Solinco Tour Bite, Revolution, and True Feel Review

jaydubbs15 said:
No, three are enough for now. Plus, now I'm thinking I should demo the Ltd. Btw, is the Tour Bite anything like the Tech Black Code? That string almost ripped off my shoulder! I like spin, but I don't want to launch the ball out -- giving away points is no fun!
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Ive tried black code and i dont think its anything like it...i really didnt like black code, it seems way to powerful, i had trouble keeping the ball in the court. the texture of black code is nothing compared to the texture of tour bite...tour bite is actually rough to the touch.
 
mcshift said:
wow finally their site is up...thanks for posting that.
great looking site too.
and wow they even have racquets, kind of like the look of the chrome
http://www.solincosports.com/rackets/images/rac2 large.jpg
when you get to use tour bite too, let me know how you compare them...
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no prob mcshift...i have been waiting for them to put their site up as well. and i agree with you, that chrome racquet does look pretty sick.

i made an initial comparison of the tour bite and revolution earlier on in this thread but i will make another one after i receive my shipment and play with the tour bite some more. but i def agree with you that the tour bite is a very solid string. i will also post some reviews of the other strings i am getting as samples for buying those reels.
 
Just tried the revolution in my APDGT. Awesome stuff! What is the REAL difference between it and the tour bite exactly? I have tried the tour bite, but it was awhile ago to be honest. The revolution seems identical in terms of size and shape...if it's pretty similar might as well stick with that for the lower cost. Plus I like the color better. ;-)

So, anyone know?
 
TennisandMusic said:
Just tried the revolution in my APDGT. Awesome stuff! What is the REAL difference between it and the tour bite exactly? I have tried the tour bite, but it was awhile ago to be honest. The revolution seems identical in terms of size and shape...if it's pretty similar might as well stick with that for the lower cost. Plus I like the color better. ;-)

So, anyone know?
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Well in comparing the feel of the string its seems as though tour bite may be a little more roughly textured. I havent played with it yet though, but their website highlights that revolution is more about control and manipulating ball flight(pretty sure its just a fancy way of saying more control), while tour bite is all about extreme power and extreme spin. The funny thing is that although revolution is textured almost identical, the description says not one thing about spin, only control. But i agree, the blue color is gonna look sick in my PSL.
 
mcshift said:
Well in comparing the feel of the string its seems as though tour bite may be a little more roughly textured. I havent played with it yet though, but their website highlights that revolution is more about control and manipulating ball flight(pretty sure its just a fancy way of saying more control), while tour bite is all about extreme power and extreme spin. The funny thing is that although revolution is textured almost identical, the description says not one thing about spin, only control. But i agree, the blue color is gonna look sick in my PSL.
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I was able to get plenty of spin though...I don't know if MORE is needed...I guess I could buy tour bite again, but I am kinda sick of "trying" strings at this point. :p
 
mcshift said:
yeah, i know what you mean...well ill let you know when i string up revolution and ill compare the two
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Cool...I might just order one more set of tour bite and see. Or not, I dunno. The revolution already performs awesome, is cheaper, and looks really nice in the APD ;)
 
mcshift said:
Ive tried black code and i dont think its anything like it...i really didnt like black code, it seems way to powerful, i had trouble keeping the ball in the court. the texture of black code is nothing compared to the texture of tour bite...tour bite is actually rough to the touch.
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When you say the texture is rough to the touch, does it feel gritty? Do you think there is another additive in the string or is it just the way it has been extruded?
 
Murray_fan1 said:
When you say the texture is rough to the touch, does it feel gritty? Do you think there is another additive in the string or is it just the way it has been extruded?
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no, tis just the way its been extruded... the edges are sharper or less smothed down compared to black code for example. very similar to ALU spin though.
 
i just tried tornado and i didnt really liked it. I think its thee texture because i loved hyperion with NRG2 crosses
 
mcshift said:
no, tis just the way its been extruded... the edges are sharper or less smothed down compared to black code for example. very similar to ALU spin though.
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Yeah, on my 16g Revolution the edges are very pronounced, and the string itself is THICK. Seems like it would be more like a 15L from any other brand. Seriously, I couldn't even get a cross through one of the blocked holes without some serious work, and these are on racquets that have been used and strung many times. But it actually works GREAT in the APD.

I am guessing that tour bite is maybe a "textured" version of Revolution? If so I am going to stick with the Revolution as I already like it quite a bit. The shape and size seem identical, and I am also guessing that the materials are identical, with a different dye job.
 
