Why Rozena?

[hclnnkhg]

Butterfly is one of the most, if not the most, popular TT brand. They are famous for Tenergy and Dignics, often regarded as the best rubbers in their generations.
Rozena, is often recommended for beginners and intermediate players. It is, in my eyes, Tenergy-lite. Less top speed and spin, but easier to control.
However, if you are just looking for a rubber with decent speed and spin, there are plenty of choices. You could go as low as 10 dollars Chinese rubbers, which is sufficient for most beginners. Or at similar prices, some intermediate level tensors e.g. Xiom Vega, Andro Hexer, or even earlier top-level tensors such as Nittaku Fastarc, Yasaka Rakza, Donic Baracuda.
Can somebody tell me the unique selling point of Rozena, other than it is a Butterfly product?

 

[NDH]

Can somebody tell me the unique selling point of Rozena, other than it is a Butterfly product?

The Butterfly marketing and brand awareness is very strong though, which shouldn't be overlooked.

How many people wear mid tier Nikes, when you could get "better" or equivalent shoes from other sports companies for less money?

I've only briefly used Rozena (not for very long and on someone else's bat), so I can't comment on the performance as such.

But I've used a lot of other brands, and I always come back to Butterfly.

Some of that is inevitably what I mentioned earlier (marketing, brand loyalty/awareness), but some is definitely the quality of product.

For a beginner, I wouldn't recommend Butterfly. Like you said, plenty of choices and the likelihood of a beginner having any affinity for Butterfly is slim to none.

But a lot of intermediate players (or even low level players who have been playing for a while), don't change their rubbers very often.

If they do it once every two years, I'd be surprised.

These sorts of players will benefit from a rubber that doesn't degrade and stays useable for a long time.

To me, you can't beat Butterfly here (virtually all of their rubbers I've used stay useable for a long time, and these intermediate/beginner players are not going to really notice the drop in performance, as they'd never be able to access the upper levels of the rubber anyway).

The Chinese rubbers end up looking really shabby after a while, and I find a lot of the others go the same way.

But if I was advising beginner/intermediate players on their equipment, I almost certainly wouldn't advise Butterfly until they were able to use it at a good level (or if they were super rich and liked the brand.....)

 

[Wrighty67]

I think NDH makes very fair points here and I would agree. I use Rozena now and have used Tenergy & Dignics in the past. I have mostly played with Butterfly blades too.

For me, I have tried various other rubbers that I hoped would offer me what Rozena does, but was always slightly underwhelmed. I have come to trust the Butterfly stable of products and feel I can rely on its quality and durability (Tables, shoes, clothes included)

In the case of Rozena, it has not let me down - it does what it says it will do very well and also feels connected to the T05 or Dignics products I aspire to in terms of performance.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

This is Rozena

This is non-Rozena

 

[dingyibvs]

Only sort of related to the thread, but I assembled a racket for my wife (then-gf) about 12 years ago, a 729 C-2 with Mercury 2 on both sides. I carved her name in the handle in cursive and replaced the friendship logo with a picture of us, it was very romantic 😆

Anyhow, I tried that racket out yesterday, and you know what, it works just fine. A bit slow, but I can do every shot just fine. The topsheet looks like crap, a byproduct of being covered with unevenly attached protector sheet, but it's still tacky, thr blade has a lot of feedback, and it just overall seems to be a perfectly fine beginner racket to me still.

 

[Dominikk85]

Some people just want to use butterfly. Are there other similar quality rubbers for the same or less money? Probably yes but some people just want to use butterfly but like some people just want to drive a Porsche.

It think it was pretty smart by butterfly to add a rubber to the lower to medium priced range.

 

[NextLevel]

Butterfly is one of the most, if not the most, popular TT brand. They are famous for Tenergy and Dignics, often regarded as the best rubbers in their generations.
Rozena, is often recommended for beginners and intermediate players. It is, in my eyes, Tenergy-lite. Less top speed and spin, but easier to control.
However, if you are just looking for a rubber with decent speed and spin, there are plenty of choices. You could go as low as 10 dollars Chinese rubbers, which is sufficient for most beginners. Or at similar prices, some intermediate level tensors e.g. Xiom Vega, Andro Hexer, or even earlier top-level tensors such as Nittaku Fastarc, Yasaka Rakza, Donic Baracuda.
Can somebody tell me the unique selling point of Rozena, other than it is a Butterfly product?

"Other than it is a Butterfly product" is a bit loaded. as Buttefy is the only one that sells the Spring Sponge and Rozena is currently the cheapest rubber that uses it (not sure what happened to high tension like Roundell or Bryce as those where the Butterfly tensor equivalents etc.)

Because if you are someone putting in a lot of time, you want to enjoy the way your equipment feels as well as how it plays and Speong Sponge feeling is not found in any ESN products in quite the same way

I have played with a lot of stuff, not as much recently when I came back, but I played with all the Tenergy rubbers at one point or another except maybe 64 since I was too addicted to spin back then. I never felt that using Butterfly spring sponge felt the same as the other things. I am not saying performance wise that I couldn't play at a similar level using other things, but not the same feeling.

