StringSpec
String finder

Browse all 788

Head to head

Babolat Synthetic Gut 17 (1.25) vs Gosen AK Pro CX 16 (1.30)

AK Pro CX 16 (1.30) leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where AK Pro CX 16 (1.30) is 30 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Babolat

Synthetic Gut 17 (1.25)

Nylon · 17 ga

Gosen

AK Pro CX 16 (1.30)

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16229th pct
15823rd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
179th pct
143rd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9276th pct
9378th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
6.079th pct
6.586th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.42239th pct
0.47869th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.0705th pct
0.0739th pct

Bars are percentile against all 788 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 Synthetic Gut 17 (1.25) at 52 lb

String AK Pro CX 16 (1.30) at 53.3 lb 24.2 kg

Coming from AK Pro CX 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Synthetic Gut 17 (1.25) at 50.7 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.

Synthetic Gut 17 (1.25) mains / AK Pro CX 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness27th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss7th pct · 1 measured
Energy return77th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential82nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite45th pct · 1 measured
String friction5th pct · 1 measured

AK Pro CX 16 (1.30) mains / Synthetic Gut 17 (1.25) crosses

Stiffness25th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss5th pct · 1 measured
Energy return77th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential85th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite66th pct · 1 measured
String friction8th 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.

Synthetic Gut 17 (1.25)

~37 hours of play

AK Pro CX 16 (1.30)

~39 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Babolat Synthetic Gut 17 (1.25) Nylon17find16217926.00.4220.070
Gosen AK Pro CX 16 (1.30) Nylon16find15814936.50.4780.073

Add a third string Synthetic Gut 17 (1.25) in full AK Pro CX 16 (1.30) in full