Shaped poly crosses with Natural Gut mains

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
The initial thought for me would be that the shaped poly strings chew through the gut more quickly than using the round/slick poly crosses. Have heard some conflicting ideas about this especially with the Luxilon Rough which the company claims has less friction. Curious to know more about people’s results with strings like Hyper G, RPM Blast , BHB7, BHS7T and Natural gut mains.
I am tempted to try Klip Legend 1.30/ BHS7T 1.25 but wanted to get some input from you guys first.
 

TagUrIt

Hall of Fame
This is actually the string setup I use. I have Luxilon Natural Gut in the mains and Luxilon Savage in the crosses. It’s a great combination of spin, power and control. So far I haven’t had any issues with with this set up.
 

408tennisguy

Semi-Pro
This is actually the string setup I use. I have Luxilon Natural Gut in the mains and Luxilon Savage in the crosses. It’s a great combination of spin, power and control. So far I haven’t had any issues with with this set up.
savage black or savage white? do you know if the different colors feel different?
 

denoted

Semi-Pro
I use a 18x20 racquet and have tried the vs/rpm combo sold as a package. The gut frays but lasts a surprisingly long time. It feels great; I think it's a better combination than Alu Rough/Luxilon (which was also very good).
 

TagUrIt

Hall of Fame
savage black or savage white? do you know if the different colors feel different?

I’ve used Savage Blue, Lime, Black and Orange. Honestly I can’t tell the difference, they all play the same to me. I know some of the play testers say different colors play differently, but maybe I’m not dialed in enough.
 

SteveI

Legend
One long time member of this forum uses Luxilon gut mains and the YTex Quadro Twist crosses and he is very happy wit it.. :)
 

2nd Serve Ace

Hall of Fame
Regarding the "rough" type polys, the idea is that the gut will pass over the divots with no string friction at all. (Moving through air)

There might be some extra friction when the mains hit the edge of the "crater" but on balance, string movement is increased.

Personally love Klip mains with strikeforce crosses, which is creased to reduce main friction.

Now edged polys are a very different beast to me. Have yet to find one I like as cross for natgut. I think maybe they have a twist to them that wants to dig the mains?
If seen under a microscope, the edges pretty much flatten out against the mains anyway.
 

jwocky

Rookie
The initial thought for me would be that the shaped poly strings chew through the gut more quickly than using the round/slick poly crosses. Have heard some conflicting ideas about this especially with the Luxilon Rough which the company claims has less friction. Curious to know more about people’s results with strings like Hyper G, RPM Blast , BHB7, BHS7T and Natural gut mains.
I am tempted to try Klip Legend 1.30/ BHS7T 1.25 but wanted to get some input from you guys first.

@USPTARF97
We probably need to distinguish between the different classes of "shaped strings" because some not round yet smooth (RPM Blast, example) will reduce the longevity of natural gut less dramatically than the not round with sharp edges (Volkl Cyclone, Tourna BHS7T, Solinco Hyper G, WC UltraCable, examples) with the round yet mechanically indented/grooved falling somewhere in between those two. NG mains with round co-poly crosses is probably the longest lived relative to the above purely on shape/profile considerations.

However, I woud rather play full bed natural gut installed at an appropriate reference tension instead of mixing it up with a shorter-lived co-poly string after taking into account weather conditions. I am definitely not a fan of restringing only crosses and equally definite about not cutting good natural gut prematurely just because the co-poly is at end-of-life - respect the bovine that gave us the gut, etc.
 
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blai212

Hall of Fame
shaped poly that does not have protruding sharp edges would work as cross with gut mains but s7t has sharp protruding edges so i wouldnt recommend it...id imagine the shape of the s7t would create high friction with the gut. Id recommend weiss cannon silverstring 17g or signum pro poly plasma 17L as a cross with natural gut. On a side note, have u tried volkl cyclone tour 1.30mm 16g? I use VCT/silverstring and VCT/SPPP and it feels better than my other sticks with gut poly hybrid. It also costs way less. Just my $.02