This is a sport where feeling matters a lot so I think that is why many people play with stuff that may not be best for their winning or losing or even for their pocketbook. It is because they enjoy the feeling of playing with it.

 

[pong99]

I have T80/Rozena on one my blades. I like the Tenergy sponge feel so Rozena is a natural choice.

I have tried a few other rubbers. Currently trying out DNA Platinum. DNA is pretty good, but at $70 versus $40 Rozena, I'll probably go back to Rozena when the DNA wears out.

btw, there's a local ex-international player in his 50s who still plays 2400+ with Rozena both sides, so it is a very capable rubber

 

[JJ Ng]

I got suggested to this thread from another thread I was commenting on. A few thoughts.

I agree. Butterfly is the gold standard in table tennis. They are expensive for a reason. Some people have made a very good point. If you like Butterfly and you can use Butterfly, then it will cost you less money over the long run to stick with Butterfly and not buy a lot of useless equipment from other companies. That is a very good point.

I personally do not play with Butterfly products. I still have a blade (my usual Tibhar Stratus Power Wood) with Butterfly T05 fx on the forehand and Buttefly T64 fx on the backhand side. I still pull it out once in a while to fool around at the club. The blade has a very distinct clicking sound when you try to engage the sponge. Some people probably love that sound because it gives them a sense of hitting the right shot and engaging the sponge properly.

I personally just find the sound to be, well, "sound." Nothing more and nothing less. I love my Sanwei Target National on the forehand and G-1 on the backhand. I have so much control. Whenever I use that blade with Tenergy on both sides, it always remind how my ball could go long at any time.

So everyone should be entitled to his or her opinion. And I agree that the spring sponge technology is very distinct; it is different from all the ESN rubbers I have tried. Some people love that technology (and rightfully so). But for me, I take a pass.

 

[OldUser]

Butterfly is one of the most, if not the most, popular TT brand. They are famous for Tenergy and Dignics, often regarded as the best rubbers in their generations.
Rozena, is often recommended for beginners and intermediate players. It is, in my eyes, Tenergy-lite. Less top speed and spin, but easier to control.
However, if you are just looking for a rubber with decent speed and spin, there are plenty of choices. You could go as low as 10 dollars Chinese rubbers, which is sufficient for most beginners. Or at similar prices, some intermediate level tensors e.g. Xiom Vega, Andro Hexer, or even earlier top-level tensors such as Nittaku Fastarc, Yasaka Rakza, Donic Baracuda.
Can somebody tell me the unique selling point of Rozena, other than it is a Butterfly product?

Marketing and hype, not more. Butterfly has released the best rubber twice in its lifetime, the Sriver and the T05 wich is recent. If you look at history of table tennis, the most successfull brands are Stiga for blades (world champion with China, France, Sweden, ...), Yasaka for the Mark V that has lasted way more than the Sriver or T05 that is already outdated for the top pros now, Thibar and of course Donic. The Clipper + Mark V combination has lasted for nearly 3 decades in the top 1000 ITTF pros. You can't tell the same for Viscaria + T05.

Andro is recent, they were born in the last 80's but Jean-Michel Saive used an Andro blade and rubbers in the early 90's before switching to Stiga blade (Clipper) and rubbers (Calibra).

Butterfly have released ONE successfull blade that has been marketed in a dozen of names: the Viscaria, and that's pretty much all, the innerforce series are in fact derived from Nittaku's and DHS innovations.

There are more advices here to use a Mark V rubber than a Sriver, for example.

So indeed there's no use being stuck to Butterfly products, the Lebrun bros are proving you can do without Butterfly and still being successfull.

 

[JJ Ng]

Marketing and hype, not more. Butterfly has released the best rubber twice its lifetime, the Sriver and the T05 wich is recent. If you look at history of table tennis, the most successfull brands are Stiga for blades (world champion with China, France, Sweden, ...), Yasaka for the Mark V that has lasted way more than the Sriver or T05 that is already outdated for the top pros now, Thibar and of course Donic. The Clipper + Mark V combination has lasted for nearly 3 decades in the top 1000 ITTF pros. You can't tell the same for Viscaria + T05.

Andro is recent, they were born in the last 80's but Jean-Michel Saive used an Andro blade and rubbers in the early 90's before switching to Stiga blade (Clipper) and rubbers (Calibra).

Butterfly have released ONE successfull blade that has been marketed in a dozen of names: the Viscaria, and that's pretty much all, the innerforce series are in fact derived from Nittaku's and DHS innovations.

There are more advices here to use a Mark V rubber than a Sriver, for example.

So indeed there's no use being stuck to Butterfly products, the Lebrun bros are proving you can do without Butterfly and still being successfull.

I think for the same price, Mark V is probably better than Sriver. And you can get Mark V discounted. Butterfly does not discount anything including a 30 year old or 35 year old rubber in Sriver.

