RF97A: Mains VS Touch, which poly cross?

[welle]

Hi Guys,

I played quite a bit with rf97a recently and really enjoy it. Strung it with msv focus hex 1,23mm at 24kg and isospeed blackfire 1,25 at 24kg.
I feel it in my arm a little bit and really wanna try gut mains/poly crosses as I heard good things about it.
Gut mains will be babolat vs touch.

But what is a good poly cross with solid durability? I have the following strings at home, but am willing to purchase others if necessary: Msv focus hex 1,23mm, isospeed blackfire 1,25mm, isospeed pulse medium 1,25mm, lynx Tour 1,25mm, msv focus hex soft 1,20mm, tour bite 1,15mm and 1,25mm and a tier 1 1,25mm string (red one)...

which of the ones above will do well? or what other one should i buy that has a reasonable price (so no alu power unless it really is the absolute best for it)?

Thanks. Br W

 

[SinneGOAT]

Kirschbaum max power 17 is the way to go.

 

[welle]

Oh and: how tight do I string it? pre stretch necessary? (i never strung gut before)

 

[SinneGOAT]

I usually go 56-58 gut mains and 50-52 poly cross. If you are worried about stiffness go 50-48 on the poly, the tension difference doesn’t snap the racquet. I’ve done it multiple times.

 

[welle]

thanks, I just ordered Kirschbaum Max Power.

Is there anything I should keep in mind while stringing gut mains? Prestretch necessary or not?

 

[Westerwick]

I string high 50s for the gut main and about 5 less for the poly cross, and find it works well for me. I’ve been using the Oehms Alu Pearl Rough for the cross and really like that combo, although the choice of cross is probably not as important as many want to make it. As long as it is slick and smooth you’ll do fine.

With the gut, just go slow, make sure you don’t kink it, and that you don’t score it when threading crosses. I love the feel and way the hybrid gut poly plays, and it costs half as much.

 

[stapletonj]

use a yonex, and I like Kirsch. strings, but that yonex ptp poly is nice and slick and complements gut well. just my $0.02

 

[gebruikershaes]

Gut/lynx tour is my go to setup. Lynx tour by itself is a great string but is amazing when combined with gut. Stand out characteristics for me are feel/touch, control and tension stability. It really does feel like an extension of my arm. And seeing that you already have it I would suggest you to try it. I string at 26/24 in my UT. I have tried gut/tour bite 1.15 which was ok (not great), but had poor durability because of the thin gauge.

 

[AceyMan]

Kirschbaum max power 17 is the way to go.

I was going to say Max Power Rough 1.25 but the plain is nice, too.

 

[welle]

Hi Guys,

decided to string my RF97A with Babolat VS Touch mains at 26kg with 10% pre stretch and cross is KB Max Power with 24,5kg... regarding string tension and pre stretch I was checking out Rogers tension...

I will play with it tomorrow morning and can report how it went.

Oh btw: I played with one of Rogers original raquets about 15 years ago (back when he played the 90sq inch)... it was definitely his personal raquet... some guy that was associated with Roger had it and I played with it for about 10-15 minutes. it had the leather pads, string savers etc... also was still strung with his Gut/Alu Power combo... I was in my early 20s back then and not as strong, but I remember it played extremely solid with lots and lots of feel/touch... but obv. the 90sq was quite demanding and SW was pretty high (much higher than at a stock rf97).

Greetz W

 

[welle]

Update: Just played 2h with the vs touch/kb max hybrid -> it was great! I initially thought it might be too powerful, but it really played exceptional. It was so easy to maintain depth on my strokes while being in control at all times... really played some of the best tennis of my life with it. I guess my string jobs will be more expensive from now on...

Thanks for everyone that commented/helped in this thread

 

[blai212]

Update: Just played 2h with the vs touch/kb max hybrid -> it was great! I initially thought it might be too powerful, but it really played exceptional. It was so easy to maintain depth on my strokes while being in control at all times... really played some of the best tennis of my life with it. I guess my string jobs will be more expensive from now on...

Thanks for everyone that commented/helped in this thread

Gut/poly should actually be a budget friendly option unless you’re a hard hitter and break strings a lot. Alternatively, you could try babolat tonic instead of VS touch. Same string basically.

 

[Torque]

I have played with VS gut/Blast combo and really liked it at 55/50. I wanted to try a longer lasting poly so I’ve switched to Wilson gut 17ga and Tier1 Ghost wire 17ga. at 55/50. I based the Ghost wire on G3driver forum remarks. I play mostly doubles 4.5 level and have an attacking game - moderate spin using Blade 18x20 weighted up to 12oz. I change out 2 racquets at same time and as of now am at 3.5 months on the string jobs (play about 4x a week). Probably will change out strings in next week or two but still feels good.

 

[welle]

Gut/poly should actually be a budget friendly option unless you’re a hard hitter and break strings a lot. Alternatively, you could try babolat tonic instead of VS touch. Same string basically.

Well I hope it is budget friendly. I read a few comments that the string job should last way longer... however I am hitting quite hard and noticed minimal notching on the mains (which I guess is normal)... let's see what happens in the following hours... I am however happy if I get 20 hours out of it.

