Please help narrow down poly options

[Tronco20]

So here's the deal: is there a poly that meets the following criteria?

A) cheap, affordable.
Max. 70-80€ per reel (200metres)
We can eliminate the Luxilons, Solincos, Babolats, Yonexes etc.

B) durable.
Lasts 8-9 hours. (Then breaks or will be cut out anyway)
Eliminating Signum Pro Firestorm (didn't last me much the last and only time I tried)
For reference, I play with topspin; Blast, TB, Confi, MSV FH last me max. 8 hours on red clay (all 1.25)

C) holds tension well.
If it holds tension for 7-8 hours (no dramatic tension loss over the life-span), it's perfect

D) stiff.
I like 200-240 stifness.
Preferred regular Blast over Rough because the latter was just too comfortable and elastic, Blast is more direct and not uncomfortable for me. I don't have sensitive wrist or elbow (elbow sometimes lets know when it doesn't like some string, only once severe pain - Hyper-G 1.25, but I think it was due to intense and tense match, my arm probably wasn't as loose/bad technique. I didn't have problems later with stiffer strings.

E) easily available in Europe.

F) preferrably round (and gauges 1.25-1.30) as I've found a shaped string that meets all the criteria: MSV Focus Hex and Soft 1.23, 1.25 respectively.
But if you know of a shaped string that's even better than MSV, let me lnow.

So what's left?
Thank you in advance

 

[Tronco20]

And the racquet it's intended for is Wilson Burn 100 v1 (very wide mains string spacing, rather narrow cross string spacing), an almost head heavy racquet with a 34cm strung balance. 303gr static weight unstrung.

The string might be used in my other favourite racquet, PS 100 3rd Gen, which interestingly, has narrow mains string spacing and very wide cross string spacing (FSI power is to blame I guess)

 

[Purestriker]

So here's the deal: is there a poly that meets the following criteria?

A) cheap, affordable.
Max. 70-80€ per reel (200metres)
We can eliminate the Luxilons, Solincos, Babolats, Yonexes etc.

B) durable.
Lasts 8-9 hours. (Then breaks or will be cut out anyway)
Eliminating Signum Pro Firestorm (didn't last me much the last and only time I tried)
For reference, I play with topspin; Blast, TB, Confi, MSV FH last me max. 8 hours on red clay (all 1.25)

C) holds tension well.
If it holds tension for 7-8 hours (no dramatic tension loss over the life-span), it's perfect

D) stiff.
I like 200-240 stifness.
Preferred regular Blast over Rough because the latter was just too comfortable and elastic, Blast is more direct and not uncomfortable for me. I don't have sensitive wrist or elbow (elbow sometimes lets know when it doesn't like some string, only once severe pain - Hyper-G 1.25, but I think it was due to intense and tense match, my arm probably wasn't as loose/bad technique. I didn't have problems later with stiffer strings.

E) easily available in Europe.

F) preferrably round (and gauges 1.25-1.30) as I've found a shaped string that meets all the criteria: MSV Focus Hex and Soft 1.23, 1.25 respectively.
But if you know of a shaped string that's even better than MSV, let me lnow.

So what's left?
Thank you in advance

C is pretty impossible for most Poly's. Have you tried Kirskhbaum Super Smash Orange? If you were OK with textured, their black shark is awesome.

 

[Tronco20]

C is pretty impossible for most Poly's. Have you tried Kirskhbaum Super Smash Orange? If you were OK with textured, their black shark is awesome.

I haven't. Will try the Orange one.
I really like Kirschbaum PLX 1.25 but it's discontinued.

As for the C, I remember Yonex Poly Tour Spin 1.25 held tension great, so did Hyper-G (only in 1.25 strangely, 1.20 was terrible. Weird since it's the same material to have such discrepancy). Both were unbearably muted though. I'm okay with RPM Blast muted, but those two was just too much

 

[jimmy8]

Tourna big hitter silver 1.30
Kirschbaum pro line evoution 1.25

These have everything you want.

