StringSpec
String finder

Browse all 788

Head to head

Genesis Black Magic 16 (1.29) vs Luxilon ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25)

ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is energy return, where ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) is 12 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Genesis

Black Magic 16 (1.29)

Polyester · 16 ga

Luxilon

ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25)

Polyester · 16L ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
20875th pct
20978th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
3660th pct
4066th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8629th pct
8741st pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
6.282nd pct
6.586th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.49475th pct
0.49876th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08023rd pct
0.07717th 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 Black Magic 16 (1.29) at 52 lb

String ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) at 51.6 lb 23.4 kg

Coming from ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) at 52 lb

String Black Magic 16 (1.29) at 52.4 lb 23.8 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.

Black Magic 16 (1.29) mains / ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) crosses

Stiffness77th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss63rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return34th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential83rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite75th pct · 1 measured
String friction22nd pct · 1 measured

ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) mains / Black Magic 16 (1.29) crosses

Stiffness77th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss65th pct · 1 measured
Energy return35th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential86th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite76th pct · 1 measured
String friction18th 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.

Black Magic 16 (1.29)

~22 hours of play

ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25)

~20 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Genesis Black Magic 16 (1.29) Polyester16find20836866.20.4940.080
Luxilon ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) Polyester16Lfind20940876.50.4980.077

Add a third string Black Magic 16 (1.29) in full ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) in full