Head to head

Gosen Tecflex 16 (1.30) vs Prince Premier Power 18

Premier Power 18 leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Premier Power 18 is 18 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gosen

Tecflex 16 (1.30)

Nylon · 16 ga

Prince

Premier Power 18

Nylon · 18 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15114th pct
1436th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2016th pct
2119th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9274th pct
9381st pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.645th pct
5.056th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.40526th pct
0.43044th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08944th pct
0.08637th 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 Tecflex 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Premier Power 18 at 54.9 lb 24.9 kg

Coming from Premier Power 18 at 52 lb

String Tecflex 16 (1.30) at 49.2 lb 22.3 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.

Tecflex 16 (1.30) mains / Premier Power 18 crosses

Stiffness10th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss17th pct · 1 measured
Energy return76th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential47th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite28th pct · 1 measured
String friction43rd pct · 1 measured

Premier Power 18 mains / Tecflex 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness9th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss19th pct · 1 measured
Energy return78th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential55th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite42nd pct · 1 measured
String friction38th 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.

Tecflex 16 (1.30)

~35 hours of play

Premier Power 18

~34 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gosen Tecflex 16 (1.30) Nylon16find15120924.60.4050.089
Prince Premier Power 18 Nylon18find14321935.00.4300.086

Add a third string Tecflex 16 (1.30) in full Premier Power 18 in full