Head to head

Babolat RPM Blast Orange 16 (1.30) vs Prince Tour XR 17 (1.25)

RPM Blast Orange 16 (1.30) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where RPM Blast Orange 16 (1.30) is 17 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Babolat

RPM Blast Orange 16 (1.30)

Polyester · 16 ga

Prince

Tour XR 17 (1.25)

Polyester · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
21079th pct
20471st pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
3966th pct
4271st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8415th pct
8519th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
7.090th pct
5.978th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.49676th pct
0.45559th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.0716th pct
0.07717th 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 RPM Blast Orange 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Tour XR 17 (1.25) at 53.7 lb 24.4 kg

Coming from Tour XR 17 (1.25) at 52 lb

String RPM Blast Orange 16 (1.30) 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.

RPM Blast Orange 16 (1.30) mains / Tour XR 17 (1.25) crosses

Stiffness76th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss67th pct · 1 measured
Energy return16th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential88th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite74th pct · 1 measured
String friction8th pct · 1 measured

Tour XR 17 (1.25) mains / RPM Blast Orange 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness74th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss69th pct · 1 measured
Energy return17th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential81st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite62nd pct · 1 measured
String friction14th 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.

RPM Blast Orange 16 (1.30)

~20 hours of play

Tour XR 17 (1.25)

~19 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Babolat RPM Blast Orange 16 (1.30) Polyester16$20.9521039847.00.4960.071
Prince Tour XR 17 (1.25) Polyester17find20442855.90.4550.077

Add a third string RPM Blast Orange 16 (1.30) in full Tour XR 17 (1.25) in full