Adidas strings 2019

[DuckFeet]

I've not seen a seprarate thread yet so i thought I'd create one. I'll probably end up try to test and review them all.

So far I've seen:
Kalkul A68
Wucht P68
Spieler E68
Spieler E66
Uberchall F66

I've got A68 waiting to try, coating amd gauge seem like a BG80 alternative.

P68 feels to me like a zymax fire coating, and the core reminds me of a thicker VS850, it certainly stretched a fair bit while stringing. Very excited to try this. Thanks Rimano for selling me a couple of sets off your reel.

E68 seems to be the durable budget option. I've seen it at £66 a reel whereas the others I've seen at more like £110. I currently pay around 80 for my current choice, BG80.

 

[speCulatius]

E68 seems to be the durable budget option.

I don't see it as a BG65 alternative though, much nicer to play with, a little bit thinner. Better in all aspects (despite durability) to me.

By coincidence, I have it side by side with Nanogy 99 right now (same racket, same tension, same string, string within two days, played roughly the same) and to me, it has a little bit better feedback than NBG99, but overall they're quite similar.
Neither of them will become my favorite string, at least on this racket (Babolat Satelite 6.5 Blast; box frame, rather stiff, head heavy).

I also tried it on the Überschall F2 test racket I have in my bag and I like it much better than the G-Tone 5 I had on it before. I guess it's the thicker string providing better contact with this open stringing pattern.

For reference, at the sweet spot, the (average) distance between cross strings (measured beginning of string to beginning of string over five gaps to get an average, this is equivalent to center of string to center of string) on the Überschall rackets is between 9.5 mm and 10.0 mm, compared to 7.5 mm on the beforementioned Babolat. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. Without measuring it, I would have guessed that it's slightly less than 1 1/2 times the distance.

 

[DuckFeet]

Used the P68 in anger today. Previous: BG80 24x26 PS, tried P68 26x28. Power was great, I wasn't expecting control to be as good as it was. My only issue was putting a few shots long. I have to liken it to a thick LN1, with no weird sudden increase in power, or a zymax fire with a bit more punch. Medium feeling so misshits didn't cause any discomfort.

Potentially a new favourite.

 

[speCulatius]

By coincidence, I have it side by side with Nanogy 99 right now (same racket, same tension, same string, string within two days, played roughly the same) and to me, it has a little bit better feedback than NBG99, but overall they're quite similar.

After some time, the NBG99 stayed pretty much the same as before while the E68 did get worse (feeling wise, performance was still fine), but it never got to drop before NBG99 before I killed it with a really really bad mishit at the top of the frame.


Recently strung one of my new rackets with Adidas Wucht P68. Compared to the G-Tone 5 (on the racket I strung first), I had to tighten the clamps more. That's really surprising, because G-Tone 5 is thinner. Maybe it has something to do with the "hard skin"? I also noticed that the string gripper (T20) did seem to damage the coating slightly (I think it was slipping slightly at the beginning of the pull), leaving something that felt almost sticky. Now that it's on the racket, the string doesn't look damaged, but I'll be very careful observing these things when using this string the next time.

 

[speCulatius]

Even if I ignore the first day with this string on a new racket, not hitting cleanly most of the time, even the second and third time were not that great. I couldn't complain about performance in any way. Power. Control. All there. But it felt dead to me. I expected more from a string with a hard coating. One idea was that I did damage the string while stringing, that it was still slipping or anything else went wrong during stringing.

I don't think that's the case though, because the tension is as expected, it does perform like a good string, so.... I might just not like it.

Then, yesterday came and the ZM68TX broke during warm up, so I had to decide between G-Tone 5 and this and I did take the risk. I trusted it to perform well enough anyway...

... but suddenly it felt alive. It's a medium feeling string with nothing to complain about, really. I'm still not sure how much I like it, but that also depends on longer term performance and feeling anyway.

I have to liken it to a thick LN1, with no weird sudden increase in power,

Reading this today made me remember that I didn't like LN1 for the first hours (and it snapped shortly after that), so I can see that similarity.

It still might just be me getting used to the racket, really starting to bond with it now... I cannot tell.

 

[Rimano]

Then, yesterday came and the ZM68TX broke during warm up, so I had to decide between G-Tone 5 and this and I did take the risk. I trusted it to perform well enough anyway...

