Tier One Polyester Line Review

I was going to write a thread for each of the three Tier One poly string but I feel that comparing and contrasting will do a better job of explaining my findings.

I want to mention that i bought my test strings so I am in no way obligated to provide anything other than my honest opinion and even if they were free would do the same.

Let me start by saying that the customer service at tier one is exactly that, tier one. Extremely helpful, ship immediately, ask for feedback and care about what the players have to say, this is important to me.

Construction of ALL three strings is of high quality, it is clear when you open the strings that their uniformity and material is top notch and whether you like the string or not it is not because of shotty production or material,the packaging is also great although not a big factor for me but shows also overall quality. This is not a string in a make shift Ziploc bag with a paper description, not that this determines the strings performance but it is part of the whole experience. You dont want to get into a ferrari with cloth seats !

I want to say that I had several sets of both 16 and 17 gauge of all three. I dont want to get into the detail of the difference between each an each gauge, what I can say is that I PERSONALLY and the players I strung this for seem to prefer the 17 gauge string, reasoning is to follow.

I also want to say that they were tested on both dense and open patterns and did not find a huge difference nor got alot of different feedback personally or from my players who play different string bed patterns. By the way I play the Headh Graphene Speed Pro 18x20.

All three strings seemed pretty stiff right out of the bag with lots of recoil, they were all VERY similar in this way. BTW saying a poly is stiff is not a knock or a trait it is a descriptive and taken personally by preference. I can tell you that I felt that the 16g were all a bit too stiff for my liking and didnt provide me with enough feel. Firewire was still very lively at 16g but I felt that the extra liveliness and the lack of of feel was not a good combination for me in this string.

Now that I talked about Firewire let me continue with that. This string plays FUN, it is lively, produces great spin but for me I felt that it was a little too unpredictable. Lively and plenty of power and ample spin but I could not gauge a range with these. I think that these string would play very well for the lower powered player. Like I said it was fun, crisp, produced massive shots but for my style a bit unpredictable too make it a string of choice for match play. AGAIN this is personal I am not saying its not a good string, I am giving what I found so that someone else might find this a fit for them. All of my players are pretty much higher level players with power and all gave VERY similar feedback with this string. String tensions ranged from 52-60 (I tried both 54 and 60 and felt that tightening the string made it not much different just a bit stiffer but played similar.

That takes me to DURAFLUXX, I would have to say that this is the twin separated at birth of Firewire. They look similar, they feel similar visually and to touch, they recoil similar, both have texture but Firewire was raised in the Ghetto and DURAFLUXX was raised in Beverly Hills. Definitely a string of more finesse, lower power, pretty good spin and decent feel specially for what I foiund to be a stiff our of the bag string. Actually this string had a deadened kinda feel which I actually like and at times the deadened feel seemed a bit soft even. By the way as stiff as the string seemed out of the bag all three of them played softer than they looked. Duramaxx I could play with but it didnt wow me in any area. I felt that the string did a bit of all things well but none excellent.

this gets me to a point before I review the last. I personally like string with personality, because you can match personalities. When a string offers "ALL AROUND" play then it offers not much to me. this is not a knock on Duramaxx, it is a nice string that will be just that nice but never find its way to becoming the string of choice to play. String like Signum PPP or Silverstring, I hate when people say "Good at everything". what that means to me is that its great at NOTHING !!. I want a string that screams SOMETHING at me, ANYTHING, power, feel, spin, soft, hard, stiff SOMETHING PLEASE. This is my personal feeling and my honest opinion. Your better being GREAT at something than mediocre at everything....

This gets me to Tour Status. I was a bit hesitant at first specially because I like higher tensions (60+/-) and this stiff SCREAMED STIFF out of the bag. My arm was looking at me funny as I loaded it onto the stringer and set the weight at 60. Much to my surprise it had that deadened feel but was NOT harsh on my joints. Immediately this string screamed control at me and I could swing out on all wings and felt like I had plenty of control. Whenever that happens I start to worry about depth but was not the case, the string still had OK pop and felt was nicely balanced between the two for my game. Spin falls into this as well and for me SPIN should be classified more as AVAILABLE spin because I still feel that spin is a MAJOR FUNCTION of swing over string. I could put plenty of spin when I wanted and desired. Also I really liked the audible boom these strings make, specially on my flat serves. Plenty of power on the flat serves also. This is NOT a power string, so if you lack power avoid it because it will feel TWO stiff and you will not be able to move these strings enough to make them perform. I ordered a reel of the string and will be playing these for a while, they definitly can be a go to string.

