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Head to head

Kirschbaum Black Shark 17 (1.25) vs Prince Tour XC 16L

Black Shark 17 (1.25) leads on 3 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is stiffness, where Tour XC 16L is 11 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Black Shark 17 (1.25)

Polyester · 17 ga

Prince

Tour XC 16L

Polyester · 16L ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
21785th pct
20674th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
3865th pct
3762nd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8848th pct
8848th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.876th pct
5.569th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.42138th pct
0.42037th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.0727th pct
0.07717th 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 17 (1.25) at 52 lb

String Tour XC 16L at 56.0 lb 25.4 kg

Coming from Tour XC 16L at 52 lb

String Black Shark 17 (1.25) at 48.7 lb 22.1 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.

Black Shark 17 (1.25) mains / Tour XC 16L crosses

Stiffness81st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss64th pct · 1 measured
Energy return48th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential74th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite38th pct · 1 measured
String friction10th pct · 1 measured

Tour XC 16L mains / Black Shark 17 (1.25) crosses

Stiffness79th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss63rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return48th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential70th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite38th pct · 1 measured
String friction14th 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 17 (1.25)

~20 hours of play

Tour XC 16L

~21 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Kirschbaum Black Shark 17 (1.25) Polyester17find21738885.80.4210.072
Prince Tour XC 16L Polyester16Lfind20637885.50.4200.077

Add a third string Black Shark 17 (1.25) in full Tour XC 16L in full