head gravity
a white triangularly shaped mains which should be 1.25 but is rather tight through the grommets and a grey cross, also poly, apparently 1.20, much more true to size. the triangular shape might do for the larger dimensions while it is rather realistic that from the cross section it does fit in into the 1.25 category. being full poly i decided to string slightly lower than my usual poly/multi hybrids, but basically still in tune with what i would start a 1,25. i did 20,5kg on the mains and 20kg on the crosses - my reference set-up is 1,20 helix mains at 21,5 and (still) mcs/htmf at 21,5 too.
power / control: there is good power coming with this hybrid, but this one definitely goes at the expense of control. the launchangle is somewhat higher than what i am used to, so in order to keep the ball in i just went for some additional spin. nevertheless, i was not able to consistently play shortangled crosses and slices still tended to float behind the baseline. stringing higher might be recommended, but that is an issue i will adress a little bit later.
grade: 3/5
feel: i was missing any form of crispiness, of freshness. this stringbed played mushy on the verge of dull. due to the higher launchangle my attempts to play some droppers ended up with some nice sitters to be crushed by my hitting partner. i've played worse nevertheless.
grade: 3/5
spin: it was somehow like a deja vu, reminding me of the tecnifibre black code 4s experience. this shape should have been supposed to bite the ball but not much really happened. it is a spinny combo but in my opinion just slightly higher average. interestingly it seems to be the mains - another point i'll come back later.
grade: 4/5
comfort: i don't think there should be any issues even with players with more tender joints.
grade: 4/5
tension maintenance / durability: tension maintenance was fine but durability was close to none. the (thicker) mains broke (in the sweetspot not on a shank!!!!) after slightly more than one hour of hitting, and that included warm-up too. this was one of the fastest breaking polys i have ever played, obviously with a nominal diameter of 1.25!
grade: 1/5
overall: 15/25
stringing higher - my experience so far, without exception, has been that increasing tension drives down durability. so, maybe if i did string higher the feel would have been crispier, livelier, whatever, but then i would be needing two fresh sticks at least for every practice session, and this is absurd.
spin: the mains broke after roughly one hour but as the crosses looked almost in pristine condition (usually they are thinning out - but i was following this matter lately and they thin out from ball contact and not from mains sliding over them, as the thinning occurs on top of the weave and not at the intersection with the mains) i decided to give them another go and strung them up with another set of mains. nothing spectacular this time, plain round mantis power poly 1,25, keeping the same tension for the crosses. i almost felt "like home" - the ball was spinny, controllable and quite touchy for a full-poly set-up - and it lasted 3,5hrs!
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