 

[jdub486]

Nothing plays better than alu rough crosses with gut mains for the first 4-5 hours. The Kirschbaum max power series is a nice substitute. But i find them less spin friendly than Alu. The max power rough is significantly more textured than the alu rough and tends to eat through the gut mains faster and stop snapping back. It's also harder to string than Alu rough. The regular max power is nice and plays very crisp and controlled. The max power rough and alu rough have better ball pocketing than the smooth versions.

I found technfibre ice code to be a good cross for gut mains in the rf also. I go 57 lbs with 10% pre stretch on the gut and 54 lbs on the poly cross. I drop 2 lbs in winter. You can also add Babolat Elastocross as the strings notch to extend life.

 

[blai212]

basically anything that has good tension maintenance, slickness, and good feel (user dependent) will make good cross. Tonic 16 is the best value for quality gut.

 

[TennisLogic]

Kirschbaum max power 17 is the way to go.

Would also suggest the rough version.
Put this in people's hands, 99% won't be able to tell difference from alu power

 

[welle]

Would also suggest the rough version.
Put this in people's hands, 99% won't be able to tell difference from alu power

Well I fear durability of gut mains will suffer from it... for now I will test how many hours I can play with the slick version -> if it is 15-20+ hours I might give the rough version a go

 

[LocNetMonster]

Tier One's Ghost Wire. Super arm friendly, lots of feel for touch shots.

 

[welle]

Quick update: Played 8 hours so far with that gut/poly combo and the gut starts to fray and notch quite a bit. I hope to get a few more hours out of it, especially since I am playing indoors now... 15+ hours is the goal for me so that I can consider this my go to setup.

 

[LocNetMonster]

Eight hours is pretty good. I doubt you'll make 15. The big question is, does the combo help you play great tennis?

 

[paulwal]

I've tried several different setups. My goto setup now (in my 2013 Aeropro Drives) is in the mains VS Touch 1.30 @ 60 lbs with no prestretch, crossed with ALU Power Rough 1.25 @ 52 lbs (also no prestretch). Prestretching the gut will help lower the immediate tension loss, but I don't think that matters much as long as you string it the same way consistently and you like the way it feels after you string it. I don't think anyone recommends prestretching poly strings.

 

[paulwal]

Quick update: Played 8 hours so far with that gut/poly combo and the gut starts to fray and notch quite a bit. I hope to get a few more hours out of it, especially since I am playing indoors now... 15+ hours is the goal for me so that I can consider this my go to setup.

To slow down notching, try using thicker gauges. You'll have to raise your tension to maintain the same feel.

I've also just started doing this thing where I'll manually move each cross string either up or down before storing the racket so that each cross is out of place. I have this theory that a large part of the notching happens (or at least is reinforced) while the racket isn't being used, which is a majority of the time. I noticed that a string job would work really well throughout a hitting session, then it would be noticeably worse at the beginning of the next session. So far this seems to really help. I'll report back when I have more conclusive results.

I also use 3M dry silicone spray.

 

[welle]

Update: Ok so gut mains snapped (pretty much exploded) at the first forehand of my 9th hour... < 10 hours definitely not enough for me to permanently switch to it... will give it another go with elasto cross and see how many hours I can reach with it... will keep you updated.

 

[KYHacker]

I have been trying a couple of different gut/poly hybrids of late. I was using Tourna Black Zone in a full bed and found that it had a much lower launch angle that some other strings because it was so smooth and slippery. I decided to try it in a hybrid with gut mains and it's the best that I have used so far due to how smooth and slippery it is and the exceptional tension maintenance it has for a poly. I highly recommend it.

 

[blai212]

@welle youre dreaming if you think you can get 15-20 hrs out of your string bed. If you 1.) hit hard with spin and/or 2.) use open pattern frame, strings break rather quickly. RF97 is semi open pattern so it will eat through strings within 10 hrs usually. The most budget friendly setup would be full bed thick poly at low tension. (Nadal uses 15L RPM blast that he supposedly snaps in 20-25 mins of practice)

 

[Sardines]

Update: Ok so gut mains snapped (pretty much exploded) at the first forehand of my 9th hour... < 10 hours definitely not enough for me to permanently switch to it... will give it another go with elasto cross and see how many hours I can reach with it... will keep you updated.

If you factor in string savers, the cost actually goes up. I found super slick crosses give about a 5-20% increase in durability, while increasing string movement for a little extra spin. Yonex PolyTour Fire is my choice, but that's quite personal. There are several extra slick coated smooth polys in the market, which preclude the use of silicone spray as someone has mentioned.

 

[welle]

@blai212: ya I think you are right - 15 hours seems impossible (unfortunately). The question is, if I put gut in crosses and poly mains -> how long will I be able to play with it. I have half a set of gut left and will probably try it... question is how should I string it? last time I strung mains gut with 26kg (10% pre stretch) and crosses with 24kg... don't really know what tensions to choose if I go the other way around (gut crosses/poly mains).

oh and on a sidenote: after gut snapped I played the rf97a with isospeed blackfire 1,25mm 23kg and it played really well. I think it suits the rf97 pretty well as it is a bit softer... I think blackfire could become my go to poly if I don't get enough hours out of gut.

 

[blai212]

poly/gut is not really worth it especially if you hit modern topspin game…gut cross will start fraying within 3 hrs and probably snap within 5-7 if you hit with any type of pace + spin. I would strongly recommend avoiding nonPoly cross

 

[liftordie]

MSV Co Focus.