I did not think about it that way. Viscaria is indeed reinvented into multiple blades. I am sure a lot of the ZLC and ALC with some famous player's name on it is probably just variations of the same thing.

What do Lebrun bros use nowadays?

 

[OldUser]

This is Rozena
View attachment 24848

This is non-Rozena
View attachment 24849

This is Butterfly

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/F-22_Raptor_edit1_%28cropped%29.jpg

This is Tibhar

https://media.lesechos.com/api/v1/images/view/64226d924b1c0b29ea794807/1280x720/0703671068749-web-tete.jpg

And sometimes sh.t happens to Butterfly

see what I mean ?

 

[OldUser]

I think for the same price, Mark V is probably better than Sriver. And you can get Mark V discounted. Butterfly does not discount anything including a 30 year old or 35 year old rubber in Sriver.

I did not think about it that way. Viscaria is indeed reinvented into multiple blades. I am sure a lot of the ZLC and ALC with some famous player's name on it is probably just variations of the same thing.

What do Lebrun bros use nowadays?

That's exactly my POV. The Lebruns use K3 rubbers and custom signature blades that will soon be released. It's recent cos' they've both been using the SK Hybrid AC until the WTT champions in XinXiang and Macao.

The fact is Butterfly has never been eager to invest in the Lebruns because Germany is the european HQ of Butterfly. France isn't as highly and well considered, Butterfly is still living on the Timo Boll and Dima legacy, but the problem now is: Timo will soon announce his international retirement, Dima is not as strong as he's been, Dang Qiu and Franziska are not doing that well anymore in top tier WTT events.

So it seems that there's sand in the Butterfly well oiled marketing engine...

 

[JJ Ng]

That's exactly my POV. The Lebruns use K3 rubbers and custom signature blades that will soon be released. It's recent cos' they've both been using the SK Hybrid AC until the WTT champions in XinXiang and Macao.

The fact is Butterfly has never been eager to invest in the Lebruns because Germany is the european HQ of Butterfly. France isn't as highly and well considered, Butterfly is still living on the Timo Boll and Dima legacy, but the problem now is: Timo will soon announce his international retirement, Dima is not as strong as he's been, Dang Qiu and Franziska are not doing that well anymore in top tier WTT events.

So it seems that there's sand in the Butterfly well oiled marketing engine...

I remember the days that Dima was sponsored by Donic but was secretly using Butterfly equipment? Just like Fan Zhendong was using Viscaria with Stiga handle?

This whole marketing thing is really something else.

I resurrected the other thread about Lebrun's current equipment.

I have heard of good things about K3. But I am now settling into my current set of equipment and the EJ part of me has been quiet. So not getting K3 any time soon.

I would like to see more success from Tibhar and other manufacturers. Competition is good.

Butterfly does feel a bit too draconian to me. TT11 cannot ship Butterfly products to North America because it is the exclusive property of ButterflyOnline/Bowmar Sports. This company has been the only Butterfly supplier in North America for at least 25+ years? I have not seen it doing much to make table tennis more popular in North America.

On top of that, yes, you can get discount on various products here and there, through some local connections (like coaches) and online stores (like TT11). But no, Butterfly products are not discounted. Even coaches cannot or would not sell them at a discount. The whole phenomenon is really weird to me.

 

[OldUser]

Yep, Butterfly really does BS. Simple example of that BS: France is now an "official" reseller for the french market, there's a warehouse run by Christophe Legoût and his associates near le Mans. BUT ! Butterfly keeps on doing those nasty things by giving the germans all they want, and the french warehouse have numerous products non available ! and you know the Butterfly policy right ? you can't buy a BTY product that is not sold by the "local official" reseller.

Butterfly has completely lost his mind here, France is currently the 3rd best youth nation in the world, the 2nd best league in Europe with the Pro A, the Pro B being probably the 3rd best league in Europe too, but there's only the GV Hennebont club now that is sponsored by Butterfly in Pro A

La Romagne has already released a statement about that stupid Butterfly policy, and they are now sponsored by Gewo.

Au revoir Butterfly, Bonjour GEWO - La Stella

www-sslrtt-com.translate.goog

In the Pro B league, there's only Montpellier and Lille still in the BTY roster, but I guess they'll soon loose Montpellier as it is the Lebrun's HQ. Only 3 clubs over 20, soon only 2 IMHO, and most of them are switching to Gewo and Tibhar. The reason is mostly because Wack Sport and Dauphin are respectively the official distributors for Tibhar and Gewo, and those are the institutional partners for most of the clubs, Wack Sport being the historical FFTT partner, that's why Tibhar have been historically the best partner for France teams. Victas has been trying to reverse that, but the contract ends in September 2024, after the Paris Olympics so... if the Lebruns do some good performance I guess the FFTT will come back to Tibhar.

 

[Trevize84]

I tried Rozena on a Primorac Made in Japan. I knew already how good the blade was, but I found Rozena to be a good way to make it feel just average.