Out of curiosity, what's your current favourite string? If you don't like LN1 and P68, is it safe to assume you didn't like Aerosonic (if you have tried it).

Also that does sound like string slippage? Was this on main pulls or crosses? Are you cleaning your clamps?


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[speCulatius]

Out of curiosity, what's your current favourite string? If you don't like LN1 and P68, is it safe to assume you didn't like Aerosonic (if you have tried it).

Well, give me some more time with P68... in a colder hall and last weekend, I did even like the feel. And before that, there was nothing to complain about performance wise. That's a rather big compliment... and I'll give LN1 another try at some point. Only tried it once and maybe my expectations were too high.

I can play with any string, but in the past years, I've always chosen G-Tone 5 or BG80, though on the Überschall rackets I did prefer E68 over G-Tone 5.

Never tried Aerosonic.

Also that does sound like string slippage? Was this on main pulls or crosses? Are you cleaning your clamps?

I do clean them from time to time and didn't have any issues until that day. Something felt weird when clamping the first main, so I tested and adjusted before stringing... or starting over if you want. Cannot really see that it was still slipping afterwards (held my finger just behind the clamp at the beginning and when starting crosses to feel it slipping, but not all the way through).

 

[DuckFeet]

P68 in the A5 was a little disappointing tonight. Definitely feels like it sits between lN1 and LN5. Sounds beautiful. Power ok i suppose, my smash has lost form and I'm more used to the spielers than kalkuls currently so timing a little off. I played some lovely tight netshots and serves, but too many shots bounced too far/high. I'll give it more time but i think I'll be going back to 68tx or BG80 as i dont have durability issues. Id still highly recommend it as a very good string for power and durability, just not to my taste.

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[Rimano]

Definitely feels like it sits between LN1 and LN5.
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Yeah that's my thoughts as well. Power wise its closer to LN1, whilst retaining the feel of a thicker string similar to LN5. Its a definitely win over LN5 for me.


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[Rimano]

Well, give me some more time with P68... in a colder hall and last weekend, I did even like the feel. And before that, there was nothing to complain about performance wise. That's a rather big compliment... and I'll give LN1 another try at some point. Only tried it once and maybe my expectations were too high.

I can play with any string, but in the past years, I've always chosen G-Tone 5 or BG80, though on the Überschall rackets I did prefer E68 over G-Tone 5.

Never tried Aerosonic.


I do clean them from time to time and didn't have any issues until that day. Something felt weird when clamping the first main, so I tested and adjusted before stringing... or starting over if you want. Cannot really see that it was still slipping afterwards (held my finger just behind the clamp at the beginning and when starting crosses to feel it slipping, but not all the way through).

GT5 was my string before LN1. Better string for control and my wife preferred it, because at her tensions it didn't move, whilst LN1 did.

Make sure when you do the clamp test to use the teeth only. I think someone on here has complained the crosses were slipping and that was because you clamp the mains, there can be more surface contact.



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[LenaicM]

Tried the Kalkul A68 tonight strung at 12kgs switching every set between my other racket strung with lining #1 at 12kgs and strings are both 1 week old. Same stringer.

It's a sort of BG80 with more repulsion so it doesnt highlight the features of the BG80 as much but it's more of a compromise I would say. Repulsion wise it isn't as good as the lining #1 for example (how could it be it's not even the same diameter so not really a good point of comparison but just to give an idea) but it has more grip. Good control at the net and I liked it to play doubles with it but I need more repulsion in singles to get me out of some situations. Especially in winter in France when players often use slow shuttles. The lining is better imo but still, the Kalkul A68 is a good string.

I need to compare how it holds tension now and how long it last. Will try to push the string to its limit with 3 sessions per week of 3 hours and one tournament every 15 days.

 

[DuckFeet]

One of my "put string in my racquet" customers said P68 was "pretty good". High praise indeed!
Still not tried A68 yet.

 

[speCulatius]

I strung one of my P4 with the Kalkül A68, the other one is strung with BG80 as a tough opponent. Both at 13.0 kp.
Stringing was... interesting. On one hand, the string felt slightly stiff, which helped threading through shared holes, on the other hand, it did feel like the string stretched a lot. And when tying off, to the tails were significantly longer, so it probably was more than a subjective impression.
The surface is structured, but it's far from BG80 rough, so it's not the same shrieking sound when pulling the crosses.
It's supposed to be a control string, but I already know from rackets that I sometimes disagree with Adidas's definition, but that's the reason why I wanted to compare it to BG80.