TennisandMusic said:
Yeah, on my 16g Revolution the edges are very pronounced, and the string itself is THICK. Seems like it would be more like a 15L from any other brand. Seriously, I couldn't even get a cross through one of the blocked holes without some serious work, and these are on racquets that have been used and strung many times. But it actually works GREAT in the APD.

I am guessing that tour bite is maybe a "textured" version of Revolution? If so I am going to stick with the Revolution as I already like it quite a bit. The shape and size seem identical, and I am also guessing that the materials are identical, with a different dye job.
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yeah im actually stringing up revolution as we speak. but yeah, revolution and tour bite have the exact same extruded shape and i guess i will find out soon if wone has more spin than the other...
 
mcshift said:
yeah im actually stringing up revolution as we speak. but yeah, revolution and tour bite have the exact same extruded shape and i guess i will find out soon if wone has more spin than the other...
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You gonna play with it today?
 
I'm just ordered a set of Solinco Tour Bite and am gonna put it in one of my Prestige Mids at 54 lbs. The string comes Wednesday. I currently use what I have in my signature.
 
Wow, from gut to tour bite, that is gonna be one heck of a change! Let me know how stringing it goes, that's gonna be tough. :-P
 
TennisandMusic said:
You gonna play with it today?
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well i only got a chance to hit with my younger brother...so not the best way to review a string. But, so far i dont like it as much as tour bite.
i did string it a lot lower (40lbs (i was inspired after reading the post by Chris about low tensions)) so this may have had a small impact, but the biggest thing was i didnt notice as much bite on the ball which shouldnt be affect that much by tension. The string overall seemed a to provide less pop.
ill post a better review once i get a chance to really play with it...

btw, someone said that the 16g seems bigger than than 16g. I'd disagree, i have the 17g and it seems just like any other 17g.
 
Murray_fan1 said:
Would you say that the tour bite closest comparison would be alu spin?
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I havent played with ALU spin, but i have played wiht ALU power and i can say it was pretty similar to that except its shaped exactly like ALU spin. So yes, ALU spin is probably the most similar.
 
mcshift said:
well i only got a chance to hit with my younger brother...so not the best way to review a string. But, so far i dont like it as much as tour bite.
i did string it a lot lower (40lbs (i was inspired after reading the post by Chris about low tensions)) so this may have had a small impact, but the biggest thing was i didnt notice as much bite on the ball which shouldnt be affect that much by tension. The string overall seemed a to provide less pop.
ill post a better review once i get a chance to really play with it...

btw, someone said that the 16g seems bigger than than 16g. I'd disagree, i have the 17g and it seems just like any other 17g.
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Well I am the one who said the 16g is bigger, and considering I have strung probably at least a hundred different types of string by now, I am pretty confident in my ability to assess that sort of thing. :-P Like I said, getting the string through blocked holes on the cross was way more difficult than any other 16g I've used.

Less pop in terms of less power? I got plenty of spin out of the revolution, ridiculous amounts at times so I feel pretty confident about it at those levels. If those are the only differences I am probably good.
 
So I had a chance to string up and play with both the Revolution and Kirsh Helix this past weekend and once yesterday side by side:

Set-up: full poly
Tension: 51 lbs
Total play-time: 3.5hrs
Type of Play: Mostly drilling, with some practice tie-breaks and ground stroke points
Weather: a bit colder – cloudy. I forgot to note exact temperature, but I’d say mid-60s, and felt some pressure/humidity.

HELIX:

I heard a lot of good stuff about proline 2, and gave it a try, but didn’t really think too much of it. Not nearly the same level of crisp feel, pop and control vs lux alu. This helix string however was pretty interesting and more importantly, my friend gave me a set for free! Anyways, overall thoughts:

Overall – better string than pro-line 2 IMO. If I had to point to 1 thing it would be the feel/control of the string. Better spin potential but not anything too crazy like the TB. Main issue on this is the pop factor. I like a string that has a lot of pop and control at the same time (which lux and I’m finding Tour bite has as well). Without the pop, I feel like you’re at a disadvantage – taking a water pistol to a gun fight. With just a powerful string, yeah you can get pop on the ball, but if you can’t feel very confident about how the ball will fly and hit out aggressively on the ball and its useless… So in this case its got decent control but not the pop factor (if this all makes sense).

