On the other end.... String that just blew you away and you did not see it coming... ???
- Thread starter SteveI
- Start date
For me it’s comfortably crisp, above average spin potential, good feel, and holds tension well compared to other polys. IMHO, BK is currently the best bang for the buck poly string on the market.
niketennispro
Rookie
Pros Pro Strategem 10. Such a solid all around offering for dirt cheap. Doesn't do anything one thing great, but if you've got the strokes, you can do as you please with it. Only issue is durability, but at that price point who cares?
Thiem's 1HB
Rookie
Alu Power with the Fluorocarbon cross string that someone recommended on here was amazing. Playability was very short lived but for those first couple of hours, it was sensational.
LocNetMonster
Professional
Actually, the manufactured twist is what I like about Big Spin over Firewire. Honestly, I don't find it any more difficult to string than any other poly. But, I don't use Big Spin or FireWire as a cross. My anecdotal experience is aggressive shaped strings as crosses work against the triangle shaped mains and the performance is lower. With my 16x19, 97sqin frames a slippery cross like GhostWire or Prince XC perform so much better. I'm not a big hitter and play doubs most of time so comparing mileage is definitely going to vary. Unless I'm stringing for someone who hits every shot with slice on both wings, I go triangle mains, super slick cross. I think you'll get increase in "durability" if you hybrid it as well.
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
For me, the issue with Big Spin was just that the pointed edge wore smooth, in essence becoming a thin gauge round string, rather than any physical property change in the string that caused playability to go down. You are right that the twists prevent as much string movement compared to using a round cross, and it may be that having more movement in the mains may cause the wear rate to go down. Still, in that five or six hours before the wear becomes an issue, the string plays really well.
Bummer. I enjoyed reading the reviews people posted about their strings. You get more honest reviews posted here than on some manufacturers sites. I would imagine he will not be back here.
alidisperanza
Hall of Fame
I have a playtest thread here--- I hope I linked that to the right post with my thoughts.
After ripping through a reel of it, it's my go-to string. You can't beat the price/performance value. I think my impressions still remain pretty consistent. Its a no-frills, no-nonsense string that doesn't disappoint provided you can swing out. Input and output are linear and it's utterly useless if you don't have the RHS to boot. If new gut/lux is the be-all standard that I measure by and a 100% I'd say this is a 70% string. It does everything pretty well and consistently for the majority of string life.
I play with the vcore pro 97 which is a pretty low powered stick and I still find that it has enough pop when needed and enough control to suit my game. I've been somewhat lax with my reviews and testing but I preferred it to Hyper G-- it's softer and more predictable overall. I prefer it to Tourna Black 7 in my yonexes-- it's a little more stiff and has less pocketing, but lasts longer and plays more consistent. You'll have to give me comparison ideas since I don't know what's mainstream nowadays, haha. Root around in the thread, there are a bunch of links on the first page!
alidisperanza
Hall of Fame
alidisperanza
Hall of Fame
I was a big fan of Discho. Not the best for hybrids but a great training string.
1HBHfanatic
Legend
-revolve or revolve.SPIN ??
-what color is it?
Boubi
Semi-Pro
Lefty5
Hall of Fame
Tourna Silver 7 Tour is definitely my string of the year. Took a few tries to dial in the tension, ended up going about 3 lbs below my regular poly tension and it turned into magic. Likewise, to further stretch my buck I'm trying Tourna's premium poly. Reels for $31 out there if you know where to look. I also liked the Ytex quadro twist. Nice spin, but the tension mait was just so so.
1HBHfanatic
Legend
-ahh yeah, if it was orange, it was the round w.revolve
-that color came out early with the release of the wilson burn racquets of 2015 (i think)
-i like that color
-the green w.revolve.SPIN came out with the release of the wilson blades
-i personally like w.revolve, but i like w.revolve.spin (5sided) better, grabs the ball a bit better
Great call.
I tried a couple of the polys, and liked them. I think one of them was iontec.
But for me the real gem was discho multi fibre. IMOH, it was far and away the best multi on the market. Shame it doesn’t seem to be as available (if at all) anymore stateside. But word is Signum Pro Micronite is the same stuff. Never got around to confirming that though, as I caught the poly bug.
beltsman
Legend
FWIW I've tried both Black Knight and Tour Status (similar strings). I BELIEVE that Black Knight is suited for more advanced players, while Tour Status is softer and more forgiving. That was my impression, but I could be wrong. I haven't played a ton with Black Knight because I simply love Tour Status, so your mileage may vary.
