Why is the K1 not popular?

[Cadoia]

So I tried my friends racket today. His world ranking was in the top 200 decades ago. but still very hard to play against.
He is using some Tibhar carbon blade from Breibart. nothing special but overall good carbon blade. And with Tibhar Hybrid K1.
Now he couldn't care less and havent changed his rubber in 1.5 years as he plays only 1 time pr week and can beat us all even using a 5$ racket if he wanted to.
I lend him my racket and I lend his.
Anyway the K1 was still tacky like crazy. after this long. press the ball it lift it up for 1-2 seconds no problem. The longevity is out of this world. The spin was very very similar to what I generate with K3. less speed than k3. Much more than DHS H3neo. But this guy shows its not a problem if you know how to play so when he puts power into it, its a rocket.
I went online to see what others say about this rubber. Not much attention. Not many reviews. I dont get it. It spins as well as DHS and are faster. Without booster.
The longevity is out of this world. keep in mind rubber degrades also over time even of you dont use it. how much you use it is for sure the main factor but not the whole picture.
Its a 40$ sheet. pretty cheap.
Why isnt this more talked about? or more popular?

 

[blahness]

He probably boosts it. A lot of us are too time poor to boost

 

[Cadoia]

He probably boosts it. A lot of us are too time poor to boost

nope he doesnt. he is a friend of mine and would tell me if he did.

 

[JJ Ng]

I had a sheet of K1.

It did not hold the ball up at all. It was really slow. It was and is a sucky rubber.

I don't know where your friend got his K1.

My K1 sucks (or sucked) and I will never buy another sheet of it ever again.

 

[NextLevel]

So I tried my friends racket today. His world ranking was in the top 200 decades ago. but still very hard to play against.
He is using some Tibhar carbon blade from Breibart. nothing special. And with Tibhar Hybrid K1.
Now he couldn't care less and havent changed his rubber in 1.5 years as he plays only 1 time pr week and can beat us all even using a 5$ racket if he wanted to.
I lend him my racket and I lend his. Mine is Viscaria and K3 max both sides.
Anyway the K1 was still tacky like crazy. after this long. press the ball it lift it up for 1-2 seconds no problem. The longevity is out of this world. The spin was very very similar to what I generate with K3. less speed than k3. Much more than DHS H3neo. But this guy shows its not a problem if you know how to play so when he puts power into it its a rocket.
I went online to see what others say about this rubber. Not much attention. Not many reviews. I dont get it. It spins as well as DHS and are faster. Without booster.
The longevity is out of this world. keep in mind rubber degrades also over time even of you dont use it. how much you use it is for sure the main factor but not the whole picture.
Its a 40$ sheet. pretty cheap.
Why isnt this more talked about? or more popular?

K1 and especially K2 are good rubbers. Golden Tango from Joola was very similar. It's just that people find them slow for Hybrids. But they are very Hurricane like and are good rubbers. Not many players like Hurricane like rubbers - don't be fooled by Dignics 09c and K3.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Let it be said that there are quite a few different versions of K1. I have only tried the K1 Euro (green/blue/purple packaging with white border) and ngl its the worst performing ESN hybrid I have ever tried, my experience is that the feeling of the K1E is unsure and the grip is not strong, its basically just a Euro style rubber that lacks the speed of a Euro rubber and the spin of a Chinese rubber.

 

[JJ Ng]

Let it be said that there are quite a few different versions of K1. I have only tried the K1 Euro (green/blue/purple packaging with white border) and ngl its the worst performing ESN hybrid I have ever tried, my experience is that the feeling of the K1E is unsure and the grip is not strong, its basically just a Euro style rubber that lacks the speed of a Euro rubber and the spin of a Chinese rubber.

Yup, K1 Euro is the worst rubber I have ever bought and played with. I rather play with Mark V at this point.

 

[Cadoia]

I had a sheet of K1.

It did not hold the ball up at all. It was really slow. It was and is a sucky rubber.

I don't know where your friend got his K1.

My K1 sucks (or sucked) and I will never buy another sheet of it ever again.

he bought his via breibart. k1 european version. sounds not like what you had.

 

[Cadoia]

K1 and especially K2 are good rubbers. Golden Tango from Joola was very similar. It's just that people find them slow for Hybrids. But they are very Hurricane like and are good rubbers. Not many players like Hurricane like rubbers - don't be fooled by Dignics 09c and K3.

got it

 

[Cadoia]

Let it be said that there are quite a few different versions of K1. I have only tried the K1 Euro (green/blue/purple packaging with white border) and ngl its the worst performing ESN hybrid I have ever tried, my experience is that the feeling of the K1E is unsure and the grip is not strong, its basically just a Euro style rubber that lacks the speed of a Euro rubber and the spin of a Chinese rubber.

interesting. feels like we are not talking about the same rubber. As what I tried yesterday doesnt feel like this.

