Head Lynx 16 (1.30) vs Volkl Cyclone 18

Measured, side by side

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.

• More spin and shape

  Lynx 16 (1.30)62nd

  Cyclone 1864th

• Easier on my arm

  Lynx 16 (1.30)470th

  Cyclone 18447th

• More control, less launch

  Lynx 16 (1.30)269th

  Cyclone 18301st

• More power and depth

  Lynx 16 (1.30)559th

  Cyclone 18557th

• Plays the same for longer

  Lynx 16 (1.30)626th

  Cyclone 18668th

• Lasts longer before it breaks

  Lynx 16 (1.30)81st

  Cyclone 18345th

• Best feel and touch

  Lynx 16 (1.30)557th

  Cyclone 18564th

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.

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.

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.

Both strings in full

Add a third string Lynx 16 (1.30) in full Cyclone 18 in full