A68 vs. BG80

I strung one of the P8 with the Überschall F66 string at 13.0 kp (BG80P @ 12.5 kp and G-Tone 5 @ 13.5 kp, but a little older on the other ones). It's a smooth surface... slippery even... and noticeably thinner. And just like the A68, it did stretch a lot.


_____________________________________

I wrote this before playing, but I just had a few hits with the Kalkül A68. First impression: crisp feeling (big surprise), nice shuttle bite for slicing (no surprise), very easily accessible power (small surprise for a control string)

To me, that only partly matches what I would have thought about a "control string", but I'm most surprised - almost impressed - by that feeling. I liked it. The shuttle might have helped with that (AS50), but my expectations for this string were raised and Yoda might be on that string for a better reason than it being green!

 

[endFX]

I've strung my A5 with the A68 string about two month ago.
To me it feels like a perfect match.
It is really easy to generate power for overhead shots but without sacrificing control on net shots or drops. Because of the rough surface even slices feel great. I need to be careful to not accidentally slice to much shots tho.

Maybe it's the combination with the special stringing pattern of the A5 but somehow the string feels soft and stable at the same time.

I've been mostly using BG80P for years but didn't like it in the A5 at all and struggled to find a matching string for this Racket.
Since on paper both strings are similar (at least that's what I thought) I had low expectations and was really surprised that I liked the A68 that much. With this string the A5 has become my favorite Racket.
It reminds me a bit of BGAB but I still prefer the feel of the adidas string.
Unfortunately it is not available as a reel, so I bought a few packs for further testing.

The surface is structured, but it's far from BG80 rough, so it's not the same shrieking sound when pulling the crosses.

I haven't strung BG80 in a while so I can't compare it directly, but the A68 did make quite some noise when pulling the crosses on my machine. (Reminding me of pick scraping).

The Adidas Kalkül Line seems to fit me pretty well so I also got myself some A5-grips just to make the set complete.

 

[speCulatius]

After havin played with A68, F66, and E68 a bit more, I'll try to write down my thoughts, which will not be easy for the A68, so I'll start with that.

Kalkül A68
I do like colorful strings. I like when not every racket looks more or less the same. I like the performace of this string. Power is there. A lot and easy to get. Control is there, but that's more up to the player anyway, in my opinion. The feel of the string is what really confuses me. I tried it on the P4 first and it feels like it's a very elastic string, where the shuttle is pushed into the stringbed deeply. The weird part is that it doesn't seem to stay there much longer, even in the comparison to BG80 (where I feel the shuttle just barely touches the strin), so it does not result in a shuttle holding feel, that I really dislike. It felt like it lost quite a lot of tension at the beginning, but then stayed there and kept the feeling. If you like this kind of feeling of strings, there's nothing I can complain about. I'm trying it again on a P8 now to see if that changes anything for me, but if it doesn't, there's better strings for me.

Überschall F66
It's the thinnest string from Adidas and one that surprised me in more than one way. It stretched quite a bit on the machine, so I expected a softer feel. It felt super smooth, so I expected to feel the shuttle slipping on the strings, like I did with BG66UM when I tried that. I got a medium to medium hard feeling string and never felt the shuttle slipping. So much about my expectations. I was really surprised that this string barely showed any signs of wear and didn't lose much (if any) of the initial feel for a loong time. While it broke just after showing small notches at the intersections, I am happy with the durability for a string of this thickness, especially considering that it kept its playability over the entire lifespan. P68 wasn't able to do that. A68 felt like it lost much more tension. Very different from BG66UM which doesn't stay playable for long and snapped (due to fraying) much quicker when I tried it. I was able to switch between this and G-Tone 5 quite easily, despite one being quite rough and one being totally smooth. While GT5 looses playability over time, frays a lot, but takes ages to really snap (if you don't cut it), F66 stayed playable until the end. I'm seriously considering buying a reel of this! I'm also curious what LN1 users think, so I'm happy that @s_mair is trying this now as well.

