Hexer review vs Roxon 450/500

[speedplay]

Sorry for being such a lazy bum as I am, but I have copied this from OOAK as I couldn't be bothered to write something new and unique about it. Oh, Rob, you were wrong again, you claimed the Roxon 450 was better then Hexer, which it isn't Nope, nothing subjective about that, it is purely based on facts

When I compared R 450 and 500, I was asked to throw in Hexer in the mix, so that is what I'm doing now   ¤50 is in blue, 500 is in black and Hexer will be in ... Green!

1. The reviewer: A little about your level and style, and blade used to test the rubber.


Advancedbeginner or intermediate. plays a mixed style, sort of like a moderndefender but I'm trying to become more aggressive and take theinitiative earlier on. Blade used to test was the trusted Wavestone.

Now, not much have changed in this department, same blade, same style and roughly the same level.


I might have become a little bit more humble, but that is about it   Still use the trusted Wavestone.

2.Physical Properties: Mention colour, sponge thickness, sponge hardness(guess or compare to similar), quality of sheet, grippy ortacky/sticky, any unusual features (eg dome), unusual packing, etc

Red,max thickness. Coming from, in order, Juic Nano Cannon, Donic Platinand Gambler Outlaw the Roxon 450 feels soft, very soft, but I think itwould be rated as medium. It has a very high amount of grip, probablythe grippiest rubber I have tried/seen. Also, the packaging looksswell! Sort of helps out to build up the expectations on this rubber.

Onceagain, I went for red, max thickness to try. The 500 feels noticeablyharder then the 450. Same cool packagin, except for the colour which isblack instead of white. Same top sheet, as far as I can tell. Onceagain, it looks swell

Asusual with inverted, Red with maximum sponge, which is 2.1 for Hexer.Guessing that the hardness is closer to the 450 then the 500. Thesponge is very porous and to be honest, the overall look and feeling ofthe rubber is low quality No firmness at all to it and the cool packaging used on the Roxon isnow replaced by a very ordinary packaging. How ever, the rubber feltreally grippy, could be even grippier then the Roxon, but at least, itis on par with them.

3. Speed:
- Speed on slowstrokes (eg Tensors typically have a high speed here where you cangenerate decent speed with little effort, chinese tacky sheets tend tobe slow here)
- Speed on power loops
- Speed on power drives/smashes

Thespeed on slow strokes is good, easy to handle in the short game. Onmore powerful loops, the speed increases pretty quick and all thoughthis isn't a speed monster, the speed is more then enough for me to hitwinners with it. The same with drives and smashes, the speed iscertainly there but still not a speed monster.


Hardto rate, cause unlike the 450, the 500 don't give you much speed onpassive strokes, cause it lacks the catapult effect that the 450 has.This made it actually easier to use in the short game, but left meconfused when I was blocking, especially blocking away from the tableas I often found my blocks to be to short.

How ever, this "lackof speed" is thrown out the window once the 500 is used with some powerbehind it. It is faster then 450 and I believe it might even be fasterthen Platin, but on this, I'm not sure. Roughly the same with drivesand hits, no lack of speed on those shots!

To describe the speed of Hexer, I really only need one word, MULTIGEARED!But, you know me, I can't stop at this, so I need to explain further.Roxon 450 had a great control in the short game, even though it was atad bouncy, this bounciness is all gone with the Hexer, which take sometime getting used to, but in the end, I think this will be somethingreally positive as it will increase control in the short game evenfurther.

The speed on loops is roughly the same as Roxon 450and I really must say I'm surprised that so many have claimed thisrubber to be slow. Perhaps marginally slower on drives then Roxon 450,but certainly not by much and the speed offered is all that I need tohit winners.

4. Spin:
- Spin on a loops is probably the most meaningful information here, as others tend to be too subjective to strokes
- Spin on serves/pushes

Now,this is where the R 450 really is a monster! R 450 has great spin inevery department of the game, all though I was a little surprised thatI needed to work the sponge to get spin on loops. Given the grippy topsheet, I was pretty confident that a brush loop would work, but without working the sponge, the spin isn't as amazing as I expected. However, for serves, pushes and flips, the spin is great. On more powerfulshots, the spin is still there, but it sort of feels like R 450 offersa lot of spin early on and then only accelerates a little with moreeffort, which is the opposite of, say Platin, which starts out withlittle spin but then increases rapidly with the effort. I actuallythink that the spin on the most powerful loops is a little less withthe R 450 compared to the Platin.

