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Head to head

Kirschbaum Competition 17 (1.25) vs Luxilon Big Banger Original 130/16

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where Competition 17 (1.25) is 42 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Competition 17 (1.25)

Polyester · 17 ga

Luxilon

Big Banger Original 130/16

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
21079th pct
21382nd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4883rd pct
5191st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8516th pct
8522nd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.543rd pct
4.851st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.46362nd pct
0.39621st pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10367th 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 Competition 17 (1.25) at 52 lb

String Big Banger Original 130/16 at 50.4 lb 22.9 kg

Coming from Big Banger Original 130/16 at 52 lb

String Competition 17 (1.25) at 53.2 lb 24.1 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.

Competition 17 (1.25) mains / Big Banger Original 130/16 crosses

Stiffness80th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss87th pct · 1 measured
Energy return18th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential44th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite57th pct · 1 measured
String friction60th pct · 1 measured

Big Banger Original 130/16 mains / Competition 17 (1.25) crosses

Stiffness81st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss88th pct · 1 measured
Energy return19th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential49th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite27th pct · 1 measured
String friction41st 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 17 (1.25)

~15 hours of play

Big Banger Original 130/16

~13 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Kirschbaum Competition 17 (1.25) Polyester17find21048854.50.4630.103
Luxilon Big Banger Original 130/16 Polyester16$17.0021351854.80.3960.082

Add a third string Competition 17 (1.25) in full Big Banger Original 130/16 in full