I have 2 Andrzrej Grubba All+ blades, 1 of which I have been using since last year with Tenergy 05. I decided to give Fastarc G-1 a try, though still an expensive rubber it does save a little on the Tenergy, and I also wanted to see if I could find something better! I put the G-1 on the other Grubba and tried out both setups together last night. This is a "first impression" of the differences and I'll try to post more as I get more time to play with them. Note: the T05 has been used for approximately 150 hours of local club level play, but is still in good condition (no large noticible difference from when new). The G-1 is new. Straight off the G-1 felt less bouncy than the T05 and harder. This appeared to give an instant feeling of a little more control especially in the short game. Spin seemed to be pretty much the same to me and was very good on both setups. Though getting the spin felt more difficult on the G-1 during the slower thinner contact loops, and I had problems with these compared to what I normaly do with the T05. When hit hard away from the table the G-1 felt fine and similar to the T05 with great bend on the topspins. The G-1 does have a great sound when you hit hard. So...in an initial roundup I found: The G-1 was harder with more control and a little better in the short game but with worse ability to generate spin on thin contact topspins, with less feel. The T05 was more difficult to control in the short game but gave better spin and feel in the thin contact topsins. Both performed well away from the table with great loops and spin production. Its hard to say which i think was best as I do love the T05 and have been using this for around 7 months now....but...the G-1 was a real nice rubber and I think if I use it more and get used to it, it could be a runner. The G-1 is a little cheaper than the T05. Here in the UK T05 goes for around £50 per sheet. The G-1 is harder to obtain but if you import from Japan (e.g. Iruiru) then with the taxes and duty you can get it at about £40 per sheet. (note: as you may know the Japanes TT outlets won't export Bty products to the EU so we're pretty stuck with price on T05...if you know better please tell me  So it's not so cheap as to make much of a difference to your choice of rubber. I think I'll stick with G-1 for a while and see how the rubber changes and how I get used to it. I'll re-post soon. Rob _________________ Blade: Joola Carbon Eagle - In Use FH: Joola Rhyzm 375 (2.1) BH: Joola Rhyzm 375 (2.1) Blade: Nittaku Violin - In Bag FH: Nittaku Fastarc G-1 (1.9-2.1) BH: Nittaku Fastarc G-1 (1.9-2.1) haggisv Joined: 13 Dec 2006, 12:34 Posts: 33319 Location: Adelaide, AU Has thanked: 2723 times Been thanked: 1546 times Blade: Trinity Carbon FH: Victas VS > 401 BH: Dr N Troublemaker OX BrummyRob wrote: The G-1 is a little cheaper than the T05. Here in the UK T05 goes for around £50 per sheet. The G-1 is harder to obtain but if you import from Japan (e.g. Iruiru) then with the taxes and duty you can get it at about £40 per sheet. (note: as you may know the Japanes TT outlets won't export Bty products to the EU so we're pretty stuck with price on T05...if you know better please tell me I would also be interested in hearing from anyone who can get around the restrictions without having to physically buy them in either Japan or possibly Malaysia / Singapore. I was recently over in China and on my way pack via Hong Kong picked up a DHS Skyline 2 Neo for around €12. Put it on a backup blade (IF ZLC) and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was and compared to the max Tenergy 05. Skyline 2 neo gave a great sound when you hit with it. Still missed the pronounced arch I get off the Tenergy but it was nice having a play with something different. Cut weight was 47 grams and that was the neo. I've been buying my Tenegies from ta-q for around €38-€39 so it was a no brainer compared with the €33-€40 I was paying for Tibhar / Donic rubbers. I did put an order in with tt-japan on the 30th of April for a load of butterfly stuff and was disappointed to discover than the order was cancelled on the 3rd of May. I'm in the dilemma of not wanting to pay €60 for a sheet of Tenergy I will be seriously re-visiting other rubbers that will be costing less than €40. Checking tt-tapan they have the G1 for less than €32 (on the basis of not being caught for import duties) . I'm also going to