REVOLUTION

Went back and forth between the helix and the revolution and I came to the conclusion pretty quickly that I liked the Revolution better than the Helix. Better spin, which I think translated into better control, as I found the balls that I was hitting out on dipping back into the court…and biggest difference was the POP. The ball coming off the string bed was a totally different feel with the Revolution. My hitting partner could tell the difference immediately in terms of how the ball was more penetrating and heavier.

In terms of tension loss, I’m going to probably have to play at least another session or two before I can really comment on that. Both strings at this point feel fine in terms of tension loss.

I really liked the tour bite - and the bite it had. Need to play a bit more with the Rev to come to a final decision /comparison between those two.
 
Awesome TC. I just had another session tonight with revolution in both a PDR and an APDGT. No complaints.
 
TennisandMusic said:
Awesome TC. I just had another session tonight with revolution in both a PDR and an APDGT. No complaints.
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T&M, appreciate the update. btw what are you stringing the revolution at?

I'm actually starting to feel a little overwhelmed... I started experimenting with different strings which was easy enough, but now i'm experimenting with different tensions too. im finding there to be too many variables! Need AT LEAST 2 sets of each string to really test it out fairly. With the whole things from TW about dropping tension further and further, i'm questioning my tensions now.

Feel comfortable at the low 50's but debating going into the 40's?
 
Tennis_Crazed said:
T&M, appreciate the update. btw what are you stringing the revolution at?

I'm actually starting to feel a little overwhelmed... I started experimenting with different strings which was easy enough, but now i'm experimenting with different tensions too. im finding there to be too many variables! Need AT LEAST 2 sets of each string to really test it out fairly. With the whole things from TW about dropping tension further and further, i'm questioning my tensions now.

Feel comfortable at the low 50's but debating going into the 40's?
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I don't know if I would be too concerned with the low tension stuff personally. Low 50's is fine. If there was something to the super low tensions I imagine more pros would be doing it. Nothing against the guys doing it, I guess at the moment it just seems more "fad-ish."

Actually I came on here to report that I tried tour bite again (couldn't pass up getting a set from a local shop) and I do think I like it better than revolution. So...that's all. :-P Great string, and worth the money for sure.
 
TennisandMusic said:
I don't know if I would be too concerned with the low tension stuff personally. Low 50's is fine. If there was something to the super low tensions I imagine more pros would be doing it. Nothing against the guys doing it, I guess at the moment it just seems more "fad-ish."

Actually I came on here to report that I tried tour bite again (couldn't pass up getting a set from a local shop) and I do think I like it better than revolution. So...that's all. :-P Great string, and worth the money for sure.
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Thanks for the thoughts. I'm happy at the low 50's and will stick here going forward. I strung up a couple sticks a little too low, and was pretty annoyed (and sad) to have to cut out a fresh string job. oh well...

I played a good 4 more hours with the helix and revolution over the past week or so. The helix broke first, and i was kind of happy, so that I could put back some lux or tour bite back into that stick.

Final thoughts:

Helix: playing through until it broke, my impressions through the first several hours are consistent with the entire time I played with it. Some tension loss towards the end, but nothing unexpected from a poly. Good control and reasonable spin, but again missing on the pop front. If I was going to recommend or try this again, I might try it in a hybrid set-up - possibly some gut or another more powerful string to give it the pop and blend well with the control. Another note: I tried some of Kirshbuam's spiky string in a friend's racket and actually thought it had more spin than this. Not sure if other people had this experience, or maybe it was just the racket.


Revolution: I actually really enjoyed this string. Provided for great pop and control. Balls as noted were penetrating and felt confident with my strokes and placement of the ball. String held tension well and didn't find that the playing characteristics changed much over the life of the string - it was pretty consistent. There are strings out there that people say "settle in" or feel plasticy at first and then feel better, but this felt good from the first hit, until the end.

I'm stringing up the Lux Alu and Tour Bite again to compare these two directly side by side...anyone suggest another string to playtest along with these? Heard some stuff about cybrflah..maybe try that too
 
Tennis_Crazed said:
Thanks for the thoughts. I'm happy at the low 50's and will stick here going forward. I strung up a couple sticks a little too low, and was pretty annoyed (and sad) to have to cut out a fresh string job. oh well...

I played a good 4 more hours with the helix and revolution over the past week or so. The helix broke first, and i was kind of happy, so that I could put back some lux or tour bite back into that stick.