I'm even confusing myself here, cause, the 500 seems to have 3 degrees of spin, depending onthe penetration of the sponge. If there is no penetration and all I useit the top sheet, then this spins almost as much as a tacky Chineserubber (which probably means that 450 does that as well, seeing how itis the same top sheet) and I'm wondering what I did wrong with the 450in this department. Perhaps I didn't brush it thin enough, which iseasier to do with the 500 since the sponge needs more force to becompressed.

Now, the second degree is the one that got meconfused and disappointed, cause if the sponge is only gentlypenetrated, it almost seems like the 500 kills the spin and at first, Ibecame hesitant to use this rubber for loops as they simple didn't seemto get spin enough to match the speed.

Well, this is were the third degree kicked in When the sponge is penetrated all the way (or, close to it, it wasn'tlike I was bottoming it out) the 500 offers tremendous spin. The goodthing about these 3 degrees is that it kept my opponents guessing asthey could never find a comfort zone to block from. The bad part is theobvious, the spin didn't feel consistent, but I think this is somethingI will get to master and take advantage of.


Hexeris spinning like a dream on both loops and drives, but the relationbetween spin and speed is a little different compared to Roxon, as thespin seems to bite earlier with the Hexer and the speed comes later,but for full strokes, both speed and spin is on par with Roxon 450 and500. Well, not the speed, but the relation between speed and spin evensout on harder strokes.

5. Control:
How easy it is to control the rubber on blocks, pushes (short game), loop placement, etc

Marvellous,I would actually like to describe the R 450 as a offensive controlrubber. As always, when you get something, you lose something else andthe downside here is that it isn't as effortless to block with asPlatin, but in every other aspect it responds better then Platin and itis actually a pure joy to play with because it is so easy to control.


Farfrom the 450, that's for sure. With the 450, it was only to pick up thebat and play and it felt comfortable from the first hit. With the 500,the first hits felt very awkward. Partly because of the slow speed onpassive strokes and the high speed on more powerful strokes, but mostlydue to the inconsistent spin. How ever, once I figured it out andunderstood the different degrees of spin, it became easier, but it isstill a much more difficult task to master the 500 compared to the 450.

Ridiculouslyeasy to control! I wasn't going to use this rubber tonight (match inregional league) but I couldn't resist trying it out, and after thewarm-up, I decided to stick to it. Sure, it takes some time gettingused to how slow it actually is in the short game, but the blocks feltgreat, it was easy to push with it and my serves ... Well, I missed wayto many as I'm not yet used to the lack of speed, but once I get usedto it, I'm sure this will be great as it will be easier to keep myserves really short while maintaining good spin. Admittedly, blockingwasn't as good as with Platin, but I felt like I could block activewith it to generate great rebound speed and I could block passive withit, to slow down the game and make sure I kept my block on the table.

6.Other Playing properties: Mention the Throw (ie for a loop, at whatangle does the ball come off compared to other rubbers... ball goinghigher means higher throw), sensitivity to incoming spin, glueeffect/feel, sound, rubber bottoming out on hard loops, etc

Iwould rate the throw as pretty high, but not as high as the Chinesetacky rubbers. Being as grippy and spin friendly as it is, thenobviously it reacts a lot to incoming spin, but since it can generateso much spin of it's own, it's not a problem as long as one know how toread the incoming spin, but it isn't a rubber I would recommend to abeginner. When it comes to glue feel, I haven't tried a rubber thatcomes even close to the R 450! In fact, sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm playing with a unglued rubber, this is how good it is.Strangely enough, I don't feel this rubber bottoms out (except onsmashes, but on smashes, I feel it doesn't matter if it does or not)which I would have expected due to the soft feeling it provides.


Deceptive is the name of the game On brush loops, the 500 has as high throw as the 450, but with thepower comes a lower throw, so the opponent will have to be careful ofthe arc of the ball at all times. Sensitivity to incoming spin dependson how much you work the sponge, cause on brush strokes, it is verysensitive, but just like the 450, it is able to generate enough spin tomake this a minor problem as spin can be dealt with by creating onspin. On medium strokes, it feels very insensitive to spin, almost asif the sponge kills the incoming spin. On powerful strokes, itgenerates enough spin of its own for it to disregard any incoming spin.Truly a joy to hit powerful loops against back spin with this rubber,as it didn't seem to matter that much how much incoming spin there wason the ball. It also felt like it was pretty good to hit throughincoming spin with it, although it reacted some to it. Due to the hardsponge/feel, the 500 don't even come close to the 450 when it comes toglue feel, and strangely enough, the same can be said about sound, notnearly as loud as 450.