You might like
Big hitter silver 7 tour
Big hitter black 7

 

[Tronco20]

Tourna big hitter silver 1.30
Kirschbaum pro line evoution 1.25

These have everything you want.

You might like
Big hitter silver 7 tour
Big hitter black 7

Thanks for the suggestions.
Will try Evolution.

I should have mentioned earlier that of all popular strings here on tt, I really disliked KB PL II (both 1.25 and 1.30) and Tourna BHS7T 1.25.

 

[emhtennis]

I second Kirschbaum. They should meet almost all your criteria. Isospeed is also worth looking into.

Your cheapest option should be Pros Pro. Worth trying just to see if you like any of their offerings, especially if you're doing your own stringing.

 

[fuzz nation]

Agree with the recommendation to check out Kirschbaum - their Pro Line Evolution seems to hold up pretty well (I'm not a poly player, but I've been stringing for locals for several years).

Isospeed Baseline is cheap enough that you can buy a full reel just to try it. If you want more firm and durable, maybe think about the 1.35mm version.

 

[K1Y]

Signum pro poly plasma?

 

[MaiTai]

-Tru Pro Black Knight 1.23 or 1.28 (6 sided but mild. Plays between round and shaped)
-Tru Pro Durafluxx (shaped and durable, stiffer than BK)
-Tru Pro Atomos (round-ish, Petal Shaped, stiff but plush feel, string low around 21 to 23 kg)

-Around 73€ per Reel on sale (Tru Pro has many many sales)
-Available in europe (Website: Tru Pro Europe)
-Playability/tension drop off nearly not noticeable
- Additionally Tru Pro has the best Service i‘ve seen, so you’re safe if something goes wrong with your delivery.

 

[Sharkall]

MSV Bussard seems to fit your criteria. Though I can't comment on full-bed durability, since I mostly use it as a crisp cross to a softer mains which snaps/gives up sooner than the cross.

 

[Tronco20]

Thanks guys, so I've narrowed it down to:
1. KB Pro Line Evolution
2. KB Super Smash Orange
3. Tru Pro Black Night
4. MSV Bussard (Why have I never heard of this string before?? Is it new? Is it renamed? Is it so old that it's forgotten?)
5. SPPP - this is the only one I've played before, and only the 1.18 gauge which was solid and rather heavy for its gauge. Will try thicker ones.

I didn't like Pro's Pro Cyber Power so I'll pass on their strings. And Isospeed Baseline only if none of the five works. (I use Black Fire which is a bit more premium than Baseline and the tension maintenance is ambiguous. It's a very good string but I doubt Baseline will be greater)

 

[aaron_h27]

Poly Tour Pro is $120 a reel if you search online from verified retailers. Also Razor Code may be an option.

A little out of your price range but good options that pro players use.

 

[Tronco20]

Poly Tour Pro is $120 a reel if you search online from verified retailers. Also Razor Code may be an option.

A little out of your price range but good options that pro players use.

for 30 minutes unfortunately... I've played with PTP 1.25 a lot, it's magical for the first two hours, then it lets me down, changes behaviour.

Never played Razor Code, might try one day when all cheaper options don't deliver

 

[veelium]

Thanks guys, so I've narrowed it down to:
1. KB Pro Line Evolution
2. KB Super Smash Orange
3. Tru Pro Black Night
4. MSV Bussard (Why have I never heard of this string before?? Is it new? Is it renamed? Is it so old that it's forgotten?)
5. SPPP - this is the only one I've played before, and only the 1.18 gauge which was solid and rather heavy for its gauge. Will try thicker ones.

I didn't like Pro's Pro Cyber Power so I'll pass on their strings. And Isospeed Baseline only if none of the five works. (I use Black Fire which is a bit more premium than Baseline and the tension maintenance is ambiguous. It's a very good string but I doubt Baseline will be greater)

I still find it strange that you rate Black Fire's tension maintenance so low, imo better than the PLX you exchanged me in that regard.
Great string for 65euros a reel.
I'd skip Baseline if you care about tension maintenance, it's a good string for its 35euro a reel price point but tension maintenance is not its strong point.

