Head to head

Ashaway MonoGut 17 vs Luxilon M2 Pro 125/16

MonoGut 17 leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where MonoGut 17 is 9 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

Luxilon

M2 Pro 125/16

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
18956th pct
18248th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
5190th pct
5393rd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8411th pct
8310th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.927th pct
3.621st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.37812th pct
0.3482nd pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09759th pct
0.09861st 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 M2 Pro 125/16 at 52.9 lb 24.0 kg

Coming from M2 Pro 125/16 at 52 lb

String MonoGut 17 at 50.8 lb 23.0 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 / M2 Pro 125/16 crosses

Stiffness53rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss91st pct · 1 measured
Energy return10th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential25th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite9th pct · 1 measured
String friction60th pct · 1 measured

M2 Pro 125/16 mains / MonoGut 17 crosses

Stiffness51st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss92nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return10th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential22nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite3rd pct · 1 measured
String friction60th 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

M2 Pro 125/16

~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
Luxilon M2 Pro 125/16 Polyester16find18253833.60.3480.098

Add a third string MonoGut 17 in full M2 Pro 125/16 in full