Head to head

Ashaway MonoGut 16L vs SuperString Nikita Original 1.25

Nikita Original 1.25 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is tension loss, where Nikita Original 1.25 is 10 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Ashaway

MonoGut 16L

Polyester · 16L ga

SuperString

Nikita Original 1.25

Polyester

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
20370th pct
19967th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4782nd pct
4372nd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8520th pct
8626th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.518th pct
3.416th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.3667th pct
0.3718th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10671st pct
0.10975th pct

Bars are percentile against all 791 strings, and the marked side is the one that measures better, which is not always the one you want. A firmer bed is worse for your elbow and better for your control, and no measurement knows which of those you came for.

Which one wins, by problem

Each string's standing on the site's rankings, out of every measured string in the database. This is where a comparison stops being arithmetic and starts being a decision.

Swapping between them: what tension?

Bed stiffness is published at one reference tension, so the only honest conversion is to scale it. These are starting points from 52 lb, not prescriptions. The calculator takes your own tension.

Coming from MonoGut 16L at 52 lb

String Nikita Original 1.25 at 53.7 lb 24.4 kg

Coming from Nikita Original 1.25 at 52 lb

String MonoGut 16L at 50.0 lb 22.7 kg

Hybrid: what if you used both?

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.

MonoGut 16L mains / Nikita Original 1.25 crosses

Stiffness70th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss78th pct · 1 measured
Energy return23rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential17th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite7th pct · 1 measured
String friction71st pct · 1 measured

Nikita Original 1.25 mains / MonoGut 16L crosses

Stiffness68th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss75th pct · 1 measured
Energy return24th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential17th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite8th pct · 1 measured
String friction74th pct · 1 measured

Open this in the hybrid builder

Which goes dead first?

Estimated from tension loss, which is the only thing the database measures about ageing. This is when the bed stops playing the way you strung it, not when the string breaks.

MonoGut 16L

~16 hours of play

Nikita Original 1.25

~18 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Ashaway MonoGut 16L Polyester16Lfind20347853.50.3660.106
SuperString Nikita Original 1.25 Polyesterfind19943863.40.3710.109

Add a third string MonoGut 16L in full Nikita Original 1.25 in full