StringSpec
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Head to head

Kirschbaum Helix 16 vs Kirschbaum Super Smash Spiky 1.20

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is string friction, where Helix 16 is 45 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Helix 16

Polyester · 16 ga

Kirschbaum

Super Smash Spiky 1.20

Polyester · 20 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
20573rd pct
20573rd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
5594th pct
5393rd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
839th pct
8412th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.467th pct
5.159th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.40326th pct
0.48070th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.07411th pct
0.09556th pct

Bars are percentile against all 788 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 Helix 16 at 52 lb

String Super Smash Spiky 1.20 at 51.7 lb 23.5 kg

Coming from Super Smash Spiky 1.20 at 52 lb

String Helix 16 at 52.3 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.

Helix 16 mains / Super Smash Spiky 1.20 crosses

Stiffness73rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss94th pct · 1 measured
Energy return10th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential66th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite33rd pct · 1 measured
String friction22nd pct · 1 measured

Super Smash Spiky 1.20 mains / Helix 16 crosses

Stiffness73rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss93rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return11th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential61st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite65th pct · 1 measured
String friction45th 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.

Helix 16

~12 hours of play

Super Smash Spiky 1.20

~12 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Kirschbaum Helix 16 Polyester16find20555835.40.4030.074
Kirschbaum Super Smash Spiky 1.20 Polyester20find20553845.10.4800.095

Add a third string Helix 16 in full Super Smash Spiky 1.20 in full