Head to head

Gosen Nanosilver 17 vs Solinco X-Natural 16 (1.30)

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where X-Natural 16 (1.30) is 47 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gosen

Nanosilver 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Solinco

X-Natural 16 (1.30)

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15720th pct
1458th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2225th pct
2224th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9598th pct
9492nd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.543rd pct
4.440th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.39822nd pct
0.47970th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08842nd pct
0.10873rd 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 Nanosilver 17 at 52 lb

String X-Natural 16 (1.30) at 56.3 lb 25.5 kg

Coming from X-Natural 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Nanosilver 17 at 48.0 lb 21.8 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.

Nanosilver 17 mains / X-Natural 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness15th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss24th pct · 1 measured
Energy return96th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential42nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite30th pct · 1 measured
String friction52nd pct · 1 measured

X-Natural 16 (1.30) mains / Nanosilver 17 crosses

Stiffness12th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss24th pct · 1 measured
Energy return95th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential42nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite65th pct · 1 measured
String friction68th 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.

Nanosilver 17

~33 hours of play

X-Natural 16 (1.30)

~33 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gosen Nanosilver 17 Nylon17find15722954.50.3980.088
Solinco X-Natural 16 (1.30) Nylon16$14.5014522944.40.4790.108

Add a third string Nanosilver 17 in full X-Natural 16 (1.30) in full