By the way I cannot speak of loongevity because NONE were played beyond about 4-6 hours. All played pretty steady during that time frame, I personally thing that there is NO poly that plays the same longer than this and if you are looking for 15 hour polys then either your game is non descript and string matters little or you simply dont really care about performance.

I hope I didnt miss anything and that this is useful to someone.
 
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o0lunatik

Professional
I mainly play with the Firewire strings and am enjoying it a lot in a hybrid setup with a low-medium powered string like Bomber NYC or SPPP. It is very lively as you had mentioned in a full bed setup and can get somewhat uncontrollable for a hard hitter. There's still ample power hybrid, easy access to spin especially on a kick or topspin serve. Ball pocketing and bite are excellent regardless of tension. I truly agree with your experience with all three of the Tier One strings, for I have tried them all. I stick to Firewire, b/c in my hands, it makes me too hot for many to handle.

I am glad that someone has given Tier One some more recognition. Their customer service is very friendly and speedy. It doesn't seem like they have much of the string market, but I do wish them success. They do offer premium products and priced at $90 a reel that outperforms most of its competitors of equal and doubled in value. Not to name any names, b/c other opinions may vary when it comes to string preference. They may have been laggers in the market, but obviously they've done their research prior to releasing their product. Ha! I guess that one advantage of being a laggart.

Happy playing y'all!
 

o0lunatik

Professional
They do offer premium products and priced at $90 a reel that outperforms most of its competitors of equal and doubled in value.

To clarify my price stated and not to mislead anyone, this is for first time buyers with promo code, etc. Condition stated on their website.
 
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I wanna add that I did not mean to imply that duramaxx is mediocre I meant that it was good at most things but not over the top at any. The string is quality in construction and is quality for someone that likes its characteristic.

I also want to add that after about 1 hr of hitting the string is playing better for me in that spin potential has increased, power is still medium-low and control still nice. Serves have also gotten better I think this string deserves a little lower initial tension.
 
I mainly play with the Firewire strings and am enjoying it a lot in a hybrid setup with a low-medium powered string like Bomber NYC or SPPP. It is very lively as you had mentioned in a full bed setup and can get somewhat uncontrollable for a hard hitter. There's still ample power hybrid, easy access to spin especially on a kick or topspin serve. Ball pocketing and bite are excellent regardless of tension. I truly agree with your experience with all three of the Tier One strings, for I have tried them all. I stick to Firewire, b/c in my hands, it makes me too hot for many to handle.

I am glad that someone has given Tier One some more recognition. Their customer service is very friendly and speedy. It doesn't seem like they have much of the string market, but I do wish them success. They do offer premium products and priced at $90 a reel that outperforms most of its competitors of equal and doubled in value. Not to name any names, b/c other opinions may vary when it comes to string preference. They may have been laggers in the market, but obviously they've done their research prior to releasing their product. Ha! I guess that one advantage of being a laggart.

Happy playing y'all!

Good on the hybrid using a low powered cross. I am not a big fan of hybrids other than Gut/poly but if it works for you then great.
 
First off, Centerforward71 thanks for making the effort of reviewing our products. We would like to add one piece of information to this post about our co-polyester strings (and this might be applicable to many other new co-polys on the market). Although tennis strings are a very subjective matter (as long as the fundamental quality of the string is good), and players of different ages and different levels usually prefer their strings to have certain characteristics (control, power, spin potential, recoil, feel, arm-friendliness, tension stability, durability, etc.), string tension plays a crucial factor for a tennis string to perform best. Although, for example, we have received great reviews from high level players that string a full set of Tour Status at 40 lbs and 58 lbs, in general, it appears that the new generation of co-polyester perform best at around 48 - 52 lbs.
 

Lex

Semi-Pro
Tieronesports is correct about Tour Status playing well at 48-52#.

I searched several reviews before I did the Tour Status play test. I strung my Prestige Pro at 50# and loved the string. Just ordered some too.
 
