Head to head

Ashaway MonoGut ZX 16 vs Gosen Sidewinder 16 (1.31)

MonoGut ZX 16 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where MonoGut ZX 16 is 34 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Ashaway

MonoGut ZX 16

Nylon/Zyex · 16 ga

Gosen

Sidewinder 16 (1.31)

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
1062nd pct
16330th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4883rd pct
4781st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8952nd pct
8733rd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.440th pct
3.824th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.39118th pct
0.41634th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08842nd pct
0.11076th 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 ZX 16 at 52 lb

String Sidewinder 16 (1.31) at 33.6 lb 15.2 kg

Coming from Sidewinder 16 (1.31) at 52 lb

String MonoGut ZX 16 at 70.0 lb 31.8 kg

Clamped. The proportional answer was 80.4 lb, outside what most frames are rated for.

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 ZX 16 mains / Sidewinder 16 (1.31) crosses

Stiffness4th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss82nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return43rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential36th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite20th pct · 1 measured
String friction53rd pct · 1 measured

Sidewinder 16 (1.31) mains / MonoGut ZX 16 crosses

Stiffness6th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss82nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return40th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential29th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite31st pct · 1 measured
String friction69th 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 ZX 16

~15 hours of play

Sidewinder 16 (1.31)

~16 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Ashaway MonoGut ZX 16 Nylon/Zyex16find10648894.40.3910.088
Gosen Sidewinder 16 (1.31) Polyester16find16347873.80.4160.110

Add a third string MonoGut ZX 16 in full Sidewinder 16 (1.31) in full