Prince Tricomp 90

I picked up a Prince Tricomp 90 in mint condition, wow, it plays like a champ. A good balance between flex and crisp, nice control, feels like a old school low power racket but yet, powerful enough for "modern game", definitely more powerful than POG 90 and Spectrum 90. Really liking this racket

I'm not sure it's more powerful then Spectrum. Now you made me want to pull them out and play back to back.

BlueB said:

I'm not sure it's more powerful then Spectrum. Now you made me want to pull them out and play back to back.

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I actually played a POG90 (4 stripe), spectrum 90, and a Tricomp 90 side by side. POG feels flimsy and a bit lack of control, spectrum the most flex and soft, feels a little lack of power, Tricomp has enough control and power, I actually liked the Tricomp the most, among these 3. It could be just my strings on these rackets may not be at the same tension etc, but anyway just my take on them.

IIRC, the Tricomp was a reboot of the Spectrum, with Kevlar added to the Graphite-Ceramic-Fiberglass layup. I always thought they played a little more crisp than the Spectrum of the same head size, though my favorite Prince frames of that era were the slightly earlier (through 1986) Graphite Comp Series 110 and 90, which had a wonderful ball feel and very open string patterns for easy spin. However, Prince replaced the Graphite Comps with the Spectrum Comps, and then replaced the Spectrum Comps with the Tricomps.

Ok I did it! I got Spectum Comp 90, Tricomp 90 and POG 4-stripe 90 out, for some hitting and 11 point tiebreaker with every frame.
They are all set to about ~350g, ~8HL, with swing weights being: Spectrum 339, Tricomp 333, POG 330.
However, the Spectrum has Gut/Poly, Tricomp has Syngut/Poly and POG has Nylon monofilament/Poly. Take this into account for any conclusions.
I had the most power with the Spectrum and sprayed balls long the most. Tricomp had the most spin and precision. POG had the highest launch angle and is the stiffest.
Tricomp felt slightly more comfy then Spectrum, but I think mostly because the Spectrum had some ping from the strings.

yes I also found POG has the highest launch angle and stiffer. balls tend to high at net-clearance, I had to adjust my strokes just to keep the ball in court when switching into POG.

retro, there was a graphite comp earlier in the 86? but I have also seen a graphite comp that was in the 89s, which has a wider body frame, like the tricomp is wider than the pog/spectrum. Do you remember these 2 different Graphite comps? I believe both of these 2 have 80%/20% graphite/fiberglass.

MichaelChang said:

retro, there was a graphite comp earlier in the 86? but I have also seen a graphite comp that was in the 89s, which has a wider body frame, like the tricomp is wider than the pog/spectrum. Do you remember these 2 different Graphite comps? I believe both of these 2 have 80%/20% graphite/fiberglass.

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Yes, the original Graphite Composite 110 came out 1982-ish, and ran through 1986. Prince introduced a Series 90 Graphite Comp for 1986, but then in 1987, retired both models for Spectrum Comps (which, I believe, used the same molds). A blue Graphite Comp was introduced around 1989, as you say, which used the same molds (IIRC) as the Tricomps, with a slightly more knife-like beam cross-section that was slightly wider. They're good racquets, too, but not as magical in feel as the earlier Comps, in my opinion.

retrowagen said:

Yes, the original Graphite Composite 110 came out 1982-ish, and ran through 1986. Prince introduced a Series 90 Graphite Comp for 1986, but then in 1987, retired both models for Spectrum Comps (which, I believe, used the same molds). A blue Graphite Comp was introduced around 1989, as you say, which used the same molds (IIRC) as the Tricomps, with a slightly more knife-like beam cross-section that was slightly wider. They're good racquets, too, but not as magical in feel as the earlier Comps, in my opinion.

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thanks retro. nice memories. Have you ever hit with a prince Graphite Pro 90? it is circa around 1986, a black color with while lines, 14x18 same mold as the pog I think. any thought about that one? Prince has made so many similar rackets at that time, they all graphite/fiberglass composition.

MichaelChang said:

thanks retro. nice memories. Have you ever hit with a prince Graphite Pro 90? it is circa around 1986, a black color with while lines, 14x18 same mold as the pog I think. any thought about that one? Prince has made so many similar rackets at that time, they all graphite/fiberglass composition.

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Yes, the Graphite Pro 90 and Power Pro 90 were super similar, both rather more flexy than even the original Graphite Comp 90, and just a degree more flexy than I like. Likable frames, though.