Head to head

Kirschbaum Helix 16 vs Kirschbaum Touch Turbo 16L (1.275)

Touch Turbo 16L (1.275) leads on 3 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is tension loss, where Touch Turbo 16L (1.275) is 9 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

Touch Turbo 16L (1.275)

Polyester · 16L ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
20573rd pct
19664th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
5594th pct
4986th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
839th pct
8516th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.467th pct
5.467th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.40326th pct
0.40326th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.07411th pct
0.07513th 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 Touch Turbo 16L (1.275) at 54.9 lb 24.9 kg

Coming from Touch Turbo 16L (1.275) at 52 lb

String Helix 16 at 50.5 lb 22.9 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 / Touch Turbo 16L (1.275) crosses

Stiffness69th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss93rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return11th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential67th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite26th pct · 1 measured
String friction13th pct · 1 measured

Touch Turbo 16L (1.275) mains / Helix 16 crosses

Stiffness68th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss90th pct · 1 measured
Energy return13th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential67th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite26th pct · 1 measured
String friction13th 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

Touch Turbo 16L (1.275)

~14 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 Touch Turbo 16L (1.275) Polyester16Lfind19649855.40.4030.075

Add a third string Helix 16 in full Touch Turbo 16L (1.275) in full