TRU PRO (formerly Tier One Sports) Polyester Line Review

[Micalzon]

Although T1 Firewire offers a pretty unique feel, we have heard from some of our customers that it plays similar to cyclone...

I'm actually playing with both the T1 Firewire in one racquet and Cyclone in another (both Pure Storms @ 48#). I've had the T1 in for about 5 weeks and the Cyclone for a little over a week. I'll say that they do both play very similar, but T1 has about 10% more power and spin over Cyclone. The T1 is more crisp a a little more feel than Cyclone, IMO. I'm actually very surprised by the tension maintenance in the T1. The string felt super stiff and was a little nervous for my arm but it is actually reasonably comfortable. Probably more so than Tour Bite Soft.

The T1 is in a racquet I use for almost exclusively play tests and I keep wanting to cut it out for my next set up, but I'll pull it from the bag for a few sets and continue to be amazed at how good it still plays. I'll have to cut it out soon anyway since I just got another string I've got to review soon.

Glad I found this thread because I wasn't sure where to purchase the Tier One string. I'm going to buy the poly/multi set and will probably keep using this string until something better (for the price) comes along. This is seriously good stuff. I'm just not looking forward to stringing this going forward. It drew blood on more than one occassion and the string recoil was quite a pain.

 

[djNEiGht]

What gauge did you use?

I was hitting with cyclone during the spring and then was able to do a fresh bed of T1 17 and week old bed of cyclone 17. I replaced the cyclone a bit after with BHB7 17.

I really liked the T1. I also tested the 18g but saw it notched faster. I didn't play with it as long as the 17g as I had another string I wanted to test out.

Contemplating testing 18 again longer but durability was an issue.

 

[Micalzon]

What gauge did you use?

I was hitting with cyclone during the spring and then was able to do a fresh bed of T1 17 and week old bed of cyclone 17. I replaced the cyclone a bit after with BHB7 17.

I really liked the T1. I also tested the 18g but saw it notched faster. I didn't play with it as long as the 17g as I had another string I wanted to test out.

Contemplating testing 18 again longer but durability was an issue.

I'm using 17g in both set ups. I just pulled my stick with the T1 and there is hardly any notching in it. I'm still impressed it has lasted this long. Going to the website in the morning to buy some more.

 

[djNEiGht]

The 17 didn't notch on me but the 18 did fairly quick

 

[TRU PRO Official]

I've played with Durafluxx last year and was impressed with it. I was borrowing a friends racquet and he gave me the string to use in it. After reading through some of the posts here, I decided to give Tier One a shot. I've strung up Tour Status at 52 in my Donnay Platinum 99. Just need to play a little tennis with it. I ordered all three polys, so I'll report back after I give each of them a playtest.

Update, I hit with Tour Status for the second time today. The first time I felt that the string bed was too stiff. My friend who has played with TS before told me to give it some time to break in. Today was a good day. After the string bed loosened from the first time I hit with it, the strings played very well. I don't find that it is like some of the other poly's that have tremendous spin, but it is more then adequate in this regard. The main thing that I really liked was that the string bed felt very good, this string is not the stiffest polyester which I like. The other part about the string bed feeling good was that this string seems to have the perfect balance of control and power. I found myself putting aggressive swings on pretty much every ball and not really fearing that the ball would fly out. The volleys were excellent for a polyester and touch was again good for a polyester. Overall, I'm very happy with this string and if it continues to play this way for a solid duration I maybe looking at my new string.

Drew, wanted to see if you had a chance to give T1 Firewire a try yet?

 

[DrewRafter8]

Drew, wanted to see if you had a chance to give T1 Firewire a try yet?

Sorry, missed your post. I have not tried the Firewire yet. I'm in the process of changing racquets and have not been playing all that much. Since I'm playing less and less, I'm going back to a more forgiving racquet. I think that the Firewire might be a very interesting selection when I finally switch. The nice thing about T1 strings is that all are arm friendly according to the stiffness ratings that are on the website.

 

[tdhawks]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, just curious if any others have tried these out lately?

I just ordered the 3 polys at the introduction rate.

So far, I see some recommendations as this:
Durafluxx 48-52lbs
Firewire +3lbs from Durafluxx as it's more lively
Tour Status ??

Are these correct??

I generally string my polys in the upper 50's. I like the control, can generally produce my own power, and no arm issues. Normally use Zo Verve at 58lbs.

I use the 13' APD with 12g lead at 3 and 6 and 3g under the cap. 4.0 player, possible bump to 4.5 here in a week. Primarily a baseliner with plenty of spin with hard kicking serves.

Thanks.

 

[DrewRafter8]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, just curious if any others have tried these out lately?

I just ordered the 3 polys at the introduction rate.

