OOAK Table Tennis Forum

The most unique characteristics to me was the feel of unusually high dwell time...I've not felt it like that in any of the other recent Tensioned type rubbers.

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My Acuda S1 which for obvious reasons replaced my previous Tenergy rubbers started slowly to wear off, so I decided to try a “new 5th generation Tensor….”. I’ve been playing with Bluefire M1 for a month so I think I can say something about its features. I will try to maintain the way Haggisv described it initially.

Visual inspection:
I played only with a black M1, I play medium pips on BH. Of course the sponge is blue but honestly I don’t understand all this excitement about the colours, I believe it’s just a question of dyes added by ESM or any other producer in the manufacturing process. Nevertheless I agree with Haggisv that it doesn’t have a shiny look and I like it, I prefer matt, non sticky rubbers.
Unlike Acuda S1, the M1 is not equipped with a protection sheet !
Really huge pores, apparently in vogue among all producers trying to discover the secret of Tenergy success, and the large volume of air contained in the sponge, are probably responsible for unusually long dwell time. But the feeling is still much different from Tenergy or other Tensor rubbers I had the occasion to try.

Weight and hardness:
I have quite different results concerning the weight of this rubber. As on my small website (in Polish only) I publish some rubber reviews, I have a habit of taking pictures and weighing all rubbers I’m playing with. The cut M1 on my blade (large Firewall+) is 56 g, compared to Acuda S1 46 g (same as T64 and T05). With hundreds of loops I could really feel the difference and didn’t like it at all.
I could not measure the hardness but the rubber seems to be as hard as Acuda or Tenergy, so at least 47 or more on the Shore scale.

Looping:
I didn’t compare the throw height, but there is not much difference between M1 or S1 or T64. I agree the feeling is unusual, the ball really digs into the sponge making the dwell high, the speed a bit slower then S1. But then the biggest problem appears. Perhaps due to its porous structure and possibly uneven distribution of pores (my guess only, but it would be unusual for such an experienced producer as ESM) I found this rubber inconsistent. When looping the same balls from the same position and with the same speed I never knew whether I would hit the net or throw a too long ball.

Spin:
Good spin capacities, but due to inconsistency I was never sure whether my ball had the spin I intended to give. This feeling was particularly strong when I was looping against a fast block or playing a counter-top-spin

Blocking:
I agree with Haggisv, no particular advantages or flaws in this element.

Quite difficult to hit with, with all their inconsistency, loops were absolutely more reliable, much to my regret as hitting is one of my favourable shots.

I thought first it was a question of being accustomed to the rubber. Or errors in gluing. I re-glued it twice, with a rubber glue (disaster) and water glue (better). I played for a month. I could not manage it and lost the whole pleasure of play, which never happened to me with so many different rubbers. A few of my friends from the 1st division have tried it, among them a Poland’s former champion and silver European Team medalist – none of them liked the rubber.
I put on my old Acuda S1 and all the pleasure has returned as well as play accuracy. I am going to try S1 Turbo, but nobody will ever convince me to touch the M1 again. The “Blue miracle”, at least to me proved to be a “Blue disappointment”.

Thanks for the review albur, and welcome to the forum!

Wow that does sound quite disappointing!

WHat was the 'rubber glue' that you used to glue it?

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Table Tennis Reviews / Articles | Table Guide | Robot Guide
Re-Impact Blades | Avalox Blade Overview | Table Tennis Robots
My setup: Blade: Re-Impact OOAK Dark Knight | BH: Dtecs OX red | FH: JUIC 999 Turbo 2.0mm blk
Check out my huge 'for sale' thread here | My OOAK Interview

Cannot name it - it's just a locally produced rubber glue that everybody here used for years - and most still do (last item on the website
http://www.ping.home.pl/index.php?cat_i ... rt=default), indeed a very good one and not damaging the blades.

The water glue is "MODEST Clean VOC". Modest is a big TT shop in Poland, they have their own trademark, the glue itself is made in Germany, by a producer that supplies all other German brands.

Both glues perfectly work with other rubbers, inverted or pimpled, so the problem with M1 is certainly not caused by the glue.

I also think the problem is not in my own play, I'm a rather experienced player, and anyway the inconsistency problems disappeared immediately when I returned to S1, I also had no such problems in the past with Ternergies of Hexer HD, or even other rubbers that I've been playing with last year like Boost TS or Haifu Whale II.

And I can frankly say - I was the first and only one in my environmenty to try it for so long, none of my friends who tried it even considered a purchase.

Used the blue fire M2 for the first time tonight & very impressed. I'm actually a bit baffled by some of the negative comments! But obviously everyone's different.

Which is better to place at forehand, Bluefire M1 or Acuda S1 Turbo? I'm having them both so what should it be?