Head to head

Gamma Zo Black Ice 18 (1.18) vs Weiss Cannon Silverstring 1.25

Zo Black Ice 18 (1.18) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Zo Black Ice 18 (1.18) is 17 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gamma

Zo Black Ice 18 (1.18)

Polyester · 18 ga

Weiss Cannon

Silverstring 1.25

Polyester

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
20068th pct
19663rd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4067th pct
4474th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8844th pct
8737th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.030th pct
3.824th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.43145th pct
0.40728th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10874th pct
0.10874th 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 Zo Black Ice 18 (1.18) at 52 lb

String Silverstring 1.25 at 57.1 lb 25.9 kg

Coming from Silverstring 1.25 at 52 lb

String Zo Black Ice 18 (1.18) at 46.6 lb 21.1 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.

Zo Black Ice 18 (1.18) mains / Silverstring 1.25 crosses

Stiffness66th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss69th pct · 1 measured
Energy return42nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential29th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite42nd pct · 1 measured
String friction74th pct · 1 measured

Silverstring 1.25 mains / Zo Black Ice 18 (1.18) crosses

Stiffness65th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss71st pct · 1 measured
Energy return40th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential25th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite30th pct · 1 measured
String friction74th 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.

Zo Black Ice 18 (1.18)

~20 hours of play

Silverstring 1.25

~18 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gamma Zo Black Ice 18 (1.18) Polyester18find20040884.00.4310.108
Weiss Cannon Silverstring 1.25 Polyesterfind19644873.80.4070.108

Add a third string Zo Black Ice 18 (1.18) in full Silverstring 1.25 in full