Originally Posted by pvaudio
Solinco Barb Wire 16L / WC Mosquito Bite Black Death
This playtest was inspired by a post by TW University. They posted their newest string spin testing results, and found that the ratio of ball/string friction to string/string friction should be as high as possible. In other words: more ball bite, more string sliding. They found that Barb Wire gave the most ball bite, hence its choice as my main string. That meant that the only other choice for a cross was a smooth polyester. Any synthetic or natural gut would get chewed up by the textured main, and a textured poly, while likely giving an odd spin profile, does not make for predictable spin. Thus, I chose one of my all time favorite strings, which comes in a small gauge, is comfortable and is black like Barb Wire: WeissCANNON Mosquito Bite Black Death.
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Strung 47/47.
Groundstrokes: I have only 1 hour on this setup, and if it has not broken in yet, then my goodness, am I in for a treat. I have yet to find a superior poly stringbed. Mosquito bite is the multifilament of the poly world, in my opinion. It gives great control, average spin, astounding comfort, but above all else, unparalleled feel. That coupled with Barb Wire's innate crispness and the heaviness that is produced by the stringbed and you've got a monster from the baseline. You can simply pick your swing to make the shot you want: high and deep, hard and heavy, short and low, etc. The string takes care of you. I've not found that before. If this continues as the strings age and settle, this will become my grail. Plus, in all black, it looks superbly humble and sinister.
NEW: Alas, I was right to not hold my breath. Barb Wire has completely changed. While it's still very usable off the ground, once it settled after about 2 hours (TOO LONG), it just feels like generic poly. The MB no longer shines through, and that was the only reason why this was good. Spin? Not anything near earth-shattering or even the other hybrids in here. After settling, I cannot see how this would be better than full Barb Wire.
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[Overall]
This is shaping up to be a great, great setup. If this holds, then I will purchase a reel of Mosquito Bite
...We'll have to see how it lasts and if it starts to notch. If anything, it shouldn't be broken in yet and it's already playing sensationally.
NEW:Barb Wire simply is not Solinco's best offering. What I alluded to above is the following: this setup exhibit's what I call Pro's Syndrome. What this is is the reason why so many professional players use RPM, Luxilon and natural gut crosses: they do not need their racquets to last for any period of time.
Overall: 9.0/10
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