Hybrid builder

Two strings,one string bed.

The mains carry most of the load, take most of the deflection and are the only strings that snap back. A hybrid is not the average of its two strings, and which one you put in the mains changes the answer more than which two you picked. Pick both and see where the bed lands.

Estimated, not measured. No hybrid combination has been tested as a bed. These figures are the two strings' own lab measurements weighted by how much of the bed each one actually is. Treat them as a guide to which way a pairing moves, never as lab data.

1 Your mains (the vertical strings)

These do most of the work. Usually the stiffer, more durable string, a polyester for most people who hybrid.

2 Your crosses (the horizontal strings)

These soften the bed and let the mains move. Usually gut or a multifilament.

Start over

Cyclone Tour 18 (1.20) mains / Diablo (1.24) crosses

Volkl Cyclone Tour 18 (1.20) (Polyester) in the mains, Double AR Diablo (1.24) (Polyester) in the crosses. Every figure below is estimated from the two strings' own lab measurements.

Where the bed lands

Stiffness29th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss93rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return7th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential96th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite94th pct · 1 measured
String friction14th pct · 1 measured

Percentile against all 788 measured strings, as if this bed were one of them.

The bed against its own two halves

A hybrid is only worth the extra work if it lands somewhere neither string reaches on its own. This is where you find out whether yours does.

Measurement Cyclone Tour 18 (1.20) alone This hybrid Diablo (1.24) alone
Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm 159 162 167
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it 51 53 55
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power 85 83 79
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed 7.8 7.7 7.4
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder 0.572 0.579 0.619
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back 0.073 0.076 0.084

What the crosses change

Against a full bed of Cyclone Tour 18 (1.20). Moves are in percentile points, and "better" always means more of the good thing whichever way the raw number points.

  • Energy return −11 pts 85 → 83 % mains weighted 60%
  • String friction −5 pts 0.073 → 0.076 COF mains weighted 75%
  • Stiffness −4 pts 159 → 162 lb/in mains weighted 60%

The other way round

Diablo (1.24) in the mains and Cyclone Tour 18 (1.20) in the crosses is a different bed, not the same one described differently. Worth a look before you commit.

Stiffness31st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss93rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return5th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential94th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite96th pct · 1 measured
String friction27th pct · 1 measured

Swap them round Compare the two strings head to head

How this is worked out

Each measurement is a weighted average of the two strings, with the mains carrying the larger share. The share is not the same for every metric: bed stiffness is close to 60/40 because the crosses genuinely soften the bed, but spin is nearer 80/20 because snapback is a mains phenomenon and the crosses barely participate in it.

These splits are the conventional stringer figures, not measurements. Nobody has put a hybrid bed on the machine and published the result, so this cannot be validated against anything. Treat it as a guide to which direction a pairing moves, and never as lab data. The full methodology →