OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Ok, here is my review of the rubber sheet that Haggisv sent me to test.

Rubber: TSP Regalis Blue Max Black

Sponge: 48 degrees (blue colour).

Blade mounted on: Gergely Tamca 5000

Opposite side rubber: Dtecs Ox Red


Comparison Setup: Gergely blade with Andro rasant max black and Dtecs Ox red




First Impressions

Opening up the packet the packaging had a feel of quality about it which was backed up when I got my first look at the sheet. Its blue sponge is quite different looking to others I've seen and was rather striking. The topsheet had a nice sheen and a look of quality rubber with its fine texture.

I mounted it to my blade (with Stiga Optiimizer Water Glue) and gave it a hit against the robot. Initial feeling was quite similar to Rasant. FH loop drives were virtually indistinguishable to the Rasant which I was alternating on the robot with.


Review in Action

I took the review setup and the comparison setup to the club last night for my usual Monday night pennant. I used the Review Setup for an extended pre-matches hitup with a looping player I am familiar playing with using my regular (comparison) setup. And more importantly he is familiar with my shots. I will discuss my results shortly, but I was sufficiently impressed with the rubber to play my first singles match of the night with it.

Speed
The rubber's speed seemed to lack a little from the Rasant speed I am used to. The Rasant has been in use for at least 12 months. I do tend to get longer out of inverted rubbers than most as I play 80-90% of my shots from the BH pips. but the Rasant does show quite some signs of wear still. I would estimate this Rasant is hitting at 85% of the speed of a new Rasant sheet. Taking this into consideration the Regalis was probably only 80-85% of the Rasant's speed. So possibly up to 30% slower than a new Rasant, which is obviously very subjective, but my hitting partner confirmed it was significantly slower than my usual FH drives.

I will qualify this finding with the way I found I needed to hit with the Regalis vs. Rasant. With Rasant I can hit directly through the ball imparting topspin to a fairly flat trajectory ball that clears the net and drops onto the deep table. With the Regalis I found this shot was finding the net, and so I had to adjust to give a little more lift on the shot, which probably had the effect of reducing the power and increasing the spin. However, it was still clearly not as powerful as the Rasant.

Spin
In comparison to the used Rasant sheet, the spin of the Regalis was greater. My hitting partner confirmed this. However, I know when I have opened a brand new sheet of Rasant, the spin I can impart on the ball is crazy. Far, far more than I could create with the Regalis brand new. This is not to say the Regalis spin is bad, it is not. The crazy spin of Rasant soon dies off with a few weeks of use down to its then normal level. Given I don't ask a huge amount of the spin an inverted rubber can provide in my normal game style, this is not a big issue to me. Whether the Regalis spin dies down with use remains to be seen, but I get the impression it will probably be about as it is now for its useful life, which is a very serviceable spin level.

I must say, I haven't put the Regalis through any rigourous serving routines except on my home table which I was impressed with spin there. I did use it in the first match last night as I mentioned earlier and I noticed no real difference in spin performance than I'd normally get from Rasant. The player I played dumped a few of my underspin serves in the net (and he is good at returning these normally), but he also returned the majority of these too (as he would with Rasant)

Feel

The feel of the Regalis is what I'd describe as a medium-soft feel. No where near a mushy feel, but not as crisp as the Medium Rasant feel (which I think is the reason for its reduced speed). I don't recall the sponge hardness Andro label Rasant with, but it may be something like 42 degrees (but it may be 45). Sponge hardness is notoriously different between companies anyway, but I'd say TSP's 48 degrees in comparison to something between 42 and 45 feels about right.

And besides the issue I had with adjusting my stroke for hitting with it, I found the rubber still felt like I had control over the ball and felt solid in play. Of course, a lot of this also has to do with blade feel coming through the rubber, but you know when a rubber feels "off" on your blade.

If you like a rubber that's fairly forgiving and not so hard that it pings loops long all the time, then this may suit you.

Blocking


Whilst this rubber is not so soft that it becomes a blocking machine, but good for little else, the blocking ability of this Regalis was right up there. I'd say slightly easier to block with than the Rasant. Rasant is not too forgiving of getting the blocking blade angle very far wrong, which I am acutely aware of as its ones of my key defenses against loopers and drivers to my FH side. The Regalis is somewhat easier to block with, but also nothing like Roxon 330 which is an absolute blocking monster, but not much good for anything else.


