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Head to head

Ashaway MonoGut 17 vs Gosen Polylon SP 16 (1.30)

Polylon SP 16 (1.30) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Polylon SP 16 (1.30) is 24 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Ashaway

MonoGut 17

Polyester · 17 ga

Gosen

Polylon SP 16 (1.30)

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
18956th pct
18551st pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
5190th pct
5392nd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8411th pct
8414th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.927th pct
4.030th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.37812th pct
0.41836th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09759th pct
0.10570th 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 17 at 52 lb

String Polylon SP 16 (1.30) at 53.3 lb 24.2 kg

Coming from Polylon SP 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String MonoGut 17 at 50.3 lb 22.8 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 17 mains / Polylon SP 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness55th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss91st pct · 1 measured
Energy return12th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential29th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite15th pct · 1 measured
String friction62nd pct · 1 measured

Polylon SP 16 (1.30) mains / MonoGut 17 crosses

Stiffness53rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss91st pct · 1 measured
Energy return12th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential29th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite31st pct · 1 measured
String friction68th 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 17

~13 hours of play

Polylon SP 16 (1.30)

~12 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Ashaway MonoGut 17 Polyester17find18951843.90.3780.097
Gosen Polylon SP 16 (1.30) Polyester16find18553844.00.4180.105

Add a third string MonoGut 17 in full Polylon SP 16 (1.30) in full