Head to head

Gosen Polylon 16 vs Gosen Polylon 17 (1.24)

Polylon 17 (1.24) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Polylon 17 (1.24) is 14 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gosen

Polylon 16

Polyester · 16 ga

Gosen

Polylon 17 (1.24)

Polyester · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
20775th pct
20876th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
5190th pct
4987th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
826th pct
8310th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.132nd pct
4.337th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.3574th pct
0.39118th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08739th pct
0.09046th 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 Polylon 16 at 52 lb

String Polylon 17 (1.24) at 52.0 lb 23.6 kg

Coming from Polylon 17 (1.24) at 52 lb

String Polylon 16 at 52.0 lb 23.6 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.

Polylon 16 mains / Polylon 17 (1.24) crosses

Stiffness75th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss88th pct · 1 measured
Energy return7th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential33rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite6th pct · 1 measured
String friction41st pct · 1 measured

Polylon 17 (1.24) mains / Polylon 16 crosses

Stiffness76th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss88th pct · 1 measured
Energy return7th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential36th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite15th pct · 1 measured
String friction45th 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.

Polylon 16

~13 hours of play

Polylon 17 (1.24)

~14 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gosen Polylon 16 Polyester16find20751824.10.3570.087
Gosen Polylon 17 (1.24) Polyester17find20849834.30.3910.090

Add a third string Polylon 16 in full Polylon 17 (1.24) in full