Head to head

Head Hawk Power 17 (1.25) vs Volkl Cyclone 16

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is string friction, where Hawk Power 17 (1.25) is 25 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Head

Hawk Power 17 (1.25)

Polyester · 17 ga

Volkl

Cyclone 16

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
20471st pct
19765th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4885th pct
4884th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
826th pct
8411th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
7.595th pct
6.282nd pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.54590th pct
0.52886th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.0739th pct
0.08534th 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 Hawk Power 17 (1.25) at 52 lb

String Cyclone 16 at 53.7 lb 24.4 kg

Coming from Cyclone 16 at 52 lb

String Hawk Power 17 (1.25) at 50.4 lb 22.9 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.

Hawk Power 17 (1.25) mains / Cyclone 16 crosses

Stiffness69th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss85th pct · 1 measured
Energy return7th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential92nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite89th pct · 1 measured
String friction15th pct · 1 measured

Cyclone 16 mains / Hawk Power 17 (1.25) crosses

Stiffness68th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss85th pct · 1 measured
Energy return7th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential86th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite86th pct · 1 measured
String friction28th 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.

Hawk Power 17 (1.25)

~14 hours of play

Cyclone 16

~15 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Head Hawk Power 17 (1.25) Polyester17$15.0020448827.50.5450.073
Volkl Cyclone 16 Polyester16$9.9919748846.20.5280.085

Add a third string Hawk Power 17 (1.25) in full Cyclone 16 in full