Head to head

Kirschbaum Super Smash 17 (1.25) vs Solinco Revolution 16

Revolution 16 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is snapback, where Revolution 16 is 19 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Super Smash 17 (1.25)

Polyester · 17 ga

Solinco

Revolution 16

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
21180th pct
21684th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4885th pct
4783rd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8310th pct
8415th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.774th pct
6.485th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.45358th pct
0.45156th pct
Snapback lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08023rd pct
0.0705th 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 Super Smash 17 (1.25) at 52 lb

String Revolution 16 at 53.2 lb 24.1 kg

Coming from Revolution 16 at 52 lb

String Super Smash 17 (1.25) at 51.0 lb 23.1 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.

Super Smash 17 (1.25) mains / Revolution 16 crosses

Stiffness81st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss84th pct · 1 measured
Energy return11th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential77th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite58th pct · 1 measured
Snapback18th pct · 1 measured

Revolution 16 mains / Super Smash 17 (1.25) crosses

Stiffness82nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss83rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return13th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential83rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite57th pct · 1 measured
Snapback8th 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.

Super Smash 17 (1.25)

~15 hours of play

Revolution 16

~15 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugeStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFSnap COF
Kirschbaum Super Smash 17 (1.25) Polyester1721148835.70.4530.080
Solinco Revolution 16 Polyester1621647846.40.4510.070

Add a third string Super Smash 17 (1.25) in full Revolution 16 in full