Head to head

Head RIP PerfectPower 16 vs Volkl Power-Fiber II 18

Power-Fiber II 18 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Power-Fiber II 18 is 16 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Head

RIP PerfectPower 16

Nylon/Polyolefin · 16 ga

Volkl

Power-Fiber II 18

Nylon · 18 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15720th pct
15721st pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2329th pct
2328th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9490th pct
9386th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
2.33rd pct
2.98th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.3698th pct
0.40124th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.15895th pct
0.13890th 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 RIP PerfectPower 16 at 52 lb

String Power-Fiber II 18 at 49.6 lb 22.5 kg

Coming from Power-Fiber II 18 at 52 lb

String RIP PerfectPower 16 at 55.3 lb 25.1 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.

RIP PerfectPower 16 mains / Power-Fiber II 18 crosses

Stiffness20th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss29th pct · 1 measured
Energy return89th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential4th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite9th pct · 1 measured
String friction94th pct · 1 measured

Power-Fiber II 18 mains / RIP PerfectPower 16 crosses

Stiffness20th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss29th pct · 1 measured
Energy return87th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential7th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite21st pct · 1 measured
String friction92nd 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.

RIP PerfectPower 16

~31 hours of play

Power-Fiber II 18

~32 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Head RIP PerfectPower 16 Nylon/Polyolefin16find15723942.30.3690.158
Volkl Power-Fiber II 18 Nylon18$14.9915723932.90.4010.138

Add a third string RIP PerfectPower 16 in full Power-Fiber II 18 in full