Author Topic: Tenergy alternatives? (Read 4577 times)

speedplay · « **on:** August 30, 2010, 04:41:58 PM »

Butterfly's increased prices have finally hit Sweden and the new price for a sheet of Tenergy is *drumroll* ~120AUD! Now, even though I find T 05 but to the best rubber for me, I'm not going to pay that much for a sheet of rubber!

So, what options are there?

I want something that is spinny, grippy and preferably hard. Is there something cheap/er that can provide this? So far, the best option for me seems to be Roxon 500, but perhaps there is something even better?

pingpongrob · « **Reply #1 on:** August 31, 2010, 01:49:30 AM »

Quote from: speedplay on August 30, 2010, 04:41:58 PM

Butterfly's increased prices have finally hit Sweden and the new price for a sheet of Tenergy is *drumroll* ~120AUD! Now, even though I find T 05 but to the best rubber for me, I'm not going to pay that much for a sheet of rubber!

So, what options are there?

I want something that is spinny, grippy and preferably hard. Is there something cheap/er that can provide this? So far, the best option for me seems to be Roxon 500, but perhaps there is something even better?

Tenergy Sponge is not that hard @ only 30 - 33 degree's, It is Tenergy 05's Hardish topsheet that makes it feel hard, whereas Hexer's Top sheet is more pliable.
If your after a harder topsheet, Then Hexer Duro might be what your looking for. It has the same pimple structure as Hexer, but a thicker topsheet. Unfortunetley for some (but good for others) the throw angle is much lower than Hexer, but not as spinny.

RebornTTEvnglist · « **Reply #2 on:** August 31, 2010, 01:58:09 AM »

You can still get Tenergy for around $67AUD plus postage from places like Dandoy and TTNPP.

Is R500 anything like T05? I think I'd be going the Hexer path if I were you.

This new Yasaka Razka 7 sounds pretty good too and there is also Palio's new Macro Era Pro (although I don't know how Tenergy-like it is). Palio Thor's and Blitz are 2 others to look at, although Thor's sounds very hard. Some food for thought.

JKC · « **Reply #3 on:** August 31, 2010, 07:06:33 AM »

My initial testing with Calibra shows it to have lots of potential. Faster than T05, less spin close in, but plenty when you give it some hammer off the table. More controllable than T05.

speedplay · « **Reply #4 on:** August 31, 2010, 07:22:13 AM »

Hexer sries is out for me.My intial testing with the regular Hexer was such a huge disappointment for me, so I don't want to go down the Hexer route again. I could only generate medium spin with it (less then with Roxon 450/500 and a lot less then with T 05), the speed was unpredictable for me, as it wasn't bouncy on touch shots, but became bouncy on harder impacts. Problem was, when did it become bouncy? This required more touch then I had, as I never knew if it was going to act bouncy or not. Last, but not the least problem with it was durability. For the first 3 weeks, it felt nice and moisturised (?) but then it became very dry and this seemed to effect the spin in the short game. So, no more Hexer for me.

Roxon 500 isn't exactly a clone of T 05, but it provides the same hard feeling, generates almost as much spin, al though it require a greater effort and it isn't as bouncy as the softer tensors.

JKC, the Calibra does sound interesting, but my main worry is that a lot of people have praised it's great speed, but most seem to be disappointed with the spin. I'll try to get our clubs president to get me a cheap sheet to try, since Stiga sponsors our main team.

Reb,Razka have been on my mind as well, most players who have used it seems to like it.

JKC · « **Reply #5 on:** August 31, 2010, 08:11:46 AM »

I find that I can spin the ball with most rubbers without too much trouble. I often describe rubbers as spinny only to find that others disagree (eg - Outlaw). Tonight though I swapped bats with Fred and let him have a hit with the Calibra to see whether he could play with it. The ball dipped and kicked more than it does off his Tenergy and he was clearly getting more spin on. He has a more driving style than me but didn't change anything at all about his stroke and found that he was hitting the ball on straight away.

seawitch · « **Reply #6 on:** August 31, 2010, 05:48:26 PM »

I've started the search for a T05 replacement as well... mainly driven by the new price increase.

