First off, i would like to say that i'm a die hard BG80 fan and would love to use it as long as i live but like other strings, it has drawbacks, and that main drawback is durability. That is why i'm looking at these 2 strings as to hope to be a good temporary compromise. I know both of these strings won't be as hard or as rough as BG80 and i can live with that. But if the control and tension retension is similar or close to BG80 then thats good enough for me. Basically which of these 2 strings is a more suitable replacement for BG80.
How many times a week are you playing? Can have four racquets and rotate all of them. Then restring as appropriate
i play twice a week and no i don't have four rackets and even if i do it will put a blackhole in my wallet
Don’t try BG80P, had to cut it less than a week, smash were decent, others were bad. I used 28lbs tension. Its pricy and not worth the price. Ps: its no where near BG80, it should not be named BG80P
I pay the same price for both as a reel. Depends on region. I like BG80 Power alot. If you string it a bit higher you can compromise the softer feel. BG80 Power drops in the first week the most, but outplays BG80 which will become harsh and dropping repulsion after 2-4 weeks in performance over time. I suggest to add 1-2lbs on BG80 Power to compromise it. IMO a decent string, which got many bad reviews because a lot people compare it by the name, instead of accepting that it is a different string. For people who like the hard feel of BG80 very difficult to satisfy them with any other string on the market.
Yeah i don't get why people cant see the string as a whole but HAVE to compare it to 80 most of the time. I have no qualms about it being softer than BG80 but it is not as rough i presume so control will be reduced. The qualities i like most about 80 was its control and tension retension, the hard feel while it was a nice change, it wasnt what i would certainly appreciate all the time since smashing with 80 is a bit harsh on my shoulder so i i prefer to use it purely when playing singles. Back to the topic at hand, i strung NBG99 at 28lbs and will test it tommorow. Maybe i will test BG80P after i break 99 and then see if it actually deserves all the hate.
I agree with you. Why I moved from BG80 to BG80 Power was the hard feel which made me not to play 2 days in a row. Depending what racket you play it can be too much for your shoulder/elbow. As everyone I'm also getting older, too and seek for something which is easier on the arm. If you string it a bit tighter the tension loss will become even out. Controlwise I can't say anything bad about it. It really satisfy me in this department. NBG99 is also a string which got not much love. I also enjoy it, but find it has a bit damped feel. On the other hand BG66 came in 4 different versions and I never read that anybody judged it so badly by the number of the previous model as the reason.
The thing about NBG99 is that it came from a bad line-up tbh. Both 95 and 98 were slippery like a fish, durable for the gauge, powerful but very dull feel. 99 is like the buffed up version of that formula, much much more rougher, power still good for the gauge and overall a better package. NBG99 is one of those hidden gems that severely deserves to be recognised IMO.
I think each string has its own lovers and haters. Really depends how sensitive you are to tension loss and what you prefer. I also had my hard, stiff and high or go home period. Couldn't enjoy BG80 Power or NBG99. But since I realized that my peak is over, I need to go more user friendly and can enjoy the game more than before.
BG80 and NBG99 can't be much further apart in term of hard/soft feeling although they have similar repulsion. ABBT is pretty close to BG80 and if your problem with BG80 is breaking the main (due to mishit, etc), ABBT main is really thick (0.72mm) and definitely helps with that. I had to give up BG80 due to its proneness to mishits and tension loss (only around 10 days for me) but am enjoying my first set of ABBT so far.
Sure the 0.72mm vectran in ABBT is much thicker compared to BG80 but there is also that 0.61mm Aerosonic as well. Since crosses are strung tighter than mains, and the fact that the thinner the string the more pressure it will put on a surface area than a thicker string at the same tension. By that logic, ABBT is definitely not as durable as BG80 because the Aerosonic crosses are constantly cutting into the vectran mains. Not only hybrids are expensive (not what i need from the get go) but the durability side can also be inconsistent since we're talking 2 individual pieces of strings. Also, since when does BG80 prone to lose tension quickly?! Countless other people here and myself included felt the exact opposite and the mis-hit thing is most likely yourself to blame since no string is meant to handle mis-hitting. I dont care if a string isnt as hard or as rough as BG80, if its more durable and remains playable for a while then thats good enough for me. I think i get what ucantseeme is talking about. I dont need an alternative BG80, im just looking for something that has what BG80 is lacking while being decent at everything else.
About durability, ABBT is rated higher than BG80 by Yonex itself (7 vs 6) and it's somewhat in line with my experience. Maybe it's not the raw tension but elasticity loss that causes BG80 to feel very dull after a week (4-5 times playing). Anyway, it's just my 2 cents. Take it easy.