Poly Reccomendations for Gut/Poly, Kevlar Hybrids, Anything helps

[ECchamp]

Current Racket: Wilson Pro staff 97LS Strung with VS touch/Alu Power Rough at 57/54.
For the first 2-3hrs it was great with good control, spin, lots of balls on the line. After that it was not as great, i am guessing the tension maintenance on the poly is not good. The strings have not broken yet, and i had this since near end of April. It is current a little over powered now, maybe a higher launch angle, but it needs that control it had before.
Other Rackets: Prince Warrior 100 ESP Strung with Rpm of some sort and a red poly, unknown tensions and gauges. Good spin, decent feel, i believe a little under powered as well.
Babolat Aeropro (10.6oz) strung with pro hurricane. I do not really like pro hurricane. for me, it does not have good feel, slightly under powered, not much spin either. I do not know if its the stringing or the racket, but, in comparison to my other rackets, i can not play with it.
I was curious about how some strings would be in a gut/poly or a poly hybrid and if i could get some feedback that would be great. I am looking for something with good tension maintenance that will last me a bit, longer than alu rough, good spin and control, decent power. Durable would be nice as i do not want to go restringing often but its not a priority as 2months or so, in my opinion was good, but a month or longer is ok. Also should any be prestretched?
Current String Investigations:
Volkl Cyclone 18g, Any differences between the colors?
Volkl Cyclone 19g
Luxilon 4g Soft
Dunlop BlackWidow either 16g or 17g
Gamma Glide
Solinico Outlast 16g
Solinico Revolution 16g or 17g
Solinico Tourbite :Any at the moment
Y-Tex Quadro Twist
Wilson Revolve 17g
Weiss Cannon: Any
Kevlar Hybrids: Crossfire ZX 17g or Kevlar/Monogut ZX
I have been reading the Power of ESP by Travelerjam post awhile ago, and was wondering about info on the kevlar hybrid and the tension differential. Also what kevlar should i choose if i went with the kevlar/zx? And i am guessing my prince racket would do great with the kevlar hybrid maybe? I am curious if the tension differential would also work with gut/poly. Any feedback on any of these strings would be great or advise including tensions, etc, and thanks a lot to those who do help. If there are any other string reccomendations or advise that would be great also. If, for a better recommendation, more info is needed from me, just let me know.
Everyone have a nice day.

 

[Franklin_B]

Current String Investigations:
Volkl Cyclone 18g, Any differences between the colors?
Volkl Cyclone 19g
Luxilon 4g Soft
Dunlop BlackWidow either 16g or 17g
Gamma Glide
Solinico Outlast 16g
Solinico Revolution 16g or 17g
Solinico Tourbite :Any at the moment
Y-Tex Quadro Twist
Wilson Revolve 17g
Weiss Cannon: Any

Of the ones on your list I've played with Outlast and Revolve in gut/poly hybrids. Revolve is a great cross for gut as it is slick and I didn't feel the need to restring the crosses before the gut snapped. Outlast is slick but felt like it lost a lot of tension over time and needed to be restrung as the launch angle with gut mains got high and harder to control. Isospeed blackfire is another cross I like; slick and controllable but stiffer than outlast. Check out SpinToWin's gut/poly thread for lots of opinions on setups. The first page has links to all the relevant posts you might need.

 

[ECchamp]

Of the ones on your list I've played with Outlast and Revolve in gut/poly hybrids. Revolve is a great cross for gut as it is slick and I didn't feel the need to restring the crosses before the gut snapped. Outlast is slick but felt like it lost a lot of tension over time and needed to be restrung as the launch angle with gut mains got high and harder to control. Isospeed blackfire is another cross I like; slick and controllable but stiffer than outlast. Check out SpinToWin's gut/poly thread for lots of opinions on setups. The first page has links to all the relevant posts you might need.