Final thoughts:

Helix: playing through until it broke, my impressions through the first several hours are consistent with the entire time I played with it. Some tension loss towards the end, but nothing unexpected from a poly. Good control and reasonable spin, but again missing on the pop front. If I was going to recommend or try this again, I might try it in a hybrid set-up - possibly some gut or another more powerful string to give it the pop and blend well with the control. Another note: I tried some of Kirshbuam's spiky string in a friend's racket and actually thought it had more spin than this. Not sure if other people had this experience, or maybe it was just the racket.


Revolution: I actually really enjoyed this string. Provided for great pop and control. Balls as noted were penetrating and felt confident with my strokes and placement of the ball. String held tension well and didn't find that the playing characteristics changed much over the life of the string - it was pretty consistent. There are strings out there that people say "settle in" or feel plasticy at first and then feel better, but this felt good from the first hit, until the end.

I'm stringing up the Lux Alu and Tour Bite again to compare these two directly side by side...anyone suggest another string to playtest along with these? Heard some stuff about cybrflah..maybe try that too
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Can you compare Tour Bite to the new Genesis Typhoon? Supposedly it is similar to ALU Rough.
 
so its been about a month since ive made the switch from pro hurricane tour to the solinco revolution/tour bite (i ordered reels of both)....i am still in love with these strings. Everything i mentioned in my earlier posts still holds true after a month of use....both produce awesome spin (the tour bite almost gives me too much spin at times), i love the control and feel, and the durability and tension maintenance are top notch for both strings as well. I have been using mostly revolution 17 but use tour bite 17 as well depending on the circumstances. the revolution gives me more than enough spin while providing that extra degree of control which is why i find myself using it more than the tour bite....however, there are still times when i really need that extra bite on the ball which is when i use the tour bite. in terms of spin, i have never come across a set of strings that produces the amount of spin the tour bite does (its almost scary). in the end, its just a matter of personal preferrence between the two stings....but the bottom line is that they are both really really sick strings in my opinion. Im still extremely happy about making the switch. glad to hear that others are really liking the revolution and tour bite as well.
 
btw, whats up with the vanquish? has anyone gotten a chance to hit with it or heard anything about it? i still havent gotten a chance to try it yet. im thinking of trying it in a hybrid with the tour bite sometime soon. heard some good stuff about it from a buddy of mine that plays college tennis.
 
PROTENNIS63 said:
Can you compare Tour Bite to the new Genesis Typhoon? Supposedly it is similar to ALU Rough.
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i havent tried the new typhoon, but from my past experience with genesis strings, im not a big fan. in terms of spin, i think the solinco tour bite kills the spin x on any day of the week. i wasnt too impressed with the feel of the strings either...which is supposedly amazing. in general i thought it was just a decent string...but there are def other strings out there that i would rather buy. who knows how the typhoon is tho. if i were you, i would just stick with the tour bite guys...im convinced that there is no string out there that produces as much spin without sacrificing the other important attributes of strings.
 
Zhou said:
I'm just ordered a set of Solinco Tour Bite and am gonna put it in one of my Prestige Mids at 54 lbs. The string comes Wednesday. I currently use what I have in my signature.
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Zhou - how does the vanquish + tour bite hybrid play? Would you be able to compare the Vanquish to NXT or NXT Tour straight up or as a hybrid mix with tour bite?

After a long agonizing and emotional process, I've decided to switch to Tour Bite from ALU Power. Besides my emotional affinity for that expensive silver string, can't find a good reason to pay up again for it. Maybe sometimes it makes me feel cool to use it? I don't know...

Tour Bite I've come to the conclusion is a better string, for me, all around.
 
genius24 said:
btw, whats up with the vanquish? has anyone gotten a chance to hit with it or heard anything about it? i still havent gotten a chance to try it yet. im thinking of trying it in a hybrid with the tour bite sometime soon. heard some good stuff about it from a buddy of mine that plays college tennis.
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Let me know if you get a chance to hybrid it up with tour bite- specifically vs nxt if possible. Any idea how much a reel costs?
 
genius24 said:
btw, whats up with the vanquish? has anyone gotten a chance to hit with it or heard anything about it? i still havent gotten a chance to try it yet. im thinking of trying it in a hybrid with the tour bite sometime soon. heard some good stuff about it from a buddy of mine that plays college tennis.
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tw should have a hybrid set of tour bite and vanquish available
 
Solinco sent me a sample of the Tour Bite. I am going to string it up and try it. Then next on my list is the new Genesis Typhoon to try.
 
