Head to head

Kirschbaum Long Life 15 vs Luxilon Big Banger Rough 130/16

Big Banger Rough 130/16 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Long Life 15 is 18 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Long Life 15

Polyester · 15 ga

Luxilon

Big Banger Rough 130/16

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
23294th pct
21381st pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
5595th pct
5292nd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
803rd pct
8414th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.645th pct
4.440th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.43044th pct
0.40526th pct
Snapback lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09454th pct
0.09250th 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 Long Life 15 at 52 lb

String Big Banger Rough 130/16 at 57.9 lb 26.3 kg

Coming from Big Banger Rough 130/16 at 52 lb

String Long Life 15 at 45.2 lb 20.5 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.

Long Life 15 mains / Big Banger Rough 130/16 crosses

Stiffness90th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss94th pct · 1 measured
Energy return6th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential44th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite42nd pct · 1 measured
Snapback53rd pct · 1 measured

Big Banger Rough 130/16 mains / Long Life 15 crosses

Stiffness88th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss93rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return7th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential42nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite28th pct · 1 measured
Snapback51st 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.

Long Life 15

~12 hours of play

Big Banger Rough 130/16

~13 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugeStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFSnap COF
Kirschbaum Long Life 15 Polyester1523255804.60.4300.094
Luxilon Big Banger Rough 130/16 Polyester1621352844.40.4050.092

Add a third string Long Life 15 in full Big Banger Rough 130/16 in full