I didn’t set out to make a slow Performance string. I set out to make a durable one.
The blend is simple on paper: Trilobal Poly and Bonded Nylon, roughly equal parts, spun as separate cords and then combined. Trilobal is the workhorse of the Performance line. Fast, crisp, holds its shape. Bonded Nylon is what you use when you want something to last. I’ve been using it in small amounts in the Comfort line for grip and body. I wanted to see what it did when it had real weight in the mix.
What it does is slow things down. Not drastically. Not into Responsive territory. But the Trilobal’s impulse to run gets reined in, and what’s left is something more deliberate. More considered. You feel like you’re making decisions rather than keeping up.
The break-in period is real. The first hour or two, Sinew is stiff. A little resistant. It tells you it’s not ready. Push through it. Once it settles, it holds that settled state for a long time — Enduring shelf life is the honest call, and that’s after months on an MR-85 bearing responsive, where string takes more punishment than it does on a bearing unresponsive. It came through without complaint.
That’s the part that got my attention. Responsive play is harder on the string than most people think. The friction, the snap, the repeated catching; it shortens the lifespan of almost everything. Sinew didn’t seem to notice. It kept doing its job, day after day, which started to feel less like a feature and more like a fixed fact about the material. It simply doesn’t have a mode where it stops working.
I don’t know what to do with that exactly. It’s not exciting in the way a lethal-velocity string is exciting. It doesn’t announce itself. It just shows up, does the work, and continues to do the work.
If that’s what you need, Sinew is probably the last string you’ll try for a while.