Best Smooth Poly as Cross for Natural Gut (Wilson/Klip Legend) in a 16x19 Racquet ?

Best Smooth Poly as Cross for Natural Gut (Wilson/Klip Legend) in a 16x19 Racquet ?

  • Luxilon Alu Power/4G

    Votes: 25 32.9%
  • Head Hawk/Sonic Pro

    Votes: 4 5.3%
  • Signum Pro Poly Plasma

    Votes: 4 5.3%
  • Babolat RPM Blast (almost smooth round shape)

    Votes: 3 3.9%
  • Yonex Poly Tour Pro

    Votes: 10 13.2%
  • MSV Co-Focus

    Votes: 8 10.5%
  • Topsin Cyber Blue/Cyber Flash

    Votes: 8 10.5%
  • Others

    Votes: 14 18.4%

  • Total voters
    76
  • Poll closed .

yangster007

Professional
I know this question must have been asked about 1 million times in the past few years, but I added some extra options.
Best Smooth Poly as Cross for Natural Gut (Wilson/Klip Legend) in a 16x19 Racquet ?
1. Luxilon Alu Power/4G
2. Head Hawk/Sonic Pro
3. Signum Pro Poly Plasma
4. Babolat RPM Blast (almost smooth round shape)
5. Yonex Poly Tour Pro
6. MSV Co-Focus
7. Topsin Cyber Blue/Cyber Flash
8. Others
 
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franks

Rookie
I know this question must have been asked about 1 million times in the past few years, but I added some extra options.
Best Smooth Poly as Cross for Natural Gut (Wilson/Klip Legend) in a 16x19 Racquet ?
1. Luxilon Alu Power/4G
2. Head Hawk/Sonic Pro
3. Signum Pro Poly Plasma
4. Babolat RPM Blast (almost smooth round shape)
5. Yonex Poly Tour Pro
6. MSV Co-Focus
7. Topsin Cyber Blue/Cyber Flash
8. Others


I find Topspin Cyber Blue very smmoth.
 

hoodjem

G.O.A.T.
Are you looking for soft or durable or feel?

Soft--Yonex PTP
Durable--Topspin CF
Feel--MSV Co-Focus
 
I've personally always liked Weisscannon's Silverstring, 17g - parred with VS 17g in the mains.

It doesn't tear up the gut, and seems to have a good lifespan to keep up with the gut in the crosses.

Strings up well too.

Other choices would be Lux ALU, and a soft Babalot non textured poly.
 

John Z.

Semi-Pro
I know this question must have been asked about 1 million times in the past few years, but I added some extra options.
Best Smooth Poly as Cross for Natural Gut (Wilson/Klip Legend) in a 16x19 Racquet ?
1. Luxilon Alu Power/4G
2. Head Hawk/Sonic Pro
3. Signum Pro Poly Plasma
4. Babolat RPM Blast (almost smooth round shape)
5. Yonex Poly Tour Pro
6. MSV Co-Focus
7. Topsin Cyber Blue/Cyber Flash
8. Others
How about 'kirschbaum proline 2' ? I personally like it but can't compare as i haven't tried that many.
 
I get why people like soft poly in an all poly bed.
But why would you want to pair a soft cross with gut mains? It is gut! Doesn't it notch more easily on day one?

I use gut mains with a hard, thin, slippery poly cross. Rpm dual 18, solinco tour bite 19, rpm blast 18, hurricane 17, head lynx 18.
 
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yangster007

Professional
I get why people like soft poly in an all poly bed.
But why would you want to pair a soft cross with gut mains? It is gut! Doesn't it notch more easily on day one?

I use gut mains with a hard, thin, slippery poly cross. Rpm dual 18, solinco tour bite 19, rpm blast 18, hurricane 17, head lynx 18.

Thin cross notches the main much more. If I string Tour Bite and RPM Blast cross, might as well get scissors and cut my strings out.
 

taurussable

Professional
Yonex Poly Tour Pro might be a good string in its own but personally I find it not suitable for gut cross. Inspected closely, it looks kind of matte instead of glossy.

msv co-focus OTOH is glossy and hopefully has much less friction.
 