be looking at the DHS Tin Arc 3 and will have accept that the most I will get on a replacement for a T05 is 80-90% of what I currently get. haggisv wrote: Import duties will always be a risk, although some are willing to mark them with low values, which probably improves your chances of getting it through. €60 for Tenergy is certainly a little steep! To-date I've been using couriers from ta-q and I've been OK. Inters pl are now charging €60 and teesport UK are charging €50 which converts into €61 at current exchange rates. Local supplier in Dublin does them for around €58 when he has stock of them but says that he makes very little on them. If anyone else knows where I can get them any cheaper I would be very appreciative if they could share. My thoughts are that when the new poly comes official - reckon it may not be until 2015 - I will probably look at tacky rubbers for the FH so it will be a shift away from T05. Update on Fastarc Price: Table Tennis 11 do Nittaku Fastarc G-1 for about £31 per sheet, which is the cheapest I can find so far. You need to buy 2 sheets then there's no shipping charge. _________________ Blade: Joola Carbon Eagle - In Use FH: Joola Rhyzm 375 (2.1) BH: Joola Rhyzm 375 (2.1) Blade: Nittaku Violin - In Bag FH: Nittaku Fastarc G-1 (1.9-2.1) BH: Nittaku Fastarc G-1 (1.9-2.1) BrummyRob wrote: Update on Fastarc Price: Table Tennis 11 do Nittaku Fastarc G-1 for about £31 per sheet, which is the cheapest I can find so far. You need to buy 2 sheets then there's no shipping charge. From where I'm based I'm getting a price of €47.90 for the Fastarc G-1 but there is a €10 discount coupon which would easily cover the post for orders over a certain amount (I think it's €50). Maybe it's appearing as a special on your access ? Yeah, that's weird! I just went back in to check the prices and it shows as 39.92 euros per sheet. Anyway an update on the G-1 as I played last night with it: Really getting to grips with it now and you definitely feel the ball more when you hit it compared with the Tenergy 05. For me this has meant that I'm getting better timing when I make my loops and topspins, and they are much more consistent, and still just as spinney as the T05. in fact I had a great night playing with it and my shots felt just as fast but more controlled and better than in a long while by the end of the evening. I do like the Tenergy and its a great rubber, but I think I am playing better with the G-1 so I've decided to put this on my new blade (Nittaku violin) and see what the combination is like (I'll come back on that). So a thumbs up for the Fastarc G-1 and I'm going to go with this over the T05. _________________ Blade: Joola Carbon Eagle - In Use FH: Joola Rhyzm 375 (2.1) BH: Joola Rhyzm 375 (2.1) Blade: Nittaku Violin - In Bag FH: Nittaku Fastarc G-1 (1.9-2.1) BH: Nittaku Fastarc G-1 (1.9-2.1) Hi Multispoke, You're right. Tax gets added on a little later when you put the shipping address in so it bumps the price up to 47.9 euros per sheet, but take off the 10 euro coupon and we get £70 for the G-1 setup vs £100 for T05. I'll still go with that _________________ Blade: Joola Carbon Eagle - In Use FH: Joola Rhyzm 375 (2.1) BH: Joola Rhyzm 375 (2.1) Blade: Nittaku Violin - In Bag FH: Nittaku Fastarc G-1 (1.9-2.1) BH: Nittaku Fastarc G-1 (1.9-2.1) Great review and comparison BrummyRob! I agree with all of your findings. I have also recently switched to G1 on the forehand. The G1 is very controllable with the harder sponge, very spinny loops (once you adjust to harder sponge) and serves, plenty of power on tap as well. A very predictable rubber with no quirks as far as I can tell. I find T05 to be a very one dimensional rubber, G1 is easier to produce pure side spin shots, chop, and receive service. The sheets I received were old-ish stock and the factory tuning wore off pretty quick. They felt quite dull and lifeless after this. I reboosted with Falco Long and they came up a treat, play beautifully. Glue removal is easy too, tough sponge. Weight of a sheet in Max is approx 48g on a standard sized blade, so same weight as T05. G1 has a very durable top sheet. I have been trying it on the backhand recently, liking it there as well. Has great feel, arc and ball placement. Two thunbs up from me Since some are already liking the G1, I guess the natural next step is to try out the C1 I have been using the C1 and G1 for