I want to add that another session with DURAFLUXX and it grows on me more each time that I take it out, Power has become a bit better and ball pocketing and spin are pretty good. Feel is still lagging here but its a poly. I have a couple of other string that I have been testing and at the end of each session I get the racquets and look at them and say "OK WHO AM I CUTTING OUT" Funny enough DURAFLUXX continues to make the cut and stay on the racquet !!

I feel at least for this string I probably overdid it on the tension and should have started at perhaps 53-54 for me. I have one more set and going to do string at 52.

Problem is I like poly at 60 and at 30 !! Lets see what happens more to come.

By the way I am playing their MULTI Triumph and just go a reel, phenomenal string, love this, if you play MULTI you gotta try it...
 

o0lunatik

Professional
I have yet to try any poly lower than 48lbs. I just find that the string doesnt snap back as much after several hours of hitting (period varies by string). I like to keep the tension right around 60. Therefore I string high around 63-65, so that it'll settle close to 60. I've even strung Firewire at 68lbs and did not find it stiff at all and plays quite lively with a little more control than few lbs lower. Firewire will settle nicely and the performance is consistant throughout its life.
 

Alexjc1

New User
I bought a reel of Tour Status after trying one set of it through the stringforum playtest. I am really liking it so far, as it really does have stellar control. The power is average if not slightly less than average, the spin is slightly above average, and it is very easy to control the depth of my shots.
For reference: I am stringing it at 55 lbs on a Tecnifibre 325 VO2 Max (2011) racquet, and I am playing college tennis next year at a top 5 nationally ranked JUCO.
 
DO I EVER NEED TO CORRECT MYSELF!!!

Every time I went to cutout durafluxx I said let me give it one more go. So I took it out and said hmmm. Little better spin. Better control. Nice pocketing. Hmm.

Got home and was gonna cut it out and said nah one more outing. Well u see where I am going with this.

I definitely started this string too tight and it plays better every time out. had to play a match on clay yesterday and didn't want to use the multi strings so I brought out mr durafluxx and absolutely loved it. Won my match. I want to say now I even like it better than tour status but I believe I need to lower also on the tour status. I hit again today and going on about six or so hours of hitting and play and going strong.

I have one more set but I may be getting a reel of this string. My apologies to durafluxx for judging improperly on first impression. I would say that I may string at the same just knowing I need to let it settle because I am realllyyyyy liking this string.
 

tlm

G.O.A.T.
I tried the tier one and thought it felt nice but unlike some above I thought it had a lot of power. It had a good feel, good spin, but to powerful for me.
 

djNEiGht

Legend
I got a reel of Triumph and a pack of Firewire and Tour Status. I plan on using them in a hybrid.

Last summer I was able to play with Poly's after a close to 2 year multi/syn gut elbow saving experience. Alas the Poly caught up to me GE after playing with a full bed set up (multiple restrings) for a couple months. I have a feeling that my increased frequency of tennis and then hitting into the chilly fall temps may have done me in...

I will add to this as I am able to do so.

Thinking of poly mains and multi crosses at 53 or maybe 55. I usually hit with gut/syn/multi at 60 and then when I play full bed of poly is 48-50.

Thanks Tier One!!!
 

McLovin

Legend
After seeing this thread I went over to their website & checked out the offerings. I like that they have 'introductory offers' that allow you to try a set or two (or four, in my case) at a reduced rate.

I'll be putting the Firewire as a cross w/ my gut mains and will compare to Co. Focus. I also coach a high school girls team, and will put the Tour Status and Durafluxx in their racquets & have them compare to Tour Bite / Focus Hex.

I don't normally use multis, but for $5 more I figured why not? So I'll have a set of Triumph to test as well. My only complaint is they don't have Triumph in a thinner gauge. It's 16 (1.30mm) only, and I usually put 17g synthetics as a cross to polys. But, as a full multi, I guess 16 is probably more durable.
 

mikeler

Moderator
After seeing this thread I went over to their website & checked out the offerings. I like that they have 'introductory offers' that allow you to try a set or two (or four, in my case) at a reduced rate.

