OOAK Table Tennis Forum

This is a new a new rubber from Sanwei. Sanwei have been around for many years, but recently seem to have become a bit more serious about rubbers. Fellow member and friend Pimple Lover, who runs a shop and Thai website (http://www.pimplelover.pantown.com) kindly let me try a sample of some of the Sanwei products, so that I could review them here.

The new GEARS rubber comes in one of the new vacuum sealed packages as shown below. This one is not one of the factory tuned rubbers that some of the other manufacturers use, but I personally would like to see all new rubbers use this type of packaging, as I'm ure it keeps the rubber fresher for much longer and protects it from the elements.











I like the very clear markings about thickness, hardness and VOC levels, which should be done for all rubbers IMO.

Sponge hardness measure at 39deg, with reference to my Sponge Hardness Table, which is a little firmer than what I expected.

Upon opening the packet, the sheet looked in fresh and excellent condition. It was cut very clean and no signs on any inperfections. Sponge colour looked yellow/orange, and similar to many Japanese sponges I've seen used by other Chinese manufacturers. It looked a little more porous than typical Chinese sponges. Topsheet was smooth with a bit a of a shine, and the print was very clear and sharp. It felt a little firmer than something like Globe 999 but not really hard. The topsheet came with a very thin adhesive plastic protection sheet, which when removed showed a virtually non-tacky but very grippy topsheet. Topsheet looked quite cool, with a row of little 'gears' on iether side of the label (forgot to take a pic of this).





I glued the rubber onto a Sanwei blade which I'll also review shortly, which is a defensive triple carbon blade. On the other side I glued the new Long Pimple rubber from Sanwei called CODE, which came with a 1.0mm sponge. The sheet glued and cut easily. The topsheet and sponge are glued together VERY well, which is sometimes a problem with some Chinese sheets.

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Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

So how does it play?

Well when I first bounced a ball on it, it felt very slow and dead, very much like many Chinese tacky rubbers... this surprised me a little since the rubber felt virtually non-tacky. Put a slightly more effort into the ball and it does not really feel that slow. Hit harder and the firm sponge starts to kick in, giving it quite a bit more speed.

For pushes and servers, the rubber felt very grippy, almost like a tacky rubber, so the spin was high, and the control excellent.

For looping, the rubber has several gears . A slower brush loop comes off very spinny and slow, almost like the 999 rubber, which I really liked. Brush loop a little harder and you start feeling the firmer sponge, giving it more speed but still good spin. Loop ever harder and the hard sponge gives it good speed, but the spin seems to drop off a little. This rubber seems more suitable for loop drive players than pure loopers. The throw for loops seems medium-high, which ties is with it's other characteristics IMO.

For blocking the rubber was excellent. It seemed quite insensitive to spin, and a passive block takes the pace off real well, while an aggrive block produces good pace and is still very controllable.

Similarly for hitting and loop drive the pace was good and control/accuracy very good as well.

I did try to chop with the rubber for a while as well, but did not feel it was that suitable for this, although with a thinner sponge it's likely to be much better.

Although the rubber is non-tacky, it plays closer to a Chinese style rubber than a euro/japanese one. It does not have any glue feel, and you have to generate most of your own pace, like many Chinese rubbers. This is not a bad thing as it does gives you very good control, it just means those that are used to Euro/Japanese style rubbers would need to adjust to this.

What does it feel close to? The closets that comes to mind would be Galaxy Mars, which is another rubber that I quite liked (althogh it's discontinued).

What style does it suit? For those players that setup the ball in the short game, and either attack with a medium pace very spinny loop and then hit/loop drive or loop kill, this rubber will work very nicely. For blockers/counter hitting it will also be quite suitable.

I felt that the sponge was a little too firm and not lively enough to a powerloopers game, or for my own game for that matter.

I'm not quite sure what he price of this rubber will be, but it's certainly worth considering as it seems of high quality and has some very nice characteristics. I would like to try it on another (faster) blade to see that it plays like on that, and would be happy to send it onto to anyone that would like to try it as well.

