Head to head

Kirschbaum Max Power Rough 18 (1.20) vs Solinco Revolution 18 (1.16)

Max Power Rough 18 (1.20) leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Max Power Rough 18 (1.20) is 7 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Max Power Rough 18 (1.20)

Polyester · 18 ga

Solinco

Revolution 18 (1.16)

Polyester · 18 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
19663rd pct
19663rd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2842nd pct
2945th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9061st pct
8955th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
6.889th pct
6.383rd pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.50178th pct
0.49475th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.07412th pct
0.07819th 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 Max Power Rough 18 (1.20) at 52 lb

String Revolution 18 (1.16) at 52.0 lb 23.6 kg

Coming from Revolution 18 (1.16) at 52 lb

String Max Power Rough 18 (1.20) at 52.0 lb 23.6 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.

Max Power Rough 18 (1.20) mains / Revolution 18 (1.16) crosses

Stiffness63rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss43rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return58th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential88th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite77th pct · 1 measured
String friction14th pct · 1 measured

Revolution 18 (1.16) mains / Max Power Rough 18 (1.20) crosses

Stiffness63rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss44th pct · 1 measured
Energy return58th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential84th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite76th pct · 1 measured
String friction17th 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.

Max Power Rough 18 (1.20)

~27 hours of play

Revolution 18 (1.16)

~27 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Kirschbaum Max Power Rough 18 (1.20) Polyester18find19628906.80.5010.074
Solinco Revolution 18 (1.16) Polyester18find19629896.30.4940.078

Add a third string Max Power Rough 18 (1.20) in full Revolution 18 (1.16) in full