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Giant Dragon TaiChi Hard Review

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thethinker View Drop Down
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    Posted: 08/26/2010 at 3:03am


I was generously given a Giant Dragon TaiChi Hard 2.0 red by ztabletennis.com to test. This is my review after play with it on many blades for almost two weeks.
The first blade for which I used the rubber is a Butterfly Korbel because I want the readers to be able to understand my review and find it useful.
Later I used an NEXY Oscar and other blades.

First impression: Very well packaged, excellent looking rubber, nice clean cut. Play well out of package, no break-in time needed. Rubber's characteristic doesn't change too abruptly over several days of testing.
My first thought was "Oh, another sticky Chinese topsheet with Japanese sponge type rubber", but I soon thought better--the feel of this rubber is unique.
The topsheet is light and translucent. you can see the sponge below clearly. The sponge is not too heavy and is a light pink/purple color. Comes with no glue sheet but a plastic protective cover is given.

Quality: Very nice stuff. High quality topsheet, but sponge can be teared easier than any of the hard sponged Chinese rubbers that I have used so far.
Basically the sponge is like Japanese. I change the blade for about 10 times and lost a little of the sponge so far. So do be careful.

Speed: The speed of TaiChi Hard is very average. It's just as fast as my lightly tuned Hurricane 3. It's in line with the neo rubbers and Blue Whale, but nowhere as fast as Butterfly rubbers like Tenergy.

Spin: The spin of the rubber is excellent. The mechanism used to generate spin for TaiChi Hard is mostly sponge, but the topsheet is very gripy too. The topsheet's stickiness is clearly below
Hurricane but much more than Tenergy and Vega. I can pick up a ball with TaiChi Hard and hold it for a second. As for the sponge of TaiChi Hard, it plays like boosted. The overall combination give as much spin as Hurricane. Opening a slow spiny loop is a piece of cake.

Control: Excellent control rubber. Due to the amount of grip of the topsheet the overall speed is not fast and the rubber is slightly insensitive to incoming spin on return of serves and blocks, like some advantages of the Japanese rubbers.

Dwell Time: Great deal of dwell time and a small click sound during loops. Would recommend to pair TaiChi Hard with fast blade to reduce dwell time, lower the throw angle, and increase speed.

Feel: TaiChi Hard feels totally like a Japanese rubber on a stiffer blade and better (i.e. more Chinese) on a wooden blade. It also can feel soft(er) and bouncy on those stiff carbon blades. It has a great feel for brush loop.

Weight: I don't have a scale. It weight less than my BW2 national for sure, but it's not a light rubber. Average for Chinese rubbers. I can totally tolerate the weight.

Misc: I think a suitable blade for this rubber is a very fast all wood blade or a composite blade that has a woody feel to it,
but it plays very well even on a Primorac Carbon because it's one of the best brush loop rubbers. A Clipper should do well here. I tried 10 wooden and composite blades and I have to say my conclusion is very strong.I even tried TaiChi Hard on a Giant Dragon V/C-6L (arylate carbon) and the combination is great except for a lack of speed.
Here is a tip--get 2.2mm, not 2.0mm when you buy this rubber.
I thought that it was a hard rubber and ordered a 2.0mm so that I can penetrate it easier. It plays softer than it measured. I don't use it for forehand for this reason.


Rating: I rate this rubber in the upper class of the new rubbers coming out after speed glue. If factoring in price I would rate it over Tenergy and Vega and similar products.
It plays better than neos for a controlled and all-round style. If you intend to buy two Mark V and a Primorac OFF- I suggest two TaiChi Hard and Primorac OFF-.
It is not as powerful as my BW2 for finishing points (so it can't be my forehand rubber). It is not as linear as BW 2 and Hurricane (just slightly behind hurricane), better than Vega.

Improvement: This rubber is targeting the allround players and it may well succeed. But to get the market share of the
those hard sponge lovers like me I like to see a harder sponge version, perhaps called a TaiChi Super Hard, by a good 3-4 degree over the current version for a boosted forehand rubber. The only weakness of taiChi Hard is the fell of the sponge of this rubber.
For this rubber to succeed I feel that this change in hardness is necessary.