So far, I see some recommendations as this:
Durafluxx 48-52lbs
Firewire +3lbs from Durafluxx as it's more lively
Tour Status ??

Are these correct??

I generally string my polys in the upper 50's. I like the control, can generally produce my own power, and no arm issues. Normally use Zo Verve at 58lbs.

I use the 13' APD with 12g lead at 3 and 6 and 3g under the cap. 4.0 player, possible bump to 4.5 here in a week. Primarily a baseliner with plenty of spin with hard kicking serves.

Thanks.

I have an APD that I'll be stringing Tour Status in very soon. I'm planning on stringing at 52 with the 17 gauge. I'm a 4.5 as well and I've never strung TS over 52 pds.

 

[TRU PRO Official]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, just curious if any others have tried these out lately?

I just ordered the 3 polys at the introduction rate.

So far, I see some recommendations as this:
Durafluxx 48-52lbs
Firewire +3lbs from Durafluxx as it's more lively
Tour Status ??

Are these correct??

I generally string my polys in the upper 50's. I like the control, can generally produce my own power, and no arm issues. Normally use Zo Verve at 58lbs.

I use the 13' APD with 12g lead at 3 and 6 and 3g under the cap. 4.0 player, possible bump to 4.5 here in a week. Primarily a baseliner with plenty of spin with hard kicking serves.

Thanks.

Thanks for giving our strings a try!

String tension: We believe that not only our co-poly strings but new generation co-poly strings in general play best in the 50 lbs range. We can also follow tendencies of high level junior players utilizing the benefits of a co-poly strings at lower tensions (sometimes even in the mid 40s).
That said, if you are used to playing co-poly strings at higher 50's our strings might tmight feel a bit lively at 50 lbs especially if you play them at 18 gauge.
I would suggest to give all our strings a try at 52 lbs and see if you like it. Maybe you want to try your current goto co-poly string at lower tensions as well....

Hope that helps!

 

[tdhawks]

Thanks for giving our strings a try!

String tension: We believe that not only our co-poly strings but new generation co-poly strings in general play best in the 50 lbs range. We can also follow tendencies of high level junior players utilizing the benefits of a co-poly strings at lower tensions (sometimes even in the mid 40s).
That said, if you are used to playing co-poly strings at higher 50's our strings might tmight feel a bit lively at 50 lbs especially if you play them at 18 gauge.
I would suggest to give all our strings a try at 52 lbs and see if you like it. Maybe you want to try your current goto co-poly string at lower tensions as well....

Hope that helps!

I normally use 17g strings. I will set these up at 52lbs and go from there. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[markiev37]

just hit today with a full bed of firewall 17G in my buddies purestorm GT strung at 50lbs. I actually gave him the string as I recieved with a pack of overgrips I ordered. I regret giving him this string. I have a purestorm GT with tourbite strung at 53lbs . The firewall seemed to have a little more power with the same control as the tourbite. seemed as soft as the tourbite. Will have to order a pack of 17G firewall know and make a decision.

BTW, Tieronesports has always been shipped my orders rapidley and just want to say their overgrips are tacky and durable.

Sorry to dig up an old thread, just curious if any




others have tried these out lately?

I just ordered the 3 polys at the introduction rate.

So far, I see some recommendations as this:
Durafluxx 48-52lbs
Firewire +3lbs from Durafluxx as it's more lively
Tour Status ??

Are these correct??

I generally string my polys in the upper 50's. I like the control, can generally produce my own power, and no arm issues. Normally use Zo Verve at 58lbs.

I use the 13' APD with 12g lead at 3 and 6 and 3g under the cap. 4.0 player, possible bump to 4.5 here in a week. Primarily a baseliner with plenty of spin with hard kicking serves.

Thanks.

 

[djNEiGht]

Put Durafluxx 1.20 in my Redondo MP at 45#, CP w 10% prestretch.

This firm low powered string made my kick serves jump! I haven't played Tour Bite in a full bed but figure it might just very well play similar. In a flexible racquet there is no harshness. I'm currently feeling an odd discomfort unlike my TE/GE of the past and am worried its carpal tunnel. So frustrated I have almost walked off the court...

Anyways, it like the string in this racquet. Was playing with the Babolat Pure Drive and testing out the Head Lynx 1.30. Had the weird discomfort with this set up and decided to go back to a softer elbow friendly racquet. Even though I have a stiff string in the PK, it is very comfy.

 

[jonestim]

Tried Firewire 1.25 in my POG LB and the 1.30 in my Tour 100T ESP. First thing I noticed is the spin - loads of it, and good bite on slice. Tension maintenance is good and I am quite amazed at the lack of notching. In my ESP I have used a number of strings including Pro Line X, Tour Bite 1.30 and Prince Tour XC 1.35. Firewire 1.30 has stayed playable longer and notched less than everything else in this racquet. Word is that it also will be released in black this year. Thumbs up.