I'm currently giving Grip-S a work out. It started off really slow (didn't like it at all!) -- due to the initial tack -- but after a short session (~1hr) the tack has worn off. Speed wise it's now similar to T05. Spin on slow shots is not close to T05, however faster/loops and loops kills appears to deliver good spin (still not quite T05 but close). Noticeably easier to control -- maybe because the ball doesn't bite quite so much on incoming spin. Has a high throw (but not quite as high as T05). Happy with the short game -- as it's not really bouncy. You get a real increase in speed if you put some effort into the shot though -- so it rewards you well :)

I'm using Black MAX, it's quite heavy and playing on a All+/Off- 5-ply blade (Samsonov Alpha).

All IMHO :-)

speedplay · « **Reply #7 on:** August 31, 2010, 06:25:22 PM »

Seawitch,Welcome to the forum, nice to have a new member joining in.

I remember reading about grip-s, isn't that the rubber that Samsonov is supposed to be using?

Is it a tacky rubber or grippy? Cause I don't like tacky rubbers, I prefer them to be grippy. Also, do please remind me, which brand is grip-s?

RebornTTEvnglist · « **Reply #8 on:** August 31, 2010, 06:48:39 PM »

Speedplay I think Calibra LT sounds like your answer. Baal has done a review and according to him it performs in a way between T05 and T64. Dandoy has it for AUD$50.

seawitch · « **Reply #9 on:** August 31, 2010, 07:02:10 PM »

Speedplay,

Grip-S is made by Tibhar, although there is speculation the rubber is a variant of Haifu's Blue Whale II. The top-sheet definitely starts off slightly tacky, however this does wear off quite quickly and then the rubber speeds up significantly. After this initial tack has disappeared I'd say it's very grippy.

Who knows what rubbers the PROs use -- Samsonov is supposed to be using Grip-S but that's just internet speculation I imagine.

Cheers

speedplay · « **Reply #10 on:** August 31, 2010, 08:47:05 PM »

Reb, at the moment, Calibra LT does sound like the most promising rubber to replace the T 05 with, hopefully I can try it out before I buy it. If it doesn't perform like I want it to, then there is always Roxon 500.

Seawitch, Tibhar, of course, how could I forget??? Tibhar isn't very big here, so my chances of trying this before I buy it is very slim. Asfor the pro's equipment, I think you are right, it is all speculation and even if it get's confirmed what rubber they play with, they probably get special version of them. I'm not trying to copy the pro's equipment, because even if it works great for them, it might not be great for me. The reason I mentioned Samsonov was to clear up my memory if this was the rubber or not. I guess it was and then I've read reviews about it before.

Silver · « **Reply #11 on:** August 31, 2010, 10:15:23 PM »

I gave up. too lazy to find an alt.

Now I'm using H2 on the FH. Using T64 on the back atm but not sure if I'll keep it...

pingpongrob · « **Reply #12 on:** September 01, 2010, 12:55:21 AM »

Quote from: speedplay on August 31, 2010, 07:22:13 AM

Hexer sries is out for me.My intial testing with the regular Hexer was such a huge disappointment for me, so I don't want to go down the Hexer route again. I could only generate medium spin with it (less then with Roxon 450/500 and a lot less then with T 05), the speed was unpredictable for me, as it wasn't bouncy on touch shots, but became bouncy on harder impacts. Problem was, when did it become bouncy? This required more touch then I had, as I never knew if it was going to act bouncy or not. Last, but not the least problem with it was durability. For the first 3 weeks, it felt nice and moisturised (?) but then it became very dry and this seemed to effect the spin in the short game. So, no more Hexer for me.

Roxon 500 isn't exactly a clone of T 05, but it provides the same hard feeling, generates almost as much spin, al though it require a greater effort and it isn't as bouncy as the softer tensors.

JKC, the Calibra does sound interesting, but my main worry is that a lot of people have praised it's great speed, but most seem to be disappointed with the spin. I'll try to get our clubs president to get me a cheap sheet to try, since Stiga sponsors our main team.

Reb,Razka have been on my mind as well, most players who have used it seems to like it.