 

[Cadoia]

K1 and especially K2 are good rubbers. Golden Tango from Joola was very similar. It's just that people find them slow for Hybrids. But they are very Hurricane like and are good rubbers. Not many players like Hurricane like rubbers - don't be fooled by Dignics 09c and K3.

dont get fooled in what way? Im curious what you mean.

 

[Cadoia]

Let it be said that there are quite a few different versions of K1. I have only tried the K1 Euro (green/blue/purple packaging with white border) and ngl its the worst performing ESN hybrid I have ever tried, my experience is that the feeling of the K1E is unsure and the grip is not strong, its basically just a Euro style rubber that lacks the speed of a Euro rubber and the spin of a Chinese rubber.

my experience yesterday was very different from what you describe. Grip was incredible. Like DHS. Speed was ok but not crazy fast. I felt great control. could place the ball anywhere. Short game control too. opposite your experience. Yes its the European version as well.

 

[piligrim]

my experience yesterday was very different from what you describe. Grip was incredible. Like DHS. Speed was ok but not crazy fast. I felt great control. could place the ball anywhere. Short game control too. opposite your experience. Yes its the European version as well.

It can be because of blade. Rubber can match blade perfectly and totaly doesnt work with certain blade

 

[vvk1]

For some reason, Tibhar decided to market most of the rubbers in the K series - K1, K1 plus, K1 Pro, K2, K2 Pro - almost exclusively targeting the China market. Only K1 euro and K3 had been officially sold through Tibhar dealers in Europe or North America. That is the real reason why K1/K2 series are not popular in Europe or North America. They must've been relatively popular in China - otherwise why on earth would Tibhar keep making so many models in the K series.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

my experience yesterday was very different from what you describe. Grip was incredible. Like DHS. Speed was ok but not crazy fast. I felt great control. could place the ball anywhere. Short game control too. opposite your experience. Yes its the European version as well.

I have tried a lot of different ESN hybrids, PK50/K2/Golden Tango+PS, Codexx 52+54, and Rakza Z+EH- and to me, K1E was the softest, least supportive and the least grabby feeling rubber out of all of them. I tried it on a handful of blades before ending up giving it away

 

[Cadoia]

I have tried a lot of different ESN hybrids, PK50/K2/Golden Tango+PS, Codexx 52+54, and Rakza Z+EH- and to me, K1E was the softest, least supportive and the least grabby feeling rubber out of all of them. I tried it on a handful of blades before ending up giving it away

damn ok. I only have experience with k3 as the only hybrid I ever tried. k1 for 10 min was my second experience.
So what hybrid are you liking the most now?

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

damn ok. I only have experience with k3 as the only hybrid I ever tried. k1 for 10 min was my second experience.
So what hybrid are you liking the most now?

K2/Golden Tango for sure. K2 is currently on my spare, I think the Golden Tango series has been discontinued by Joola but it seems as though K2 which is a very very similar rubber is still being sold in the Chinese market

 

[TensorBackhand]

My question is why doesn't anybody use K2? K2 is harder than K3, which I guess in theory should be fairly popular. But why is K2 completely ignored vs the likes of DragonGrip or Bluegrip C2?

 

[JJ Ng]

My question is why doesn't anybody use K2? K2 is harder than K3, which I guess in theory should be fairly popular. But why is K2 completely ignored vs the likes of DragonGrip or Bluegrip C2?

Ok so K1 Euro sucks! That's the one I have. Maybe K1 and K1 pro are much better? We are talking about different products then.

I used to have a sheet of K2 until someone bought it off from me.

Recently I got two sheets of K2, one black and one red. I have not used it extensively. I have one sheet of red K2 on a blade right now, waiting to figure out what the black side ESN rubber needs to be. Yeah K2 is tacky. It feels a bit like Hurricane.

I got it because K2 is slightly cheaper on Aliexpress than K3 which I can get from TT11. K2 might be similar enough to K3 that most people can play with K2 just fine so if it is cheaper by $5 or $8, that type of saving is worth it over time.

I got my two sheets from Playa PingPong Store for $44.53 (with Aliexpress discount day included?) so that is like $22 a sheet so I was like why not. Regular price for two sheets is $55.92.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

My question is why doesn't anybody use K2? K2 is harder than K3, which I guess in theory should be fairly popular. But why is K2 completely ignored vs the likes of DragonGrip or Bluegrip C2?

K2 is pretty old now, I think it was released in 2017, newer hybrids are more dynamic and give spin easier