(Click image to enlarge)
Takeaways:
The Babolat RPM Blast is pretty stiff, gives back a decent amount of energy, but doesn't do its name justice in terms of spin potential. Might be due for an update after almost 4 years on the market?
WeissCANNON's new Ultra Cable very much opens up the spin potential spectrum, making previous "spin monsters" like the Tour Bite or Cyclone look pretty average on paper. Based on my impressions it seems a bit spinnier, but not as much as the numbers suggests. It does eat up a bunch of power on impact. In general, I'm also starting to wonder at what point there are diminishing returns in terms of adding more RPMs to the ball...
The Tecnifibre Black Code 4S looks like a great all-round string on paper. I liked the original Black Code back in 2009. There's a short-term review here - felt pretty stiff, and gave me decent but not crazy spin. Tour Bite and Cyclone still seem grippier to me.
The Gamma Motos have received great reviews, which the numbers here seem to validate. In my tests, I haven't been able to dial in the tension yet. They seemed to lack power - when strung somewhat tightly they were all about control, and when strung somewhat loosely it was tough to get shots past the service line. Will give each Moto another shot though.
Solinco's Tour Bite appears to be noticeable softer in 1.20 than in 1.25, and should deliver a tad more spin too. I've played the 1.25 for a while but ended up finding it too firm in my RF 97 - so the 1.20 might be an alternative after all. UPDATE: comparison here.
The Völkl Cyclone looks like a great all-around string and still plays like one. My subjective findings regarding the Cyclone Tour are confirmed in the numbers: it felt very comfortable, but swallowing most of my built-up momentum on impact. The spin rating seems off - it definitely did not appear more spin-friendly to me than the standard Cyclone or the Tour Bite.
I've played Kirschbaum's red Pro Line II for a while, and found that color to be as soft as licorice (vs. the black one). So assuming Tennis Warehouse measured the black one here, ending up with a relatively high stiffness measure. Both definitely lack a bit of ball bite for me, for example causing my second serve to sail just a bit long.
Loved a loosely strung Silverstring to counter the stiffness of the Wilson BLX Tour 90 for a while, but was also looking for a bit more more ball grab there. In this group, it marks the low end of the spin spectrum, it however is relatively soft and bouncy. Now I'm quite excited about experimenting with the Black 5 Edge, which should also provide a good bit more power.
The classic Luxilon Alu Power is still somewhat low powered, paired with a low spin rating. It might still be an option if you hit out hard and flat like DelPo, and see your string as a tool to keep your shots in the court.
The now popular (and expensive) 4G marks the high end of stiffness and energy return, but also with low no spin potential due to little ball grip. I didn't include the 4G Rough here since the spin potential rating isn't much higher either. So that string is really about crushing the ball, which Serena seems to like - as Wilson likes to point out :)
So that's a bit of an overview for you. Personally, I'll stick with the orange Cyclone for match play, while experimenting with the Black 5 Edge, the Moto Soft, and the Black Code 4S in practice.
So that's a bit of an overview for you. Personally, I'll stick with the orange Cyclone for match play, while experimenting with the Black 5 Edge, the Moto Soft, and the Black Code 4S in practice.
Thanks again to TW for publishing their string performance database. I again chose a reference tension of 51 lbs. You can find definitions of the properties here.