Speedplay, there is no comparison with the spin that a Hexer can produce compared to a Roxon. Very little effeort is required to create lots of spin with Hexer.
When I first tried hexer it did not suit me. And infact it requires a hardish blade - which I thought the wavestone was. I now have no problem using Hexer/Hexer+ and would not think about going back to Roxon.

speedplay · « **Reply #13 on:** September 01, 2010, 06:03:19 AM »

I remember your initial impression of the Hexer and at that time, it failed to impress you. Not sure what blade you used back then. I tried it on the Wavestone, which is kind of soft according to me, and didn't like it at all. I passed it on to a friend, who's also got my old Joola Cat blades (Der_Echte is probably the only one here who remembers my love for this blade) which have very hard outer layers, and he absolutely loves it. So, blade might be a big factor, but seriously, I don't think any one here expects me to give up on the Wavestone? I mean, if I were a rich man, I would buy every Wavestone blade that you got at the weight of ~95 grams

I would probably also order one of those expensive Zylon something blades that you used for a while. Probably wouldn't beat the Wavestone in performance, but that was one good looking blade! Unfortunately, I'm not rich, so for now, I have to settle with my 3 Wavestones

speedplay · « **Reply #14 on:** September 02, 2010, 06:27:03 AM »

Might as well share it here instead of creating a new Tenergy tread, one thing that have been a huge disapointment with T 05 is it's durability. I know, every one have justified the high price (before the raise, not sure if they still do it) because Tenergy is do durable. Well, my sheet is over and done with now and I'm sure Roxon lasted me a lot longer. I ordered it from Rob 28 of April. Probably didn't get it until a week later and not sure if I glued it on straight away or not, but have since then had almost an entire month of with no TT at all and for most of the time, I've played less then I usually do and the rubber have been dead for the last 2-3 weeks. The sponge still works, but the top sheet is gone. R.I.P Perhaps I should try to re-use the sponge under a different top? Nah, to messy.

Before Biggy get's up set about this (cause I know he will

) I can't claim that Roxon was perfect for all this time, but Roxon only lost a little bit and was still perfectly playable for players of my level, while Tenergy have become very slick, but it should provide good practice to continue to use it, since this will really force me to generate the spin my self and not trust the rubber to do it for me.

RebornTTEvnglist · « **Reply #15 on:** September 02, 2010, 01:26:41 PM »

So you now have discovered a new Anti then Speedplay? Anti-TenNOenergy LOL

Sounds like you got a lemon sheet though. Never heard of Tenergy running out this quick except for Yuzuki finding not enough spin on T25 after a month each sheet (but even he admitted others would still find it perfectly acceptable).

So glad I still love my Roxon!

speedplay · « **Reply #16 on:** September 02, 2010, 06:24:15 PM »

I have to admit that I was surprised as well, but it has lost a lot of it's grip. My team mate who plays with T 25 on both wings, bought his a little sooner then me have noticed the same thing. Unlike me, he still likes the rubber, but he has noticed that it certainly don't spin as well as it used to. 2 more sheets to go, then I'll see if I give the Calibra a go or if it's back to Roxon 500 for me.

big ears · « **Reply #17 on:** September 02, 2010, 07:10:56 PM »

No, I have to agree, Tenergy loses topsheet grip quite quickly, but IMO it starts off with more, so the drop in performance is more obvious. Tenergy is only really special in terms of spin for about three weeks (I play every day) IMO.

speedplay · « **Reply #18 on:** September 02, 2010, 07:58:05 PM »

Quote from: big ears on September 02, 2010, 07:10:56 PM

No, I have to agree, Tenergy loses topsheet grip quite quickly, but IMO it starts off with more, so the drop in performance is more obvious. Tenergy is only really special in terms of spin for about three weeks (I play every day) IMO.

Nice to se that you agreed, but the part I meant that you would be upset about was the part where I said I could play with it for 3-4 months and using the Roxon even longer, cause I suspected that you would like to change your rubbers more often then that.

In reality, I don't think any rubber last's more then a month if you want to get the full effect from them. The durability issues we talk about only concern us amateurs as any one with high demands on their equipment will change rubber way before we would. And no, I don't think they do this because they are sponsored, they do it because they have such high demands on their gear, it must be perfectly tuned for them andalways play the same way. A pro could probably still play good with a 6 months old Tenergy or Roxon, but once he got a new sheet, he would have to re-adjust his strokes.

big ears · « **Reply #19 on:** September 02, 2010, 08:48:58 PM »

yes, the sheets go off so gradually sometimes that you don't realise just how bad they were until you get some new sheets, this is different for me from the sp/glueing days, because the constant glueing gave a solid residue build up, which meant the rubbers had to be changed regularly anyway. No problem for me when I was using £6.00 a sheet Inspirit, I could really load the sponge and get fantastic performance out of a cheap rubber, and always the sponge was loaded and finished way before the topsheet was worn out. So when I started using Roxon then Tenergy, they seemed to last ages in comparison. Looking at the prices, I would suppose its logical to suggest that you could buy 2 sheets of Roxon for the price of one sheet of Tenergy, so be able to change more frequently and possibly get more overall performance for your money.