In short, this is no doubt a good, reasonably priced, quality Chinese rubber with the right feel for brush loop.



Edited by thethinker - 08/26/2010 at 5:22pm
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JimT View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JimT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/26/2010 at 11:02am
If the sponge they use here is the same as Karate Hard (conradsong will let us know, I am sure) then I think there is no need for a superhard version. Just wait till the tackiness wears off a bit and you will see that speed will pick up. That's not a promise, that's just a reasonable guess.

Mass database rates this one as 70 g uncut - yikes! That is pretty heavy - despite the fact that you didn't notice... perhaps you are used to relatively heavy rubber seeing as how you played with Haifu BW2 which is even heavier. It is certainly a couple of grams heavier than both Tenergy and Karate Hard. Maybe your blade is so well balanced that you don't notice the weight diff that much.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beeray1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/26/2010 at 3:39pm
my review is on hold until conrad gets my sheet for QC testing and then I get a sheet back (paid) to have.
 
But its interesting your comparison- BW2 is a faster rubber than tenergy for sure.
 
my taichi soft was almost as fast as BW2, and it had plenty of put away power. It also spins the ball very well, and out of all the speedglue effect chinese rubbers i've played has the best imitation of speedglue performance. It even slightly sounds speedglued, and is fast enough for off the table counter looping with authority and heavy heavy spin.
 
I'll get into more detail, as I took it off after one session so I could package it up and send it out. Once I give it a few weeks i'll review it fully.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote thethinker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/26/2010 at 5:28pm
Update post with pics. Some pics with the sheet uncut was lost. Sorry.
As for the concern with the speed of TaiChi Hard, keep in mind I am using 2.0mm, not 2.2mm, and the speed may very well increase after a certain break in period when the topsheet lose some tack and the sponge soften up more. I will update if that happen. Right now the sheet is cut very small to fit some of the smaller blades.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote conradsong Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/26/2010 at 7:43pm
Originally posted by JimT JimT wrote:

If the sponge they use here is the same as Karate Hard (conradsong will let us know, I am sure) then I think there is no need for a superhard version. Just wait till the tackiness wears off a bit and you will see that speed will pick up. That's not a promise, that's just a reasonable guess.

Mass database rates this one as 70 g uncut - yikes! That is pretty heavy - despite the fact that you didn't notice... perhaps you are used to relatively heavy rubber seeing as how you played with Haifu BW2 which is even heavier. It is certainly a couple of grams heavier than both Tenergy and Karate Hard. Maybe your blade is so well balanced that you don't notice the weight diff that much.
 
The sponge between Karate and TaiChi are most definitely not the same.  The TaiChi Hard sponge is actually a few degrees harder than Karate Hard.
 
We've measured several TaiChi Hard sheets in 2.2mm and they have come in around 67g uncut at 169x169mm.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JimT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/26/2010 at 9:47pm
Originally posted by conradsong conradsong wrote:

Originally posted by JimT JimT wrote:

If the sponge they use here is the same as Karate Hard (conradsong will let us know, I am sure) then I think there is no need for a superhard version. Just wait till the tackiness wears off a bit and you will see that speed will pick up. That's not a promise, that's just a reasonable guess.

Mass database rates this one as 70 g uncut - yikes! That is pretty heavy - despite the fact that you didn't notice... perhaps you are used to relatively heavy rubber seeing as how you played with Haifu BW2 which is even heavier. It is certainly a couple of grams heavier than both Tenergy and Karate Hard. Maybe your blade is so well balanced that you don't notice the weight diff that much.
 
The sponge between Karate and TaiChi are most definitely not the same.  The TaiChi Hard sponge is actually a few degrees harder than Karate Hard.
 
We've measured several TaiChi Hard sheets in 2.2mm and they have come in around 67g uncut at 169x169mm.


How is it possible to weigh the same as KH and be much harder?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote thethinker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/27/2010 at 3:10am
TaiChi Hard is very hard--don't get me wrong. I am just used to BW2 national 40 and 41 degree (hard like a brick and loaded with power for penetrating loop kills). I feel that since TaiChi has a better glue feel (clicking like crazy and sticky as hell in our hot weather) and a lower price it is just as good as BW2 or any Chinese rubbers out there.

