Luxilon ALU Power Rough vs. BB Ace

[devilish_duke]

Has anyone tried both these Luxilon strings before? I'm looking for a thicker Luxilon string for less power and think ALU power Rough would be great. Is there a decrease in spin potential, power, feel, playability, tension holding, etc? Thanks.

 

[Radical Shot]

I've played extensively with both. Ace is my all-time favourite string, and only discovered it after playing for years with ALU, and more recently ALU Rough.

Going from Ace to ALU Rough in my opinion results in

1. Less feel - harsher / stiffer stringbed in ALU
2. About the same power
3. Less spin
4. Greater durability
5. Greater tension maintenance
6. Harder to string
7. A change in colour ;-)

 

[devilish_duke]

Thanks for your comments. Is the loss of feel/more harsh very significant? Or is it just something small to be expected from switching from 18g?

 

[Radical Shot]

hmmmn, The thing I find with all Polys is that when hit them in the sweet spot, they are really sweet. Crisp and powerful....and ALU is one of the sweetest.

When you go off-centre, or when they start to go dead, that's where the harsh feel is really accentuated.

In general though, I find that ALU is harsher than Ace. I'm sure it has a lot to do with both the gauge and the composition of the string. Harsher is probably not the right word....stiffer, firmer is more apt.

Ace has a great soft feel that I haven't felt in any other poly.