Overall, I'd assess Regalis as a very capable rubber probably more suited to a placement looping game (although a good powerlooper may find it fine too) than an all out power-hitting game (which would be exactly how I'd describe T05 btw, although I don't think Regalis has quite the spin level of T05). Durability is a question mark given how short a time I've played with it (or even how short-timed the rubber has been out in the market).

I didn't feel confident enough in the rubber to play all my matches with last night. I only lost the first match 11-7 in the 5th set, to a player I've never beaten before. However, there were a couple of FH drives that I missed (which I may have missed with Rasant as well), but given it was the first time I had used the rubber I retreated to the "safety" of the known Rasant. I won one and lost another match with the Rasant for the rest of the night. I will be giving further trials to the Regalis from here to see if I can learn more from it.

I will report, in this thread, any findings that differ from what I have written in this review.

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Awesome review, really useful stuff in there. Many thanks!

So which rubbers do you feel are suited to a) a powerlooping game and b) a power-hitting game? I notice the Chinese powerloopers use Hurricane rather than any of the Tensors on the forehand.

Iskandar

I guess I'll tag my review to this thread so we have everything in one place.

I’m a classic defender, and play with a 2.0mm tensor in Omega IV Asia. (You don’t see it in my sig, because I’m trying out the thin 1.0mm Triple spin chop again because I modified one of my Defplays). I’ll also compare the rubber to Vega Asia, Tenergy 05 and 80 for reference. I tested the rubber on 3 blades, the Defplay Senso, the Joo Se Hyuk, and the Stiga Allround Classic Carbon. The first 2 had P-1R on the BH, and Stiga had Vega Asia.

When I opened the Regalis, it was obvious that this was a top-quality sheet of rubber. I noticed no tuner or anything like that. Glued up easily and didn’t soak up too much of the glue during application. I first tried the rubber on the Defplay and then on the Joo blade for comparison.

Video of unpacking (just because)




Loops/drives:
Topspin strokes were all very controlled and felt very “Tenergy-like” for lack of a better descriptor in terms of feel, dwell, but less bouncy. I’d describe the throw angle as medium whenever the sponge is engaged. Looping and driving strokes were all very medium and predictable. Very linear. When brush-looping you could really spin the ball, and the throw is higher but not overly so. All and all, this is a very linear, controlled, not-too-fast/not-too–slow rubber: just right (as Goldie Locks put it). If you are an attack monster you might feel like the “umph” is not there with a slower blade like the Defplay. On the Joo and Stiga, the rubber has all the umph you could ever want.

Pushes:
Pushes were very spinny, and performed similar to Omega IV Asia and Tenergy 80 in terms of spin. However, it felt slower and safer than the other 2, so you could really dig in to those pushes without as much fear of pushing long. Played very similar in this regard on all 3 blades.

Chops:
Chops were amazingly controlled for a MAX rubber. I think the reason I liked it is that the sponge is harder, and less bouncy. I actually prefer chopping on the FH with faster harder rubbers, and this fit the bill perfectly. Everyone says max rubbers are hard to chop with, but due to linearity of the sponge, and the hardness of it, the Max thickness wasn’t so mushy or spongy, and the decreased dwell gave it more control. By "control" I mean keeping the ball on the table (not manipulating the ball). To me, 2 things add control in inverted chopping, slowness, and less dwell (just like LPs do). Too much dwell causes the ball to sink in too much and thus be spin-sensitive (especially to sidespin). Too much speed or bounciness makes the ball sail unpredictably at times. But the slowish speed of the rubber on passive strokes + the hardness of the sponge , made this rubber seem really nice for FH chopping. Chopping was equally controlled on the Defplay as well as the Joo blade. Far less bouncy then either Xiom. Slower, but not too slow.

Blocking:
Blocking is arguably the best feature of the rubber, especially on the Joo and Stiga blades. It’s very predictable, and because it’s not too bouncy drop shots are easier to perform than with other tensors of the same class and speed. By adjusting your grip pressure, the range of speed you can impart is wide. The max sponge really kicks in when you change your grip to hard at the point of contact and the blocks are nice and aggressive, but under control. Light (toothpaste tube) grip really facilitates those hated slow drop shots to the wide angle. As far as blocking is concerned, I can only liken it to Tenergy 80…but slower and more linear. Very forgiving of passive blocks. It is the exact opposite Omega IV Asia which blocks high and is very bouncy.