Thank you for your response. It seems like outlast would give me the same issue I have right now. Revolve does seem like a good choice from some posts I have read, and is good in price IMO. But how was the spin and control of revolve, and which color were you using? I have actually seen, and read bits of that gut/poly thread, but it does not have the info on exactly what I'm looking for, but if more people have same issues with outlast, I will not consider it an option any more. Also, how does isospeed Blackfire compare to revolve? Thanks.

 

[Franklin_B]

Thank you for your response. It seems like outlast would give me the same issue I have right now. Revolve does seem like a good choice from some posts I have read, and is good in price IMO. But how was the spin and control of revolve, and which color were you using? I have actually seen, and read bits of that gut/poly thread, but it does not have the info on exactly what I'm looking for, but if more people have same issues with outlast, I will not consider it an option any more. Also, how does isospeed Blackfire compare to revolve? Thanks.

Both spin and control were better than outlast but pocketing and comfort were less. I played with the black revolve, never tried the white ripspin or revolve. I think black fire was better for control but not as good for spin compared to revolve. Black fire is a great string if you can keep your swing speed up, it felt like the control only got better if you swing faster. It's probably one of the best poly crosses from a price/performance perspective.

 

[SpinToWin]

Revolve definitely should be your main pick as a cross in a spin effect racquet such as the 97LS, as it maintains its slickness very well. Your only (justified) worry will be tension loss, for which I highly recommend you pre-stretch the strings.

Personally, I think you should try a full bed of Revolve. It plays exceptionally well in that frame.

 

[ECchamp]

Revolve definitely should be your main pick as a cross in a spin effect racquet such as the 97LS, as it maintains its slickness very well. Your only (justified) worry will be tension loss, for which I highly recommend you pre-stretch the strings.

Personally, I think you should try a full bed of Revolve. It plays exceptionally well in that frame.

I'm guessing you have a pro staff then. From the TW review, it seems tension maintenance wasn't an issue however, but everyones different right. Also would I just go up to my stringer and say, "while you are at it, prestretch it" (obviously not in that manner). Have you experimented with the colors, because I have seen for some that colors affects the strings? Also, have you tested volkl cyclone or 4g soft in your thread yet? Also what would the difference between a full bed of revolve and gut/revolve? Thank you for your feedback.

 

[ECchamp]

Considering I can't buy any strings yet, and I noticed a bit of views, anybody else got any opinions or comments they would like to say. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[Steve Huff]

My favorite is Pacific XForce. It has good feel for a poly. I used it with Pacific Classic Gut. Played very nicely.

 

[Franklin_B]

Also what would the difference between a full bed of revolve and gut/revolve?

Gut/revolve will have a bit more power and feel softer. Spin and control should still be good though.

 

[Imago]

First thing first, I would change VS Touch...

 

[Maui19]

I have tried a bunch of gut/poly hybrids. My go-to setup has been Pro Line II as a cross. It is excellent for spin, power and tension maintenance. Lately, I found that pre-stretching my strings has produced an incredibly consistent stringbed. Where before I would get around 20 hrs of play before the stringed would start to "trampoline," Now my strings play great until the gut breaks.

I just started trying Revolve as a cross, and it is very very similar to PLII. It give perhaps slightly more spin and slightly less power, but it is such a subtle difference that I may just be imagining it. I don't know about longevity yet.

I have tried other strings that produce more spin, but they don't last at all.

 

[Allcourtguy]

I have been playing with Volkyl 19g black / Revolve 17g and I am really enjoying it. I've got 10 hours on it and it played very well last night. The tension loss has been excellent, some denting on the Revolve but not enough to lock up the mains. Spin has been huge and control has been very good. I am using a Pure Drive Tour and I've heard a lot about it being difficult to do touch shots with it, but it has been easy for me with this string combination. I recommend you at least give it a shot, but I can't say yet how long it would last you. The TW testers got 3 weeks out of both of these strings in their playtest, so I guess it's possible you could get a month...

AllCourtGuy

 

[Shroud]

For the kev/zx I have just used ashaway kevlar with the zx. Its a great combo if you prestretch it all, especially the zx.

I have done the tension differential with gut/poly using vs/mosquitobite, and vs/Lux Alu power IIRC.