I am also used to two heavy Chinese rubbers and a 100gr blade! I am by no mean a strong guy though.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote conradsong Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/27/2010 at 3:18am
Originally posted by JimT JimT wrote:


How is it possible to weigh the same as KH and be much harder?
Taichi's sponge is a few degrees harder but the top sheet is actually slightly thinner - the overall effect on the weight is approximately the same.
http://ztabletennis.com
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tompy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/27/2010 at 3:50am
Originally posted by thethinker thethinker wrote:


I am also used to two heavy Chinese rubbers and a 100gr blade! I am by no mean a strong guy though.


You must have a good technique and timing then.


Edited by tompy - 08/27/2010 at 5:17am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chris.b40 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/27/2010 at 1:51pm
thethinker
 
Seem as though you put your heart into the review.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote thethinker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/31/2010 at 4:39pm
The speed of the TaiChi Hard seems a little faster now. I really enjoy looping with this rubber. The spin is great; there is very consistent feel on loops; and the sponge is very lively. Plus ztabletennis.com is having a sale of rubbers so can't go wrong with it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JimT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/31/2010 at 6:07pm
Let us know later whether tackiness wears off gradually or not...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Anton Chigurh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/30/2010 at 2:44pm
Since I'm not able to give this rubber a "proper" review, I'd like to resuscitate this thread and add a few of my own observations.

My sheet of Tai Chi Hard is black and 2.15mm and not the red, 2.00mm sheet that thethinker reviewed. Also, unlike thethinker, I'm unable to use a benchmark blade to provide a generalizable point of origin. I'm using TCh-H on an XIOM V1. It appears that I may be the only person on this forum using this blade, and it is a very unique blade to boot... so perhaps my observations on TCh-H may be completely idiosyncratic to my setup. Maybe not. I'm just saying, caveat emptor, and all that. Smile

I absolutely agree with much of what thethinker had to say. The packaging is nice, professional, etc. The rubber is playable immediately out of the package. Although it does get a little better with a couple hours into it, it's not like a lot of the other hard, tacky Chinese rubbers out there that need a few days of play before they settle down and start to perform prototypically.

The top sheet is definitely the highest quality top sheet I've ever seen on a tacky Chinese style rubber. It is unique, too, in that it has a tiny amount of texture on it. (Is this the Gecko Absorption Technology they speak of in its advertising?) This texture is in contrast to BW2 and the Neos that are smoother. TCh-H is not the tackiest rubber ever, but it definitely will pick up a ball for a second or two. 

The control is excellent. As mentioned above, this rubber is quite linear in the lower and middle gears. Yet, when I really open up to kill the ball, it feels like some kind of turbo boost kicks in. (I'm speaking metaphorically, obviously.) The rubber really rewards a powerful stroke. However, unlike thethinker, I didn't have any issues with the ball going long on bigger strokes. In my experience anyway, although the speed of the rubber increases greatly with more power, so does the spin. This added spin keeps my ball on the table with a very strong arc.

In short, I would say this about Tai Chi Hard:

For those of you who use Neo H3 but yet who are looking for something more consistent, more powerful, and capable of generating more spin (that is, an overall better quality and more lively Neo H3), then look no further. At $17.99, it's less expensive too.

As incurable as my EJ-ing has been, I can say I'm completely satisfied by this rubber in every way. However, I should add some final addenda:

1) I don't have an official USATT rating. I play quite competitively with a few of my friends who are all ~1800, but they win more often than I. I also occasionally drop a game or two to a couple buddies who are rated 1400-1500. So I'm guessing I'm around 1500-1600. I suppose what I'm saying here is that I'm not very good, so take my review with a grain of salt.

2) I've used this rubber on one blade and one blade only. The V1 is a peculiar blade, and it is also a carbon blade. I cannot vouch for how TCh-H might play on a softer 5-ply all wood blade, for example.

