Head to head

Kirschbaum Pro Line II 17L (1.20) vs Solinco Barb Wire 17 (1.20)

Barb Wire 17 (1.20) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Barb Wire 17 (1.20) is 43 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Pro Line II 17L (1.20)

Polyester · 17L ga

Solinco

Barb Wire 17 (1.20)

Polyester · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
19361st pct
18654th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4679th pct
4371st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8631st pct
8626th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.851st pct
4.954th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.43648th pct
0.55791st pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09046th pct
0.11378th 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 Pro Line II 17L (1.20) at 52 lb

String Barb Wire 17 (1.20) at 56.5 lb 25.6 kg

Coming from Barb Wire 17 (1.20) at 52 lb

String Pro Line II 17L (1.20) at 49.9 lb 22.6 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.

Pro Line II 17L (1.20) mains / Barb Wire 17 (1.20) crosses

Stiffness58th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss76th pct · 1 measured
Energy return28th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential53rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite59th pct · 1 measured
String friction57th pct · 1 measured

Barb Wire 17 (1.20) mains / Pro Line II 17L (1.20) crosses

Stiffness56th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss74th pct · 1 measured
Energy return28th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential53rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite88th pct · 1 measured
String friction73rd 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.

Pro Line II 17L (1.20)

~16 hours of play

Barb Wire 17 (1.20)

~19 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Kirschbaum Pro Line II 17L (1.20) Polyester17Lfind19346864.80.4360.090
Solinco Barb Wire 17 (1.20) Polyester17$11.9918643864.90.5570.113

Add a third string Pro Line II 17L (1.20) in full Barb Wire 17 (1.20) in full