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
shaped poly that does not have protruding sharp edges would work as cross with gut mains but s7t has sharp protruding edges so i wouldnt recommend it...id imagine the shape of the s7t would create high friction with the gut. Id recommend weiss cannon silverstring 17g or signum pro poly plasma 17L as a cross with natural gut. On a side note, have u tried volkl cyclone tour 1.30mm 16g? I use VCT/silverstring and VCT/SPPP and it feels better than my other sticks with gut poly hybrid. It also costs way less. Just my $.02


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Have only played VCT 1.30 full bed. Good string. If I end up with some more VCT will give it a try. Thanks

Looks like i will just stick with
Klip Legend 1.30/ BHBZ 1.25
VS Touch 1.30/ 4g 1.25

Thanks for the input guys!
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
@USPTARF97
We probably need to distinguish between the different classes of "shaped strings" because some not round yet smooth (RPM Blast, example) will reduce the longevity of natural gut less dramatically than the not round with sharp edges (Volkl Cyclone, Tourna BHS7T, Solinco Hyper G, WC UltraCable, examples) with the round yet mechanically indented/grooved falling somewhere in between those two. NG mains with round co-poly crosses is probably the longest lived relative to the above purely on shape/profile considerations.

However, I woud rather play full bed natural gut installed at an appropriate reference tension instead of mixing it up with a shorter-lived co-poly string after taking into account weather conditions. I am definitely not a fan of restringing only crosses and equally definite about not cutting good natural gut prematurely just because the co-poly is at end-of-life - respect the bovine that gave us the gut, etc.

Thanks, sounds like the BHS7T is out being 7 sided. Edges of the string would be cutting into the gut.
Guy that I train with just strung his frame with Klip Legend 15g/ Hyper G 1.25. He normally uses Lux Alu as a cross. Will be interesting to see how it holds up. Looking at the string bed it looks like the square shaped Hyper G settled with a flat side on the gut. Looks like it will slide pretty well.
I’m hitting with VS Touch 1.30/ 4g 1.25 and been hitting with it since Nov. Frayed but still holding on. Still hits great.
 
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SteveI

Legend
Thanks, sounds like the BHS7T is out being 7 sided. Edges of the string would be cutting into the gut.
Guy that I train with just strung his frame with Klip Legend 15g/ Hyper G 1.25. He normally uses Lux Alu as a cross. Will be interesting to see how it holds up. Looking at the string bed it looks like the square shaped Hyper G settled with a flat side on the gut. Looks like it will slide pretty well.
I’m hitting with VS Touch 1.30/ 4g 1.25 and been hitting with it since Nov. Frayed but still holding on. Still hits great.

Yup... a 4 sided string would work... Tourna BHB 7 not so much. Great stuff!!
 

FIRETennis

Professional
BHS7T "ate" one of my dampeners by shredding it in a couple pieces. I cannot imagine what it would do to natural gut!
 

Notirouswithag

Professional
Currently using babolat vs touch 16g mains/black bear bear claw(5 sided) 16g cross at 48# in my vcore 98+, bliss and comfort in 1.

TE started again and teaching/feeding long hours on court werent gelling with yonex ptp 1.25mm at 45#.
 

guardian2002

New User
@USPTARF97
We probably need to distinguish between the different classes of "shaped strings" because some not round yet smooth (RPM Blast, example) will reduce the longevity of natural gut less dramatically than the not round with sharp edges (Volkl Cyclone, Tourna BHS7T, Solinco Hyper G, WC UltraCable, examples) with the round yet mechanically indented/grooved falling somewhere in between those two. NG mains with round co-poly crosses is probably the longest lived relative to the above purely on shape/profile considerations.

However, I woud rather play full bed natural gut installed at an appropriate reference tension instead of mixing it up with a shorter-lived co-poly string after taking into account weather conditions. I am definitely not a fan of restringing only crosses and equally definite about not cutting good natural gut prematurely just because the co-poly is at end-of-life - respect the bovine that gave us the gut, etc.
Very good point re the shaped yet smooth polys like RPM Blast. NG mains with RPM blast last as long as NG mains with Red Code Wax for me. NG also lasts longer than a multi main for me (not by much though so undecided if the additional cost is justified).
 

FIRETennis

Professional
Any reports from someone that has sacrificed a set of gut and tried a setup like this?
I've read in previous posts that some people loved Gut/Tour Bite & Gut/MSV Focus Hex...
 
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