Reviewing big batch of rubbers

[TensorBackhand]

I'll be testing and reviewing this big batch of rubbers over the next few weeks and months. If you have any specific questions let me know and i can keep an eye out.

First up, I have glued the RKT Hyper Power and Reactor Ckylin onto my Pro 05. Ckylin is matte, grippy with medium rebound. RKT is medium tacky with dead bounce. The rebound may increase with some break-in or after booster. I plan on boosting both after I try them out unboosted.

 

[Caracas]

Enjoi buddy

 

[TensorBackhand]

Today I tried out the unboosted DF Qiji and the Loki Kirin 1.

I had high hopes for the Qiji. But I was quite disappointed. The Qiji is nowhere close to being as good as the Volant Phoenix. Why does Qiji cost more. Qiji speed is somewhat lower, spin is way lower, and just had worse feeling and control and grip and catch and dwell. Everything is worse. In my experience, Qiji is probably one of the worst H3 type alternative rubbers that I have tried. Not to mention, after just 1 session, the topsheet seems to oxidize quickly. I'll give it a try with booster, but it is somewhat disappointing.

Kirin 1 is cheap at $5, but it was fairly decent. Catapult is low and speed is low-medium, but speeds up when you punch through it. The topsheet is quite nice though and grabs the ball quite well. The topsheet reminds me of Yinhe Moon speed. And overall the rubber is similar to Yinhe Moon or fake tenergy. It wasn't too bad at all. Spin was really quite good and the catch was good. Hopefully it plays even better with booster.

 

[TT Lover]

View attachment 33941

I'll be testing and reviewing this big batch of rubbers over the next few weeks and months. If you have any specific questions let me know and i can keep an eye out.

First up, I have glued the RKT Hyper Power and Reactor Ckylin onto my Pro 05. Ckylin is matte, grippy with medium rebound. RKT is medium tacky with dead bounce. The rebound may increase with some break-in or after booster. I plan on boosting both after I try them out unboosted.

Waiting for your review of Aurora Pro.
Thank you sir.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Today I tried out the DF 218 and the Sanwei Gears 2.0

The DF 218 is legitimately a very good rubber. It's basically a boosted, fast, high-rebound Chinese tacky rubber. It's very similar to DF Volant. In fact I really didn't see much difference either way. Both have great spin, great control, and strong rebound. Since the Volant is cheaper, you might as well go with that one. But if you want to try the 218, you should not be disappointed. Also, also this rubber very much feels and plays like a Chinese tacky rubber, the surface is actually the least tacky Chinese FH rubber I have ever seen.

The Gears 2.0 is the most generic rubber you could think of. It has a slightly tacky topsheet, with a very generic Chinese sponge. The grip is quite good, the rebound is quite low. I tried it on my bh, but it was just very slow and hard to play with. The tackiness makes the rubber worse, as the ball sticks to the rubber a bit. The rebound is too low. Hopefully it reacts well to booster, because it really needs it.

 

[TensorBackhand]

I tried out the Gears Hyper as well. I have heard really good things about this rubber, but I don't really see it so far. Unboosted, it is a slowish grippy rubber. The topsheet is non-tacky, very similar to Moon 12. But the rebound is night and day. Moon 12 has a nice medium-high rebound, Gears Hyper has a low-medium rebound. So I will boost it and see if it responds well to booster.

 

[Wakkibatty]

Today I tried out the unboosted DF Qiji and the Loki Kirin 1.

I had high hopes for the Qiji. But I was quite disappointed. The Qiji is nowhere close to being as good as the Volant Phoenix. Why does Qiji cost more. Qiji speed is somewhat lower, spin is way lower, and just had worse feeling and control and grip and catch and dwell. Everything is worse. In my experience, Qiji is probably one of the worst H3 type alternative rubbers that I have tried. Not to mention, after just 1 session, the topsheet seems to oxidize quickly. I'll give it a try with booster, but it is somewhat disappointing.

Kirin 1 is cheap at $5, but it was fairly decent. Catapult is low and speed is low-medium, but speeds up when you punch through it. The topsheet is quite nice though and grabs the ball quite well. The topsheet reminds me of Yinhe Moon speed. And overall the rubber is similar to Yinhe Moon or fake tenergy. It wasn't too bad at all. Spin was really quite good and the catch was good. Hopefully it plays even better with booster.

Very underrated rubber the Kirin one. Very good control and a surprising amount of spin if you team it with a blade with a slightly stiffer / harder outer layer, then close the playing angle and brush a lot with your stroke.

It plays a bit like a poor-man's Rakza 7 to my mind, which is meant as a compliment, not an insult. It's easily a step up in spin from competing rubbers like the Mark V or 729 Focus 3, both of which cost a good deal more per sheet. A genuine factory-bat killer of a rubber, at a really bargain price.

 

[TensorBackhand]

After boosting, the Gears 2.0 is still very low rebound and unimpressive. The Kirin 1 is way better for a cheaper price. Gears 2.0 may be the most pathetic rubber that I have ever seen, I don't know why it employs such fancy marketing.

It really is just like the most basic beginner's rubber you can imagine.

 

[TensorBackhand]

The FC218 is actually too fast, it's pretty easy to shoot over the table. I had it on the 75 inner, but maybe I need to put it on a slower blade.

I also want to boost the 218 to improve the feeling, but I'm worried that it'll become way too fast or something.

 

[Table10Ice]

Today I tried out the DF 218 and the Sanwei Gears 2.0

The DF 218 is legitimately a very good rubber. It's basically a boosted, fast, high-rebound Chinese tacky rubber. It's very similar to DF Volant. In fact I really didn't see much difference either way. Both have great spin, great control, and strong rebound. Since the Volant is cheaper, you might as well go with that one. But if you want to try the 218, you should not be disappointed. Also, also this rubber very much feels and plays like a Chinese tacky rubber, the surface is actually the least tacky Chinese FH rubber I have ever seen.

