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Head to head

Kirschbaum Competition 17L (1.20) vs Luxilon Big Banger Timo 18 (1.10)

Competition 17L (1.20) leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Competition 17L (1.20) is 25 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Competition 17L (1.20)

Polyester · 17L ga

Luxilon

Big Banger Timo 18 (1.10)

Polyester · 18 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
19057th pct
18956th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4577th pct
4578th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8629th pct
8628th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.132nd pct
3.621st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.42239th pct
0.38214th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10367th pct
0.10772nd 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 17L (1.20) at 52 lb

String Big Banger Timo 18 (1.10) at 51.6 lb 23.4 kg

Coming from Big Banger Timo 18 (1.10) at 52 lb

String Competition 17L (1.20) at 52.2 lb 23.7 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 17L (1.20) mains / Big Banger Timo 18 (1.10) crosses

Stiffness57th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss77th pct · 1 measured
Energy return28th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential29th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite34th pct · 1 measured
String friction68th pct · 1 measured

Big Banger Timo 18 (1.10) mains / Competition 17L (1.20) crosses

Stiffness57th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss77th pct · 1 measured
Energy return28th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential23rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite17th pct · 1 measured
String friction71st 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 17L (1.20)

~17 hours of play

Big Banger Timo 18 (1.10)

~17 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Kirschbaum Competition 17L (1.20) Polyester17Lfind19045864.10.4220.103
Luxilon Big Banger Timo 18 (1.10) Polyester18find18945863.60.3820.107

Add a third string Competition 17L (1.20) in full Big Banger Timo 18 (1.10) in full