I'll be putting the Firewire as a cross w/ my gut mains and will compare to Co. Focus. I also coach a high school girls team, and will put the Tour Status and Durafluxx in their racquets & have them compare to Tour Bite / Focus Hex.

I don't normally use multis, but for $5 more I figured why not? So I'll have a set of Triumph to test as well. My only complaint is they don't have Triumph in a thinner gauge. It's 16 (1.30mm) only, and I usually put 17g synthetics as a cross to polys. But, as a full multi, I guess 16 is probably more durable.

I think you'll need a 16g multi for durability. The 17g would probably snap too quick. 17g poly mains with 16g multis is my favorite setup.
 

3fees

G.O.A.T.
Just ordered Tour Status, Durafluxx and Firewire at introductory price, going to string them in 3 identical racquets and review them, tried tour status as tester , happy with it, one or all three of these will hit the spot and be good for my game.
 
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Laney Tennis

Guest
Anyone else tried the Tier One strings recently? Curious what your thoughts are, I just purchased Durafluxx, Tour Status, Firewire. Strung up the Durafluxx a couple days ago at their recommended tension 52lbs and would like to compare notes.
 

djNEiGht

Legend
I've only been hitting with the Triumph. I have sets of each of their polys. Might hybrid them soon but so far on the multi trip right now.
 
L

Laney Tennis

Guest
Hoons54, which string are you going to string up first? Let me know how it plays.
 
String tour status at around 50. As it lowers and softens spin, power and control all get better. Durafluxx my current go to string at 48 or so and same thing. Durafluxx is lower powered which is great for me. FireWire is fun, lively but a bit unpredictable for my game although have others who love it.

I have a thread on the multi and how great that plays also. The multi I string at 55 or so.
 
L

Laney Tennis

Guest
@ Hoons54 I just strung up Durafluxx at their recommended tension 52lbs a few days ago and played a match with it and it played remarkably well. Although it felt nothing like alu power or tour bite, I am very satisfied with its performance so far.

Centerforward71 I agree with you saying that "As it lowers and softens spin, power and control all get better." Once the string bed settles, pocketing, spin, control all get better. To me the power started medium low then went to medium high. I am tempted to have a few other players try this out.

I originally wanted to start with the Firewire as I play with cyclone right now but Durafluxx is so much fun right now I want to stick with it for a while.
 
@ Hoons54 I just strung up Durafluxx at their recommended tension 52lbs a few days ago and played a match with it and it played remarkably well. Although it felt nothing like alu power or tour bite, I am very satisfied with its performance so far.

Centerforward71 I agree with you saying that "As it lowers and softens spin, power and control all get better." Once the string bed settles, pocketing, spin, control all get better. To me the power started medium low then went to medium high. I am tempted to have a few other players try this out.

I originally wanted to start with the Firewire as I play with cyclone right now but Durafluxx is so much fun right now I want to stick with it for a while.

Laney_Tennis - thanks for reviewing our Durafluxx string. May I ask how you would rate the level of tennis you play? We believe it would give other players a reference point to decide if they should try the string as well. Of course, we understand if you don't want to announce this information publicly.
 

mad dog1

G.O.A.T.
Anyone else tried the Tier One strings recently? Curious what your thoughts are, I just purchased Durafluxx, Tour Status, Firewire. Strung up the Durafluxx a couple days ago at their recommended tension 52lbs and would like to compare notes.

i have a Pure Storm GT leaded for a more HL balance strung w/ a full bed of Durafluxx 17 @ 47# on a electronic CP machine. love it. nice dampened feel. lower powered string offering great control and spin. allows me to take fast full swings at the ball and they land in. feels a bit like a cross between Tour Bite and Tour Bite Soft. got a reel of this stuff. :D
 

mad dog1

G.O.A.T.
String tour status at around 50. As it lowers and softens spin, power and control all get better. Durafluxx my current go to string at 48 or so and same thing. Durafluxx is lower powered which is great for me. FireWire is fun, lively but a bit unpredictable for my game although have others who love it.

I have a thread on the multi and how great that plays also. The multi I string at 55 or so.

Tour Status didn't hold tension very well beyond 6 hours for me. i strung it at 49# in a BC20 and it took about an hour to settle in. from hours 2-6, it played really well. after 6 hrs, tension started dropping and i had a hard time keeping the ball inside the baseline.

