Update
We got home a bit late last night, but I managed to string a racquet on the Ergo Pro.
The Pro has got to be the biggest machine in size I worked on. The Baiardo is also large in size didn’t feel as big as the Pro. Working on the Pro is like working on a space ship or driving a Seqouia. I love the space for tools and I was able to keep everything on it plus more. It is a Very solid machine and the turntable almost feel like cast iron. All joints and glides moved freely and smooth. The machine being so solid made it very quiet. I had mention before on the Racket Station that it was very loud from the rails and even activating the tension head. I feel like Tecnifibre has the least acousticial noises. A slight buzz/hum from the machine when activated.
The way to move the mounting pillars is on the pillars itself. It is a twist on top and not from the bottom like other machine that locks the pillars underneath with a screw type knob. I think this is genius and easily functional for stringers. Also the knob to Open/Close the arms are very sleek vs the Ergo One which is a plastic knob.
I think many people already pointed this out and agreed that the single action clamps are soooo old school and you’ll really have to pay attention to the tightness of the clamp so it doesn’t pinch or ghost the strings. It is not the end of the world but I think an upgrade is needed. The Clamp lock are solid and great design with a turning switch.
The body is black with the faux carbon fiber trims which does give it cool points. Felt like the design is very well thought of and made the
Machine more prestigious looking.
The String measure unit below was actually nice and accurate but doubt anyone is going to use it regularly. Maybe to cut out sets or odd lengths.
The count is on the LED screen from the console that you have to navigate to from menu.
The automatic breaks were amazing and really hold the frame steady. You can go from auto to man via menu screen.
I love the actual button that is on the unit so you can punch in the tension vs scrolling on an up & down button. Along with the major buttons needed on a machine such as pre stretching, knots, crosses and speed(1-4 4 being the fastest). However, I was surprised vs the Ergo One this machine doesn’t have a IB/KG button! It is in the menu on the Pro which isn’t a biggie but it could have easily been put on like the Ergo One.
Tension Head has a triangular shaped that seems unnecessarily bulky, but effective. The path through the linear grip catches the string at the end having a little click that secures your string from falling off or derailing. You still need to put pressure on the string to actually get it to grab while pulling tension.
The activator for the tension head is located on the console vs many current machine that activate at the tail trigger. There is a half a second or so delay from activating the trigger and when it pulls... I don’t know how I feel about that yet... I did ask Stephan One of the big timer for Tecnifibre and he said never an issue while on tour and feeling athe button made me felt relieved as it is solid and felt very strong. If it was made from cheap plastic materials I would be more concerned.
The hydraulic Stance is amazing and glides perfectly up and with some pressure down to set it lower. It is well made and very solid. Babolat Racket Station stance is still old school with the screw and you’ll have to lift up with a lot of force or removing stringer to set. The Tecnifibre Stance is basically the ideal standard.
I love the one off switch... It’s large, green and lights up when activated. The power source is easily located next to the switch and a normal 3 prongs plug. Babolat has to do the most and make it under the machine at a weird angle with a skeleton type plug which can be tricky putting in because at the bottom and place on the side you can really see how you are guiding the plug and if you don’t take your time it might bend the skeleton prongs. Small details like that makes a huge difference for the over all user experience.
For a 9K MSRP Machine this is a solid buy for a store front. It has a very modern and sleek look. Very classical beauty to the design. It is made in France so... Being so big it was actually lighter to carry than the Ergo One... Surprised me on that one because it looks like it would the same weight as the Baiardo top console and if you ever set up a Baiardo knows how heavy that machine is to take down.
I wish I could make the ultimate
Machine and pick bits a pieces from the top leading machines, but I would rank this from all the machines we owned.
1. Wilson Baiardo
2. Tecnifibre Ergo Pro
3. Babolat Racket Station
4. Tecnifibre Ergo One
5. Babolat Sensor
6. Babolat Star 5
They've just laid some sort of graphics over the casing to make it look like bare carbon fiber.
