Head to head

Dunlop S-Gut 18 (1.19) vs Tecnifibre HDX Tour 16 (1.30)

HDX Tour 16 (1.30) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where HDX Tour 16 (1.30) is 81 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Dunlop

S-Gut 18 (1.19)

Nylon · 18 ga

Tecnifibre

HDX Tour 16 (1.30)

Nylon/Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15619th pct
14912th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
167th pct
121st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9596th pct
9597th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.440th pct
4.337th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.38616th pct
0.61697th pct
Snapback lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08842nd pct
0.14391st 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 S-Gut 18 (1.19) at 52 lb

String HDX Tour 16 (1.30) at 54.4 lb 24.7 kg

Coming from HDX Tour 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String S-Gut 18 (1.19) at 49.7 lb 22.5 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.

S-Gut 18 (1.19) mains / HDX Tour 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness16th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss4th pct · 1 measured
Energy return96th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential38th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite38th pct · 1 measured
Snapback65th pct · 1 measured

HDX Tour 16 (1.30) mains / S-Gut 18 (1.19) crosses

Stiffness15th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss2nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return97th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential38th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite94th pct · 1 measured
Snapback87th 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.

S-Gut 18 (1.19)

~38 hours of play

HDX Tour 16 (1.30)

~40 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugeStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFSnap COF
Dunlop S-Gut 18 (1.19) Nylon1815616954.40.3860.088
Tecnifibre HDX Tour 16 (1.30) Nylon/Polyester1614912954.30.6160.143

Add a third string S-Gut 18 (1.19) in full HDX Tour 16 (1.30) in full