Spieler E68
It has much in common with P68, but while P68 didn't impress me and lost the feeling/playability rather quickly, I like this one. It feels nice off the machine, then looses some of the feel, but stays like that for quite some time. At a cheaper price than P68. I have said it before, but I'll say it again, it really reminds me of NBG99 performance wise. One of the kids I coach always tried new strings (BG65, BG65Ti, BG80P, NBG95, GT9, ...), but stayed with this one for some time now. She even recommended it to her doubles partner, so.... while I think I still prefer other string, I think this is way underrated AND under-promoted. Adidas marketing, don't promote this a a "cheap durability string", it's much better than that! My opinion, of course. BTW, I strung one of my P8s with it again, just to see if I'm missing something negative. While the other Adidas strings are made in Japan, this one is made in Taiwan. Does that point to the OEM for anybody?

 

[endFX]

I bought a second A5 as backup and started to toy around with different strings, starting with BG80 again.


I've been switching between BG80 and A68 for the last few weeks and used both for a tournament last weekend.

The A68 has surely lost some tension but still performs really well.

it feels like it's a very elastic string, where the shuttle is pushed into the stringbed deeply.

This is very true.
You can really feel the shuttle sinking into the string.
That makes it much more forgiving and easier on the arm compared to BG80.
The adidas string is still very responsive but if you love the hard feeling of BG80 you will probably not like A68. But coming from BG80P you could give it a try.

I can really see why people like BG80 but I find myself always abandon it after a while. It seems it will be the same this time. A68 just feels like the better overall fit for me.

But on the other hand there are so many more strings I haven't tried with this racket yet... (Next up LN1 or NBG98 or maybe some more adidas stuff ... ?)

 

[s_mair]

Club team league season and in fact all other tournaments are cancelled for me this year, which means that I finally have the time to test some new strings that I’ve had around for some months now.

Let’s start with an Adidas Überschall F66:

I haven’t really figured out why it’s marketed as a “thin and fast” string since it is a fairly standard 0.66 mm gauge. The surface is rather slippery and almost in NBG95 territory, so it will be interesting to see how it will feel in terms of control.

An interesting thing I’ve noticed is this:

And again I would really like to know who the OEM there.

Further impressions on court to follow.

First outing the with F66 yesterday and I have to say that I really liked it. As a long term LN1 user, I felt at home and wasn't missing anything really - except that the playability was there right away. There are a lot of parallels to LN1, the crisp contact, the level of repulsion and also the overall feel on impact. Not sure if I would have been able to keep them apart in a blindfold test. The slightly more slippery coating didn't bother me at all in terms of control. Played some nice tumbling net shots (you know, the ones when the cork is still pointing upwards when it has already passed the tape of the net on the way down...). Didn't take long until I basically forgot that I was playing a different string than usual which wasn't the case for most other strings I've played with in the past years.

Curious to see see how the aging curve will look like over the upcoming weeks after this promising start.

 

[speCulatius]

My rackets don't need to be strung.... but this comparison will be fun!

 

[Twatical]

I have heard many great reviews about the F66 string and I’m very eager to try it out.
But I have a few questions, I initially liked Aerobite prior to the BG80, I love the hard feeling of it and the sound. So would F66 be a good fit? Given that I can accept a softer string but a little bit higher tension?
If not, then I guess I should stick with BG80 for now. Any other recommendations are very much welcomed.
Edit #1: I’m having little to no problem with BG80, for the sake of information. ^^

 

[s_mair]

I love the hard feeling of it and the sound. So would F66 be a good fit?

actually, I find it very hard to nail down the term "hard feeling" (when it comes to strings obviously...). If we define that BG80 is the role model for a "hard feeling string", then F66 is not at the same level. However, based on the short test that I did, I wouldn't rate BGAB as "hard" either.

Compared to LN1, I'd say that F66 feels a bit harder, especially after the break-in period. Going by feel only, F66 seems to lose less tension in the first couple of hours and stays suprisingly crisp. I've used F66 now for 4 sessions total and it still feels very consistent and still has the same crispiness as in the beginning. 66UM for example would start to deteriorate noticeably at that point already.

And what still baffles me is that I never ever had the slightest feeling of the shuttle slipping or sliding around on the stringbed on impact - despite the rather slick surface. So in terms of control, I feel like it misses nothing. Maybe you get a little less spin into the shuttle on tumbling netshots, but on the other hand, I'm just super happy with how easy it is to play precise and really toight netshots.