Tour Bite 1.20 mains - Gut or Soft Cross?

[TripleB]

Has anyone tried natural gut or a very soft synthetic gut with Solinco Tour Bite Mains? If so, did it soften up the feel and/or increase the power of the racquet much? How was the durability?

I've got a Prince Triple Threat Warrior Midplus that I strung up with Tour Bite 1.20mm mains and Volkl Synthetic Gut crosses at 48/51. I played really well (considering I haven't played but two matches in the last 11 months) with the racquet today but it lacks a bit of pop and my serving shoulder (play righty but serve lefty) is a bit sore. Also the Volkl syn gut started fraying within the first set.

Before looking at a different racquet I thought I might try and soften the feel and increase the power of the Warrior first.

Thanks for any suggestions.

TripleB

 

[Lukhas]

Dude, gut crosses is a waste of two good cows. Gut goes in mains when poly goes in the crosses, no question. Plus, you'll be able to restring the crosses only if the gut holds up.

 

[Maui19]

FYI, Tour Bite Soft is a very good alternative for those who like TB but want something that isn't as harsh.

 

[anubis]

I agree with Lukhas. Gut in crosses is a complete waste. If you absolutely must have poly in the mains (no shame in that, I use poly in mains too), then just use a simple multifilament in the crosses. I recommend Technifibre Multifeel or Prince Premiere Attack.

Be sure to string the multi 4 lbs tighter than the mains.

 

[Tim]

I'm using Volkl V-fuse with the gut as a cross and it plays amazingly well. you guys that think its a waste, have you tried comparing gut to a soft multi cross or are you just basing it on the fact that the cross doesn't supply enough of the string beds feel to warrant its use as a cross?

 

[president.s]

Dude, gut crosses is a waste of two good cows. Gut goes in mains when poly goes in the crosses, no question. Plus, you'll be able to restring the crosses only if the gut holds up.

It's not waste. You use it for power and to soften the stringbed. Murray uses poly in mains. Plus it's not recommended to restring only the crosses. It's not good for the mains, it's not good for the frame..

 

[colowhisper]

It's not waste. You use it for power and to soften the stringbed. Murray uses poly in mains. Plus it's not recommended to restring only the crosses. It's not good for the mains, it's not good for the frame..

The reason it is a waste is that poly should be restrung every 10 to 20 hours if it's in the mains, which means you'll be cutting out perfectly good and very expensive gut. Gut mains can take the beating and the poly crosses will last much longer. If you want the bite of poly mains, it is simply more economical to use multi or syn gut in crosses.

 

[president.s]

The reason it is a waste is that poly should be restrung every 10 to 20 hours if it's in the mains, which means you'll be cutting out perfectly good and very expensive gut. Gut mains can take the beating and the poly crosses will last much longer. If you want the bite of poly mains, it is simply more economical to use multi or syn gut in crosses.

I know and i agree. that's why i use multi in the crosses. But the OP didn't mention something about cost. If it was mentioned, my bad.

 

[Rabbit]

I think a great cross, certainly from a $ perspective, is plain old Prince Synthetic Gut.

 

[Lukhas]

It's not waste. You use it for power and to soften the stringbed. Murray uses poly in mains.

Yeah, and he's among the only ones to do that. I know Woz does too. Most of the other pros use gut mains poly crosses. Coefficient of friction is much lower with gut main, it gives much better spin. Co-poly more often than not will eat gut crosses for breakfast. If you just want to soften the stringbed and have more power, just put X1-Biphase in the crosses, it will do fine.
EDIT: Numbers for coefficient of friction at TWU.
http://twu.tennis-warehouse.com/learning_center/COF.php

It is very interesting that the hybrid with poly crosses and gut mains is the combination with the lowest static COF. What is equally interesting is that if you change the combination to gut crosses and polyester mains, the static coefficient of friction is among the highest.

So yes, I still believe gut crosses is a waste of two good cows.

It's not good for the mains, it's not good for the frame..

It has been repeated ad nauseam. We're still waiting to have any proof of that.

 

[nickarnold2000]

I think a great cross, certainly from a $ perspective, is plain old Prince Synthetic Gut.

I couldn't agree more or try Forten Sweet Syn Gut and spend more time practicing technique and footwork.

 

[president.s]

Yeah, and he's among the only ones to do that. I know Woz does too. Most of the other pros use gut mains poly crosses. Coefficient of friction is much lower with gut main, it gives much better spin. Co-poly more often than not will eat gut crosses for breakfast.If you just want to soften the stringbed and have more power, just put X1-Biphase in the crosses, it will do fine.

I know and i'm with you. i do that that with Nxt control and it's awesome. I'm just saying that when cost is not an issue, gut is not a waste at crosses.

It has been repeated ad nauseam. We're still waiting to have any proof of that.

My stringer sais that when you cut out only mains or crosses the forces of the remaining strings are not distributed evenly. Even at the strings next to another. And even when you string back, the tension at the strings that you didn't cut out is all over the place and apart from a terrible stringjob you get terrible deformation of the racket

 

[Tim]

just out of curiosity then, have any of you actually played with a gut cross? I understand the wasted dollars aspect but I've played with many different set ups and the cyclone main with a gut cross is pretty good at generating spin while having very soft feel and has, so far, lasted around 18 hour with the gut showing only normal gut type fraying.

 

[LeeD]

Not saying I'm set on this setup, but TB16 at around 45 lbs on a 98 sized soft racket seems very easy on the shoulders and somewhat powerful.
But I hit more old school topspin, though strong SW grip, rather than "brush up on the ball", like I did in 1976.