I'mstarting to think my perception of throw is different to otherpeople's, since this rubber have been claimed to have an extremely highthrow. My findings on this was, no, this wasn't any higher then thethrow of the Roxon 450, but it was slightly higher then the throw ofthe 500, especially on powerful loops and drives.

Sensitivity toincoming spin, well, this is where the magic begins, as this felt lesssensitive to incoming spin the both the 450 and 500 at all speeds.Might even be less sensitive then the far less grippy Platin, while itstill is very easy to generate spin with it. The glue feel was at leaston par with Roxon 450 and better then 500, but, I didn't notice anysound... Could be that there was so much noise, but I do think thesound was less then it is on the 450, perhaps equal to the sound on the500.

7. Reference: Comparison with at least one rubbers on some of the factors above.

Comparingthis to Platin, I'm not sure which I would pick. Platin has a highertop speed and I actually think it has a better top spin ability, butRoxon is so much easier to use and a lot more forgiving then thePlatin. Platin blocks better, but Roxon generates more spin in theshort game which is a huge advantage for a weak server like me. Roxonis easier to open up with, but Platin is easier to end the point with.

Havingused the 500, I can now definitely remove Platin from this equation. Ifit is top speed and spin ability, Roxon 500 wins, or at worse, tieswith Platin. Platin's only advantage to 500 is blocking, in other areas500 felt better. Now, seeing how I tied Platin and 450, it would seemlike an easy choice, but it isn't! The 450 was so effortless to playwith, unlike the 500 that actually forced me to be on my toes all thetime. No problems in the short game, or in the "active" parts of thegame, but I had some serious issues using it for passive strokes as Icouldn't get comfortable with the slower (then expected) blockingspeed. Hopefully, when I get to use this some more, this will onlybecome yet another advantage for the 500, but having played with it for3 hours, it wasn't the same instant love that I felt with the 450version.

The love for theHexer is as instant as it was with the Roxon 450 and so far, Hexer ison par with, or better, then Roxon 450 in every aspect of the game. Theonly problem I had with this was with the slow speed in the short gameand I'm 100% confident that as soon as I'm used to it, this will be ahuge benefit rather then a control problem.

8. Other comments Other unique properties...

Ithink this rubber would suit players who plays either a controlledoffensive game, or a modern defender as it is very easy to create spinvariation with it. It's also very easy to chop with. So, in conclusion,this is a rubber that I could recommend to almost everyone, as long asthey do understand how spin works. If you don't know the basics ofspin, then stay away from this rubber cause it will only createproblems for you.

I think this rubber would suit a playerwho attacks to finish the point rather then to invite the opponent fora rally. The massive amount of spin, companioned with the high topspeed made the attacks really lethal with this rubber. Once again, touse it, understanding of spin is essential. And one more thing, don'teven think about using this rubber for chopping! I couldn't chop tosave my life with it, I was forced to lift, block or attack. Not a bigdeal on my fh, but when I twiddled to surprise with an inverted chopfrom bh, I was left as the surprised one when my chops went way longerthen expected, all the time, and, most of the time, they were also alot higher then I intended them to be... But, there was no problem to use it in the short game, so twiddlingstill proves to be effective with this and all I have to remember isthat if I twiddle from distance, I should either attack or lift theball back, at least until I've worked some more on chopping with it.

Thisrubber would most likely be perfect for any modern defender orall-round player, but despite it's many positive characteristics in theoffensive game, I don't think it would be a perfect match for the allout attacker. Some of the main benefits with the Hexer, such asblocking with slower speed will be of no use to those who constantlytries to attack. The same with the many gears, all out attackers areprobably more interested in having high speed all the time, as this iswhere they seek to win the point, while all-round players and defendersuse variation in both speed and spin to win points.

I canunderstand why some people have left some negative remarks about thisrubber, cause if they have played with Tensors for a long time and gotused to the bounciness on them, then the Hexer probably feels reallyslow on some passive strokes, but since I still consider myself to be anewbie with Tensors, I think this is something very positive instead asthe rubber gives me feedback on my actions, if I want power, I have touse power, while Tensors always gives you some power "for free". So, ifdurability isn't an issue, this will probably be my main rubber fromnow on. The search is over, the eager to try Barracuda and Tenergy isgone and I'm extremely pleased that I decided to give this a go!


