I play the Yonex Ezone DR 98 and have ordered some Isospeed Cream after reading about it's positive elements. I would like to know what those of you that play Cream string it at, compared to a standard poly? I assume I may need to string it a few pounds tighter than I am stringing a more traditional poly? Currently I have some Volkl V-Pro 18g in the frame at 46lbs. I'm a long time hybrid player, poly mains, synthetic crosses, but am trying all poly at this time. Suggestions?
Question for users of Isospeed Cream - tension?
- Thread starter lstewart
- Start date
Notirouswithag
Professional
I have it at 52# in my Yonex Vcore SV98
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
I have it as a cross in my Phantom 100 and 93P. 17g. 48 lbs in the 100 and 46 in the 93P. It’s definitely livelier than a lot of other poly strings. So as a main in a DR 98 I’d probably string at 48-50.
CiscoPC600
Hall of Fame
I have it at 46lbs in my VCORE 95 but it's the 1.23m gauge. It gets a bit powerful after it breaks in so I might bump up the tension and/or try the thicker gauge.
NuBas
Legend
I don't think you need to treat it differently much, a couple pounds higher may suffice but it doesn't drop tension badly. One thing I noticed with Cream that's true is it feels like a mix between a poly and a syn gut or multi. For me I find polys comfortable and to me syn gut feels plastic and hollow. Cream is soft and has soft impact but isn't mushy, comfort is on par with Silverstring.
If you have VPro 18g mains and a synthetic cross then I would use the same tension for cream. If full bed of vpro then 47or 48 for cream.
It doesn’t loose tension as quick as the VPro...it’s prestretched. Your VPro 18g will loose tension quickly, so if you like the feel of the VPro after an hour of play, then string Cream the same @46.
I used to string cream at 47 in my DR98, but that’s just me.
Best of luck.
CiscoPC600
Hall of Fame
For those that have used the 16L, what tension do you string it at?
Notirouswithag
Professional
have done 52# , 54#, and 56# in my Blade 98L 16x19 and currently have it at 52# in my SV98, want to get 17g and try it at the same tension and see how it bahaves in my yonex, but TW is always sold out of it when i want to purchase it, gr
the 16L in my blades were very comfy and plenty powerful,
the 16L in my blades were very comfy and plenty powerful,
Matto
New User
Early this year I strung my Dr98 with cream 16L. I thought that I should bump up the tension a little more than I normally use. I strung it at 53/51. I was surprised how long it took me to break in this strings. The first couple of hours were a little difficult to use. For me, once the string broke in the power and feel kicked in.
Notirouswithag
Professional
Still going strong, FB of cream in my yonex sv98.
Ended up buying another SV98 and throwing a FB of 17g Hyper G in it, but I prefer the latter
Ended up buying another SV98 and throwing a FB of 17g Hyper G in it, but I prefer the latter
CiscoPC600
Hall of Fame
You prefer Cream or Hyper G? Latter means Hyper G but the "but" threw me off haha.
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Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've historically played poly mains, synthetic crosses, and strung the poly in the 52 / 53 range, and the synthetic in the 55/56 range. Just the last month I've been trying (again), all poly, and 46 was my starting point with the V-Pro 8g. The wrist and elbow are iffy, so all poly is always a little dangerous. Hope the Cream will be a little more arm friendly, while still providing the extra spin I get from all poly. Probably will try it as a full bed at 50 to start, and see how that feels.
Notirouswithag
Professional
It's a toss up at this point. The 16L cream feels fantastic but has more pop, but the 17g hyper G isnt too muted and dead.
I will say that Hyper G gives alot more spin than the Cream does, but both are equally as comfortable
CiscoPC600
Hall of Fame
Your comfort comment doesn't seem supported by most Hyper G users around here or the TW compare strings tool but hey, everyone reacts differently to strings.
zettavaska
Rookie
Your use of "but" is quite confusing... no offense
NuBas
Legend
No, he's right, Hyper G is comfortable because it has some give even though its not as soft as Cream. Stiffness index for Hyper G is high but it doesn't feel that way, its actually comfortable like a Cyclone. Cream is comfortable along the lines of Silverstring.
