OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Well, I finally played this rubber. It is not exactly what I expected, and I'm very curious to see how this rubber breaks in. I put them on my blades on Saturday, and got to play them yesterday, and today. Initially I was very pleased. They appear to be of quality make. The topsheets had no flaws to speak of. I didn't spend alot of time reviewing the writing on the backs of the sponges, which I should have done to get a number as to what DHS would consider this rubber to be. I would consider it to be hard. It sure feels like solid 40+. The topsheet is also quite hard. This kinda suprised me as I had heard that the rubber is quite spinny. Also the tack doesn't feel all that sticky, but it's definitely there. The sheet is probably a little lighter than Hurricane III Neo, but not significantly. I'll write more about the rubber in a week or so, but suffice it to say I really enjoyed this rubber. It's a very solid forehand rubber. It would be nice to be able to soften it up about 8-10 degrees on the sponge, but I'm wondering what the break in of the rubber will produce. It's very spinny, quite tacky between tacky, and half tacky, very easy to play in the short game, and it has no top out on the top end. You keep swinging it will keep shooting the balls at very reasonable speeds. The throw is quite high as well. I would put it under T05, but I'm not sure if I would put anything else that I have played appreciably above it. It's higher than H3 by a bit. These Neo rubbers change so much after about 2 months of play, I wonder how I will like it at that point.

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Photino
My rubbers are 9 years old. They won’t be there long.

I just got a Nexy production Spartacus and slapped a new (red 2.1) sheet of T05 and Skyline II Neo (Black 2.2) on it and have played 2 days on it.

I feel pretty much the same as Skippy does.

On BH, Neo II Skyline was real nice. I could generate a lot of spin and keep the ball on the table. I am not interested in softening it up. It feels right for my BH already. Plenty of spin plus you can slap drive the thing fine. I gave it a go on FH and it is just as serviceable for my FH as H2 Neo is. This is notable as not many rubbers, Chinese or not, feel good for my FH, although I can make good use of most anything on BH. (Heck, I have been using Dawei XP 2008 Super Power on BH for over a year) It will be interesting to see how this stacks up. I like what I see already and I do not instantly like a lot of rubbers lately.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

The last Regular Skyline II (not Neo) that i tried had quite a soft topsheet, so I'm surprised that the neo does not have this as well.

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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

i found the tg2 neo quite quick easy to generate spin on on a clipper wood, it didnt have the same control as tg3, and it seemed to have a much lower throw

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my youtube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/decoyla?feature=mhum

Main: / secondary / LP
Blade: DHS Hurricane hao/ Blade- Hurricane Hao 2
FH: Skyline 3(Blue Sponge)/ FH- Nittaku H3 pro
BH: Omega Asia/ BH- Calibra Tour H

The topsheet looks new even after 4 days of full time use, while T05 topsheet is already beginning to lose mm chuncks from the blade already. Maybe next time I need a FH rubber, I slap on some Skyline II Neo, my backup TBS has H2 Neo on FH and it is quite serviceable for FH.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Had my third hit with Skyline II Neo tonight, and if it keeps this up, it's not leaving my blade anytime soon. I know it will drop in sponge performance within two months, however the throw is so high right now that when it drops in performance from a sponge standpoint I think I will still be able to brush loop, and lift the ball despite the sponge drop off. That's usually the point where I lose my patience with rubbers is when they start to drop in the ability to lift the ball. Feeling the rubber again just to double check previous statements I still stand by the original assesment in that the sponge is pretty hard and the topsheet is quite hard too. Were the regular Skylines not like this?

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Photino
My rubbers are 9 years old. They won’t be there long.

Maybe I like hard sponged rubbers on BH (I used to have 999 over 42degree Quattro there), but Skyline II Neo did not feel overly hard at all.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

I've played alot of chinese rubbers over the years, and I fully expect every chinese rubber I get to have a hard sponge. It's pretty rare to find a chinese rubber with euro/jap soft type sponges. For some reason I was thinking the Skyline II topsheet to be more similar to the Globe 999 topsheet than it is. Is it possible the hardness of the topsheet provides a more consistent throw from slow to high speed? Skyline II Neo doesn't drop in throw nearly as much as the Globe 999 sheets do at the higher speeds. Whatever the reason I'm really enjoying it.

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Photino
My rubbers are 9 years old. They won’t be there long.

After reading your post Skippy, I paid closer attention to the sheet. The topsheet is VERY flexible, almost felt like a Gummi Bear and the sponge felt about as firm as a 42 degree Quattro. Whatever the deal is, paired with the Nexy Spartacus, my BH lands every bit as consistant as XP 2008 Super Power 40 dergee, plus I can use it as a FH rubber if needed. I might end up giving Skyline II Neo a spin on FH. After 5 days, my sheet of Tenergy looks like it will crumble faster than sheet of original Outlaw and be useless in under a month. My sheet of Skyline II Neo looks like I just put it on the blade.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

I have been really suprised by this rubber's speed. It's top end speed is quite fast. When you first slap it on and bounce a couple balls lightly it feels as dead as anything I have ever played. Once you bend the rubber it's really peppy!

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Photino
My rubbers are 9 years old. They won’t be there long.

gald you like it. i will probably use this to replace my Neos Sound for RPB.

i used this( Tg2 neo) on a clipper wood with Tg3 neo where the tg3 was easy to control and allwoed you to use massive swing, wehre as tg2 you would have to be careful with using small swings, but even then using small swing it was dead easy returning those pesky backspin balls, without any effort at all, the balls would then keep low and were very spinny, once it hit the other side the ball jsut shoots off and stays low( not jsut low , the arc changes to a smaller arc) . this can be a very evil rubber

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my youtube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/decoyla?feature=mhum

Main: / secondary / LP
Blade: DHS Hurricane hao/ Blade- Hurricane Hao 2
FH: Skyline 3(Blue Sponge)/ FH- Nittaku H3 pro
BH: Omega Asia/ BH- Calibra Tour H

Interesting comments on here.

I've just slapped a sheet on my YE, normally play with H3 Neo on the forehand -- love it's spin and hard feel, but wanted a fraction more pace (open to suggestions).

Anyway, on to the Skyline II. In comparison to the H3 I found the Skyline:

1. Faster (perfect for my forehand) and therefore bouncier than H3 (although nothing like a tensor or tenergy rubber)
2. Much lower throw -- so you don't get those crazy high arching loops which I actually like
3. Felt softer than the H3 and maybe not quite a "crisp" on ball contact.
4. Spin. Well, maybe it's my technique or the lack of the high-arching loop ball, but it feels/appears that I get quite a bit less spin, especially on the slower/mid-paced loops.
5. Easier the flat hit/drive with.
6. Less tacky than the H3

I may try the H3 on my YEO instead, however I really like my YE. Of course, a thin coat of speed-glue on the H3 would be perfect... but I play comp so that's out I'm afraid.

I'll keep playing the Skyline on the YE for now and see how the rubber changes as it breaks in (otherwise it will be back to the H3 I suspect).

Cheers

-john

Are you comparing it to regular H3, or H3 Neo? The H3 Neo is also quite a bit less tacky than regular H3.

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Photino
My rubbers are 9 years old. They won’t be there long.

He's comparing to the H3 Neo which was on the other side of the same blade. I had a hit with his bat as well, and pretty much agree with his findings.

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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

Did you enjoy the Skyline II at all Haggis? What's the difference between the old versions of Skyline II and the Neo?

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Photino
My rubbers are 9 years old. They won’t be there long.