Solinco Tour Bite Soft String Review

Power: 40 / Control: 80

Made primarily from inelastic polyester, Tour Bite Soft is ultimately designed to give big hitters the control required to execute long, fast strokes. For Troy, however, this control string also came with a little power. He said, "When freshly strung I found this string to have decent power for a co-poly. I wouldn't say it was as lively as a string like Dunlop Black Widow or Volkl Cyclone Tour, but it had a lively feel to it. Within the first few hours of play the control of this string was good, and I felt connected to the ball. After about 3-5 hours of play the string felt a bit dead and the connection to my shots seemed to be muted. This string definitely has a livelier feel than the original Tour Bite."

Finding less power than Troy, Mark said, "As with any monofilament, Tour Bite Soft offered a high degree of control with low power. My point of reference to the Tour Bite Soft was Prince Tour XC 15 gauge. When I compared the power levels of those strings in my Wilson Pro Staff 95S the thinner Tour Bite Soft felt like it lowered my racquet's power level a little."

Spin: 84

With its multiple edges and impressive snap back, Tour Bite Soft gave our team very easy access to spin. Playing with a very open string pattern, Mark noticed how effectively this string grabbed the ball. He said, "With the 16x15 pattern in my racquet Tour Bite Soft grabbed hold of the ball extremely well, which let me hit with lots of predictable pace, depth and spin. I really felt like I was barely skimming over the top of the ball and achieving lots of topspin."

Appreciating the bite and snapback of Tour Bite Soft, Troy said, "Initially I played with this string in my Wilson Six.One 95 (18x20), and I noticed that this string had a bit more bite compared to the Head Lynx that I had just finished testing. When I tried this string in the Wilson Pro Staff 97, with its open string pattern, I found lots of bite and snap-back string movement. The original Tour Bite has very sharp edges, and I find it bites the ball more than this soft version. Tour Bite Soft seems to possess a bit better string movement and/or snap back, however. I would rate the spin of this string as good but not quite as good as Babolat RPM Blast."

Comfort: 78

Tour Bite Soft received an outstanding comfort score for a poly-based string. Not surprisingly, Troy found it more comfortable than the original Tour Bite. He said, "This string definitely has much better comfort than the original Tour Bite. For the consumer who is interested in soft polys, this string definitely hits the mark. I wouldn't say it has the same level of softness as a string like Polyfibre TCS, but it's similar to Volkl V-Torque or Topspin Delta. The only time I felt comfort declined was after it began to lose significant tension, but this is common with all strings once they lose their elastic qualities."

For Mark, this comfy co-poly definitely lived up to its name. He said, "Occasionally you find a product (not just in tennis) with a name that sounds great, but after using the product you end up feeling that the name was a stretch, so to speak. The name Solinco Tour Bite Soft fits this string perfectly, whether you are comparing it to the standard Tour Bite or most other monofilaments. So far I have about 10 hours of play on my set, and the level of comfort has been great."

Feel: 50

Both playtesters found Tour Bite Soft to have a very pliable, elastic feel, especially in comparison to their preferred polys. The softer feel actually helped Mark with spin. He said, "It's definitely not mushy, but without a doubt, it feels soft. I almost felt like part of the reason I had such easy access to spin with the Tour Bite Soft was due to how soft the string is. Polyfibre TCS and a few other polys in our rotation are a little softer, but there is no way you will feel that the Tour Bite Soft string is as stiff as Luxilon 4G or Babolat RPM Blast."

Because he plays with a much stiffer poly, Troy had to adjust to the softer, more muted feel of Tour Bite Soft. He said, "I definitely felt this string stretch and pocket the ball more than original Tour Bite, which is very firm. This string didn't feel crisp like Volkl Cyclone. Tour Bite Soft has good elasticity for a poly, which provided me a soft and muted feel. I prefer the stiffer feel in my polys, such as Luxilon 4G. Tour Bite Soft felt a bit foreign initially, but it grew on me after a week or so."

Playability Duration: 53

Like most of the softer co-polys we've hit, Tour Bite Soft loses its fair share of tension over time. This typically results in a loss in performance. For Mark, however, the playability remained fairly high. He said, "Like I mentioned earlier, I have around 10 hours of play on Tour Bite Soft, and despite the tension loss the playability has not changed noticeably. I suppose it is relevant that I mention that I have a medium to fast swing style, but I don't crush the ball."

"In comparison to other soft and textured polys, such as Volkl Cyclone Tour, Volkl V-Torque and Dunlop Black Widow, I found the tension maintenance to be average," said Troy. "I have found that most soft co-poly strings tend to provide added comfort, but also tend to drop tension faster than some of the stiffer ones. The original Tour Bite was a stiff poly, but it had pretty good tension maintenance. Luxilon 4G is the best when it comes to tension maintenance for a poly string, although it is about as stiff as they come. It really comes down to what you prefer in a string."

Overall: 62

Scores

(Scores are determined by averaging individual play test scores)

Playtester String Setups

Review date: November 2014. If you found this review interesting or have further questions or comments please contact us.

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