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Browse all 791

Head to head

Kirschbaum Black Shark 16 (1.30) vs Kirschbaum P2 16/1.30

P2 16/1.30 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Black Shark 16 (1.30) is 13 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Black Shark 16 (1.30)

Polyester · 16 ga

Kirschbaum

P2 16/1.30

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
22490th pct
21987th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4169th pct
3865th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8629th pct
8631st pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.467th pct
5.262nd pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.42943rd pct
0.41231st pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08024th pct
0.07921st 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 Black Shark 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String P2 16/1.30 at 70.0 lb 31.8 kg

Clamped. The proportional answer was 70.7 lb, outside what most frames are rated for. These two are too far apart in stiffness to match by tension alone.

Coming from P2 16/1.30 at 52 lb

String Black Shark 16 (1.30) at 48.1 lb 21.8 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.

Black Shark 16 (1.30) mains / P2 16/1.30 crosses

Stiffness89th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss67th pct · 1 measured
Energy return30th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential65th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite42nd pct · 1 measured
String friction22nd pct · 1 measured

P2 16/1.30 mains / Black Shark 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness88th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss66th pct · 1 measured
Energy return30th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential63rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite33rd pct · 1 measured
String friction22nd 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.

Black Shark 16 (1.30)

~19 hours of play

P2 16/1.30

~21 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Kirschbaum Black Shark 16 (1.30) Polyester16find22441865.40.4290.080
Kirschbaum P2 16/1.30 Polyester16find21938865.20.4120.079

Add a third string Black Shark 16 (1.30) in full P2 16/1.30 in full