Head to head

Kirschbaum Competition 16/1.30 vs Signum Pro Tornado 16

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where Tornado 16 is 21 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Competition 16/1.30

Polyester · 16 ga

Signum Pro

Tornado 16

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
21079th pct
21684th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4883rd pct
4884th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8517th pct
8629th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.954th pct
5.159th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.40326th pct
0.43447th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08229th pct
0.08534th 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 Competition 16/1.30 at 52 lb

String Tornado 16 at 50.7 lb 23.0 kg

Coming from Tornado 16 at 52 lb

String Competition 16/1.30 at 53.6 lb 24.3 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.

Competition 16/1.30 mains / Tornado 16 crosses

Stiffness81st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss83rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return22nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential55th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite28th pct · 1 measured
String friction30th pct · 1 measured

Tornado 16 mains / Competition 16/1.30 crosses

Stiffness82nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss83rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return24th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential58th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite43rd pct · 1 measured
String friction33rd 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.

Competition 16/1.30

~15 hours of play

Tornado 16

~15 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Kirschbaum Competition 16/1.30 Polyester16find21048854.90.4030.082
Signum Pro Tornado 16 Polyester16find21648865.10.4340.085

Add a third string Competition 16/1.30 in full Tornado 16 in full