Head to head

Dunlop Black Widow 17 vs Tecnifibre Ice Code 16 (1.30)

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is string friction, where Ice Code 16 (1.30) is 35 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Dunlop

Black Widow 17

Polyester · 17 ga

Tecnifibre

Ice Code 16 (1.30)

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
21785th pct
22188th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
3251st pct
3558th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8843rd pct
8846th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.467th pct
5.671st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.57393rd pct
0.48271st pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10772nd pct
0.08637th 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 Black Widow 17 at 52 lb

String Ice Code 16 (1.30) at 50.9 lb 23.1 kg

Coming from Ice Code 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Black Widow 17 at 53.1 lb 24.1 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.

Black Widow 17 mains / Ice Code 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness87th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss53rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return43rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential68th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite91st pct · 1 measured
String friction66th pct · 1 measured

Ice Code 16 (1.30) mains / Black Widow 17 crosses

Stiffness87th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss56th pct · 1 measured
Energy return45th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential70th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite76th pct · 1 measured
String friction48th 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.

Black Widow 17

~25 hours of play

Ice Code 16 (1.30)

~22 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Dunlop Black Widow 17 Polyester17$10.9921732885.40.5730.107
Tecnifibre Ice Code 16 (1.30) Polyester16find22135885.60.4820.086

Add a third string Black Widow 17 in full Ice Code 16 (1.30) in full