Like you, i prefer Durafluxx over Tour Status due to the lower power.

FireWire...the first time i strung a full bed of 16g too tight (mid 50#) and it never opened up quite right. the 2nd time, i got the 17g and dropped tension to the 46# and it played alot better. liked it so much i got a reel of this stuff. now i'm using FireWire 17g for mains w/ a round poly. so far have hybrid'd w/ PolyStar Energy crosses at 46/48# and it plays great until the PolyStar loses to much tension at which point i cut it out. will likely try hybrid'g it w/ WC Silverstring crosses at 46/45 next as SS holds tensions alot better.
 
L

Laney Tennis

Guest
TierOneSportsOfficial maybe you can help here. I've strung up the Durafluxx at 52lbs and its playing really well, my normal tension with cyclone and BHBR is 55-57lbs What tension would you recommend that I string the Firewire at?

To answer your question on my rating, to me NTRP is very subjective. Those that play in the USTA will understand what I mean. For those that are interested, I have done a few reviews for Wilson, Luxilon and most recently Volkl, but most of all I am a string enthusiast that enjoy working with players at all levels to optimize their gear so they can focus on technique and solid fundamentals.
 
TierOneSportsOfficial maybe you can help here. I've strung up the Durafluxx at 52lbs and its playing really well, my normal tension with cyclone and BHBR is 55-57lbs What tension would you recommend that I string the Firewire at?

To answer your question on my rating, to me NTRP is very subjective. Those that play in the USTA will understand what I mean. For those that are interested, I have done a few reviews for Wilson, Luxilon and most recently Volkl, but most of all I am a string enthusiast that enjoy working with players at all levels to optimize their gear so they can focus on technique and solid fundamentals.

Laney Tennis - Based on the information that we collect from our customers we believe T1 Firewire is a more lively string than Durafluxx. Often, players with high racket speeds make a judgement about a string by how well they can control the ball. For those players I would recommend string Firewire 1-2 lbs higher than Durafluxx. For players who look for more power I would recommend staying closer to 52-50 lbs. That said, if you like Durafluxx at 52 lbs I would give Firewire a try at 54-55 lbs.
 

zaskar1

Professional
i bought the intro 3 poly set in the the 17G, put the tour status in my racquet and the firewire in my wifes.
i use a hybrid setup 52 poly/ 56 nxt in my blx blade 98, she has 58/62 hybrid with the firewire in her exo3 black

i usually use rpm blast, have it in my other racquet,
played a few hours, could not tell the difference.
she says it plays just like the prohurricane/nxt setup that is in her other racquet. she really isnt that paticular, only restringing when the strings are completely dead or broken.

so i just bought a reel of the tour status, as it is much less than a reel of rpm blast. i think even if it wasnt at the intro price, its a good deal

z
 

mad dog1

G.O.A.T.
i bought the intro 3 poly set in the the 17G, put the tour status in my racquet and the firewire in my wifes.
i use a hybrid setup 52 poly/ 56 nxt in my blx blade 98, she has 58/62 hybrid with the firewire in her exo3 black

i usually use rpm blast, have it in my other racquet,
played a few hours, could not tell the difference.
she says it plays just like the prohurricane/nxt setup that is in her other racquet. she really isnt that paticular, only restringing when the strings are completely dead or broken.

so i just bought a reel of the tour status, as it is much less than a reel of rpm blast. i think even if it wasnt at the intro price, its a good deal

z

:shock: to the blue quoted text

and yeah, no kidding she ain't particular to the red quoted text
 

Hoons54

Rookie
Strung durafluxx at 52 lbs in APDGT and it tamed the power nicely. It provided good control. Didn't have the bite of tour bite or felt as stiff. Spin was good as well and good pop. I felt like I could swing all out and still could keep the ball in.

FireWire indeed was too lively for my swing.

Have yet to play with tour status. I'm at 4.0 player with above average power and spin on my strokes.
 

Hoons54

Rookie
Update: The mains stopped snapping back after only a couple of sets. Need something that lasts longer.
 

zaskar1

Professional
tier one poly

i read it as she plays with a string bed for a long period of time

she doesnt really wear out strings, i string all her racquets once a year
whether they need it or not.

yeah, my wife is kind of a ball pusher, drives the opponents crazy by
getting the ball back without any pace.

z
 
Update: The mains stopped snapping back after only a couple of sets. Need something that lasts longer.

