Head to head

Gosen Sidewinder 17 vs Topspin Cyber Flash 17

Sidewinder 17 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Sidewinder 17 is 21 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gosen

Sidewinder 17

Polyester · 17 ga

Topspin

Cyber Flash 17

Polyester · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15925th pct
15924th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4781st pct
5594th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8520th pct
8310th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.645th pct
4.235th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.41231st pct
0.43044th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09046th pct
0.10367th 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 Sidewinder 17 at 52 lb

String Cyber Flash 17 at 51.2 lb 23.2 kg

Coming from Cyber Flash 17 at 52 lb

String Sidewinder 17 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.

Sidewinder 17 mains / Cyber Flash 17 crosses

Stiffness24th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss88th pct · 1 measured
Energy return16th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential44th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite33rd pct · 1 measured
String friction53rd pct · 1 measured

Cyber Flash 17 mains / Sidewinder 17 crosses

Stiffness24th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss92nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return13th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential36th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite42nd pct · 1 measured
String friction62nd 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.

Sidewinder 17

~16 hours of play

Cyber Flash 17

~12 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gosen Sidewinder 17 Polyester17find15947854.60.4120.090
Topspin Cyber Flash 17 Polyester17find15955834.20.4300.103

Add a third string Sidewinder 17 in full Cyber Flash 17 in full