It sounds like you like your strings but that they dont last that long. Try prestretching the poly for 3 minutes or more and or using the machine settings if you can. ANd its possible that the rough is roughing up the gut so you get less snapback. It would be obvious looking at the mains. If they are out of place then maybe ditch the rough and just do the power.

Also if you are using gut/poly, then go to kevlar/zx then lower the tension a bunch. IIRC I went from gut/mosquito bite at 62/47, to kevlar at 47/40. Then ended up with something like 52/42 or something like that.

 

[Maui19]

As much as I've enjoyed my gut/Revolve combo, I think I am going back to Pro Line II. It is a really excellent string.

 

[ECchamp]

First off, i would like to say thanks again to everyone who has replied.

First thing first, I would change VS Touch...

Why change the VS Touch? Unless you are referring to the power coming from the gut, which in theory i guess doesn't help, but with the right crosses its good.

For the kev/zx I have just used ashaway kevlar with the zx. Its a great combo if you prestretch it all, especially the zx.

I have done the tension differential with gut/poly using vs/mosquitobite, and vs/Lux Alu power IIRC.

It sounds like you like your strings but that they dont last that long. Try prestretching the poly for 3 minutes or more and or using the machine settings if you can. ANd its possible that the rough is roughing up the gut so you get less snapback. It would be obvious looking at the mains. If they are out of place then maybe ditch the rough and just do the power.

Also if you are using gut/poly, then go to kevlar/zx then lower the tension a bunch. IIRC I went from gut/mosquito bite at 62/47, to kevlar at 47/40. Then ended up with something like 52/42 or something like that.

How was the tension differential in gut/poly? And sadly i don't own a stringing machine, and i don't know if the stringers prestretch yet. Also considering theres no pro shop in my area, its a little hard to get stringers. I'll see if i can post a picture of my strings later, for whatever it helps.
If i did do kevlar/zx, u think 63/49 is a good place to start, since it would be 7 away(+-) from 56lbs, the "optimal tension"? I may try it also in my prince, because the prince has good spin usually.

I have been playing with Volkyl 19g black / Revolve 17g and I am really enjoying it. I've got 10 hours on it and it played very well last night. The tension loss has been excellent, some denting on the Revolve but not enough to lock up the mains. Spin has been huge and control has been very good. I am using a Pure Drive Tour and I've heard a lot about it being difficult to do touch shots with it, but it has been easy for me with this string combination. I recommend you at least give it a shot, but I can't say yet how long it would last you. The TW testers got 3 weeks out of both of these strings in their playtest, so I guess it's possible you could get a month...

AllCourtGuy

Thanks, i'll definitely try it in one of my rackets, once i know what strings im going with (bulk order probably). I just said a month cause unless the strings require it, i am just doing the restring how often you a week at the moment.

 

[ECchamp]

I have tried a bunch of gut/poly hybrids. My go-to setup has been Pro Line II as a cross. It is excellent for spin, power and tension maintenance. Lately, I found that pre-stretching my strings has produced an incredibly consistent stringbed. Where before I would get around 20 hrs of play before the stringed would start to "trampoline," Now my strings play great until the gut breaks.

I just started trying Revolve as a cross, and it is very very similar to PLII. It give perhaps slightly more spin and slightly less power, but it is such a subtle difference that I may just be imagining it. I don't know about longevity yet.

I have tried other strings that produce more spin, but they don't last at all.

I'll look into it as well.

 

[meltedsteam]

You should consider using Monogut ZX Pro as a cross for hybriding outside of just Kevlar. As a cross I have experience with Gamma Glide, Isospeed Blackfire, Solinco Outlast ,Weiscannon Silverstring, Pacific XForce, Pacific PolyForce Gamma iO, several Sythetic Guts, and Monogut ZX; of those I would rate Monogut Zx, Isospeed Blackfire, and Pacific Xforce as the best options.

 

[Imago]

Why change the VS Touch?

Because of the "slightly firmer feel" which, ironically, equals lack of responsiveness. Any cheap Indian gut is better in this respect.