The Tecnifibre Ice Code tested by Mike. This fairly comfortable co-poly offers a lot of power, but on the other hand it also has a nice touch and good tension retention!
Specifications:
Brand: Tecnifibre
String: Ice Code
Thickness: 1.20mm/18
Type: Fairly comfortable co-poly with a good dose of power
Similar strings: Babolat RPM Power and Diadem Flash
Judgement:
Durability: 7.5
Voltage retention: 8.5
Spin: 7.5
Ball control: 8
Power: 9
Control: 7.5
Comfort: 8
I have the Tecnifibre Ice Code in the 18/1.20 mm thickness in the Diadem Elevate 98 tested. This racket has similar specifications to a Babolat Pure Strike 16×19 (2020) or Wilson Blade 98 16×19 (V7.0) . I have strung the racket at 22/21 kg. When stringing this string it was noticeable that it 'threads' very easily. With that you immediately feel the supple character of this Ice Code.
Durability/Voltage maintenance
As with my previous test of the Babolat RPM Power I tested this Ice Code for about 4 hours in the hall on carpet. In terms of durability, the string held up well, especially the tension retention struck me positively. I have the idea that there are still plenty of extra playing hours in it with this string. In terms of durability, testing in the hall is of course not a yardstick for outdoors. But I liked the string, so I will definitely put it through the test again during the gravel season. But the real plus for me is the tension retention, which is better than average.
Spin
The ball rotation (spin/slice) came out very reasonably well with this Tecnifibre Ice Code. The ball rotation is not like with typical spin strings like the Diadem Solstice Power 17 , Babolat RPM Blast or to a lesser extent the RPM Power of Babolat. Still, it was more than sufficient all in all. Despite the round structure, gripping the balls was still quite easy. This was particularly noticeable with my slice backhands.
Ball feel and comfort
One of my favorite strings at the moment is the Diadem Flash 17/1.20. I have to say that the Ice Code and the Flash 17 do have a lot of similarities. I'm talking about the direct playing feel, ball feel and comfort. Where the Flash 17 offers a bit more control, this Tecnifibre Ice Code is a bit more lively. The balls pop off easily! You do have a nice connection with the ball, it is definitely not a tinny string or anything. This is also noticeable in terms of comfort. I have had a few tough tennis hours with this string behind me, but the string absolutely did not make itself felt on the arm/shoulder. The comfort is above average in addition to the power.
Power/control
With the Ice Code it is absolutely power over control. The string offers a lot of 'pop' and accelerates very easily. Of course you lose some control, but all in all I found the string to be quite consistent. This will be partly due to the good tension retention. Moreover, I always like to get a little extra power from my string setup. In that respect this string fits in well with that. Where the string offers good power, this was not uncontrolled, blind power. I always had the idea that I did not lose control over the ball. So this string clearly offers more power than control, but because of its consistency it also offered enough control for me. But that remains something personal of course.
Bottom line
The Tecnifibre Ice Code is a nice lively and very user-friendly string. This makes it a great string for players who want to try the step up to polyester strings. The string offers quite a bit of comfort for a string in this category. In addition, the tension retention and the ball feel also struck me. Most of all, however, the large dose of 'free power', which I personally found to work well!