OOAK Table Tennis Forum

For some reason the latest Xiom Vega Asia df has had very little exposure on this forum and other review sites

Although marketed like most tensor rubbers as an aggressive looping rubber, what I can say so far is that in 1.8mm it is a very interesting rubber for the modern defender style on def+ to all round speed blades.

I have been using Vega Asia df 1.8mm on both a Tsp balsa 4.5 and an old Standard wood blade and it definitely seems to suit slow flexible wood blades.

Excellent dwell and grip allowing easy variation of spin and speed and not too much bounce, great for both slow and fast fh blocks and plenty of top end for closing out points.

It really should have been marketed as Vega Europe df as in 1.8mm at least it has a very similar feel to the original Vega Europe but with better grip, and a bit crisper (less mushy). Definitely not classic Asia series hard. The new Europe df is however very different being much softer than the original.

Good review of Vega Asia df here (use Google translate)

http://www.tt-spin.de/xiom-vega-asia-df/

Reviewer used 2.0mm probably on a off type blade hence he found rubber quite fast. Confirm his findings re ease of blocking at the table and good grip with poly ball.

As Vega Asia df is quite light it is a good match to oversized Def blades

I recently purchased Xiom Vega Asia and Omega V Asia. ( MAX thickness)

Xiom Vega Asia Red rubber actually shrinked/shrunk down from the sides and is now smaller from the top. I didn't any pressure at all while cutting.

Any reason XVA has become smaller ? Is it heavily boosted at factory rubber or something ?

Now the XVA is less than 1 month old on my racket. I have a Yasaka Rakza 7 Max and the XVA is definitely slower than the Rakza7. Is this to be expected ? I have tried Vega Japan which is most definitely faster than the Rakza7. Also XVA isn't "tacky / sticky" at all ! I thought Xiom made tacky / sticky Chinese rubbers!

Can someone advise on the Xiom Vega Asia ? Is it good for two-wing looper ? Is it better at service / receive ? Is it more a fisher / blocker / smasher style rubber ?

I played with it for about 2 sessions now and I don't feel anything blindingly good or bad about it. So I am undecided on how to use it effectively

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Backup C-pen blades:

• TSP Black Balsa 7.0 :
  1. FH/BH-YRakza9/XOmegaVT
  2. FH/BH-TSP Spectol/Yinhe Qing OX
• 729 Bomb C-P : FH/BH-DHS H2 Orig/DHS H3 Orig
• TSP Versal :
  1. FH/BH-XOmegaVA/YJupiter-II
  2. FH/BH-*blank*

Fun blades:

• Yasaka Battle Balsa(ST) : FH/BH- DHS TG2Neo/Gewo HypeXT 47
• Dr. Neubauer
  High Technology
  Cypress-Carbon(ST)
  ***************************** : FH/BH-YRakza7/YRakza7

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Hmm, my experiences with XVA is definitely different. I have XVA and Rakza 7 as backhand rubbers on 2 of my most used blades. Even at 2.0mm, XVA is much faster than Rakza 7 max. Topsheet is softer vs Rakza and less grippy, but sponge harder. Overall much springier and one of the faster rubbers I tried.

Original Vega Asia, not DF.

I have only played with Vega Asia df which is supposed to be both grippier and softer than the earlier version.

Felt to me in 1.8mm like an improved Vega Europe. Like most Xiom tensors quite a strong catapult effect.

Yes it does shrink and lose some crispness so best not to reglue.

It's easy to chop with??

Have not used Asia df for two years but I recall in 1.8mm on a def blade chopping was good due to the high grip of the top sheet.

Why did you change rubber??

Change to faster blades and prefer more linear rubbers, but may try it again soon. I find Xiom carbo sponge rubbers a bit bouncy in the short game