Isospeed Baseline Poly - I'm really impressed

[Carolina Racquet]

I've used Isospeed Baseline "Control" (16g) and I have to say I'm very impressed!!

I really like softer polys and IMO it's one of the softest available regardless of price... much to my surprise. The elasticity is even greater than my favorite string, Big Hitter Blue.

Even at 16g, it's playability is close to 17g Big Hitter Blue with a little less power, but even softer feel. Stringbed stays perfectly aligned and notching after 8-12 hours is minimal.

I've been getter 10-12 hours of quality play with it before I restring. I haven't noticed a great deal of tension loss and my Stringmeter shows only 7-8% loss of tension.

But lets do the math...

$40 a reel = 17 full string jobs at about $2.35 each. Equal to the price of a can of balls. Perfect.

The biggest problem with this string is that best to my knowledge, it's only sold in reels. Makes it a bigger commitment to try it out, but I went for it.

IMO this is a must-try for those looking for great value in a soft poly.

 

[pepka]

Have You tried Spin or Speed version?

 

[Carolina Racquet]

No, but I might try them when I next order. If I were playing a more closed pattern frame, I definitely would turn to those first.

My non-scientific opinion is that 16g strings maintain their playability longer and the reason I ordered Control was to help out a friend who is a chronic stringbreaker and didn't want to restring as often.

 

[pepka]

Cool, looking forward to it. Some guy who i ocassionally hit with, said that while it's super soft, it's not super comfortable... whatever that means.

 

[fgs]

interesting info - i played the 17L (1.20mm) and the 16L (1.25mm) and while i initially liked it really very much, after some 5 hours of hitting they went dead and i lost control for the rest of the life-time (which was around the 7 hours mark on the thinner one and 8.5 hours on the thicker one).
the string is very soft, very pleasent to hit with even on off center shots, really forgiving, has good to very good spin and directional control. for people with a shorter time window i'd recommend it over the much more expensive kirschbaum pro line II for instance without any reserve. for me, it is not a real option, as i get 8-10 hitting hours out of a mantis power poly for instance without having to restring. there are also some other strings that give me up to 10 hours of undisturbed playing pleasure, but all of them are more or less expensive than the mantis.

 

[bayoozen33]

I use Baseline Speed and I like it a lot. I get a lot more topspin and control than my old CF/Gosen Micro hybrid. Balls were really sailing on me with the hybrid and once I used the baseline, I started keeping everything inside the baseline. It lasts me a long time too. It is also easier on the arm than the hybrid, very little if any elbow or shoulder discomfort in months of using it. Amazing for the price!

 

[Carolina Racquet]

The softness was the biggest surprise for me. I automatically thought that a 'cheap poly' was going to be very stiff and unforgiving (aka Polylon).

I like the feel of 'fresh' poly and like to restring often. This is a great value for me. Going to string up a couple more to see how it plays in different types of frames.

 

[alidisperanza]

It can't be beat for the price. I Think of it this way... 1 reel v 3 packs of lux rough...

 

[SirGounder]

Yep I discovered the stuff recently and love it. Yes there are better polys out there, but they also cost a lot more. Baseline is comfortable, holds tension reasonably well, and just plays solid all around. At $40 a reel I'm sold.

 

[petercoffey]

It's in my top 5...very popular with the teams I string for

 

[Deleted member 120290]

Carolina, the last few times I played I went from BHBR 17 to Cyclone 18 because I use a powerful racket (YT Extreme Pro) and at low tensions (45 lbs.) Cyclone gives me better control. However I seem to get from elbow pain since it is pretty stiff. I love the comfort of BHBR and the crisp accuracy of Cyclone. I have a Klippermate so putting in a fresh set after each match (2-3 hours) is not an issue. To get the nearly the same comfort of BHBR and the control of Cyclone, would you recommend that I try BHSR or Isospeed? How would you compare these 2 to each other as well as to BHBR and Cyclone?

