Head to head

Dunlop Explosive Poly Max 16 vs Head Fibergel Power 17

Explosive Poly Max 16 leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Explosive Poly Max 16 is 31 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Dunlop

Explosive Poly Max 16

Nylon/Polyester · 16 ga

Head

Fibergel Power 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15823rd pct
16127th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2431st pct
2533rd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9063rd pct
9060th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.416th pct
3.111th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.45358th pct
0.40526th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.13589th pct
0.13188th 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 Poly Max 16 at 52 lb

String Fibergel Power 17 at 50.9 lb 23.1 kg

Coming from Fibergel Power 17 at 52 lb

String Explosive Poly Max 16 at 53.2 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.

Explosive Poly Max 16 mains / Fibergel Power 17 crosses

Stiffness25th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss32nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return62nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential15th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite52nd pct · 1 measured
String friction89th pct · 1 measured

Fibergel Power 17 mains / Explosive Poly Max 16 crosses

Stiffness26th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss32nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return61st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential12th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite31st pct · 1 measured
String friction88th 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 Poly Max 16

~31 hours of play

Fibergel Power 17

~30 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Dunlop Explosive Poly Max 16 Nylon/Polyester16find15824903.40.4530.135
Head Fibergel Power 17 Nylon17find16125903.10.4050.131

Add a third string Explosive Poly Max 16 in full Fibergel Power 17 in full