What's wrong with Volkl Cyclone/Cyclone Tour?

[Alohalex]

Forgot to ask - any idea on the weight of the VCT16 and VCT18?
I think I read somewhere before that VCT16 is about 2g more than VCT18 (or 17) on 97/98 16x19.

I just weighed them 2 days ago. I weighed the 40' sets (without the package). VCT16 was about 3.5 to 4 grams heavier than VCT18.

 

[esm]

I just weighed them 2 days ago. I weighed the 40' sets (without the package). VCT16 was about 3.5 to 4 grams heavier than VCT18.

Cool. Thank you for that.
Need to do some man-maths then. lol

 

[LOBALOT]

I replied in post #7 that Black 7 was my choice as an alternative to Cyclone Tour, due to better tension maintenance (but still only average at best) and a little better bite on the ball. Three years later and I have a reel of Black 7 for when a joint is aching and I want to keep playing while letting something heal, but haven't touched my one remaining pack of Cyclone Tour due to its shorter duration of playability before tension loss affects control of the ball.

I tried Diadem Solstice Black which has way more bite than Cyclone Tour. It plays a tad stiffer. However, it has even shorter life than VCT. I was restringing it each time I played as that is all I would get from it.

 

[Injured Again]

I tried Diadem Solstice Black which has way more bite than Cyclone Tour. It plays a tad stiffer. However, it has even shorter life than VCT. I was restringing it each time I played as that is all I would get from it.

Same here! I used the teal Solstice Power in 1.30 gauge in a Babolat Overdrive 110 for a couple of years with decent results. The thicker gauge plus a bit of prestretching helped minimize the tension loss.

When I tried Solstice Black, I had switched to the Blade SW104 and needed a much thinner gauge. Like you, I found it was only good for a limited time before its playability changed.

 

[NS_Tennis]

I got a used Gravity Tour 98 which was strung with cyclone tour 17g (don’t know what tension). It played amazing and had a lot of bite and spin to it as well as a pretty high launch angle which I liked.
Anyways, I broke them and then strung the racket with my usual lynx tour champagne 1.25 at 53lbs and 50lbs but I lost all the spin and launchness that I liked.
Maybe I need to string lower?
But now I’m also thinking of buying cyclone tour to use regularly and looking for options for other similar strings that can give me higher spin, power and launch like the cyclone tour.

 

[jmacdaununder2]

Cyclone Tour 17g has quite bad tension maintenance; perhaps you’re going to have to drop tension significantly to replicate the feel with another string that actually holds tension reasonably?

 

[NS_Tennis]

Hmmm maybe, it didn’t seem that low though but yeah was probably mid 40s. Honestly it could also have been 16g lol I’m not sure - I cut it out as soon as it broke.
I was thinking of trying Hyper G soft and pure rush as I’ve heard they’re kinda similar. I’m not too worried about comfort as don’t have any injuries - just trying to replicate the spin, power and high launch I was getting with cyclone tour.

 

[hitthefence38]

Cyclone seemed better to hit than the tour version. It threw me off not sure if it was because it was pre stretch or not.

 

[esm]

Cyclone seemed better to hit than the tour version. It threw me off not sure if it was because it was pre stretch or not.

I can kinda relate to this.
Used Cyclone 18 for a few sets and quite liked, then tried a couple of sets of Cyclone Tour 18 (upped by 2lb each way) due to the softness.
I sort of does everything well, but at times I wished it was Cyclone 18 instead.
Maybe it is in my head, not sure.

Maybe I need to revisit Cyclone 18 again and see.

Edit - anyone tried Cyclone blue? How does it compare against the yellow and orange ones. Thanks.

 

[Sardines]

Well, the thing about Volkl Cyclone and Cyclone Tour is that they are still talked about 15 years after release. Not many strings get that sort of longevity in this short attention span world. The ONLY poly that has the most attention is obviously Luxilon Alu Power/Rough, but that comes from the pros using it. Even RPM Blast and HyperG have gone away.
I still buy Volkl Cyclone 18L whenever I'm in TW. For less than $70 a reel, it's one of the most cost/performance value polys out there. Of late, I find that by dropping tension by at least 10%, and using the 10-15 seconds extended pull stringing method, much of the tension drop is taken out without hurting the elasticity of the string. Prestretching (-10% reference, 5% prestretch) causes it to play stiff and dead, especially using Sergetti. Fine tuning is probably necessary to find the right personal feel.

 

[blai212]

these strings are earlier generation polys that have become overtaken by better performance/durability/comfort strings. Anything thinner than VCT 16g is terrible tension maintenance. VCT 16g is not even that great after 5-7 hrs for me and I could only use it as mains in hybrid cuz its so damn heavy. Volkl cyclone made my arm cry. That was a definite no go.

 

[cg.tennis]

I can kinda relate to this.
Used Cyclone 18 for a few sets and quite liked, then tried a couple of sets of Cyclone Tour 18 (upped by 2lb each way) due to the softness.
I sort of does everything well, but at times I wished it was Cyclone 18 instead.
Maybe it is in my head, not sure.

Maybe I need to revisit Cyclone 18 again and see.

Edit - anyone tried Cyclone blue? How does it compare against the yellow and orange ones. Thanks.

Cyclone Blue is probably Volkl’s new formula. It’s not as dead as the black version, and not as lively as the yellow or orange. String movement is minimal, which suggests tension maintenance has improved.

 

[esm]

Cyclone Blue is probably Volkl’s new formula. It’s not as dead as the black version, and not as lively as the yellow or orange. String movement is minimal, which suggests tension maintenance has improved.

Thank you. Sounds promising. Will order and try