Anyone do a side-by-side comparison of Regular Ashaway Kevlar vs Ashaway Plus Kevlar

[jason586]

I currently play either Regular Ashaway Kevlar 16 Mains crossed with OGSM 16 (white)
OR
Black Magic 16 full bed or crossed with Polystar Classic 17

I like most characteristics about both these set ups in my Vantage 95s with the downside being the sort life of the BM poly beds and the lack of pop in the Kevlar hybrid. I am going to test if a slightly thinner 17 gauge Kevlar and/or Ashaway's PLUS version in 17 gauge will add enough pop to stop dealing with the world of short-lived poly string jobs. I have two identical spec Vantage 95s in which I will put the Regular 17 as mains in one and the Plus 17 version as mains in the other. Still not 100% sure what I'm going to use as the cross just yet?

I've searched many, many Kevlar threads but so far have found no one doing a comparison of the Regular Ashaway to the Ashaway Plus. Anyone played both the regular & plus and compared them side-side???

[corners]

I haven't tried Plus, but it's interesting. It's Kevlar strands braided with strands of PTFE (aka Teflon). This is pretty common in the braided fishing line market, using PTFE strands or filaments to reduce friction. A good idea for tennis strings too. But I wouldn't think this would add any pop. It might be marginally less stiff, but PTFE is not very elastic and is not going to add any power in that sense. You might get longer string life, but that's really not the problem with kevlar

[jason586]

Thanks for the reply - I saw your thread asking about the Ash Kevlar Plus that you posted earlier this year with no replies. I guess not many have tried the Plus as there are lots of threads on Regular Ashaway Kevlar and Crossfire I and II.
I read the info at the Ashaway site and few other places about what the Plus is, and that it is supposed to be softer and longer lasting that the regular Ashaway Kevlar. I was hoping the softer might mean a bit more pop as well as feel. On the Ashaway site, they do give the Plus 17 one more bar/box in the power category than the Regular 17, but who knows how that will translate real world. I also thought it might add a little more spin if it allows it to slide better against the crosses. With all these little possible upgrades to the Regular Ashaway Kevlar, I would have thought more people would have tried and posted about it.

[travlerajm]

Never tried Ashaway Plus.

But one thing you might want to try first is dropping the tension 5-10 lbs compared to your kevlar/syn gut setup and using poly cross with kevlar mains.

It gives a "richer" grippier feel with more bite than than kevlar/syn gut or full poly - and also a little more power than kevlar/ syn gut too, but slightly less than full poly (maybe because you get to take advantage of the snapback of the kevlar mains sliding over the poly). Make sure you use a slippery poly that doesn't dent easily.

The playability doesn't last as long as kevlar/syn gut (because the poly cross loses tension), but it will remain playable for at least twice as long as full poly.

I'm experimenting now with ZX monofilament as a cross with kevlar mains (hoping to use it as a replacement for poly crosses with better tension stability). So far I'm finding this to be very unique: spinny and powerful on serves, but still crisp on volleys and returns - definitely a new category of stringbed.

[kaiser]

This makes me wonder why we're not seeing dyneema strings yet: stronger than kevlar, very supple, and so slippery that in dyneema fishingline the regular knots used for nylon won't hold...

[2ndServe]

I have played reels of the ashaway 17. Just started the 1st reel of ashwaway 17 plus. Can't really tell yet, they seem pretty similar, though I've been playing worse than usual which is probably a factor of playing less and my elbow. Seems like less spin on the serve for me but there are other variables at play such as 1 year older, less play, elbow, dropping tension etc.

I think tighter kevlar gives more spin, the science might say looser strings get more spin but I don't think that's the case with kevlar.

[corners]

Originally Posted by kaiser

This makes me wonder why we're not seeing dyneema strings yet: stronger than kevlar, very supple, and so slippery that in dyneema fishingline the regular knots used for nylon won't hold...

Dyneema/Spectra (Ultra high molecular weight polyethelene, UHMWP) would make the ultimate string material. It's as tough as kevlar, hard as nails, super slippery and for these reasons used as the articular surfaces in artificial joints. It would be like super-poly: It would slide better, it wouldn't notch, it wouldn't scuff, it wouldn't dent, all of which would make it slide and snap back like a champ.

But, it creeps like crazy. So once tensioned it will lose way too much tension to be playable in a tennis racquet. That's what I read somewhere anyway. But the fishing line is pretty cheap. Would make for an interesting experiment. Even if it creeps to 10 pounds of tension maybe it would still play OK. Chris at TW found copoly to be playable strung that low and Dyneema is much stiffer than copoly.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by 2ndServe

I have played reels of the ashaway 17. Just started the 1st reel of ashwaway 17 plus. Can't really tell yet, they seem pretty similar, though I've been playing worse than usual which is probably a factor of playing less and my elbow. Seems like less spin on the serve for me but there are other variables at play such as 1 year older, less play, elbow, dropping tension etc.

