Yinhe Big Dipper - Review

I just got another BD in 39 degree. This one is different with 8 corners while the first one has four without any cut. Also the sticker on the package is different as well. The first one is silver but the new one is plain white. Still got the sticky glue layer on the sponge that I like. No doom on this one. Can't remember exactly but probably not much on the old one either.

hookumsnivy wrote: I just opened a BD 39deg black and noticed 2 things: There is no dome and the 4 corners are cut off - making 8 edges much like commercial H3.  Is this normal?

You can see the original BD

I've had several sheets of BD in a variety of hardnesses (38,39,40), and they have all had 4 corners, pre-tuned, protector sheet on the sponge, slight dome. As can be seen in finspin's post above.

Fingers crossed that Yinhe aren't messing around with the formula...

I just checked my unopened 40deg and it has the corners cut off as well.  I didn't take it out of the inner packaging or remove the protective sheet on the sponge to see if it domes.

AndySmith wrote: typn wrote: Greco wrote: I'll definetly give it a try, it can be a good roober for my fh. I'm also lookinf for a rubber for my bh since i don't like the Tg3 Neo i'm using at the moment. Any experiences with the Big Dipper as a backhand rubber? How about the Moon or the Saturn? try Moon Speed on BH :) +1, Moon Speed is a great BH rubber for me. Just for info - what don't you like about the TG3N on your BH at the moment?

While i feel confortable with the H3Neo on my fh, i think a chinese rubber it's not the best for my bh. I use my bh for blocking, short game and some spinny strokes sometimes, i hope to develope more and better strokes in the future, nothing wrong with the tg3n, but i think a softer rubber could fit better on my bh. Just that, i'llbuy a new racket, so it's an opportunity to try something different.
And... What's the difference between the moon speed and the saturn? I've seen the saturn it's more expensive.

Back on topic, Has anyone tried the BD with the cell ball? I don't know when the new ball will arrive here, so i think i'll be using the celluloid ball for a while.

NextLevel wrote: jackwong23 wrote: how long will the tuning effect of the BD last? Why do you ask? In my experience, its not worth worrying about.

I asked this question because I feel the BD would be a
less effective rubber if it loses its original bounciness and speed.
I would most likely boost the BD if it loses its speed
after a few months of usage.

NextLevel wrote: jackwong23 wrote: NextLevel wrote: jackwong23 wrote: how long will the tuning effect of the BD last? Why do you ask? In my experience, its not worth worrying about. I asked this question because I feel the BD would be a less effective rubber if it loses its original bounciness and speed. I would most likely boost the BD if it loses its speed after a few months of usage. Quite possible, but so far I have had no reason to complain.

Do you use the BD on your forehand?
I used the BD on the backhand and it was great.
I tried the BD on the forehand and it did not feel so good
due to my european style forehand.

TT season is over for me until next year.
Past few fun sessions I experimented a bit

Put the BD 39 Deg Black on a YE blade (YEO previously) and I took off that tuner layer.
Still incredibly fast.
That YE has SP and this BD, so as it is, the BD is my BH rubber and RPB with it is pretty ease to use (great spin and can get into gear to do a powerful top spin with ease).

When I serve (FH and twiddle afterwards), I still get a bit too much bounce for my liking.

On my primary setup, I now put on Vega China, that is more my tase of hard sponge rubber :)

So yeah, I think BD will work nicely on both FH and BH as it is more a hybrid rubber (even though Yinhe advertises it more like a hard tacky FH rubber)

Anyways, they will be a "provincial" version available in the near future - I didn't say anything, :p

ZApenholder wrote: Anyways, they will be a "provincial" version available in the near future - I didn't say anything, :p

OK, so they've probably started to cut the corners off the current "commercial" sheet in order to make way for the provincial one later.

jackwong23 wrote: how does the Big dipper compare with the following new chinese rubbers such as hurricane 8, hurricane 3-50, skyline 3-60? Are the Big Dipper better than these rubbers?

Not used H8. H3-50 and S3-60 are much, much tackier and a bit slower. Far less bouncy than BD. They have a similar hybrid approach to BD in that they use a modern sponge, but BD is livelier and faster due to the tuning and less tack.

For me, BD is the better rubber in general. It's cheaper and performs just as well, if not better in most areas. As Tony mentioned, BD is a bit bouncy and off/on in terms of gearing though. H3-50 and (to a lesser degree) S3-60 need a fast and/or hard blade (or tuning) to be anything faster than allround.

Don't get me wrong - I like H3-50 and S3-60, especially on a fast blade (I use a Hypertouch for this setup - testing with the plastic ball), but they need more effort to use than the BD.

jackwong23,

I would describe this rubber as the gleam of hope for the plastic era. It might be the precursor to many rubbers that will make us forget celluloid. Yinhe has done a good job.

We tested it today, I am going to write about the 40 degree version. I do not know if what I think holds for the 39 and 38 degree versions but the 40 is definitely made for the plastic ball and does not work with the celluloid. I played a match with it with the cellu ball and it does not bite enough. As if the ball was too smooth to sink into the rubber. This might explain why others put this rubber down. When using the poly XSF ball, BD starts working.

Very difficult trajectory for the opponents on loops, you let your hand go and the ball will go where you want it to and there is plenty of speed.

It was on a Yasaka AR 40 blade with JP02 max on the other side. The JP02 does not work as well as the BD. I believe it is still for the cellu ball. I have found the JP02 to be less spinny, less fast and somehow late on ball contact compared to BD.

I am thinking about buying Moon Speed in 38 or 39 hardness.

And also Saturn Pro, does anyone have any experiences with it? Is that for the plastic ball?




Edited by Hans Regenkurt - 12/06/2014 at 12:27pm

hookumsnivy wrote: I just checked my unopened 40deg and it has the corners cut off as well.  I didn't take it out of the inner packaging or remove the protective sheet on the sponge to see if it domes. When I took the sheet off the 39 last night, I noticed that it's very sturdy and keeps the rubber completely flat - so much so that when I initially put it on my scale, the sides didn't flap over the edge of the scale.

It worked well for me as well, though I was largely committed to 05 for cell. I had a really heavy push with BD.

Gustau wrote: Reading the descriptions, and looking at the pictures, the rubber reminds me a lot of the Kokutaku 868 Tokyo Super-tacky...But I digress. What I wanted to ask is, if anybody has played with the Kokutaku as well as with BD, could they compare them?

Congrats mate, if it finally became your main set up, it will totally change your life out of tenergy curse.
Lolz

Apart from DHS I think Yinhe is the second best chinese brand.