 

[djNEiGht]

Tried Firewire 1.25 in my POG LB and the 1.30 in my Tour 100T ESP. First thing I noticed is the spin - loads of it, and good bite on slice. Tension maintenance is good and I am quite amazed at the lack of notching. In my ESP I have used a number of strings including Pro Line X, Tour Bite 1.30 and Prince Tour XC 1.35. Firewire 1.30 has stayed playable longer and notched less than everything else in this racquet. Word is that it also will be released in black this year. Thumbs up.

I've had good results with the 1.30 and 1.25 for playability and durability. was odd that notching took a while. The 1.20 notched quickly...characteristics of that guage.

 

[TRU PRO Official]

Tried Firewire 1.25 in my POG LB and the 1.30 in my Tour 100T ESP. First thing I noticed is the spin - loads of it, and good bite on slice. Tension maintenance is good and I am quite amazed at the lack of notching. In my ESP I have used a number of strings including Pro Line X, Tour Bite 1.30 and Prince Tour XC 1.35. Firewire 1.30 has stayed playable longer and notched less than everything else in this racquet. Word is that it also will be released in black this year. Thumbs up.

Jonestim, thank you noticing our string. Yes, I would like to confirm that we will add T1 FireWire in black to our product line. We hopefully have it available in 2 weeks!

 

[Tennisspieler]

Jonestim, thank you noticing our string. Yes, I would like to confirm that we will add T1 FireWire in black to our product line. We hopefully have it available in 2 weeks!

Awesome! That's the news I've been waiting for!

T1 FireWire is truly one of the best shaped poly strings out there. I am really digging that string ever since I hit with it for the first time a couple of months ago. The ball pocketing, spin production and control are among the best that you can expect from a tennis string. Tension maintenance and durability are also way above average. Comfort is surprisingly good for a firm poly.

My only (minor and very personal) complaint was that T1 FireWire was only available in bright red, which looks fantastic in some racquets, but too flashy in others (as it happened in my Prince Tour 100T ESP). So the introduction of a black version of that string is really good news. I guess this will boost the market share of that string, as nowadays most players seem to prefer darker colors in their strings.

Kudos to Tier One for listening to their consumers and taking the customer's feedback into account. Some people were asking for a black version of T1 FireWire, and only a few weeks later Tier One delivers.

So thank you Tier One, I'll be the first to buy a reel in black!

BTW: For those interested, I posted a review in Mikeler's Poly thread a few weeks ago:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=8845570&postcount=1828
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=373884&page=92

 

[mikeler]

I recently had a chance to playtest 2 new prototypes from Tier One. One was similar to the ALU strings and the other was a variant of Firewire. Both played great, so this is definitely a line that is worth a look.

 

[The Big Kahuna]

For tier 1 sports official: For those of us who been experimenting with Polys lower tensions to enhance the comfort, feel, power, and spin the street, what would you recommend is the sweet spot in the 40s range for each of your strings. Right now I'm playing with Yonex pro tour spin 17 gauge or Yonex PTP 18g strung at 38 in the mains and 42 in the crosses.

 

[TRU PRO Official]

For tier 1 sports official: For those of us who been experimenting with Polys lower tensions to enhance the comfort, feel, power, and spin the street, what would you recommend is the sweet spot in the 40s range for each of your strings. Right now I'm playing with Yonex pro tour spin 17 gauge or Yonex PTP 18g strung at 38 in the mains and 42 in the crosses.

Not sure but we might have recently emailed with each other. This was the response to a similar question:

My personal opinion about string tension: I believe that Tier One Sports co-poyester strings play best between 48-52 lbs. I and some of my friends did play around with low string tension as well. My experience is that co-polys play uniquely well at low tensions (40 lbs) for a very short period of time and can be very effective if the stroke mechanics is precise and the stroke is relaxed. Ball pocketing is great and the sweet spot becomes surprisingly large. I had to switch back to around 50 lbs because I feel co-poyls become unplayable latest at hour 3 (when strung at low tensions). Maybe you can relate to that as well.

PS: If you really want to try a low tension setup I would recommend doing it with the Durafluxx string.

Conclusion: Not sure if I can provide a sweet spot tension for low tension setups. I think we don't have enough data to pin it down to a specific low tension.

 

[Dennylee60]

A little background: I have been playing with the Cyclone Tour 18g for about a year and in general I like the string. My only complaint is that it does not last very long, about 8 to 10 hrs, and string bed is so soft the last couple hours I usually have a hard time controlling the ball.