SpinToWin

Talk Tennis Guru
Yonex Poly Tour Pro might be a good string in its own but personally I find it not suitable for gut cross. Inspected closely, it looks kind of matte instead of glossy.

msv co-focus OTOH is glossy and hopefully has much less friction.

Glossy and matte? How does that determine anything?? :confused:
 

KaiserW

Hall of Fame
Currently using PTP as cross with gut and it seems smooth and is comfortable. Before that I was using Topspin Cyber Blue and I was getting insane spin but it hurt my arm. So if you are after more spin I would try Cyber Blue.
 

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Dunlop Ice is as smooth as glass, and slides super easily like it was silicon'ed.
SolincoTourBite16 is smooth also, does have some notches, but it slides easily along it's flats, so no wear on the mains.
 

Dimcorner

Professional
I'm trying it out with Ashaway Zymax right now and it feels pretty good. From my observations Zymax usually wins out against other strings in getting notched.
 

sm01

Rookie
Am playing Klip Legend 17 crossed with Klip K boom 17 and it is great. You can buy it prepacked from TW for 20 bucks. Very good snap back, minimal notching. Great crisp feel, good spin, scalable power, good touch, good playable life. RPM blast 18 works well also. But i think i prefer the K boom. Another good choice may be Tier One Durafluxx 18. Smooth slick, slight shape. Moderate in every category.
 

Crisp

Professional
Try Tourna Black Zone. I have found it really good not just for the $$ value but in general even over more expensive strings.
 
D

Deleted member 293577

Guest
I use Yonex PTP as a main, but can't justify using Nat Gut in a hybrid. A respectable multi works too. PTP has great feel and control in a hybrid.
 

yangster007

Professional
4G is goat cross for Babolat gut mains.

4G is great, but 2 pricey though, and a little bit too dead for my taste. I want the cross to not affect the feel of the gut main too much (aka not too stiff). Currently using YPTP as cross and loving it.
 

Rjtennis

Hall of Fame
I get why people like soft poly in an all poly bed.
But why would you want to pair a soft cross with gut mains? It is gut! Doesn't it notch more easily on day one?

I use gut mains with a hard, thin, slippery poly cross. Rpm dual 18, solinco tour bite 19, rpm blast 18, hurricane 17, head lynx 18.

Well I can't use a 18/19 G because I would snap it in a half hour. Also, the strings you are talking about are pretty dang soft when you are using that thin of a gauge.
 
You must hit a lot harder than me. I am pretty happy getting five to seven hours per frame out of the gut mains. Three frames last me 2.5 weeks. The 18g crosses do not break because the gut does.

Anyway, best wishes with your string setups.
 

yangster007

Professional
You must hit a lot harder than me. I am pretty happy getting five to seven hours per frame out of the gut mains. Three frames last me 2.5 weeks. The 18g crosses do not break because the gut does.

Anyway, best wishes with your string setups.

What frame/string pattern do you have ? And do you play w/ a lot of spin ?
 

KaiserW

Hall of Fame
You must hit a lot harder than me. I am pretty happy getting five to seven hours per frame out of the gut mains. Three frames last me 2.5 weeks. The 18g crosses do not break because the gut does.

Anyway, best wishes with your string setups.

Wow you are happy getting 5 to 7 hours with gut mains. That is not much and quite expensive. What gauge gut are you using?
 
I am fine with it, i have an old star three in the spare room and i enjoy stringing for myself and for my family. I spend way more money on natural gut than i ought to, but for me, it is worth it and nobody (my wife) ever complains, probably because i do not have any other regular addictions (alcohol, coffee, tobacco, luxury watches, luxury cars, road bike gear, etc). I just get sticks, strings, overgrips and shoes a lot because i am a tennisdork.

I order either vs gut 17 or Tonic ball feel mains in three pure strike 16/19s with lead, leather and an overgrip, 359g total, headlight goodness.