im gonna string up some tour bite/vanquish hybrid this weekend and will be back with feedback on it. i was debating whether to go with a full bed of vanquish but i think im gonna go with the hybrid since i like the tour bite so much. looking forward to playing with the hybrid.

not sure how much a reel of the hybrid costs. i got it as a sample when i ordered my reels of tour bite and revo a while ago.
 
genius24 said:
im gonna string up some tour bite/vanquish hybrid this weekend and will be back with feedback on it. i was debating whether to go with a full bed of vanquish but i think im gonna go with the hybrid since i like the tour bite so much. looking forward to playing with the hybrid.

not sure how much a reel of the hybrid costs. i got it as a sample when i ordered my reels of tour bite and revo a while ago.
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sorry guys, was busy as hell this weekend and didnt get a chance to string up the solinco tour bite/vanquish hybrid yet. plan on stringing it up in the next day or two and playing with it during the week. will post a review since it seems like some of you are curious about it as am i.
 
ive never personally tried solinco strings before but ive heard some good stuff about it from some close friends that play college tennis and are using it. i believe they are using the tour bite as well. from what i know, solinco is gaining some notoriety now espically in so. cal. thinking of giving it a test run myself to see what all this talk is about.
 
Wait no longer…finally got around to trying some of the Tour Bite and Vanquish Hybrid over the weekend and wanted to share my thoughts.

String: Tour Bite (17) & Vanquish (16) Hybrid
Racket: Head YOUTEK Prestige Mid
Tension: 52lbs mains (Tour Bite) / 54lbs crosses (Vanquish)
Surface: Hardcourt (Outdoor)
Hitting time: 2hrs

Background:
- I usually play full poly especially when I am competing. However, if it’s a bit more casual or if I’m feeding a lot of balls or doing hitting lessons then I like stringing up hybrids. In the past I played straight Lux ALU or hybrided it with NXT.

Power – 9/10
Control – 8.5/10
Feel – 9.5/10
Comfort –9.5/10
Spin – 8.5/10

Overall Comments:
- Very solid hybrid all around. Highly recommend players using Lux ALU + multifilament hybrid give this a shot
- I have been playing with the Tour Bite and am very happy with it. I have been playing it full bed and therefore have a good grasp of it as a straight poly and can make the comparison of it as a hybrid.
- I was not sure what to expect with the Vanquish, but was very pleasantly surprised by its feel and play. This string compliments the Tour Bite VERY well - it softens up the feel of the racket so that its not harsh at all on the arm, yet maintains a crisp feel where you still get the power and control without a mushy feeling string bed
- Spin – still able to generate a whole lot of spin with the Tour Bite still in there, but relative to the full tour bite set-up, the spin was a bit weaker – guess that’s expected
- Feel – one thing I noticed and really liked was the feel I had around the net. I hit a couple drop volleys that were amazing and had my hitting partner even speechless (ball bounced on his side of the net and bounced back onto mine!! Love when that happens!)

- Two big differences between this and the NXT that I found was
1) Pop –I felt like it gave me a lot of pop on my shots… more than the NXT
2) Durability – after 2 hrs of hitting NXT usually gets pretty worn out, but the Vanquish is holding up quite nicely. I was worried that the Tour Bite edges would dig into and wear the Vanquish down, but so far it doesn’t seem to be the case at all.

Unless something drastic happens with tension or something else, I wouldn’t mind going full solinco with Vanquish when I hybrid given the performance is very good and pricing wise it is much cheaper than NXT.

Side note – I got one of those Solinco Sample Packs on TW and strung up the Outlast and hit with it briefly as well. VERY surprised by the play of the string. Assumed because it was the cheapest poly, that it wouldn’t play as well... but not the case. Will need to hit some more with it, but there might be something with this string. Anyone have experience with this string?
 
Hmm, Its great to know that this string is catching on. I started playing with it last fall and I think it did actually help my game a bit. It took my a while to get my true confidence it it but right now I don't think I would put anything else in my racket. Its almost like ALU 2.0, a little softer, and better tension maintenance.
 
For all those that are interested....

I have 2 reels of tour bite 17 that im looking to sell, I have 3 but i need to sell 2 because i really need the money right now.

btw im still working on the Revolution 17 review

email: m.w.c.360@gmail.com
 
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I have tested Tour Bite for the last few days. Overall, it is a good string. Good power, control and spin. Is it good enough for me to switch to it? I don't think so. I like it a lot though- probably more than Spin X. But it is not exactly cheap and the tension maintenance is not too good. I am trying now Typhoon and will post a review about that string as well.
 
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