I think tighter kevlar gives more spin, the science might say looser strings get more spin but I don't think that's the case with kevlar.

Kevlar and sore elbows don't mix well.

[kaiser]

Originally Posted by corners

Dyneema/Spectra (Ultra high molecular weight polyethelene, UHMWP) would make the ultimate string material. It's as tough as kevlar, hard as nails, super slippery and for these reasons used as the articular surfaces in artificial joints. It would be like super-poly: It would slide better, it wouldn't notch, it wouldn't scuff, it wouldn't dent, all of which would make it slide and snap back like a champ.

But, it creeps like crazy. So once tensioned it will lose way too much tension to be playable in a tennis racquet. That's what I read somewhere anyway. But the fishing line is pretty cheap. Would make for an interesting experiment. Even if it creeps to 10 pounds of tension maybe it would still play OK. Chris at TW found copoly to be playable strung that low and Dyneema is much stiffer than copoly.

Ah, so it's creep that is holding it back as the GOAT of tennis string. Is that creep at a molecular level such as TWprof described it in the other thread, like a tangled mess of spaghettic that gradually aligns and straigthens out under tension (if I got this correctly...)? Or is it creep as a result of the braiding that is usually used to create dyneema lines? If the latter, the new Berkley Nanofyl could be a very interesting candidate:

"Not a Mono. Not a Braid. The Next Generation of Fishing line. NanoFil is made out of gel-spun polyethylene, much like a superline. This ultimate spinning reel fishing line consists of hundreds of Dyneema® nanofilaments that are molecularly linked and shaped into a unified filament fishing line. Dyneema, The World’s Strongest Fiber™, gives this line superline type strength and our uni-filament process makes it feel and handle like a smooth monofilament "

http://www.berkley-fishing.com/line/nanoFil

[corners]

Originally Posted by kaiser

Ah, so it's creep that is holding it back as the GOAT of tennis string. Is that creep at a molecular level such as TWprof described it in the other thread, like a tangled mess of spaghettic that gradually aligns and straigthens out under tension (if I got this correctly...)?

Yeah, that kind of creep, or more accurately in this case, stress relaxation.

I wonder if dyneema braided with something else, like kevlar, might deform less. Kevlar relaxes, but not as much. So if Dyneema were braided with Kevlar maybe the Kevlar strands would stop the deformation of the Dyneema at the same tension at which the Kevlar stops deforming. But you'd think the string manufacturers, especially companies like Ashaway that specialize in braided strings, would be all over Dyneema if they could get it to work. A Kevlar main/Dyneema cross hybrid strung at 10 pounds would be the bomb!

[kaiser]

Yeah, there must be snags and pitfalls that we are not aware of.

[DonBot]

I have Ashaway Kevlar plus in my pure storm tour plus, because I was looking for a little more control and I find string wants to drop tension like mad in this frame...hmmm just thinking I should try some 4G in it..anywho......I had it strung at 60 lbs and it had little grip and the ball came off the racket super flat. It has dropped tension since then and it has more grab. Its not terrible, but its not great either....I wouldn't waste your money trying it. You can take some massive cuts at the ball and its going to stay in.

[Jacklondon00]

In my quest to make my university's D1 team, which was ranked top 20 at the time, I tried every "novel" string combo back between 2002-2006. Including 200 lb test Spectra/Dyneema (same material UHMWPE) fishing line.

The stuff was really tough for the diameter of 0.065, but it would still last me about one set in a prestige mid, which is not bad at all if you have 4 or 5 spare rackets.

The problem was that it played terrible. I tried different tensions but to no avail, no power or any spin benefit over regular poly. Ridiculous string movement, zero elasticity, no way it would qualify as usable tennis string. I think the lack of elasticity is why there was no spin increase. It worked marginally better in a hybrid, as a main and as a cross, but it still sucked.

Here is the stuff I tried back in the day:

http://www.powerpro.com/publish/cont...superline.html

And here is one I tired last year, 100lb test 0.38 same results:

http://www.berkley-fishing.co.uk/cat...stal,5361.html

There is not easy way to jump to the next level guys, you got to work on your fitness, your court speed and those volleys voleys and overheads, if you spend hours every day working on those it will go much much further than any string setup...IMO

[Jacklondon00]

That was supposed to be 0.65