I am way happier with my 5 to 7 hours than you beasts who would break the gut mains in thirty minutes, haha! That would not work for me....having to string every night. The cost of gut is less of an issue than the time.

I have never had any elbow problems but this string set up helps with my severe case of tenniselbophobia. According to my team of clinical psychologists, my tenniselbophobia has heightened as i have switched away from the flexible frames i have enjoyed for four full decades (i.e., wooden kramers and maxplys, the max 200G, puma becker pro, volkl c 10 comp, c10 pro, prestige, babolat storm LTD, pure storm tour, aerostorm tour, etc.)

I just want to love the game into my late forties, fifties and sixties...and i want my arm to hold up. I am a strong guy, and this is the equipment side of it. The strength/flexibility aspects and the technical aspects are of equal importance to me, too. But the equipment part is the easiest to control: fresh strings, grips and even shoes. Yes, i battle plantar fasciitiphobia, too, but this is a very mild case.
 

arche3

Banned
I am fine with it, i have an old star three in the spare room and i enjoy stringing for myself and for my family. I spend way more money on natural gut than i ought to, but for me, it is worth it and nobody (my wife) ever complains, probably because i do not have any other regular addictions (alcohol, coffee, tobacco, luxury watches, luxury cars, road bike gear, etc). I just get sticks, strings, overgrips and shoes a lot because i am a tennisdork.

I order either vs gut 17 or Tonic ball feel mains in three pure strike 16/19s with lead, leather and an overgrip, 359g total, headlight goodness.

I am way happier with my 5 to 7 hours than you beasts who would break the gut mains in thirty minutes, haha! That would not work for me....having to string every night. The cost of gut is less of an issue than the time.

I have never had any elbow problems but this string set up helps with my severe case of tenniselbophobia. According to my team of clinical psychologists, my tenniselbophobia has heightened as i have switched away from the flexible frames i have enjoyed for four full decades (i.e., wooden kramers and maxplys, the max 200G, puma becker pro, volkl c 10 comp, c10 pro, prestige, babolat storm LTD, pure storm tour, aerostorm tour, etc.)

I just want to love the game into my late forties, fifties and sixties...and i want my arm to hold up. I am a strong guy, and this is the equipment side of it. The strength/flexibility aspects and the technical aspects are of equal importance to me, too. But the equipment part is the easiest to control: fresh strings, grips and even shoes. Yes, i battle plantar fasciitiphobia, too, but this is a very mild case.

What do you feel is the difference between vs 17 mains and tonic 16 mains? I'm assuming a poly cross. I'm debating using 17 gut mains with my usual 1.25 4G cross. But I hate changing gear.

More spin? Less spin? More power?
 
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yangster007

Professional
I am fine with it, i have an old star three in the spare room and i enjoy stringing for myself and for my family. I spend way more money on natural gut than i ought to, but for me, it is worth it and nobody (my wife) ever complains, probably because i do not have any other regular addictions (alcohol, coffee, tobacco, luxury watches, luxury cars, road bike gear, etc). I just get sticks, strings, overgrips and shoes a lot because i am a tennisdork.

I order either vs gut 17 or Tonic ball feel mains in three pure strike 16/19s with lead, leather and an overgrip, 359g total, headlight goodness.

I am way happier with my 5 to 7 hours than you beasts who would break the gut mains in thirty minutes, haha! That would not work for me....having to string every night. The cost of gut is less of an issue than the time.

I have never had any elbow problems but this string set up helps with my severe case of tenniselbophobia. According to my team of clinical psychologists, my tenniselbophobia has heightened as i have switched away from the flexible frames i have enjoyed for four full decades (i.e., wooden kramers and maxplys, the max 200G, puma becker pro, volkl c 10 comp, c10 pro, prestige, babolat storm LTD, pure storm tour, aerostorm tour, etc.)

I just want to love the game into my late forties, fifties and sixties...and i want my arm to hold up. I am a strong guy, and this is the equipment side of it. The strength/flexibility aspects and the technical aspects are of equal importance to me, too. But the equipment part is the easiest to control: fresh strings, grips and even shoes. Yes, i battle plantar fasciitiphobia, too, but this is a very mild case.