On a whim I bought 4 sets of Tier One strings, 17g and 18g Firewire and Tour Status. I really liked the 18g Firewire but it broke in 4 hrs. I just spent couple hours hitting with 18g Tour Status. It is an excellent string! The string is firm, not harsh (I will string it a few pounds lighter next time). There is lots of feel when the ball goes off the racquet with a nice pop. The string does not generate as much spin as Firewire or Cyclone Tour but enough for my game.

One thing that stuck me as I was playing was how consistent the ball went off my racquet. The control on this string is excellent. I had a good feel for what the ball was going to do based on how the ball went off the racquet. It is pretty amazing. I was actually kind of distracted by how much I was enjoying the string.

If this string lasts more than 8 hrs, I am definitely switching! I still have the 17g strings to try out but at this point, I may just stick with the 18g Tour Status and call it a day.

 

[The Big Kahuna]

So far, I have tested two of the three T1 strings with one more Poly to go - they have faired very well head to head with most of the most highly regarded "spin" strings on the market. The FIREWIRE 17 is my favorite, so far, with just the TOUR STATUS to go. The results so far:

•Tier One DURAFLUXX 17
Comfort: 3
Power: 2
Spin: 7
Control: 7
Feel: 4
OVERALL: 23

My rating: B
Comments: comfortable, lively, solid -plays similar to Solinco Tour Bite, Luxilon Big Banger (a stiffer string) with superb control


•Tier One FIREWIRE 17
Comfort: 5
Power: 3
Spin: 8
Control: 6
Feel: 5
OVERALL: 27

My rating: A
Comments: comfortable, precise, crispy, solid, lively - compares to Volkl Cyclone Tour


•Volkl CYCLONE 17
Comfort: 3
Power: 8
Spin: 8
Control: 7
Feel: 2
OVERALL: 28

My rating:B
Comments: lively, solid, precise (a stiffer string) - hard on the arm

•Yonex PTS 17
Comfort: 4
Power: 3
Spin: 9
Control: 8
Feel: 4
OVERALL: 28

My rating: B+
Comments: solid, precise, comfortable, muted - hard on the arm (rather dead feeling)

•Yonex PTP 18
Comfort: 7
Power: 5
Spin: 7
Control: 5
Feel: 6
OVERALL: 30

My rating: A-
Comments: comfortable, lively, elastic (lacks control and precision, but very comfortable)


•Solinco TOUR BITE 19
Comfort: 3
Power: 6
Spin: 9
Control: 6
Feel: 6
OVERALL: 30

My rating: B+
Comments: comfortable, flexible, rough, precise, crispy - feels a bit like Lexicon Big Banger Ace 18 or Signum Pro Tornado 1.17

I want to try the FIREWIRE 18 next. I have suspicions this may be my ultimate winner in this selected play test.

 

[OlivierJulienB]

Hello!

I have played with all Tier One strings and like their different personalities.
My preference goes clearly to Firewire, which I like a lot (I preferred the red version and found it had better directional control than the black version).
Spin is just excellent! And power sufficient for my game.

Durafluxx is a good string too, but I didn't like the dead feeling. It is good for control, but power is low and feeling insufficient for me).
Tour Status wasn't the string for me. I liked it during the 2-3 first hours, then I lost control and spin decreased too.

 

[OlivierJulienB]

Has anybody of you played with the new Tier One Strike Force Rip 1.23 ?
Texture seems to be similar to Solinco Tour Bite Diamond Rough, which I played and liked.

 

[djNEiGht]

T1 Firewire is one of my favs

I like Durafluxx but to me it played best in a low flex racquet.

Tour Status was okay for me as well but didn't knock my socks off. Was kind of a do it all string but not do anything exceptional

I don't think it i've tried force rip. I'll have to check my string logs.

 

[DrewRafter8]

Haven't tried Rip, but if it is based off of one of their prototypes, I'll love it. They had a prototype I used a few years ago that was absolutely lights out! I've used all their strings and prefer different ones for different racquets. They only make quality stuff. Except a reel of 4g rough I've had since it came out, all my other string reels and packs are Tier One.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

^^By "low flex racquet", do you mean low flex rating or do you mean a stiff racquet (ex. Pure Drive).

 

[djNEiGht]

Low flex rating/RA

Racquet that worked well w durafluxx that I used was a redondo 98

 

[M Pillai]

I am going to spend some time on the co-polys from Tier One Sports and will post my reviews here. Probably going to try them in this order:

1. T1 Firewire 17
2. Tour Status 17
3. Durafluxx 17
4. Strike Force RIP 17

To start with I find that their customer service was extremely responsive and very helpful.

 

[tdhawks]

I have a set of RIP I'm putting in my DR next week. I'll let you guys know what I think. I couldn't find any reviews on it anywhere