 

[BobFL]

I went trough 1 reel of Isospeed 16L. The string gives 2-3 hours max of average performance. After that it plays stiff, dead and it is very uncomfortable. It is cheap and it plays cheap. Furthermore, it is beyond stretchy and I had to readjust my k'mate 4-5 times to get it parallel to the ground...

 

[JTathlete]

great string for the first 2.5 hours and then performance goes downhill.. better value strings out there

 

[alidisperanza]

True but at 2.00 a set, it's almost worth cutting out if you think about it.

 

[JTathlete]

True but at 2.00 a set, it's almost worth cutting out if you think about it.

agree... if it works for you, then god bless!!

 

[bad_call]

True but at 2.00 a set, it's almost worth cutting out if you think about it.

great price but restringing that often would get old fast...

 

[weksa]

Carolina Racquet, what tension are you stringing the Baseline 16g at? I'm also assuming you're using a full bed.

I'm hybriding with Baseline 17L with Gosen OG Micro 17 in the 40s and low 50s, and I'm getting roughly the same amount of hours (includes practice). If I rallied harder more often, it would be less.

 

[BobFL]

True but at 2.00 a set, it's almost worth cutting out if you think about it.

For me it is not worth it. I would rather pay $120 for Silverstring or B5E and play for 8-10 hours (not to mention that these 2 are in different galaxy quality wise).

 

[alidisperanza]

Well, I agree. I've burned 2 reels of SS and am going to pick up one of B5E soon. But for others, it's a solid find.

P.S. SS comes out to about 7.00 a set on a reel.

Bad call-- I suppose for some. When you string enough frames a week one or two frames more doesn't make a difference

 

[Carolina Racquet]

Carolina, the last few times I played I went from BHBR 17 to Cyclone 18 because I use a powerful racket (YT Extreme Pro) and at low tensions (45 lbs.) Cyclone gives me better control. However I seem to get from elbow pain since it is pretty stiff. I love the comfort of BHBR and the crisp accuracy of Cyclone. I have a Klippermate so putting in a fresh set after each match (2-3 hours) is not an issue. To get the nearly the same comfort of BHBR and the control of Cyclone, would you recommend that I try BHSR or Isospeed? How would you compare these 2 to each other as well as to BHBR and Cyclone?

Isospeed is smooth and more powerful than Cyclone. When I drop the weight at 61# on my Klippermate in an OS frame, I have to feed about an inch more string into the tension jaw than Cyclone. It stretches that much.

I like Isospeed because it's very soft... softer than BHB. To me, the smooth string is still very receptive to spin in my frames. I do string the Isospeed about 3-4% higher than BHB because it is more elastic.

I haven't tried Isospeed yet at a low tension, so I won't speculate. However, IMO, Cyclone is THE string for low tension play because it is controllable. BHSR doesn't play like Cyclone. To me it's a crisper version of BHBR. Kind of surprised 45# Cyclone is causing arm problems as I had no problems in that range.

 

[bad_call]

Well, I agree. I've burned 2 reels of SS and am going to pick up one of B5E soon. But for others, it's a solid find.

P.S. SS comes out to about 7.00 a set on a reel.

Bad call-- I suppose for some. When you string enough frames a week one or two frames more doesn't make a difference

yeah hard to lower standards when i usually get 12+ hours. the only exception for this player is BBO which plays so sweet the first 2-3 hours.

 

[alidisperanza]

yeah hard to lower standards when i usually get 12+ hours. the only exception for this player is BBO which plays so sweet the first 2-3 hours.

If you like bbo in the 1st 2 hours try Dunlop Black widow--- fantastic for the 1st hour or so... Just wrote a review on it. Rather disappointing after that 2hr mark

I need to re-gauge my string breakage. Last month I was managing over 10hrs on Spider Silk/SilverString in my LM radicals (don't ask... it was my winter fad). This weekend I popped 4 frames, 2 POG mids in under 3 hours each with BWidow. One of my LM Radicals, and one of my friends' YT Speeds. Crazy stuff.