OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hey Guys,
so I play about 3 hours a week.
All singles play and no doubles.
When should I replace my Sanwei M8 racket?
Thanks!

as long as the racket still works, u just change the rubber if its torn or no longer satisfactory to use. the racket (blade) last really long as long as u dun hit it and break

More to the point.. why do you feel you need to change the M8 blade? Because it's too cheap? I mean, have you broken 2000 yet?

If you're worried about deterioration - no real need to worry. It is true that water based glues do cause blades to go bad (according to the likes of Ovtcharov and Feng Tianwei), but it takes a while and there's an easy way to avoid that - use Elmer's Rubber Cement instead of water-based glues.

Iskandar

Hey, sorry but I posted the question wrong.
More specifically - when should I change my bat? I don't have the skills to change the rubber etc and if the rubber gets old then I will have to just get a new bat all together.
And the price is great! I am going to order two next time just to stock up.
Thanks for the recommendation Isk!

if you have the liberty and means to buy new ones, i'd say why not?
but it is worthwhile to learn to change the rubbers yourself, as rubber degradation is the most likely leading cause if your bat dont play that well like it used to be, theres alot of youtube videos on them.

The perks to this is, alot of paddles have different kind of feel even if they were of the same brand and type, they may differ as they are made of wood. so u may try out different rubber and gauge whats best for u overtime using the same blade.

Ah! Sounds like you bought the "custom" bat from one of the Eacheng outlets with the rubber already attached. If you take care of the rubber (lots of advice on this forum if you look around - keeping it clean, using protector sheets) the rubber should last at least 2-3 months, and perhaps a lot longer. I usually don't change rubbers until they're quite grotty... the surface gets all scratched up and the topsheet starts to lose its grip. But probably should change the rubbers before then. Lots of YouTube videos on how to change rubbers, too - most everyone uses water based adhesives, but there really isn't any reason to do so, since NONE of us here (bar one or two I can think of) will actually have their bats subjected to a VOC tester. I use Elmer's Rubber Cement because it's so much more convenient. The blades themselves should last just about forever, at least until you hit the side of the table, etc. Or mislay them. If the blade wasn't varnished when the first rubber was attached, you might want to varnish the blade at the next rubber change (again, lots of advice - and arguments about the right way to do it - on this forum). Be careful peeling off the old rubber sheets, the M8 does have somewhat peel-prone surface plies (I think they're obeche). Ronson lighter fluid quickly and easily softens old rubber adhesive if you find it sticking a little too hard (which happens a fair amount with water based glues).

As for what rubber to get next - that does seem to be the main purpose of this forum... Lots and lots of advice..

Should you get two or three more M8s? Why not?

Iskandar

Thanks guys!
So I will change my rubber in about six months.
I really like this rubber with the M8. lots of spin and control.
If I change the rubber myself then any suggestion on a good upgrade from this M-8 rubber. I want maximum control. period. I thrive on placement rather than power.
Thanks

a good place to start is always yasaka rakza 7, rakza 7 soft, xiom vega pro/euro, even xiom omega euro. all this rubber i have personal experience with and i think still controllable with some speed.

some rubbers with maximum control and will assist u in developing technique might be mark v hps, vega intro, tsp ventus basic, chinese rubbers like from yinhe, friendship, reactor. ( i dont have personal experience but they are basically slower and more controlled rubber.)

isk is much better than me on this as i only change my backhand rubber and stick with dhs h3 neo on my fh.

Agree Check also the Andro's Hexer Grip SFX or PowerGrip SFX. I find them more controllable than Rakza7 & Rakza7 Soft.

_________________
current setup: blade: Yinhe 980 | FH: Palio AK47 Blue 2.1mm | BH: TSP Curl P1-R 1mm
looping setup: blade: Yinhe W-6 | FH: Palio AK47Red 2.1mm | BH: Palio AK47Blue 2.1mm
@work setup: blade: Yinhe 980 | FH: Yinhe Mercury2 2.1mm | BH: Yinhe Neptune 0.7mm
to-be-used setup: blade: DONIC DefPlay Senso 3 | FH: YASAKA Rakza 7 soft 1.8mm | BH: TSP SpinPips Chop 2 1.4mm

Some interesting comments in this thread. I always thought that choice of rubber has the most effect on a person's game more than the blade but I wonder if I am wrong about that. For the last year or so I have been using a yasaka ebony carbon with rakza 7 rubbers. This was a fast set up, lightning fast in fact. While I think I played well with it, I would tend to hit too long more than I liked. So a couple of weeks ago I put the rubbers onto my applegren all play. What a revelation! First of all, a slower blade doesn't mean you cannot hit a fast ball. But the reduction in speed allows me to really concentrate on brushing the ball, and as a consequence I find myself getting the ball on the table more, and with better spin. I'm wondering whether an M8 would be similar to the applegren, might have to give it a try.

I just had a look on AliExpress and there are two versions of the m8. One with a blue handle and one with a grey handle. What's the difference?

Mind you, Rakza 7's quite fast, compared to what he's got on there now (which is probably the base level 729). Not that it's a bad choice, other than it costs $25-35 as opposed to $12 compared to AK-47 Blue.

Iskandar

Grey handle's probably not available any more (despite the pictures). Current production, as far as I know, is the blue handle. There current one has the "40+" logo on the handle. There was also a pink handle at one time, and the first ones had a different logo (a big red rectangle with "M8" in the middle) on the blade. They're all the same (as "same" as any individual blades of one model can be).

Iskandar