 

[einca13]

I second Black Knight, been playing it for awhile and it is one of the few strings I have found that plays consistent throughout its life after a 30 minute break-in. Just does everything so well.

My 2nd choice would be Focus Hex, a solid string for the price and plays a little similar to BK.

 

[Tronco20]

I still find it strange that you rate Black Fire's tension maintenance so low, imo better than the PLX you exchanged me in that regard.
Great string for 65euros a reel.
I'd skip Baseline if you care about tension maintenance, it's a good string for its 35euro a reel price point but tension maintenance is not its strong point.

Maybe I just worded it badly. I've played Black fire so many times but never under "normal" conditions. I usually write down notes about each string I'm testing, so I'll have 6-8 entries for every time I play a string consecutively. Either I played BF on wet autumn clay when everything snaps after 3 hours, or indoors (that's the only proper log and the 3rd or 4th entry was already "lost snapback", "erratic" etc.), Black Fire has this lovely slick coating but I'm not sure it lasts more than 4 hours, will have to try more.

 

[aaron_h27]

for 30 minutes unfortunately... I've played with PTP 1.25 a lot, it's magical for the first two hours, then it lets me down, changes behaviour.

Never played Razor Code, might try one day when all cheaper options don't deliver

Try PTP 1.20. I never had a problem with tension maintenance and I verify this with RacquetTune

 

[Chairman3]

Gosen Polylon

 

[Tronco20]

Try PTP 1.20. I never had a problem with tension maintenance and I verify this with RacquetTune

It's funny but to make a long story short:
-bought a reel of ptp yellow 1.20 based on people's amazing experience
-used 3-4 sets and I could never control the ball after 2 hours of playing
-sold the rest of the reel locally
(Maybe it was the string/racquet combination. I used it in a PD 2018, relatively open string pattern. It just didn't work at all)
With PTP, my and my friend's experience is
1.30>>1.25>1.20

1.30 is the back-up plan but it's still too expensive, I'm sure there are cheaper and equally good (or better) round strings out there

 

[aaron_h27]

It's funny but to make a long story short:
-bought a reel of ptp yellow 1.20 based on people's amazing experience
-used 3-4 sets and I could never control the ball after 2 hours of playing
-sold the rest of the reel locally
(Maybe it was the string/racquet combination. I used it in a PD 2018, relatively open string pattern. It just didn't work at all)
With PTP, my and my friend's experience is
1.30>>1.25>1.20

1.30 is the back-up plan but it's still too expensive, I'm sure there are cheaper and equally good (or better) round strings out there

That sounds like you went too low with tension. PTP 1.20 is slightly pre-stretched at the factory and shows 33% tension loss on TWU. My personal experience is that it also holds tension well and verified by RacquetTune. I string it at 55 lbs in my 98 sq inch frames and I can probably get about 16-20 hours out of a string job. After 20 hours of play it drops down to around 42-44 lbs which I then cut out and re-string.

I did use a different stringer once and found it dropped tension quicker, my uncle normally strings my rackets on a CP electronic machine and takes his time to avoid tension loss

What do you mean by too expensive? Its $120 a reel. How much are you expecting to pay for a reel of string?

 

[3loudboys]

MSV strings offer good value.

 

[Tronco20]

That sounds like you went too low with tension. PTP 1.20 is slightly pre-stretched at the factory and shows 33% tension loss on TWU. My personal experience is that it also holds tension well and verified by RacquetTune. I string it at 55 lbs in my 98 sq inch frames and I can probably get about 16-20 hours out of a string job. After 20 hours of play it drops down to around 42-44 lbs which I then cut out and re-string.

I did use a different stringer once and found it dropped tension quicker, my uncle normally strings my rackets on a CP electronic machine and takes his time to avoid tension loss

What do you mean by too expensive? Its $120 a reel. How much are you expecting to pay for a reel of string?