16 gauge gut/17 gauge smooth poly lasts ~30 hours for me, so I must be hitting like a little girl ?
 

yangster007

Professional
What do you feel is the difference between vs 17 mains and tonic 16 mains? I'm assuming a poly cross. I'm debating using 17 gut mains with my usual 1.25 4G cross. But I hate changing gear.

More spin? Less spin? More power?

If you are using 18x20 string pattern then 17 gauge gut is fine, if you are using 16x19 racquet, 17 gauge gut will last half as long as Tonic 16 gut.
 
What do you feel is the difference between vs 17 mains and tonic 16 mains? I'm assuming a poly cross. I'm debating using 17 gut mains with my usual 1.25 4G cross. But I hate changing gear.

More spin? Less spin? More power?

At first the 17 feels way better to me. The 16 feels stiffer. Then after a set or two, they give Similar feel and spin. Just better durability on the thicker one.
 

jbm

Rookie
I play with Cyber blue 16g in the cross with Tough Gut in the mains, and find it smooth. My question however, is it one of the softer polys out there and if not what smooth polys may be softer?

Thanks
 

Sander001

Hall of Fame
You must hit a lot harder than me. I am pretty happy getting five to seven hours per frame out of the gut mains. Three frames last me 2.5 weeks. The 18g crosses do not break because the gut does.

Anyway, best wishes with your string setups.
Have you tried using a thicker gauge in the cross? That thin cross localizes friction to a smaller area, you might get longer life with a fatter cross.
 

QuadCam

Professional
Yonex Poly Tour Pro might be a good string in its own but personally I find it not suitable for gut cross. Inspected closely, it looks kind of matte instead of glossy.

msv co-focus OTOH is glossy and hopefully has much less friction.

I like PTP in a full bed, but it is a bit textured compared to other round, smooth polys. I don't get the same snapback/spin with my gut/poly hybrids when I use YPTP.

CoFocus 1.18 is hard to beat for spin production as a cross with VS Black Gut.
 
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QuadCam

Professional
I'd say 60% of the time I break my poly crosses first. The gut sliding over the poly grinds the poly down and it snap on me.

Really??? I've never run into that issue. The mains always break first. The only I've broken a cross was when using poly mains and gut crosses.

for me, the main notches from sliding across the poly cross.
 

jk175d

Semi-Pro
solinco outlast was my cross of choice when I used gut mains. Now I certainly would be trying Prince Tour XC in the crosses if I still used guy mains.
 

Shangri La

Hall of Fame
As mentioned earlier, Silverstring and Mosquito bite are excellent polys to go with gut. Good tension maintenance, long-lasting playability, and very nice ball feel.
 
Have you tried using a thicker gauge in the cross? That thin cross localizes friction to a smaller area, you might get longer life with a fatter cross.

Yes, that does prolong the life, but i feel i am getting more spin and better response from the thinner cross.

The gut breaks before the poly dies, so i am happy, so is my elbow.
 

coloskier

Legend
If you go with 16 gauge gut main, and 17 gauge poly cross, you'll end up breaking the poly first before you break the gut, even with a rough shaped poly like Tour Bite. Then just throw in the cross string again until the gut breaks, usually about the same time the cross breaks for a 2nd time.
 

yangster007

Professional
If you go with 16 gauge gut main, and 17 gauge poly cross, you'll end up breaking the poly first before you break the gut, even with a rough shaped poly like Tour Bite. Then just throw in the cross string again until the gut breaks, usually about the same time the cross breaks for a 2nd time.

Yeah I normally restring the cross after 15-20 hours
 

MixedMaster

Semi-Pro
I'm not sure if many on the board have tried the Gamma iO, but it's a great string. It maintains its' tension for a long time and strung with a gut main I've gotten tons of hitting time in. I play about 3 or 4 days a week, about 3 sets a day, and they are still playing well. I strung both sticks the first of may. Right now I' sold on the string.
 
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