Last,but not least, I have to admit, if you are skilled enough to master theRoxon 500, I think this is actually a better rubber then the Hexer, butat my level, the Hexer outshines the 500 as it is more forgiving,easier to control and don't have those funny "dead spin zones" in thesponge that the Roxon 500 has.

[pingpongrob]

  what do you mean wrong again. I have only ever stated that I love Roxon 450. I never said that HeXer was not magic. Some people can see straght through magic, smoke and mirrors don't phase me. I saw straight through Tenergy 05, when better players than me thought it was the ants pants, the ones at my level all lost whilst playing with 05.
HeXer feels great when having a long practice session, but I seem to fall apart when playing under pressure. It's not a feeling thing, as HeXer has great feeling. It's not a blocking thing, it's not a looping thing, at least not on my forhand. It's my backhand that just cannot adapt to the throw angle. And when an important aspect of your game is disabled then it's back to what you know. 

Now that most companies have gone back to 100% natural rubber as the choice of the pro's what's next. ?
By the way Speedplay Nice Review.

[speedplay]

Well, I used it under pressure, played regional league yesterday with it. Won against an opponent I haven't beaten before, 3 previous losses (0-3, 0-3, 1-3) was turned around to my first victory, 3-2. No, I'm not going to claim that it was due to the rubber, but rather due to my improving skills, but it shows that I used it under pressure. Also played the match that secured the draw for us, so I think it is fair to say that it worked under high pressure for me.

The reason I claimed you were wrong was because you said Roxon 450 was better. I know you meant for you, but I simple couldn't resist claiming that my view was the right view

[gekogark1212]

It's interesting to note that Rob doesn't like Hexer on the BH, whilst I think the throw and its great hitting ability makes it great on the BH, but too soft and slow for my FH.

[blue_smartie68]

Great review Speedy 

[speedplay]

Blue, thanks for the kind words, I try to do my best with my reviews.

Geko, I use it primarily for my fh, but since I do twiddle, I need a rubber that works for both fh and bh. I haven't experienced the Hexer as to slow for the fh, but unlike Tensors, you don't get the speed for free, you actually have to put in the effort. This might suit some (like me) while other prefers to use the bouncier Tensor rubbers.

[RebornTTEvnglist]

Nothing I have read on Hexer convinces me to try it!

[speedplay]

Guess I better improve my marketing skills then

The thing with Hexer is, it has the same top speed as Roxon 450(roughly) but it has more lower gears. To me, this gives better control, but the price I pay for this control is that I need to work more to bring out the speed. For me, this is a good trade, while others might not like it at all. If you win points by fast blocking, then Roxon is probably better for you.

[priior]

very nice review speedy!! cuz it totally coincides with how i feel about this rubber (hexer)!

i havent tried the 450.. am playing with 330 on forehand and hexer on backhand... i'm tempted to go 450on FH.. but i can't seem to be able to let go of the control placement shots of the hexer..

[speedplay]

I think you should give the 450 a go Priior, not because I think it will help your game, but because I would like to see how the 450 compares to the 330

Since you use the Hexer, have you had any problems with the durability of it? Cause I've only played for 3 session and I already have two small cracks in it The cracks have come as a result of my hitting the table, but I've done this a lot of times with Roxon, with out getting any cracks at all, so I'm starting to think that the Hexer might be really fragile.

[RebornTTEvnglist]

Speedplay I was amazed at how much punishment the R450 took and just shirked off. I hit the table with it on a few occasions and expected to see real damage, but never did. The worst I had was an edge chip cos I didnt have edge tape on it!

[speedplay]

Yes, the Roxon seems to withstand severe punishment without to much damage. How ever, I've lost a tiny piece of the Roxon 500 rubber on top of my blade, but this was due to a serious impact on the edge of the table, others then that, no marks what so ever on the rubber from hitting the table, which I've done more then once.

[Peter C]

What is the weight of Hexer cut for a Wavestone? The reason for asking I wondering if it closer to 45 or 50 grams.

Although  I've yet to try Hexer, I do think Genius and Baracuda are good rubbers. Like Hexer, these rubbers also have a lower first gear, which makes them easy to control in the short game.

Genius also surprised me with just how easy it was to generate heavy spin on loops, on a lightweight Andro Cabon light all+.

Baracuda also felt good to play with on a Li Ping Kitex too.

[speedplay]

I have no idea about the weight, all I can say is that I didn't think it was noticeably heavy. Perhaps Rob can help you more with the weight of the Hexer?

It is indeed a very nice rubber, but to be honest, I'm considering moving back to Roxon 450 as it seems to be more ( by a lot actually) durable then the Hexer.