BTW Speedy, the Swedish player playing with me next year is Tobias Bergman, I think he plays in your Div 2 for Nortull and he beat our no5 ranked player (Chris Doran) last season.

speedplay · « **Reply #20 on:** September 03, 2010, 04:51:43 AM »

Unless there are two player's named Tobias Bergman, he played in Superettan (second highest division here) during the season 08/09 and got 7 wins and 11 losses. To me, this shows that it is a player with a good game. So, how do you do against him?

big ears · « **Reply #21 on:** September 03, 2010, 09:54:07 AM »

Quote from: speedplay on September 03, 2010, 04:51:43 AM

Unless there are two player's named Tobias Bergman, he played in Superettan (second highest division here) during the season 08/09 and got 7 wins and 11 losses. To me, this shows that it is a player with a good game. So, how do you do against him?

I dont know, I've never even seen him, but the fact that he tranverses the north sea to play TT should tell you something. He's either a mad rich extrovert who has some desire to play in England, or he's being paid to fly across to UK, in which case he must be good, cos if not we would not pay. I heard he beat the English no5, but it may be just a rumour....I don't have anything to do with the administration of my British league team, I just get selected and turn up.

RebornTTEvnglist · « **Reply #22 on:** September 03, 2010, 03:16:06 PM »

I guess you'll know a lot more about him next year then Biggie and it'll be something new for us to talk about

How about starting a blog about it here? LOL

big ears · « **Reply #23 on:** September 03, 2010, 06:02:27 PM »

The first wkend of British league matches is on 11/12 sept, I'll report then.

Der Echte · « **Reply #24 on:** September 05, 2010, 04:42:52 AM »

Tenergy Alternative? What Alternative?

speedplay · « **Reply #25 on:** September 05, 2010, 05:50:45 AM »

Quote from: Der Echte on September 05, 2010, 04:42:52 AM

Tenergy Alternative? What Alternative?

LOL!

My biggest fear is that you are right, how ever, with the current price, I'm not going to stick to the T05. I'm hoping that the Calibra is a good replacement and if it isn't then Roxon 500 will due for me. Still, I do hope that BTY realises that their prices are absurd and put them back to a more reasinable level before it is time for me to buy new rubbers.

pingpongrob · « **Reply #26 on:** September 05, 2010, 12:00:15 PM »

Quote from: Der Echte on September 05, 2010, 04:42:52 AM

Tenergy Alternative? What Alternative?

You are so right - who in there right mind would want an alternative to the worst rubber ever made

Honestly this is such a poor rubber for the average player, no feeling incorrect spin/speed ratio, and far to expensive.

I'd actually like to know who has improved their game by using this rubber. Timo is still not Number 1.

RebornTTEvnglist · « **Reply #27 on:** September 05, 2010, 01:55:34 PM »

LOL Rob. The pot is simmering well after the stirring.

speedplay · « **Reply #28 on:** September 05, 2010, 04:52:32 PM »

Timo is currenly number two and I think that is higher then he was rated before he bgun using Tenergy, isn't it?

I feel like my game have improved and that the rubber have made me more versatile, but I can't really claim that it have raised my level, at least not yet.

pingpongrob · « **Reply #29 on:** September 05, 2010, 06:10:30 PM »

Quote from: speedplay on September 05, 2010, 04:52:32 PM

Timo is currenly number two and I think that is higher then he was rated before he bgun using Tenergy, isn't it?

I feel like my game have improved and that the rubber have made me more versatile, but I can't really claim that it have raised my level, at least not yet.

Timo is ranked No.2, and I'm sure he used to be No.5 a while ago - so infact he has gone up, maybe its the booster thats causing the slight increase in ranking.

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Author Topic: Tenergy alternatives? (Read 4577 times)