Head to head

Dunlop Explosive 16 vs Tecnifibre Pro Red Code 17

Pro Red Code 17 leads on 3 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Explosive 16 is 20 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Dunlop

Explosive 16

Polyester · 16 ga

Tecnifibre

Pro Red Code 17

Polyester · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
23395th pct
22691st pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
3659th pct
3661st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8741st pct
8846th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.851st pct
4.851st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.47869th pct
0.43949th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10063rd pct
0.09250th 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 Explosive 16 at 52 lb

String Pro Red Code 17 at 55.6 lb 25.2 kg

Coming from Pro Red Code 17 at 52 lb

String Explosive 16 at 49.2 lb 22.3 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.

Explosive 16 mains / Pro Red Code 17 crosses

Stiffness94th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss60th pct · 1 measured
Energy return43rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential51st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite67th pct · 1 measured
String friction61st pct · 1 measured

Pro Red Code 17 mains / Explosive 16 crosses

Stiffness93rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss60th pct · 1 measured
Energy return43rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential51st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite52nd pct · 1 measured
String friction55th 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.

Explosive 16

~22 hours of play

Pro Red Code 17

~22 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Dunlop Explosive 16 Polyester16find23336874.80.4780.100
Tecnifibre Pro Red Code 17 Polyester17$7.4622636884.80.4390.092

Add a third string Explosive 16 in full Pro Red Code 17 in full