Serves:
The lack of bounciness and speed really makes this a very good serving rubber. As good as Vega/Omega Asia and Tenergy 80, but with less risk when you really go for it on serves. It doesn’t spin as nicely as the Omega IV Asia which has a grippier topsheet. The reason why it excels here is that it’s not too fast and serving short is easy. Also, in terms of grip, the rubber didn’t react poorly to the recent insane humidity we’ve been having.

I actually wish I hadn’t cut it to the Stiga blade’s head size because I’d like this for my Modern D setup on the Defplay. A max rubber that attacks well, but still chops well is very hard to find, at least hard to find with few compromises. I’ll probably be ordering another sheet for that very reason. This will also remain on my double inverted setup.

I hope that my use of the word “Slow” doesn’t give the impression that this is a slow rubber, it’s not. It’s fast enough however it is very blade dependent (What rubber isn't). IF you like T80 but want a little more control and a little less speed, this is your rubber.

I also took the liberty of letting some others try the rubber out (Including Der_Echte) to get their impressions, I'll post those later.

_________________
Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

Nice review Japs. I found myself nodding my head in agreeance as I read it.





Isk, of the rubbers I've used I'd put Rasant, T64, Hexer+, Roxon 450 in the power-hitter class, and as I use Regalis more, its probably fast enough for it, but at the low end. I find that some smashes I make with it come back, where they probably wouldn't with Rasant.

As for powerlooping, T05 fits in there. To get good powerloops from Chinese rubbers requires booster I'm sure, not that I have used them as such, nor am I a powerlooper myself. And comparing Chinese powerloopers that you'd see (most likely pros) to the average Joe powerlooper - I think T05 fits the average Joe, whereas Chinese pros will have their rubbers custom tuned for them. I'm sure they steer away from Tensors given their sponsorships are unlikely to cover them, and tuned Hurricane is as good (or better) as most tensors.

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Reb, Japsican, how did you find the level of spin sensitivity?

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

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Timo Boll ALC ST
FH Tibhar Evolution MX-P Max
BH Tibhar Evolution FX-S 1.8
185g

In passive strokes, about the same as say...Vega Europe but without all that mushy softness.
Certainly less than T05 and Omega IV Asia for sure, and less than vega Asia or T80. Part of the reason it's nice on chops and blocks is because it's not too spin sensitive. It's definitely due to the harder sponge, but once you engage the sponge, plenty of grip!

On service return, it was quite nice and forgiving while being able to generate darty pushes when you're active with the bat.

_________________
Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

I find much the same as Japs. I have probably FH chopped more often with it than I normally do with Rasant. It just has a slightly nicer and more confident feel for chopping, not that Rasant is terribly bad to FH chop with. I think its a pretty good level. Of course if you get the shot wrong for the spin received, it won't save you

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Right? Now I'm getting the EJ juices to try Regalis in 2.0 or 1.5.....

_________________
Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

It only comes in 2.0mm or max, not anything less. Unfortunately our samples were all in max.

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

I guess he'll try it in 2.0 then

I played an interesting match with it last night. There is a guy in our division who is new to the club, so I never played him before. He is Ethiopian and learned to play in that country. (I didn't realise TT was strong there!).

He plays with a very cheap pre-made bat, like you might find in Kmart for $5. The rubbers are not ITTF-approved, naturally. No-one seems to mind too much that he uses it. But I think he plays better with it than he might with a custom bat. He gets just enough spin on his serves to cause some problems, one of which is putting it up a little, and he's there to belt a FH winner when you do. He has many more tricks under his belt with it, but I digress. So one of the shots he also does well with this bat is to take all the power out of the ball and put back a chop, often to your FH. I found I was forced to chop back to him from my FH rubber (the Regalis) more than I ever FH chop to anyone. The rubber didn't let me down. The chops were spot on. Unfortunately, his game got the better of me still and he beat me 4-2 after I'd lead him 2-0.

This guy, btw, is now equal leading player with me and another guy. But the Kmart bat guy has missed 2 of the 7 rounds! He hasn't lost a single match that he has actually played in....with his cheap-as Pre-made Bat!!!

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Still excited to try mine! Still haven't received it! Great review!

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

Wow, that's very slow!!! Perhaps it's stuck in customs somewhere, because it was sent off weeks ago!

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Maybe you sent Leatherback the slower, spinnier version?

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Every once in a while you get the odd sheet that customs thinks is full of drugs. Get with it Canada, don't you you know it's the frictionless long pips that are illegal