beltsman
Legend
I'll add in to this thread Hyper-G. A few years ago I wasn't into strings at all. I played with syn gut exclusively. As I started to get a little better, hit harder, more spin, etc I was breaking syn gut all the time. I decided I needed to try poly. I think I bought a racquet that came with Hyper-G in it, and I was blown away. Going from syn gut to Hyper-G was like a religious experience. Keep in mind I hit with a SW grip and use topspin. So it was like playing tennis on cheat mode. My level immedately went up and I was dusting guys who used to beat me. It literally felt like cheating. I know why Sampras called it Cheatilon. Hyper-G is still great, but I wanted to share my first poly experience. It was simply a joke with the amount of spin and control on shots you ripped! I was like why the **** was I playing with syn gut for years? Poly is simply laughable in its effectiveness if you play with topspin.
alidisperanza
Hall of Fame
Yes, Iontec was great, both the pissy salmon color and black, but I def preferred the black. I don't touch multi so I can't comment much there but the natty gut they had was so cheap you may as well have sprung for it if you enjoy the playstyle.
I always wanted to try the nat gut, but seemed like every time I was ready to put an order in they were out of stock.
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LOBALOT
Hall of Fame
You should really buy a set of VS and try it once in a hybrid with a round poly cross. I always thought it was too steep for me and wouldn't make a difference in my game.
A lot of my friends play with it. I finally decided to try it and really feel like it has had a noticeable benefit in my play vs. full poly.
My thinking is to heck with it. I am not getting any younger and I enjoy tennis and if I like the string so be it. I don't care what it costs.
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Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was referring to the Mamba nat gut - when they were still open.
I’ve played extensively with other brands of nat gut - both full bed and gut/poly hybrids. Indeed the gut poly hybrid is a huge upgrade in the feel department, over full poly.
I’ve just grown accustomed to playing matches with a full bed of fresh poly. Less expensive to string up, and i don’t feel as bad about cutting it out when I want to restring. If I could afford to string nat gut/poly before every match, I’d probably do it.
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SCRAP IRON
Professional
How would you describe Durafluxx? I ordered them along with Firewire but have yet to use either strings. Thanks and be safe.
djNEiGht
Hall of Fame
muted to comfy feedback. granted i've used in in a very flexy racquet. The grey reminded me of tour bite and the string description rated it as firm. I found that I could swing out with the string. It will be firmer than Firewire and not give that intense ball bite...but not by much. What are your most common strings used?
cheers
SCRAP IRON
Professional
I have used so many poly strings. The strings that I have used most often recently would include Wilson Revolve and Solinco Hyper G in 18 gauge. In a previous flexible frame I have used Technifiber Black Code 4S and it was very responsive with as much spin potential as any string on the market.
Take care
I enjoyed the black as well. I did try the salmon color. Their gut strings were great. They had trouble getting a supplier so that is why they stopped carrying it.
Shaolin
G.O.A.T.
Great and underrated string. Used it for many years and love it.Topspin Cyber Flash 17
I bought a racquet 2nd hand on TT, and the string was in it.
I was shocked. Never before had I tried a poly with super feel
Know you weren’t talking to me, but I thought I’d chime in. I recall durafluxx having a muted feel that was comfy, but never “mushy” or overly soft. First time out it gave me a predictable, no muss, no fuss response. I also demo’d RS-Lyon around the same time, and TBH I recall the two feeling fairly similar.
The one thing I didn’t like with durafluxx was that the second time out it seemed to have dropped quite a bit of tension, so much so that it was fairly useless - couldn’t keep a ball inside the baseline. Indeed, much of that (if not all) could have been me. And maybe I strung it too low from the start. But once I tried Black Knight, I didn’t bother to go back and give durafluxx another shot.
I still have a set of Tour Status laying around, that I’ve yet to try.
As for Black Knight, indeed Tier 1 bills it as a string for 5.0 and above level players. Strange. I’m a 4.5, and I ignored their recommendation. I’m glad I did. Didn’t observe anything with BK that should scare off players beneath 5.0. Best I can guess is Tier One is trying to differentiate between their offerings.
beltsman
Legend
I don't know the actual dynamics that go into the differences between, say, Tour Status and Black Knight. But my impressions were that Tour Status is softer and more playable. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know the chemical makeup of the strings. I am pretty certain that Tour Status and Firewire are the exact same material though, just shaped differently. Which makes it perfect for hybrids together.
I would guess that you’re right. I’ll def give the Tour status a go at some point.
beltsman
Legend
Let us know how it compares to Black Knight. I'm curious to hear your thoughts.I would guess that you’re right. I’ll def give the Tour status a go at some point.