Well, I get max. 6 hours from 1.20 polys (I play most of the season on red clay, the grains cut through polys like a saw, and I play with a lot of top spin. My friend, a flat hitter, has the same string for over a year, although he doesn't play as often) and apart from Confidential 1.20 and Head Hawk 1.20, all other polys at this gauge were terrible for me, I don't know if it was the tension drop but they just became uncontrollable (HyperG, TB, Revolution,...)

As for prices, you're probably not familiar with European string pricing, MSV Focus Hex + Soft are about 50-69€/200metres, PTP used to be 80-90€, I once bought RPM Blast 200m reel for 98€ (now it's 175-200€ suddenly) Signum Pro, Kirschbaum are high quality strings for 50-90€. PTP and PTS are around 80-90€ with some temporary 10% discount. I remember being tempted by 112€ for PTFire and 120€ for PTStrike.
So 120€ is too much when you can get the same quality for half the price.

 

[Chairman3]

If you like Yonex, PT Strike 1.20 has excellent tension maintenance. I got 10 to 12hrs before the strings really started moving. I don't break poly

Didn't mention previously as it sounded like it was too pricey for you

 

[4-string]

MSV strings offer good value.

+1. I have Focus Hex Soft in both 1.25 (red) and 1.30 (black), and both play great and last surprisingly long. Crisp and direct feeling string IME.

I have several kilometers of Pros Pro string. I never use any of it, just useless in my opinion.

 

[Fintft]

Mayami Tour Hex or in a hybrid, as a cross with Big Spin mains.

 

[einca13]

Thanks guys, so I've narrowed it down to:
1. KB Pro Line Evolution
2. KB Super Smash Orange
3. Tru Pro Black Night
4. MSV Bussard (Why have I never heard of this string before?? Is it new? Is it renamed? Is it so old that it's forgotten?)
5. SPPP - this is the only one I've played before, and only the 1.18 gauge which was solid and rather heavy for its gauge. Will try thicker ones.

I didn't like Pro's Pro Cyber Power so I'll pass on their strings. And Isospeed Baseline only if none of the five works. (I use Black Fire which is a bit more premium than Baseline and the tension maintenance is ambiguous. It's a very good string but I doubt Baseline will be greater)

Curious, after narrowing down the list were you able to settle on one?

 

[Tronco20]

Curious, after narrowing down the list were you able to settle on one?

Sorry but you'll probably hear the result this time next year the earliest. I'm post right shoulder surgery and can not hit serves and FHs properly yet. And I have a reel of Black fire to use up first. (I break strings every 6-7 hours so it won't take long. But first I have to start playing again...)

 

[einca13]

Sorry but you'll probably hear the result this time next year the earliest. I'm post right shoulder surgery and can not hit serves and FHs properly yet. And I have a reel of Black fire to use up first. (I break strings every 6-7 hours so it won't take long. But first I have to start playing again...)

Sorry to hear that. Good,luck on the road back.

 

[Tronco20]

Sorry to hear that. Good,luck on the road back.

So I realised I’d get back to this thread as I’m back to tennis, fully committed. My reels of Black fire and KB PLX are far from finished but I’ll be experimenting with new strings anyway.
The thing is I’ve moved away from Pure Strike 100 3rd Gen to Head XT Speed MP.
The gaps between strings are rather big (I broke multi in them after 50 minutes) so I think I’ll go for gauge 1.28-1.30 directly. I want to try Evolution in 1.30, Poly Plasma in 1.28 and I have sets of V Torque 1.28 and Cyber Blue 1.30 I’ll try first.

I might give Focus Hex soft 1.30 and regular 1.28 a shot even though they’re shaped

 

[Trip]

@Tronco20 - Since you're already acquainted with Kirschbaum, I would try Max Power – their beefiest, longest-consistency option by far. And definitely order a few sets of MSV Bussard, which surprisingly firm, almost to the point of being lifeless, so make sure to string it low.

