Head to head

Dunlop Hexy Fiber 17 vs Dunlop Silk 16 (1.30)

Hexy Fiber 17 leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Hexy Fiber 17 is 20 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Dunlop

Hexy Fiber 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Dunlop

Silk 16 (1.30)

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
1447th pct
14710th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2534th pct
2638th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9166th pct
9164th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.723rd pct
3.416th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.49977th pct
0.45156th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.13489th 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 Hexy Fiber 17 at 52 lb

String Silk 16 (1.30) at 50.8 lb 23.0 kg

Coming from Silk 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Hexy Fiber 17 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.

Hexy Fiber 17 mains / Silk 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness9th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss36th pct · 1 measured
Energy return66th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential22nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite74th pct · 1 measured
String friction89th pct · 1 measured

Silk 16 (1.30) mains / Hexy Fiber 17 crosses

Stiffness9th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss37th pct · 1 measured
Energy return65th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential17th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite60th 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.

Hexy Fiber 17

~30 hours of play

Silk 16 (1.30)

~29 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Dunlop Hexy Fiber 17 Nylon17find14425913.70.4990.134
Dunlop Silk 16 (1.30) Nylon16$15.9914726913.40.4510.131

Add a third string Hexy Fiber 17 in full Silk 16 (1.30) in full