current setup:
BLADE: Yinhe Mercury 13
FH : AK47 Blue
BH: AK47 yellow

I started with this setup but it feels a bit slow.

I am considering this :

BLADE: Yinhe V14 pro
FH: AK47 red
BH: AK47 red

Does this make any sense as i am not experienced with any other rubbers.
Or shall i go with softer BH ?
Thanks.

 

[Ultravisitor]

He Guys need an advise here.
Current setup:
BLADE: Yinhe Mercury 13
FH : AK47 Blue
BH: AK47 yellow

I started with this setup but it feels a bit slow.

I am considering this :

BLADE: Yinhe V14 pro
FH: AK47 red
BH: AK47 red

Does this make any sense as i am not experienced with any other rubbers.
Or shall i go with softer BH ?
Thanks.

That's quite a big jump in speed and stiffness of the blade.
I'd suggest the sanwei fextra 7 or yinhe u2 with the ak47 red.

 

[zz00nn33]

That's quite a big jump in speed and stiffness of the blade.
I'd suggest the sanwei fextra 7 or yinhe u2 with the ak47 red.

That's quite a big jump in speed and stiffness of the blade.
I'd suggest the sanwei fextra 7 or yinhe u2 with the ak47 red.

So in this case i will stick with the Mercury13 blade and only switch the rubbers Red for FH and blue for BH

 

[Table10Ice]

What would your recommendation be for a relative beginner? I'm used to Nittaku Factive and Loki Rxton 5 rubbers.

I'm thinking FH : AK47 yellow and BH: AK47 blue Or should it rather be the other way around?

 

[h3llary]

What would your recommendation be for a relative beginner? I'm used to Nittaku Factive and Loki Rxton 5 rubbers.

I'm thinking FH : AK47 yellow and BH: AK47 blue Or should it rather be the other way around?

I would have AK47 yellow both sides, they are pretty light and have less speed, higher throw angle than blue or red so they'r easier to learn how to spin. They will resemble modern ESN rubbers. If you like the feel of Loki Rxton then you should look for something similar to Chinese tacky rubbers or hybrids instead. Loki Rxton is capable of producing more spin than AK47 series, but less speed.

 

[Table10Ice]

I would have AK47 yellow both sides, they are pretty light and have less speed, higher throw angle than blue or red so they'r easier to learn how to spin. They will resemble modern ESN rubbers. If you like the feel of Loki Rxton then you should look for something similar to Chinese tacky rubbers or hybrids instead. Loki Rxton is capable of producing more spin than AK47 series, but less speed.

Thank you for the quick reply! Would Loki Rxton 3 Pro be very different to AK47 Yellow?

 

[h3llary]

Thank you for the quick reply! Would Loki Rxton 3 Pro be very different to AK47 Yellow?

Pretty different I would say, it all comes down to a personal preference, if you like harder and tacky Chinese rubbers or not.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Gentlemen,

Gozo speaketh: Please be so kind to hear me out.

1. I have been using with much joy & happiness Tenergy64fx on my FH ( 20-30 hrs ). I am a forehand dominant counter-driver / hitter / smashing type player generally. So this T64fx suits me so far because it is soft and trampolin-ish by design.

2. However, at the back of my mind I have this nagging feeling that I am able to counter-drive / hit / smash because I meet lower skilled player and they do easily make error allowing me to execute the stroke that I mentioned above,

3. An so this train of thought begins in me, that is, should I desire to best higher skill player, I opine that my forehand need to evolve to a more power-looping style or else I will stay stagnated as higher skill player do not easily gives me the opportunity to do what I do now.

4. And so begin my quest to search for something that align with my desire.

5. Some candidates that caught my attention are Donic M2, Fastarc C1, Andro R45 & Gewo Select 45 since I am familiar with the ESN family. However, looking at the price, I hesitated because I am not ready to fully commit to it yet as this is still an experimental stage.

6. I thought, what if I am unable play with a 45 hardness? Surely that would be a waste of good money, no?

7. Turning back and almost giving up, I made a last attempt and asked Mister Chat-GPT ver 4.0: Good sir! Is there a ESN tensor like non tacky but grippy rubber with 45 degree hardness that is cheap and with good review? Perhaps something from the Sinosphere?

8. And so Mister Chat-GPT ver. 4.0 granted me an answer Palio AK series, specifically the red version.

9. I checked out Lazada / Shopee and I am surprise and happy this product cost only 1/3 the price of true ESN rubber. I happily ordered a sheet ( red version ) to used on my forehand on a trial basis.

10. Once arrived I shall try it out, Palio AK 47 Red, the ESN-clone from China.

11. I will then use T64fx as BH while I place this Ak47 red on FH during this trial period.

12. Watch this space, will write my review once I played with it for some time.