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Head to head

Head Reflex MLT 16 (1.30) vs Volkl Synthetic Gut 17

Synthetic Gut 17 leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Reflex MLT 16 (1.30) is 46 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Head

Reflex MLT 16 (1.30)

Nylon · 16 ga

Volkl

Synthetic Gut 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15925th pct
15924th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2432nd pct
2226th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9063rd pct
9274th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.159th pct
5.262nd pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.54790th pct
0.43044th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10772nd pct
0.08229th 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 Reflex MLT 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Synthetic Gut 17 at 51.1 lb 23.2 kg

Coming from Synthetic Gut 17 at 52 lb

String Reflex MLT 16 (1.30) at 52.8 lb 23.9 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.

Reflex MLT 16 (1.30) mains / Synthetic Gut 17 crosses

Stiffness24th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss30th pct · 1 measured
Energy return66th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential61st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite86th pct · 1 measured
String friction64th pct · 1 measured

Synthetic Gut 17 mains / Reflex MLT 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness24th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss29th pct · 1 measured
Energy return68th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential61st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite54th pct · 1 measured
String friction43rd 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.

Reflex MLT 16 (1.30)

~30 hours of play

Synthetic Gut 17

~32 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Head Reflex MLT 16 (1.30) Nylon16$12.9915924905.10.5470.107
Volkl Synthetic Gut 17 Nylon17find15922925.20.4300.082

Add a third string Reflex MLT 16 (1.30) in full Synthetic Gut 17 in full