I have DF 218 Spin 40 as FH rubber on a Victas ZX Gear Fiber, really easy rubber to get used to if you come from euro rubbers (as I am). Not too fast either, if you put it on a slowish carbon blade like the 301 Z.

As a comparison, I have Hurricane 8-80 38 as FH rubber on Donic Appelgren WC 89 and that rubber is strangely dead as a brick. Before trying both, my expectation was that the DHS rubber would be the softest and easiest the use of the two, since it has softer sponge.

Edit: I wrote the wrong racket! DF 218 Spin 40 is on a Victas ZX Gear Fiber.

 

[TensorBackhand]

I have DF 218 Spin 40 as FH rubber on a DHS 301 Z, really easy rubber to get used to if you come from euro rubbers (as I am). Not too fast either, if you put it on a slowish carbon blade like the 301 Z.

As a comparison, I have Hurricane 8-80 38 as FH rubber on Victas Gear Fiber and that rubber is strangely dead as a brick. Before trying both, my expectation was that the DHS rubber would be the softest and easiest the use of the two, since it has softer sponge.

Did you boost 218

 

[Table10Ice]

Did you boost 218

No, neither the 8-80. Yet there is HUGE difference between the Hurricane and DF 218; the 8-80 is stiff and dead as a slab of concrete, still grippy though. The DF rubber on the contrary, very lively and, like, agile as a regular tensor.

Maybe I just got a sour lemon with the 8-80? Shouldn't the 218 with 40 deg sponge feel harder than 8-80 38 deg?

But about the DHS 301 Z: I assembled it with Sanwei Gear Hyper on FH and Yinhe Moon Blue on BH. What do you think of that combo, @TensorBackhand?

 

[TensorBackhand]

No, neither the 8-80. Yet there is HUGE difference between the Hurricane and DF 218; the 8-80 is stiff and dead as a slab of concrete, still grippy though. The DF rubber on the contrary, very lively and, like, agile as a regular tensor.

Maybe I just got a sour lemon with the 8-80? Shouldn't the 218 with 40 deg sponge feel harder than 8-80 38 deg?

But about the DHS 301 Z: I assembled it with Sanwei Gear Hyper on FH and Yinhe Moon Blue on BH. What do you think of that combo, @TensorBackhand?

Moon Blue is good, Gears Hyper seems rather unimpressive to me. but I haven't tried boosting it yet.

Are you going to boost 218?

 

[Table10Ice]

Moon Blue is good, Gears Hyper seems rather unimpressive to me. but I haven't tried boosting it yet.

Are you going to boost 218?

I have Haifu Seamoon in transit from Aliexpress, but for some reason table tennis chemicals are sent with a much slower shipping method compared to blades or rubbers. I ordered some glue from Alixepress on november 1 and it arrived last week.

Will booster make a big change on 218?

 

[TensorBackhand]

I have Haifu Seamoon in transit from Aliexpress, but for some reason table tennis chemicals are sent with a much slower shipping method compared to blades or rubbers. I ordered some glue from Alixepress on november 1 and it arrived last week.

Will booster make a big change on 218?

I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know. It's already really fast...so I'm guessing it can't change it that much

 

[impluse101]

I tried out the Gears Hyper as well. I have heard really good things about this rubber, but I don't really see it so far. Unboosted, it is a slowish grippy rubber. The topsheet is non-tacky, very similar to Moon 12. But the rebound is night and day. Moon 12 has a nice medium-high rebound, Gears Hyper has a low-medium rebound. So I will boost it and see if it responds well to booster.

Gear hyper does have a really weak/low rebound...it needs effort. But for short game and receiving, it's ok at least for me.
Will check out the review after you boost

 

[banbekas]

Gear hyper does have a really weak/low rebound...it needs effort. But for short game and receiving, it's ok at least for me.
Will check out the review after you boost

It's an awesome trade off. Short game is where the game is often decided in amateur scene. Weak and low rebound can be redeemed by putting more power and more gym time.

 

[TensorBackhand]

I tested the DF 218 a bit more today. I had it on the 75 inner, and it is just soo fast. I kept hitting the ball long out of the table.

I moved it to the Lemuria Long 5 to try to slow it down, and it played quite a bit better. It's still quite fast and hard though. I'm thinking if I should boost it or not. On one hand, I think breaking in the sponge will help catch the ball better. On the other hand, if it gets even faster than this, it might just be crazy.

 

[impluse101]

It's an awesome trade off. Short game is where the game is often decided in amateur scene. Weak and low rebound can be redeemed by putting more power and more gym time.

dont get me wrong placement is good with this rubber.

I just tend to do chop/side defense mid distance to a little more further- this takes effort with this rubber. Haha

 

[TensorBackhand]

Wow I just tested out the boosted Sanwei Gears Hyper, and I am just very annoyed. I am annoyed at Sanwei for making and "hyping" this rubber.

This is one of the absolute worst "bh" rubbers I have ever seen. I think its worse than the cheaper Gears 2.0. It's worse than Tornado v5 which is just $4. It's worse than Kokutaku $4 rubber. It's worse than Loki's $5 K1 or $4 Rxton 1.

First, the rebound is low. Even after boosting, it is just slow. Second, the topsheet grip is not great. But finally, the biggest weakness is that the throw angle is low and annoying. It's very easy to dump shots into the net. Most bh drives and loops travel low over the net, and often land short on the table.