18 gauge guidance

W

westpac690

Rookie
Greetings all. I need to get re-strung in a few days and was thinking about experimenting with 18 gauge. I know that 18 gauge inherently is less durable and loses tension faster, but I was hoping anyone experience with 18 gauge strings could steer me in the right direction of some of the better 18s available.
I use a Babolat Aeropro Drive Cortex Plus, with Wilson NXT Tour 17 gauge strung at 60 lbs.
One of my buddies is trying to convince me to put on Prince Synthetic Gut 17 with Duraflex.

What do you guys think?
 
meowmix

meowmix

Hall of Fame
There aren't that many 18g strings around. Are you just looking into trying something similar to what you have now, just in a smaller gauge, or are you interested in trying something new and different?
 
W

westpac690

Rookie
I'm fairly open to trying something new. I've never ventured into the polyester world, and was thinking maybe Babolat Pro Hurricane.
 
W

westpac690

Rookie
I think I'll ease into the 18 gauge world. I think I'll start with 17 gauge Prince Synthetic Duraflex. I KNOW it says 17...But it's about the same size as Wilson NXT Tour 18. Then from there I'll try Black Code, then the Hybrid with Hurricanes.. I wish I had like 6 racquets I could take to my stringer and say, "Give me the works!"
 
Mig1NC

Mig1NC

Professional
westpac690 said:
I think I'll ease into the 18 gauge world. I think I'll start with 17 gauge Prince Synthetic Duraflex. I KNOW it says 17...But it's about the same size as Wilson NXT Tour 18. Then from there I'll try Black Code, then the Hybrid with Hurricanes.. I wish I had like 6 racquets I could take to my stringer and say, "Give me the works!"
Click to expand...

LOL. Good one.
 
mozzer

mozzer

Hall of Fame
TiMo is the best 18g string i have used, and probably the best overall string!
Hated Blackcode, wayyyy too mushy and lost so much tension after 1 match!
 
klementine

klementine

Hall of Fame
BigBanger Ace- comfortable poly with plenty of pop and spin.. good durability.. decent tension maintenance for a poly.

NXT Tour 18- Way too much power.. decent spin.. bad tension maintenance.. very comfortable.

X-One biphase 18- Best tension maintenance out of the 3 mentioned.. great power and spin. Super-duper comfortable.

Polyfibre Poly Hightec 18- The stiffest 18 gauge out of the 3.. does not hold tension well.. frays quickly.. decent power.. great spin potential.

It all depends what tensions you choose but my favorite out of the 4 I've tried is BigBanger Ace (full bed) for the poly and X-One biphase for the multi. I have also enjoyed a hybrid set-up of X-One in the mains and BigBanger in the crosses.
 
W

westpac690

Rookie
This actually brings up another question for me. Which polyester strings have the greatest tension maintenance?

I've been back into tennis for about 1 year now after a 13 year lay-off and am still getting accustomed to the "modern"(and I do hate that phrase) tennis game. I.E. all the new racquet technology, crazy topspin, strings, etc...
I've re-discovered my strokes, and strategy from 13 years ago, and decided on a racquet that suits me. So now I'm kinda now getting into the world of strings.
 
Centered

Centered

Hall of Fame
Which polyester strings have the greatest tension maintenance?

http://twu.tennis-warehouse.com/learning_center/reporter.php
http://www.racquetsportsindustry.com/articles/2010/01/string_selector_2010.html

The newest 18 gauge string on the market is Ashaway Dynamite Soft. The 18 is blue.

As for "18 gauge" strings, do keep in mind that fact that "gauge" is a sloppy way of referring to string widths. Some "18 gauge" strings are as thick as other "17 gauge" strings and vice-versa.

Actual gauge, as measured by RSI or TW, is more useful. Example:

Head Perfect Power 17: 1.22mm
Gamma Professional 18: 1.22mm
 
W

westpac690

Rookie
I did notice the thickness differences. I ended up stringing my Babolat with 17 gauge Prince Synthetic Gut with Duraflex because it's the thinnest 17, which is nearly the same size as Wilson NXT Tour 18.
It was just awesome. The control was like nothing I've experienced since my comeback. I was putting my cross court forehands(Im a lefty) in the backhand corner baseline so consistently I just could not stop smiling. I'd set up my point, two cross court shots to force my partner into the corner, then bring it back to the baseline corner on his forehand....Winner.....
Respectable feel on volley and touch shots.
Big difference in the serve. I may double fault 1 or 2 times in a match anyways. My serves that would previously have clipped the line, now cleared by 6-8 inches and I was placing my serves pretty much where ever I wanted.
I do have a Wilson KSix-one 95 (18x20), and I think I'll go full blown 18 gauge on that one. I am interested in Black Code, and Bi-Phase, so I think I'll try those a try first. But if the Prince synthetic 18 plays anything like the 17.... I'll have to give that a shot too..

Centered said:
Which polyester strings have the greatest tension maintenance?

http://twu.tennis-warehouse.com/learning_center/reporter.php
http://www.racquetsportsindustry.com/articles/2010/01/string_selector_2010.html

The newest 18 gauge string on the market is Ashaway Dynamite Soft. The 18 is blue.

As for "18 gauge" strings, do keep in mind that fact that "gauge" is a sloppy way of referring to string widths. Some "18 gauge" strings are as thick as other "17 gauge" strings and vice-versa.

Actual gauge, as measured by RSI or TW, is more useful. Example:

Head Perfect Power 17: 1.22mm
Gamma Professional 18: 1.22mm
Click to expand...
 
K

Kevo

Legend
My favorite 18g strings are Lux BB Ace, and Alpha Gut 2000. Both are great, but AG2000 is just asking to be popped the moment it comes out of the pack.

Ace is great all the way until it breaks, and if you are going to give polys a try, I would try that one at least once if not twice to get a good baseline for comparison of other polys.

I would string it lower than the syn gut. I played it at 54lbs. in a 16x19 pattern frame, and 50lbs. in an 18x20. It's great.
 
Mig1NC

Mig1NC

Professional
Kevo said:
My favorite 18g strings are Lux BB Ace, and Alpha Gut 2000. Both are great, but AG2000 is just asking to be popped the moment it comes out of the pack.

Ace is great all the way until it breaks, and if you are going to give polys a try, I would try that one at least once if not twice to get a good baseline for comparison of other polys.

I would string it lower than the syn gut. I played it at 54lbs. in a 16x19 pattern frame, and 50lbs. in an 18x20. It's great.
Click to expand...

I've always heard that Lux strings die fast, but the only one I have tried is ALU Power (silver).

I just read several reviews that said Ace held its tension very well. Can you confirm that?
 
K

Kevo

Legend
BB Ace is quite good for tension maintenance. It does drop, but it settles in and plays well until it breaks. The break in period is quick too. One of the best polys I've used. It's not great in the durability department because it's quite thin, but that helps it in all the other aspects.
 
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