How long did TB last for you? And compared to what other strings?
I think I got about 15 hours out of it before I cut it out. It was the 1.30 gauge and I was (and am) trying to find my go-to string for my SW104. It did lose some tension but I really didn't feel a lot of loss of control or spin. The playability was good so I kept it in to see how long I could go and will feel satisfied with it.
I've tested a whole host of strings in the last three months. Besides Tour Bite, I also tried:
Hyper-G: A bit more muted and a hair less power, but tension loss affected playability more than Tour Bite. Good for maybe 10 hours - possibly more if I strung it up tighter initially.
Revolution: In between Hyper-G and Tour Bite. Loses a bit more tension than Tour Bite and a bit more affected by tension loss as well, but still good for 10-12 hours.
Revolve Spin: An absolute middle of the road string in all respects.
RPM Blast Rough: Tension loss killed this string in just a few hours.
Element Rough: The rough version didn't seem to have much more grip than regular Element, and both were too springy for me. They lose tension pretty quickly and I think I cut it out after about eight hours due to loss of playability.
Cyclone: My son's go to string for the last few years, but just a bit too springy for me and not as much grip on the ball as the Solinco strings. Seems to lose tension around the 6-8 hour mark and becomes a rocket launcher.
V-Torque: Absolute magic for the first hour - most bite of any string I've tried, but huge tension loss made it unplayable after three hours.
Cube: Great bite on the ball, more than the Solinco strings, and slightly below average power levels. Playability changed after about six hours and then lost that firm bite on the ball, and flatter shots felt dead and rebounded inconsistently. Very sensitive to incoming spin which was a problem volleying heavy underspin shots.
Neon Dust: The cross string is too soft and loses too much tension, and this became uncontrollable in about eight hours. Might be better with a firmer cross.
Solstice Power: This was my go-to string for the past couple of years. It worked great in my Overdrive 110, a 16X19 racquet in which I used the 1.35 gauge. Great spin, good comfort, a nice pocketing feel, and not too affected by tension loss, which it loses probably a bit more than average for poly strings. However, it doesn't seem to work as well in my SW104, where it feels harsher and without that good ball bite. I'm going to retry this string in different gauges but in my Overdrive 110, it was good for a solid 12 hours before it wore smooth and notched to the point where spin noticeably went down.
Quadro Twist: Despite the excellent TW review, this string had minimal ball bite and a low launch angle, like it just had no grip. It was powerful and comfortable, but no better spin than a round poly string. I cut this out before it really lost much tension.
Tour Sniper: I tested this Grapplesnake string when it was still known as the "prototype". Round poly that is very low in power and very control oriented. Good for about ten hours and then got very harsh on mis-hits.
Explosive Red: I tested this as part of a TW review. Good, round string for the first four or so hours, then really changes as the outer coating is worn through. It loses spin and becomes an inert, control oriented string.
Flash: I also tested this as part of a TW review. Very nice round string with excellent control. I think this one broke on me at about the eight hour mark on a bad mis-hit near the tip of the frame, but was still pretty playable at that time.
I've got V-Square and V-Torque Tour coming in the next few days, along with 1.20 gauges of Hyper-G, Tour Bite, and Revolution. I think I'm going to pass on Cyclone Tour based on my experience with Cyclone. Ultra Cable is on my list somewhere down the road. I had previous experience with 4G, Alu Power, and a couple of other Luxilon strings in other racquets and while those are nice, they are really pricey whereas a lot of the strings I've tested are 60% of the cost but the better ones provide 95% of the playability.
When I started testing strings, I initially went with thicker gauges because I wanted to string at a bit lower tension and also to get a bit higher swingweight. I've come to realize that with the 18X19 pattern in a smaller headsize, that I need a thinner gauge to get the launch angle I prefer, and that durability isn't as much of an issue. I also have come to prefer having a lighter stringbed but more added weight at 3 and 9 o'clock to give me a bit more stability when I mis-hit. So I'm kind of at point where I'm re-testing some of these strings in a thinner gauge, and hoping that tension loss and playability loss aren't going to become an issue after fewer hours.
Any suggestions for other strings to try? It's a fun process, but I'm starting to miss having that go-to string where I know how it will respond under almost every condition.
Have any recommendations for other strings to try? I prefer shaped, low to medium powered, and highly spin capable. Of all of these, I think I'm leaning towards either Tour Bite or Revolution as my go-to string so far, with very little to decide between these two.
