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Head to head

Babolat RPM Soft 16 (1.30) vs Gosen A.K. Control 16

RPM Soft 16 (1.30) leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is tension loss, where RPM Soft 16 (1.30) is 14 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Babolat

RPM Soft 16 (1.30)

Nylon · 16 ga

Gosen

A.K. Control 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15518th pct
15720th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
1913th pct
2227th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9490th pct
9495th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.978th pct
5.467th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.54289th pct
0.49977th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09250th pct
0.09353rd 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 Soft 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String A.K. Control 16 at 51.4 lb 23.3 kg

Coming from A.K. Control 16 at 52 lb

String RPM Soft 16 (1.30) at 52.6 lb 23.9 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 Soft 16 (1.30) mains / A.K. Control 16 crosses

Stiffness18th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss17th pct · 1 measured
Energy return92nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential77th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite88th pct · 1 measured
String friction52nd pct · 1 measured

A.K. Control 16 mains / RPM Soft 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness18th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss22nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return94th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential69th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite80th pct · 1 measured
String friction52nd 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 Soft 16 (1.30)

~36 hours of play

A.K. Control 16

~32 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Babolat RPM Soft 16 (1.30) Nylon16$21.0015519945.90.5420.092
Gosen A.K. Control 16 Nylon16find15722945.40.4990.093

Add a third string RPM Soft 16 (1.30) in full A.K. Control 16 in full