BTW people keep mentioning spin, honestly you don't need that much spin, as long as the ball goes over the net, you have spin. I would not say spin is something that helps me win my matches more, its more your technique and decision making. Everyone has spin but good technique makes for more spin than a string.
NuBas, my comments about spin relate to what stays in, while swinging all out, with my normal stroke. I have played for years with a hybrid poly main/ synthetic cross. Pretty good spin in that I can swing hard with my normal strokes, which don't have huge topspin. What I've found with all poly, I get just a little extra topspin with that same swing, which makes bombed forehands land just inside the baseline, instead of 6 inches out. But there is alot I don't like about all poly. At least for me, that's what I am talking about when I mention spin. Clearly all strings create spin, but I am talking about enough extra spin added to my normal strokes to allow all out swings stay within the baseline.
NuBas
Legend
Oh ok, if you are moving from a hybrid to full poly then I guess you do notice more of a difference. I was talking about between poly on polys.
Notirouswithag
Professional
I know most people find it a stiff string, I dont. It feels opposite to me, slightly muted, but still soft and not stiff on my arm at all. Ive strung it at a variety of tensions on my past blade 98L's from 52-57# in both 16/17g and each time I never had any sign of stiffness or discomfort.
My shoulder and elbow havent given me any indicators of it being uncomfortable and I still find it not to be. I hit for 2.5 hours this morning with my sv98 strung with the hyper G 17g and its probably sitting in the high 40's now tension wise
I strung the Cream yesterday and overreacted to how soft it felt out of the package. Did not feel like a poly, so I wimped out on the tension, and strung it at 52. I've been hitting Volkl V-Pro 18g at 46 for the past couple of weeks. Hit last night, trying the freshly strung full bed Cream, and it was too tight. It should loosen up a little, as most strings lose some tension the first 24 hours, but I suspect it won't drop enough. I'll give it a couple of days, and if it does not break in to a comfortable level, will try again at upper 40's. Stringing it, it reminded me of another string I had tried 7 or 8 years ago. Can't really remember what it was, maybe another Isospeed string from back then. My gut feeling at this point is that Cream might be something I would use as a hybrid cross with a more normal poly main, but probably won't end up being an all bed string that will generate enough spin for what I am looking for. Maybe strung at a lower tension I will be surprised.
CiscoPC600
Hall of Fame
String it above 46. Perhaps 48. I really wish the compare strings tool would record the spin rate for cream but unfortunately they didn't test that. Chris gave it an exceptionally high spin score, for whatever that's worth. I clicked around some of his reviews and his trend seems to be to give most strings high marks on spin.
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
Question for other Cream users: Tension maintenance. I've been using Cream as a cross in a gut/poly hybrid and wondering when this string tends to die. It's still feeling pretty good after about 10 hrs and my gut still seems to be holding up. In the past I'd wait for the gut to break before changing string which worked well with 4G but not with Alu power. So is cream going to stay resilient until the gut goes or should I expect 15 hrs tops from this string?
zettavaska
Rookie
I'm at 15 hours and still feels great. I can see the gut starting to fray a little but I feel like I have at least another 15 hours left. FWIW, I use a semi-western grip. Mine was strung initially at 53/50 - 1.30mm gut main X 1.28mm cream cross
Edit: guy to "gut"
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Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
Ok good to know. I hate to overuse poly since I've had TE and am sensitive to dead poly strings. I also play with a semiwestern FH grip.
zettavaska
Rookie
Update. At 21 hours now and starting to notice slight notching on the cream. Stringbed still wouldn't be considered "locked" by any means but something I've noticed. Spin/control is still evident. Will try and update in 9 hours.