Also, if you find that the moderately-shaped Tour Status doesn't provide enough bite on slice or serve, try Firewire in the crosses. If you want more topspin (but potentially less control), try Firewire in the mains. I think it's a great idea to have strings made of the same material with different shapes. Makes it super easy to hybrid. (I personally go with Tour Status mains and Firewire crosses. I find that Tour Status lacks horizontal bite).
TierOneSportsOfficial
Rookie
We are happy to hear that you like Black Knight. We just want to mention a few things with regards to string recommendations. The guidelines that we provide on our website are just suggestions based on the data we have collected over the past 5 years.
String Gauge: Every string offers particular string characteristic tendencies that fit one type of player over another. Some strings offer more control than others, are more or less durable, offer more spin, feel, etc...This becomes particularly true when one compares 2 strings at the same string gauge.
This premise will change if one would compare poly string #1 in 16g to poly string #2 in 18g. If you would compare Black Knight 16g with T1-Firewire 16g one will probably notice that Black Knight, even if the string is played for a couple of hours, will provide much more control than T1-Firewire. So, as a general premise we would not recommend T1-Firewire 16g to a high level Div 1 college player due to his high racket speeds and consequently losing ball control but would rather recommend a string like Black Knight.
If, on the other hand, a 4.5 player, whose primary string preference is control and durability and secondarily access to spin, we could imagine that Black Knight 17g is a good fit.
If we would want to give detailed string recommendations for every string and its gauges on our website it would be a highly complex matrix since a variety of factors contribute to selecting the right string.
HELPING PEOPLE IN THE STRING SELECTION PROCESS: Due to the complexity of string selection, we created an online form with specific questions that, we believe, will allow us to offer more accurate, personalized recommendations.
One word of advice (and this is a recommendation for anybody who plays co-polyester strings in general): We have been receiving a lot of data through our system and one of the most striking tendencies that we see when analyzing our data is that players often play co-polyester strings at a gauge that is too thick!
Players should keep in mind that ANY co-polyester string sold on the market will be "dead" material after about 10-15 hours of playing time. So, if you see that your string does not break in the first 10-15 hours of playing time, we would recommend looking at the next lower string gauge (We are sometimes blown away to see that, for example, a 45 year old 3.5 lady plays with a 16g co-poly!!!).
Hope this information will help some players to make the right string choice
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brownbearfalling
Hall of Fame
Weisscannon silver string- very good tension maintenance and great performance for the price. WC doesn’t get too much attention outside of enthusiasts.
Head Sonic Pro edge- it’s not the shape (maybe) but rather the composition of the material. To me it feels very comfortable for a poly with maintaining decent tension. Also another that goes under the radar for people.
solinco tour bite soft-it exactly what a soft poly should be. Less vibration from the string bed, decent performance and decent tension maintenance. I didn’t have a good impression of solinco with their first strings (outlast and original tour bite). Tour bite soft is impressive.
have yet to try yptp but it’s on the list. I’m not expecting much but we will see
Head Sonic Pro edge- it’s not the shape (maybe) but rather the composition of the material. To me it feels very comfortable for a poly with maintaining decent tension. Also another that goes under the radar for people.
solinco tour bite soft-it exactly what a soft poly should be. Less vibration from the string bed, decent performance and decent tension maintenance. I didn’t have a good impression of solinco with their first strings (outlast and original tour bite). Tour bite soft is impressive.
have yet to try yptp but it’s on the list. I’m not expecting much but we will see
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FIRETennis
Professional
Not to go off topic, but I agree. The majority of pros play with 16L/1.25mm or thinner gauges yet club level players insist on thicker gauges for durability and the illusion of control.
Co-polys can go dead even faster than 10-15 hours depending on how hard you hit and how many balls you hit per hour.
PS. Any plans on making your strings available on the European version of TW?
ron schaap
Hall of Fame
Do you still use it and how do you compare it with Concept?
2nd Serve Ace
Hall of Fame
Just have to say, hyper g is a pretty good poly!
Caught me off guard since I thought tour bite and outlast were terrible.
Caught me off guard since I thought tour bite and outlast were terrible.
RickySpanish
New User
Definitely prince synthetic but it's been a while since I've tried new strings. Years ago when I was playing 6-7 days a week in my college years I tried every string I could imagine and spent lots of money on expensive multis and polys. I refused to try prince synthetic cause it seemed like the "poor mans" string. My stringer recommended I give it a try and I was blown away by how lively it felt especially for the price. In fact, when I first met my wife (we met teaching tennis) I made fun of her for using prince synthetic cause she lived in a very affluent town and could afford "better". That conversation didn't go to well for me, but clearly ended up ok. Unfortunately it's now a TW exclusive and I like to support my local small businesses so I'm on the search for a replacement.