3) I've only used one sheet of this rubber so far. Based on the quality of it and based on the reviews from others I've read, I'm assuming my next sheet will not vary greatly. But, I cannot be positive of course. As many of us know, quality control is one of the biggest issues of many Chinese brands. However, I'm confident that I won't be disappointed with my next purchase.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote thethinker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/30/2010 at 2:54pm
Thanks Anton for the independent review. I must say that TCh is better on fast composite blades. And JimT, the rubber is still as sticky as before, more or less.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Anton Chigurh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/30/2010 at 9:54pm
Originally posted by thethinker thethinker wrote:

Thanks Anton for the independent review. I must say that TCh is better on fast composite blades. And JimT, the rubber is still as sticky as before, more or less.


If you don't mind me asking, Are you currently using Tai Chi Hard?


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote metallikviper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/30/2010 at 10:26pm
I just bought a Clipper CR and have a been looking for a good FH rubber. Few that come to mind are TaiChi, Black Power, BWII and Neo H2/3. I wanna stay away from the Neos as I'm tired of not knowing whats real and not. 

Just wondering how hard is TaiChi Hard compared to a Neo H3 40 deg. If anyone has played a Tenergy and could compare to that it would be fine too. Also how soft/hard is the Taichi soft? Thanks.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Anton Chigurh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/30/2010 at 10:47pm
Originally posted by metallikviper metallikviper wrote:

I just bought a Clipper CR and have a been looking for a good FH rubber. Few that come to mind are TaiChi, Black Power, BWII and Neo H2/3. I wanna stay away from the Neos as I'm tired of not knowing whats real and not. 

Just wondering how hard is TaiChi Hard compared to a Neo H3 40 deg. If anyone has played a Tenergy and could compare to that it would be fine too. Also how soft/hard is the Taichi soft? Thanks.


I can't comment on Tai Chi Soft because I haven't used it.

I've used Tenergy 05 and I can say the two are very dissimilar, with Tenergy being of the Euro/JPN "family" and Tai Chi Hard being from the Chinese "family". I don't care for Tenergy, but that's because I like hard and tacky stuff on my forehand. In the higher gears, I would put Tai Chi Hard's spin and speed against Tenergy any day. In the medium gears, Tenergy makes spin generation easier and it has a faster output for smaller input. But honestly, that's something I don't like about Tenergy. Service is easier with Tai Chi Hard, for me.

I have played with Neo H3 40, but it has been a while. If my memory serves me correctly, I would say the two hardnesses are quite comparable. I used to prime my regular "provincial" H3 (40 degrees) with speed glue. I think Tai Chi Hard is closer to that, in terms of feel... but without all the added weight of 20 layers of speed glue. Smile

Black Power is a very nice rubber. It has a much lower throw than Tai Chi Hard and is not quite as good at producing spin. Black Power also takes a while to run in, and don't plan on changing it from blade to blade. I've purchased at least 4 sheets of Black Power. It's awesome for the price, but removing it from blades almost always kills it. The sponge, though powerful, is extremely brittle. I would call Black Power a close-to-the-table rubber, for certain.

BWII is a nice rubber. I have no real complaints about it except its weight. It's a deal-breaker, for me. On a Clipper (which are usually heavier) I would think it would be a major encumbrance. I can control Tai Chi Hard much easier and I think it provides more options. BWII is an "Attack, attack, attack!" rubber; whereas, Tai Chi Hard rewards attacks but it can do other things well too.

I obviously like Tai Chi Hard a lot. It does everything well, although I have no idea how it pairs with other blades. But as I stated, I think it is much superior to Neo H3... and it's only $17.99. Big smile




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote metallikviper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/30/2010 at 11:09pm
Thanks. For $18 you really cant go wrong. I guess GD seems to be going for those who are coming from Tenergy by going for the TopENERGY and have even priced it so you'd feel like you were buying a superior product.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote thethinker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/30/2010 at 11:32pm
Anton, I am still using TCh on one of the three blades I play with. TCh is still my favor for generating awesome spin on push, returns, and loops. As you mentioned, in comparison to Tenergy, on non-power shots you really have to work harder because it's slower than Tenergy, but this give the user alot of control that is lacking in Tenergy (too bouncy on those shots).
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