about 1 year, but currently not using tensor for the forehand - using natural Chinese rubbers. These Nittaku tensor rubber models are suitable for the forehand and backhand. The S1 seems ok too, have this set up for the backhand of an up coming racket. HitHitHit wrote: Since some are already liking the G1, I guess the natural next step is to try out the C1 Can you say more about C-1, maybe also in comparison to G-1 and T05? I have played S-1 and I do like but I am thinking the C-1 might be the better choice for me, _________________ Equipment: OSP Ultimate, FH: Dr. Neubauer Dominance Spin Hard 2.1, BH: Dr. Neubauer Troublemaker 0.5 YouTube channel: "AntiRules" Matt Pimple wrote: HitHitHit wrote: Since some are already liking the G1, I guess the natural next step is to try out the C1 Can you say more about C-1, maybe also in comparison to G-1 and T05? I have played S-1 and I do like but I am thinking the C-1 might be the better choice for me, C1's sponge hardness sits in between that of G1 and S1. It feels more controllable for slower loops than G1. It is fast but it can't match that of G1 when you drive it hard. I find both rubbers to be very consistent. I find G1 to be the better choice for the forehand and conversely C1 for the backhand. I see these two as complimentary of each other. As well, I find C1 to be quite good for backhand pushes. I have limited experience with Tenergy, but for what I have experienced, I find it is easier to produce spin and speed with Tenergy - this is not at all to downplay the Nittaku Fastarc series at all. BrummyRob wrote: Really getting to grips with it now and you definitely feel the ball more when you hit it compared with the Tenergy 05. For me this has meant that I'm getting better timing when I make my loops and topspins, and they are much more consistent, and still just as spinney as the T05. in fact I had a great night playing with it and my shots felt just as fast but more controlled and better than in a long while by the end of the evening. strongpong wrote: Great review and comparison BrummyRob! I agree with all of your findings. I have also recently switched to G1 on the forehand. The G1 is very controllable with the harder sponge, very spinny loops (once you adjust to harder sponge) and serves, plenty of power on tap as well. A very predictable rubber with no quirks as far as I can tell. I find T05 to be a very one dimensional rubber, G1 is easier to produce pure side spin shots, chop, and receive service. I have played couple of times with G1 and I agree with findings above. In the last tournament I played With Joola Rhyzm and I won both under 2200 and under 1950, so games went great. Rhyzm is very dynamic and bouncy, so in chopping and fishing it's quite wild to use. And when opponent stard really pounding to my FH, my FH defence is clearly the weakest part of my play. With Rhyzm defence is often all over the place. I have been trying to solve my FH defence problem with slower blades, but with no success. With slower blade BH Dtecs becomes too toothless and the control of FH has not been that much better. With G1 I feel really good confidence in my FH in alla kind of shots. PS: If you are planning to do your looping record against block or pips block, G1 is the rubber to use! Hi all and thanks to BrummyRob for your review! I’m currently considering going the other way round from Fastarc G1 to Tenergy 05 (using Butterfly Harimoto ALC blade). So far I am actually very happy with the G1. It gives me a lot of control and I really like the sponge hardness coming from Fastarc C1 and Nittaku Factive which I tried in the past and simply found too mushy. However, the reason why I am now considering to try T05 is that I want to get a bit more power into my shots and therefore looking for a rubber with more catapult effect which T05 seems to provide based on Brummy’s review and also this comparison article between Tenergy 05 vs Fastarc G1 on Spintesters. However, looking at both reviews, I am now worried that the sponge of T05 might be a bit too soft for me. According to the Spintesters article, the difference on ESN scale seems to be just 0.5 but it seems to be enough to be noticeable. The hardness of the G1 rubber is actually as low as I would want to go in terms of sponge softness. Would Tenergy 05 Hard be an option then? Is there any downside of T05 Hard compared to the regular version? |
