Weekly Gear Watch 242: Hugo's Main Setup Has Been Confirmed
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Last issue we talked about the new products Juola made for Hugo, and back then I (Heima) guessed wrong. One of them was a KL-C inner blade, and because the KLC can be dyed different colors, I assumed Hugo would go with that one. But honestly, how could Juola’s flagship blade cost only seven or eight hundred yuan? On top of that, the big boss is American, so making things bigger and stronger is baked into their thinking.
Now it’s been cleared up. At least for the moment, Hugo’s setup should be: the Hugo ARY-C blade with Trinity Charged (57.5 degrees hardness) on both sides.
This structure is the 968 type, just with the fiber swapped out. Exactly what fiber it is, I’m not sure. This handle once had an inner green aramid-carbon structure, but that was only a prototype. Juola sent a lot of sample blades (fewer than 20) for Hugo to test. The current main blade should be tentatively set as the ARY-C above.
There’s also an ARY-X, which I’d guess is a composite fiber. It launches at the end of July, priced close to 1,600 yuan. The Hugo ARY series is the flagship line.
The two flagship rubbers coming at the end of June: Trinity Charged at 57.5 degrees, Trinity Dynamic at 52.5 degrees.
Doesn’t that remind you of Tibhar’s MX-D 57.5 and 52.5? That said, 52.5 suits amateurs, but for a lot of pros it’s still on the soft side for the backhand. As shown in the photo, during Tibhar’s final days with Hugo, he used C55.0 on both forehand and backhand.
(Photo from WTT. Backhand C55.0.)
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The current rubber trends: one is adding hardness to existing models, for example RAKZA 7 HARD.
Players are leaning this way too. For instance, Moregard switched from Helix Platinum XH to Helix 55 degrees on both sides. Next week, I plan to test this 55-degree version.
The other trend is that slightly tacky products keep multiplying. Take Andro’s series, for example. Or the ESN sample I was playing with last night, which is also slightly tacky.
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Victas is going against the grain. They’re releasing a domestically made heavy, thick tacky rubber this month.
The difference is this: the previously well-known Triple Double Extra is highly tacky (Niwa Koki put it on his backhand at the All-Japan Championships in January 2021), while the XEGNA series is slightly tacky. In my brief test play, these two XEGNA rubbers were the type that produces power fairly easily, which actually sets them apart from a lot of the slightly tacky German rubbers.
Beyond that, Victas is also releasing a Niwa Koki 10th-anniversary blade, with four different structures in total.