DJ-
Hall of Fame
funny this thread popped up again, I love it with nat gut (klip legend) exceptionally durable and easily get 30-36hrs, plays great throughout. Looking at trying it with a multiester this time in the mains
Grapplesnake Irukandji
- Thread starter AMGF
- Start date
Power Player
Bionic Poster
What do you think the ALU in ALU Power represents
They co-polyesters, meaning they add materials like metals when they are manufactured.
DJ-
Hall of Fame
@Power Player During winter I go 53m 51x's, warmer months 55m /52x - in more closed patterns I like it 50/48. I'm a 16g user where possible, although some 17g work for me.
AMGF
Hall of Fame
Not anymore because I'm not using gut/poly anymore. I'm back to full poly and restring every 4 hours.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Nice. Yeah I oscillate between the 2 a lot. Either low tension full poly or gut poly in the high 50s. Looking forward to trying this setup out.
pizzadontdie
New User
Finally got around to trying Irunkadji and it really did provide awesome snap back. I used it as cross with Velocity 17 as main at 54/50. I think I’ll play with the main, as Velocity felt a little muted & low power. That’s always been my issue using poly in the cross though. Never feel like I get enough feedback or pop, but comfort is always great. I’m sure natty gut would solve some of these problems, but I can’t justify price when poly cross will die in a week. Next I’ll try signum Micronite perhaps.
Are you saying the Irunkadji died in a weeks time?
pizzadontdie
New User
No, it hasn’t died at all yet. The muted feel is 100% from using velocity, as I strung this up just an hour before I used it.
Okay, thank you for the clarification.
tele
Hall of Fame
ime, micronite gets pretty sticky after the first few hours with a poly cross. it feels and plays well before that, though.
pizzadontdie
New User
Any recommendations? I’ve found AK Control and Pro Cx a little muted as well. Finding a multi that plays well past 3-4 hours seems impossible .
tele
Hall of Fame
I like hdmx in low-mid 50s but not any lower. It is a little muted but less so than velocity. with a poly cross, hdmx slides pretty well until it breaks, though it does soften up a bit as time goes on.
A lot of people like multifeel black. I did not love the sensation of multifeel, but from what I remember, it was crisper than velocity.
It was designed to be used as a cross for natural gut. I do not think it would play or feel the same with poly mains.
On a flat surface, the total contact area is not that important as it reduces the pressure as well. Theoretically, friction is proportional to the normal force, not the surface area (ideally). Now, when notching or denting, a curved contact surface might indeed increase friction as it increases surface more than it reduces the pressure. In that way, flat cross strings are probably beneficial.
Regarding the extra work (I guess you meant stringing?) the first time I strung a very sharp squared string like ultra cable (full bed), every string sat perfectly flat without even trying. It happens to me almost every time I string a squared shape (Tour Bite, black code 4s, Hyper -G...) I guess with a rectangular shape it will be even more easy for the string to lie on its wide side as it's meant to.
In my experience I would never recommend anyone to string UC as a cross. It's one of the sharpest strings I've ever seen (or touched), and imho the s2s friction listed in TWU is quite overrated (meaning it's not as low). It's quite slick, but definitely not among the most slick. And due to its sharpness I would only recommend it as a main with round crosses that stay away from its edges as much as possible.
It's supposed to be the wide side. Prevents denting and notching, so less friction and more durability. It also will allow the mains to protrude more from the stringbed (over the narrow 0.9 mm gauge) increasing ball bite.
It would actually be quite difficult to try and string it any other way, I admit I haven't tried it yet (or strung it) but from my experience the string will naturally lie on its wide side (unless you're doing some strange twisting motion while weaving, which is often seen in the last 1~2 crosses).
I can definitely see the benefits with poly mains. See my comment above (last reply)
Can definitely reccommend Irukandji as cross with any sort of mains. Used it as a cross with gut (VS) which is by far my favorite gut/poly setup.
Tried it with GS Game Changer as mains which was great. Am currently using it with Confidential as mains - love it.
Overall it provides massive snapback, no notching, linear tension drop (also depending on mains).
Stringing it is rather a pita. Be very cautious while weaving it. In my experience, twists mostly occur after pulling it. If it twisted, one usually has to pull it out and start the cross from the beginning. Very annoying for Irukandji beginners.
Tried it with GS Game Changer as mains which was great. Am currently using it with Confidential as mains - love it.
Overall it provides massive snapback, no notching, linear tension drop (also depending on mains).
Stringing it is rather a pita. Be very cautious while weaving it. In my experience, twists mostly occur after pulling it. If it twisted, one usually has to pull it out and start the cross from the beginning. Very annoying for Irukandji beginners.
In view of this, I prefer Isospeed Rexxxer or Stringlab orbitour. Also oval but more rounded and not so much twisting while stringing.
That said, the twists when I had while first stringing Irukandji didn't affect durability or performance in my case.
Sounds great! A coil I ordered just arrived today. I'm planning to test this crossing Tour Sniper, S7T and maybe Confidential. If it goes well I may try it with Zero and see if it can stand up to Sync as ultimate cross string.
I'm excited to try it already!
I'll be aware about the stringing, thanks for the advice!
Swift update on the confidential/ Irukandji combo - I have to backpedal a bit: For whatever reason the confi completely dies after 3-4h and hangs in the stringbed like noodles. Plays like a different racket now. Trampolinish with rocket launch-angle.
Better start with Tour Sniper for longer lasting fun.
Coolhwip
New User
I would recommend stringing Irukandji 3-5lbs higher than the mains because it has that initial tension dropoff. I've had that trampoline effect when I had it strung the same/lower than the mains. Confidential has great tension maintenance while Irukandji doesn't have the best. The big variation in tension b/t the mains/crosses causes that launchy effect.
bluewaterpro
New User
anybody try Irukandji in the cross with Aspera in the main? Opinions? Currently use Ghostwire cross.
I think the twisting issue can be avoided pulling the string from the grommet it comes out until its end pinching it with the fingers on the flat sides to make sure there are no twists in it before sticking it inside the next grommet and weaving. If you "thread" the grommet with a different orientation (which could be half a turn, a whole turn, 1½ (540°), etc...) then twists will eventually appear when pulling the cross.
It's still a pain in the ass but at least you won't have to pull it out entirely.
I also tried to pull back a little the cross and then twist the string outside the racket in the opposite direction several times until the string untwists inside the stringbed and then pull it out again, but it doesn't always work well.
The string works great. It really allows the main to slide. Very good snapback and particularly great access to spin (imo it shines more in the ease for the main to be pulled to the side than the speed with which it slides back).
Tried it with S7T on the mains on a Blade 98s so far. Next will probably be Tour Sniper mains.
bluewaterpro
New User
THanks for that. I will be trying Irukandji in the cross and will report back