Happy to answer any questions on the reivew above or anything I've missed...

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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

Thanks for the review Alex.

What is the glue that you use for gluing rubber with the blade ? Normal glue or Water Based Glue.

Since the blade T431 blade is pretty slow (def) , that may be the reason that you feel this rubber pretty slow for the first time.

I have just played with my friend who put the Gear Rubber on BT777 , I always have some difficulty to return his topspin due to the fast speed and huge spin.

So, I would recommend you to try it on your current blade so it will be easy for you to compare.

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www.pimplelover.pantown.com

I used a thin layer of rubber cement, which I use for all my rubbers. I don't believe this impacts on the performance significantly.

Yes i will try a faster blade and see how it performs....

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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

Got it...

Thanks a lot.

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www.pimplelover.pantown.com

Nice review haggisv, though I'm more interested in your T88 review.
T88 is supposed to be one of the fastest chinese rubbers on the market. It has a similar pip structure to tenergy and plays similar to hard japanese rubbers. I'm curious if this is true.

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Xiom Sigma Pro 2.0
Xiom O4 Asia 2.0
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From the cover I think it indicated it was more of a defensive rubber as it mentioned 'chopping'... Yes I'll review that one shortly too.

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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

so it's not this rubber were talking about?

The Sanwei T (88-1 combines the familiar red sponge, sometimes in a different color) of the Beijing Tuttle II in a faster "factory-tuned" version with a very grippy, but not sticky the rubber surface. The very wide, slightly conical and short studs of the rubber coating makes the extremely fast and highly elastic. We believe that this coating is currently (as of January 2010) is the fastest in our assortment.
The sponge is hard with a hardness of about 44-46 degrees, but elastically interpreted. The upper rubber is softer and sucked for a total of medium-ball attack.
The T 88-1 is the ideal surface for a very direct and aggressive offensive play. He is definitely the fastest in China Offensivbelägen and offers a built-in high quality glue.
The Effetwerte are very high, but not quite as good as the pads and the Palio Tuttle AK 47 Biotech.
Our special recommendation is the T 88-1 for players with long pimples on the backhand, because with this rubber is too high you can shoot balls of the enemy Advised best ".
Big downside: This rubber is very difficult.

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Xiom Sigma Pro 2.0
Xiom O4 Asia 2.0
Xiom win with us.

The one I have here to test is called T88-TAIJI, and it mentions fitted play" loop/chop and also mentions that it's suitable for backhand.

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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

Base on feedback from my friend , T88-Taiji is also fast but not as grippy as Gear.

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www.pimplelover.pantown.com

I tried this rubber on a Cornelliau Hino-carbon blade today which is quite a fast blade (OFF to OFF+). There was indeed quite a boost in performance, and not just in speed.

The faster blade made the rubber feel quite a softer and seemed to give it extra dwell time. This made it a lot spinnier for power loops and quite a nice power-loopers rubber. The throw was still fairly high, which I like for my style of game.

It still does not put it into the 'fast' catagory compared to some of the euro/Japanese stle rubbers, but it's faster than most Chinese rubbers and still very spinny. It has good power for a close-in or mid-distance looping style game, if you use a faster blade such as this.

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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

@ haggisv:



Could you please tell us how linear this rubber is?

I am having trouble when I push the ball just a bit harder, and the ball comes out with a much higher angle (or much faster). This behavior is called "non linear" I believe. Thanks.

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clipper cc - fh mx-p max - bh jp03 max (27 apr 2015) - video of me playing

I also don't think it's very linear but geared.

Once I put about 20% more power , speed increase by 40-50%

I think that why it's named "GEAR"

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www.pimplelover.pantown.com

I think that for most Chinese rubbers (with firmer sponges) there is a transition where the effect of the sponge kicks in. Most Chinese topsheets are quite slow, partially coz they are often tacky, so when the effect of the sponge kicks in you'll feel a change...in both speed and throw.

I did not notice a sudden change in speed like you did though...

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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

You may be right....

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www.pimplelover.pantown.com