Head to head

Kirschbaum Long Life 15 vs Luxilon Monotec Zolo 15L

Monotec Zolo 15L leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Long Life 15 is 31 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

Monotec Zolo 15L

Polyester · 15L ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
23294th pct
22087th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
5595th pct
4782nd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
803rd pct
8414th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.645th pct
4.645th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.43044th pct
0.38214th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09454th pct
0.08330th 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 Monotec Zolo 15L at 56.5 lb 25.6 kg

Coming from Monotec Zolo 15L at 52 lb

String Long Life 15 at 47.4 lb 21.5 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 / Monotec Zolo 15L crosses

Stiffness92nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss92nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return6th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential45th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite39th pct · 1 measured
String friction48th pct · 1 measured

Monotec Zolo 15L mains / Long Life 15 crosses

Stiffness91st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss88th pct · 1 measured
Energy return7th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential45th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite17th pct · 1 measured
String friction35th 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

Monotec Zolo 15L

~16 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Kirschbaum Long Life 15 Polyester15find23255804.60.4300.094
Luxilon Monotec Zolo 15L Polyester15Lfind22047844.60.3820.083

Add a third string Long Life 15 in full Monotec Zolo 15L in full