Hexer - full geko review

1. The reviewer: I�m a 2 winged looper, with my backhand being quicker, but with less power. Aussie B grade standard, which is roughly 1900 USATT. Tested this on my Yasaka Extra blade with JO Gold on the back.

2. Physical Properties: I have a red sheet, in 2.1mm. Sponge is medium soft, without a durometer I�d say around the 42.5(tensor scale) mark, and smells like the usual Donic/Andro tensor stuff. The feel of the topsheet is very grippy, even compared to Jap topsheets like the Donic Coppa Speed. Sponge is like the Tenergy stuff. The red doesn�t look as artificial as the Vega. Impressed so far at the German rubber.

3. Speed:
Speed on slow strokes fairly fast, however it also has an excellent short game. It behaves extraordinarily on services, great on pushes and good on flicks.

Speed on power loops is only so-so. I thought it would blast me out of my seat, but in the end, my mind isn�t blown, my socks aren�t knocked off, and my wallet�s now a little lighter.
On the 100% power geko rocket put-away shots, this rubber is indeed faster than Tenergy 05, JO Gold, Donic Coppa Speed, Plasma 470, Roxon 450 etc. etc., but we�re talking whole body, whole arm, complete waist turn and no recovery type loop-kills. Which to me is COMPLETELY unrealistic to base anything on.

Smashing with the Hexer is ok. It doesn�t have the meaty feeling as with Tenergy 05, but neither does it reward your half-hearted efforts.

4. Spin:
Spin on slow loops is quite good, though I can�t see it being Tenergy 05 spinny, it gets close, and though none of us really believed him, Rob was right (again haha), the Hexer�s slow loop spin is marginally if at all, better than the Roxon 450.

Spin on faster loops is actually very high! My loops were landing way, way shorter than the Donic Coppa Speed, which I have gotten used to. In fact, some were so short, it started to land in the net�but this could have to do with its slow speed also.

Spin on serves is nothing to write home about. Good spin, but absolutely brilliant control on it. Very, very short serves (although hardly as spinny as they look) can be performed easily.

5. Control:
In terms of blocking, I�d agree with the advertisements. It is magic! Very stable blocking ability and not as sensitive to spin as I�d imagine from looking and feeling the topsheet.

Pushing and looping is very close to where you want it, especially looping the corners closest to the net.

6. Other Playing properties: The throw is high! Almost ridiculously high. This gets annoying as you try to loop consistently, but at the same time keeping the ball low and putting pressure on the opponent. Hexer robs you of that stroke and punishes you if you try to close your angle by slipping.

Glue feel is present and lovely sounding, given you hit hard enough. Otherwise, it�s more of a �pak� sound than a �tock� sound.

7. Reference: In the best way I can sum it up, I�d say the Hexer is a prepubescent Donic Coppa Speed, I mean that in two ways. Firstly, it seems like it hasn�t grown its muscles yet but is still trying to compete with the big boys. It loses out in speed rallies. Secondly, like an annoying younger brother, it brags on and on about its better spin, but in actuality is no better than the Roxon 450, and is marginally better than a new sheet of Donic Coppa Speed. Plus it demands more pocket money than the older kids, brat!

8. Other comments: Other than the fact that its sponge looks different from previous tensors, and being labeled �4G�, I�d say Andro is still on the detour to finding a good post-glue solution. Again, like the Roxon series, the Hexer has great short game and close to the table ability, but in terms of explosiveness or dynamic properties, it hasn�t surpassed the Plasma series. Now in terms of control and spin, it still hasn�t reached the pre-glue level. Oi! Andro! What are you doing son?

Gecko so you are saying it is only faster that tenergy 05 when you work like crazy for it to be faster.  At your bread butter continous loops to keep in a rally would you say Hexer or Tenergy 05 come off with more speed and spin with less effort?

geko i am not a specialist and i enjoyed your review big time.
many thanks!

isolator wrote: thanks very much. will hexer be a good match for carbo 7.6? (for both fh and bh)

That actually might not be a bad idea.
I have found two uses for Hexer, either for the backhand because of its good dwell time, good spin and high throw angle, or to be used on a hard blade.

I think the carbo 7.6 might be the key to providing that oomph that the rubber needs. Hope it works for you