Zymax 62/67/70 Vs. BG-80

BG80 is, for me, the clear winner against Z67: Z67 doesn't have the grippy surface of BG80 and IMO it's down on power for a "0.67".

Z62 lasted me a very surprisingly long time, but I have heard many complaints about people borking it within ten minutes, so I'd say it definitely doesn't stack up against BG80. Z70 is an interesting one - you can pull it to insane tensions (I've gone over 32 with it) but it still keeps power, and you've got all the extra control from the tension. I reckon you should try that one at least once - do it 10% higher than your usual tension and see if you can get it in yellow, as that one has the better grip IMO. The sound is excellent, and it won't be as difficult to bend as BG80.

 

I strung a friend's Arc Saber racket with Zymax 67 to 24 X 26.5 lbs. The string broke in less than a couple of hits!!! Maybe I should avoid the 10% pre-stretch function?!?

 

I strung my Gosen 8900 with Zymax67 (27/28 manual stringing) and played 1 game with it yesterday. Initial feel of the string was hard and numb compared with BG80. String sound wasn't impressive too. Played with it again today for about 4 games and the string repulsion/feeling begin to improved after the 2nd game. Overall feel of this string is quite similar to BG80 with the latter scored higher in all departments but on tension holding wise, the Zymax have the upper hand since it took a longer time to settled inspite I did not pre-stretched it at all. Also I noticed that this string tends to moved a lot (like MP series) in an odd way (BG80 moved too but easier to adjust), maybe due to its rough texture. Anyway, I believed I would gained more from this string on my next session.

 

I find it strange that many players with newly strung string find that the racquet plays better after a few days. On the contrary, I find new strings play their best the first time and as time goes by they play poorer. Also, I find new strings that move the most always play better than when they start to move little or not at all.
My personal take is that on Zymax strings pre-stretching is very bad for playability because it will merely increase the string's dynamic stiffness, which will make it lose its bounce and effortless power delivery.

 

This is presumably why the strings feel less bouncy & powerful after a few games because in effect you have "pre- stretched" them by your hitting the shots?

 

Actually, I found it strange that you find it strange. Some string jobs takes a few days to break in, others are very very balanced right from the start. Still others never ever get there with the playability. Certainly, an excellent stringer as you portray yourself to be must know your skills are not by accident.

 

Its simple to answer your questions:-

1.) Each string has different characteristic hence the varieties you could find on the shelf.

2.) Each player strung their racket differently i.e tension, pre-stretch percentage, type of machine used and of course the stringer.

3.) The "acquired" feel for each player is different. Let say you found BG66 to be the best string for your liking, others could say otherwise.

So now I hope you dont find it strange anymore.

What is strange to me is given you knew better than me of the above and yet you said you find it strange.

 

IMPE almost ALL strings are best when newly strung, and certainly all the ones I've tried are when it comes to repulsion and "feel". The rare exceptions are those with unusually thick and/or slippery coatings that have to be "burnt off" before the string can grip properly - SOTX 1040Ti and BG65Ti are like this for me.

With regard to pre-stretching, I find that the Zymaxes don't have as much slack to take out as most of the other strings, indicating that they will hold tension better. The debate rages on, but I pre-stretch (manually) only enough to get the string into its pure elastic mode i.e. to get the creep out of it. Yes, it may reduce the string's initial repulsion, but I would rather get this plastic deformation out BEFORE the string goes into the racket than have to put up with a possibly much greater loss of tension later on: I'll take a string that has had perhaps 5-10% of its repulsion sacrificed to pre-stretching if it keeps tension commensurately longer.

 

What was the durability like at 32lbs for ZM70 ? Thanks

 

^^I got bored and cut it after 10 hours, so at least 10 hours for me.

 

All strings will lose power starting from day one play. The reason is that after each repeated hit the string will lose its elasticity and also some of its grippy feel as the string's coating gets worn down. The string's best playability period is the first few games. After one week or 10 hours of play it is not the same as when new. It loses its speed and crispness, especially for players with fast hand speed. However, there are many players who prefer strings that are one week old as they feel the strings a bit too tight when new.
I string quite a number of racquets, now only with ZM 62 or ZM 67, and I test them before I hand over to customers. As I say there is nothing like a newly strung string.

 

I believe you have misunderstood what I am trying to say.
As I have said earlier all strings have their best playability when new. The fact that some players find they play better after a break-in period and other reasons are conceptually not sound. Of course different players play differently and will have difference of opinion on them, but these are due to the player's technique.

I am not catering to the differences in hitting style or technique of players. I am referring to the simple fundamental concept that new strings play best for some very simple reasons. One is that new strings have the best elasticity. If the strings are more than 10 hours of play old then elasticity is much reduced. Also remember the stringbed is a criscross of vertical and horizontal strings and after repeated hits these crisscross intersections develop notches, resulting in the string being thinned out every few mm. You now don't have a round string but a string with a few hundred notches. How on earth can you say such a week old break-in period is better? Perhaps one can mistake a new string that has been strung at a tension beyond the capability of the player as worse than one that is one week old that has gone through a break-in period with its consequential loss of elasticity and tension. We must not blame the wrong chap and praise the bad fellow. Because a new string that is strung beyond the player's ability to get the best out of it is worse than an old string that has 200+ notches on it.

Another thing is the often misunderstood thing about tension becoming evenly balanced out after a few days. Just try this or watch and see what happens after a string snaps. String tension is already optimally balanced out when the stringing job is complete. This is because we are not stringing at below 20lbs. Just cut a string, even a newly strung string, and you will see only the relevant adjacent mains or crosses are affected. Likewise when a new string is strung the tension is shared by the adjacent strings.
In short, there is no such thing as waiting for a break-in period for the strings to balance out.

If cost is of no concern and if you string your own racquets I would suggest you restring more frequently, always before the string breaks.

 

Played again today for a session (2 hours) and as expected, the Zymax67 played better today from the beginning. The overall feel of the string felt "livelier" especially when compared to the very 1st day of use which was numb and hard. I believed the string is performing at its best now after the break-in period and I am curious to find out how long this string playability can last. As for BG80 normally its around 2 months (3 sessions per week) but I suspect the Zymax could last longer since it took a longer period to settled in (1 day and 0 pre-stretch) compared to about 2/3 games for BG80. Overall quite satisfied with its performance inspite its cheaper in cost than BG80 but the need to adjust the string all the time really annoys me.

 

Don't worry about the string movement: that will settle down after a short while when the strings start to notch into each other.

In addition to your observations, I've also found that the sweet spot is somehow larger and the "feel" less sharp (in a good way) as compared to bg80.

 

Yes you are spot-on. The sweet spot seems to be larger with those shots that was hit above the center of the frame was more forgiving. If you did that on BG80, it would generates a really weird sound.

As for the string movement, I found most of the Ashaway series share the same characteristic minus Micro Legend maybe due to its thickness and string texture.

 

Yes, more forgiving... that's the term I was looking for.

 

the big sweet spot feel is because it has better elasticity or softer feel yet responsive.

however the tension loss is more because of this feel.