Beyond those two, if you'd ever consider letting playing something longer than 10 hours, say, even just 12-15, then perhaps something a little pricier (but not much) might be worth it, provided it actually delivered enough playability for that long. The main examples I'm thinking of:
- Head Hawk - 113€/reel @ TWE - Provided you didn't mind, or actually preferred, something low powered, IMHO Hawk outclasses and outlasts a good chunk of other stuff in this thread. Great tension maintenance, extremely durable and dent resistant and better and longer-lasting snapback than a lot of others.
- Hyper-G Round - 100€/reel @ TWE - Since you mentioned regular H-G, this is certainly worth a look.

Another thing to think about, if you haven't already, is lowering your tensions, especially with Max Power and Bussard, which are firm enough that they don't need anywhere near the amount of tensile load to perform at their best, and the lower you go, the better the tensions maintenance anyways, as there's less of it to lose to begin with.

Hope some of that helps!

 

[Tronco20]

@Tronco20 - Since you're already acquainted with Kirschbaum, I would try Max Power – their beefiest, longest-consistency option by far. And definitely order a few sets of MSV Bussard, which surprisingly firm, almost to the point of being lifeless, so make sure to string it low.

Beyond those two, if you'd ever consider letting playing something longer than 10 hours, say, even just 12-15, then perhaps something a little pricier (but not much) might be worth it, provided it actually delivered enough playability for that long. The main examples I'm thinking of:
- Head Hawk - 113€/reel @ TWE - Provided you didn't mind, or actually preferred, something low powered, IMHO Hawk outclasses and outlasts a good chunk of other stuff in this thread. Great tension maintenance, extremely durable and dent resistant and better and longer-lasting snapback than a lot of others.
- Hyper-G Round - 100€/reel @ TWE - Since you mentioned regular H-G, this is certainly worth a look.

Another thing to think about, if you haven't already, is lowering your tensions, especially with Max Power and Bussard, which are firm enough that they don't need anywhere near the amount of tensile load to perform at their best, and the lower you go, the better the tensions maintenance anyways, as there's less of it to lose to begin with.

Hope some of that helps!

Thanks for the suggestions! I definitely prefer low-powered, I like to swing fully, without being afraid of sending the ball too long. I usually achieve this by stringing 25/24kgs but I’m really interested in stringing lower tension than that because:
1. Elbow
2. The squares on my Head Speed are rather big, the strings have more freedom-> more prone to breaking.
So ideally, 24/23 max would be great.
That Head Hawk description is actually just what I need: “Great tension maintenance, extremely durable and dent resistant and better and longer-lasting snapback than a lot of others.”
I play on dusty clay in summer, most strings I have (Black Fire, RPM Blast) rely on slick coating, which wears off extremely fast on our red clay. The string become horrendous after a couple of hours, useless, no snapback whatsoever.

I once had Hawk in 1.20 gauge and it had the best tension maintenance of all polys in 1.20 i’d tried. The feedback was dull but I could live with it as long as it keeps the properties you mentioned.
And I’m absolutely fine with cutting a string out after 8 hours on clay. It usually breaks at the 8th hour anyway.
So thanks again, I’ll try Hawk and Bussard out. If it doesn’t work out, will give HyperG a try

 

[Tronco20]

Curious, after narrowing down the list were you able to settle on one?

Hi! So I’m slowly narrowing it down. My racquet of choice is now Head Speed MP (the XT) version.
I’ve played with KB Evolution 1.30 (I can not go thinner in this racquet, 1.25 snaps after 3-4 hours), and it was good, lasted 5 hours on wet clay, the last hour the stringbed wasn’t very controlled. It’s a very good string but i’m gonna look for sth better.
Currently testing Volkl V Torque 1.28, much better but only played for an hour with it so far. My hopes are up!

 

[borracho]

Did you try MSV Bussard in the end? Curious what you think of that one. In the past my round poly was Signum Pro Poly Plasma 1.27, but that was 15 years ago . Have you tried MSV Co Focus? Is basically the round version of Focus Hex. On racketpedia seems superior to KB Evolution and only 56€ per reel.