Hoons54, Thank you for your feedback about our Durafluxx string. Sorry to hear that you experienced a lack of recoil already after a short period of time. This feedback is a bit of a surprise to us since most customers, even players at a Div I college level, consider the ability to recoil one of the strengths for this string.

May I ask what string gauge you were using in your setup? Also, we would be interested which co-polyster type string (any brand) has provided you with a better, much longer recoil in the past?
 

Hoons54

Rookie
Im using 18 gauge. I think weiss cannon scorpion was better in this aspect. Could be because its a smooth nontextured string.
 
Im using 18 gauge. I think weiss cannon scorpion was better in this aspect. Could be because its a smooth nontextured string.

Hoons54, yes, that probably explains the lack of recoil at an earlier stage. Durafluxx 18g is a 1.18 mm string, pretty thin. Based on our experience, strings with a thicker diameter usually perform better in the recoil category. The Durafluxx 17g probably requires a bit more racket speed to appreciate the characteristics for the string but it should give you enhanced recoil.
 

DrewRafter8

Professional
I've played with Durafluxx last year and was impressed with it. I was borrowing a friends racquet and he gave me the string to use in it. After reading through some of the posts here, I decided to give Tier One a shot. I've strung up Tour Status at 52 in my Donnay Platinum 99. Just need to play a little tennis with it. I ordered all three polys, so I'll report back after I give each of them a playtest.

Update, I hit with Tour Status for the second time today. The first time I felt that the string bed was too stiff. My friend who has played with TS before told me to give it some time to break in. Today was a good day. After the string bed loosened from the first time I hit with it, the strings played very well. I don't find that it is like some of the other poly's that have tremendous spin, but it is more then adequate in this regard. The main thing that I really liked was that the string bed felt very good, this string is not the stiffest polyester which I like. The other part about the string bed feeling good was that this string seems to have the perfect balance of control and power. I found myself putting aggressive swings on pretty much every ball and not really fearing that the ball would fly out. The volleys were excellent for a polyester and touch was again good for a polyester. Overall, I'm very happy with this string and if it continues to play this way for a solid duration I maybe looking at my new string.
 
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djNEiGht

Legend
I am about to test T1 Fire Wire 17 once I'm done evaluating the Wilson Ripsin. I'm looking for a comparable string to test it along side in a full bed.

I have a 17g couple sets of the following
Gosen Sidewinder
BHB7
Cyclone
Cyclone Tour

I've been playing with Cyclone for the past couple months at 48#.

Any suggestions on what string would be good to test it against? I've yet to hit with the Cyclone Tour and the Sidewinder. Sidewinder seems a bit stiff in hand compared to the others.
 

djNEiGht

Legend
I've been hitting with T1 Firewire for a bit. Was hitting it side by side with Cyclone 17. The Cyclone is now replaced with BHB7. The battle of the sharp edge, pain the *** to weave, these strings got teeth string test now on it's way.
 
I haven't posted any updates to my own thread in a while but here goes.

I'm stuck on durafluxx. It's what I like. Low powered, good spin, good control and plays consistent for a while after first hour. Sme may call the string bland but bland is great for me becaus I feel I add the boom and don't want it from my string. The only lacking is a bit in the touch and feel department. So I decided to try some hybriding. I string at 52 to let settle where I like.

1. Durafluxx with Wilson syn gut extreme. 52/54. Didn't like it at all. It softened the feel but was more like mushy.

2. Triumph 17g. Durafluxx 17. 55/52. Wowwwww. What a surprise. I didn't expect what I was gonna get. Great spin. Great feel. Geat touch. A bit over powered gonna notch up tension. Grat volleying. Serves. Again the only negative was the power. I am gonna keep playing around with this setup. The mush from above turned to crisp. The nice crisp. After 3 hours string SnapBack is not as great but spin still great. Not sure this will be a durable setup but definitely a performance setup.

I have been playing straight durafluxx for 6 months and didn't want to tinker as I usually do but man it's gonna be hard not to keep tinkering with this hybrid.
 
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