Review by LawOCG (published with permission)
This review is for the 2.2mm version of Sterco
Initial Physical Inspection
The topsheet is completely non-tacky but extremely grippy. Its
interesting to note that the legs are quite long and the topsheet is
quite thin, In my books this is a speed combination. The sponge on this
rubber is equally impressive, its around 35 degrees and looks to very
elastic unlike many other stiff and dry sponges out there.
Hitting/Blocking
All I can say is "wow", The combination of a non-tacky topsheet with a
35degree bomb of a sponge results in a speed demon like rubber. This
rubber is easily faster than my InnovaPremium/ Mendo MP rubbers at the
moment which are not pushovers in the speed category. The throw on the
rubber is also very nice as it belongs to the medium throw category (on
the slightly higher side though). Hitting is effortless and very
accurate, The sponge allows for dwell time and catapults the ball out
with almost pinpoint precision. Blocking is also very fast and
consistent. When it comes to rebound consistency, quality plays a major
role and I'm completely satisfied in this case.
Serving / Pushing
A tad difficult to control as the springiness of the rubber makes it
hard to contain the speed and length when pushing. Pushes will carry
quite a lot of backspin if you wish to impart that much but will most
likely be long as it will take a while to adjust to its speed. Serving
is quite good as I'm able to get quite alot of spin out of this rubber.
Looping / Counterlooping
A truly stunning rubber in this category. The medium throw with the soft
sponge tagged along with high speed and spin results in bliss. Loops
with this are very consistent, fast and most importantly contain a
crapload of spin. What I really like about it is its consistency, with
this It seems that one just can't miss. Even unglued on my Ishlion it
makes such a loud pop on impact its just music to my ears.
Counterlooping is no different as the dwell time makes it very easy to
control the incoming spin and as a result you can place the ball where
you want.
The final thing is the speed. When you really pump it
up and unleash the taps this rubber just keeps giving and giving. The
speed is really up there with some of the faster rubbers on the market.
Conclusion
This rubber can be compared quite closely with the Almana sound. Both
have similar construction and speed. The key difference being that the
Sterco has a higher throw. On faster blades this would be hard to
control but on OFF blades it would be excellent. For loopers out there
who like softer rubbers, this would definitely not dissapoint.
Agooding2:
Sterco has been compared postively to Nittaku Hammond but with some
tension built in. It's a well made reasonably priced tensor type rubber.
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