Using 50# in a Cream 16L (1.28) x Forten Sweet 16 hybrid, Wilson 6.1 95 16x18. Tried 45# and it was too soft and powerful. I get the impression that unlike "dead" polys, Cream has a tension to power ratio more like synthetic gut so stringing at low tension is out of the question.
zettavaska
Rookie
Update. Initially at 53/50 - 1.30mm natural gut main x 1.28mm cream cross.
At 30 hours of play now and NG is fraying in a lot more places. I feel like it could pop at any moment or on a bad shank - let's see if I get another 10 hours or so out of it.
The 30 hours was roughly 15 hours of singles and 15 hours of doubles.
Strings do not feel "dead" and still have good spin and control with the ball. RacquetTune is measuring at 48 lbs which is no different from when I tested it after 10 hours of play and 20 hours of play. Quite surprised about this.
Will update again when it pops.
Traffic
Hall of Fame
I never kept Cream in L/C combo long enough for Cream to die on me.
But I have kept Cream in V/C long enough. And yes, it does die. But it doesn't necessarily lose more tension. And you are still getting lots of resiliency from gut. The reason that I restrung was because V lost its teeth and was worn out. That was causing me to alter my shots. My game started to go down, even less power, and my arm actually started to hurt again.
I'm not sure gut will lose its properties like Velocity did. So a dead Cream would still be fine against Gut.
zettavaska
Rookie
Update at 32 hours. 17 hours of singles and 15 hours of doubles
Surprised the cream popped. Thought the NG would go first
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
I think this is what's happening now. I'm still getting good play out of the gut and the Cream is dead but contributing only smoothness for snapback at this point. It's still playing ok but I think I might change it. Unfortunately I hate swapping out gut before it breaks but my stringer won't do "crosses only" stringing.
On the bright side, Legend is inexpensive for gut so I don't feel as bad compared to using VS.
I had tried a full bed of Cream at 48 in my Yonex Ezone DR 98. Gave it several tries, and did not care for it. Did not feel like I was getting enough spin. Spent a couple of weeks trying out some demos, so Sunday went back to the DR 98's. Took the full bed of Cream, and replaced the crosses with a Pacific 16g poly, also at 48. Hit with it yesterday, and wow, played great. Not crazy spin, but enough to keep the ball in play when swinging all out. More of a penetrating ball flight, with just enough dip. Power level felt right at the edge of having control, so probably will need to try this set-up next time at 50lbs. I was originally thinking the Cream might be better as a cross string, but really played well leaving it in the mains and crossing it with a more standard poly.
signum pro poly plasma 18g worked really well as a cross string for me...maybe give that a whirl at your own desired tension...relatively cheap string too, cant beat that value, i usually go about ~50 lbs SPPP crosses
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I finally snapped an Cream main but I'm moving away from the Cream/syngut hybrid. I can't seem to find a tension setup that reduces liveliness and increases pocketing to where I'm happy with it, it doesn't provide anywhere near as much spin as full bed poly (duh), and in my very recently restrung racket the Cream mains have notched and are getting sawn through pretty quickly. My overall impression is that it feels very much like a slightly deader version of full bed synthetic gut.
I'm trying out a hybrid using Wilson Revolve mains with Cream crosses and I like it a lot. The Revolve feels deader and stiffer like a proper poly and its hardness seems to be resisting notching much better than Cream did. Still using Cream in the crosses to soften up the stringbed and add some power back, and I don't trust my elbow to hold up to a full-bed "real" poly.
I'm trying out a hybrid using Wilson Revolve mains with Cream crosses and I like it a lot. The Revolve feels deader and stiffer like a proper poly and its hardness seems to be resisting notching much better than Cream did. Still using Cream in the crosses to soften up the stringbed and add some power back, and I don't trust my elbow to hold up to a full-bed "real" poly.
Just a note for posterity - Wilson Revolve and Cream don't mix (for long). It played great for less than an hour, then the Cream crosses notched like crazy and the stringbed is more or less locked. I'd guess it might be because the Revolve is harder than Cream? I have another racket strung the other way - Cream mains and Revolve crosses - that I haven't tested yet.
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
I'd think that Cream should be in the mains and the firmer string in crosses. That way the mains stay mobile longer.
i think yonex poly tour pro or signum pro poly plasma are among the best cross strings in poly hybrid. Cream is okay but I like shaped poly in mains and I think YPTP or SPPP work better in crosses cuz they’re muted/low powered and soft but maintain tension well, not to mention very cost effective
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Knife
Professional
Update at 32 hours. 17 hours of singles and 15 hours of doubles
Surprised the cream popped. Thought the NG would go first
stapletonj
Hall of Fame
my brother tried cream in a gut/poly hybrid last night and loved it, so add another to the list of enthusiasts.
will keep you posted if it pops quickly.
will keep you posted if it pops quickly.
jmacdaununder2
Legend
Yep, very comfortable combo, although the thinner gauge of Cream in particular has quite poor durability.
I regularly hybrid Cream 16L at 46# with 54# Tonic+ 15L mains in my Dunlop CX200 OS and love it. But the Cream breaks after 8 hours, making the gut pricey.
So I am considering a full bed of 16L Cream given its softness (and price). Have never used full bed of poly. And have had golfer's elbow ten years ago (I'm a 62-year-old spin doctor.) Tension recommendations? Or too risky to try at all?
So I am considering a full bed of 16L Cream given its softness (and price). Have never used full bed of poly. And have had golfer's elbow ten years ago (I'm a 62-year-old spin doctor.) Tension recommendations? Or too risky to try at all?
Dawgtennis327
New User
Rackets are Radical MP 360 and 360+. I ordered a few sets of Cream 16L yesterday and wonder how to go on tension and whether to go with FB or hybrid? If hybrid, maybe with velocity 16g? I'd normally go with the velocity in the crosses. But I'm open to your ideas?
jmacdaununder2
Legend
Have you tried gut/Yonex Poly Tour Air?
Dawgtennis327
New User
I am now a believer! After reading much about Cream here I strung my Radical 360 MP with Cream 16L in the mains and velocity 16 in the crosses at 50/53 and had zero pain in my wrist or elbow which had been a constant issue for a couple months. When I put it in racket number two I will go looser but this was very good. Thanks for all your comments that gave me the idea to try this stuff.
First time I tried Cream 16L in my Prince tour 100p with 53/51. It's going 1 month, probably about 40 hours playing time. No durability issue for me. Then again I'm not a string breaker. 16g Prince synthetic gut duraflex last 1 - 2 months for about 40-80 playing time.
Maybe a bit too tight for about 1st 2 weeks. I would go gown 1 or 2 lbs on tension next time.
Tension maintenance is amazing. I mean it probably lost significant tension but it's gradual. Kinda like gut for that aging process.
And it's unique string. Its response is sensitive to temperature of day. Its poly portion must have lost a lot of elasticity but still feels cushy. No real dead feel like regular poly or synthetic guts so far.
I'm going to lower tension every time I restring it, to see how low I can go. I think finding right tension is a key to enjoy potential of this unique string. Same goes true for all strings but more so for Cream.
Maybe a bit too tight for about 1st 2 weeks. I would go gown 1 or 2 lbs on tension next time.
Tension maintenance is amazing. I mean it probably lost significant tension but it's gradual. Kinda like gut for that aging process.
And it's unique string. Its response is sensitive to temperature of day. Its poly portion must have lost a lot of elasticity but still feels cushy. No real dead feel like regular poly or synthetic guts so far.
I'm going to lower tension every time I restring it, to see how low I can go. I think finding right tension is a key to enjoy potential of this unique string. Same goes true for all strings but more so for Cream.
tele
Professional
I have isospeed control classic in my mains and cream 1.23 in the crosses of a cx 200 tour. Control classic is soft like gut,though less powerful, and cheap like cream. Might be worth a shot if you are worried about your arm. I am tempted by fb cream but have been staying away due to prior tennis elbow.
konstantinos kalfountzos
Hall of Fame
Have it string 2kgs higher than your normal tension, because it's by nature a bit powerful. Great string overall.
