Head to head

MSV Focus-Hex 16 (1.27) vs Volkl Cyclone 18

Focus-Hex 16 (1.27) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Focus-Hex 16 (1.27) is 23 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

MSV

Focus-Hex 16 (1.27)

Polyester · 16 ga

Volkl

Cyclone 18

Polyester · 18 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
18653rd pct
18148th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4373rd pct
4885th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8518th pct
8518th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
8.698th pct
7.191st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.61096th pct
0.58094th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.0716th pct
0.08228th 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 Focus-Hex 16 (1.27) at 52 lb

String Cyclone 18 at 53.3 lb 24.2 kg

Coming from Cyclone 18 at 52 lb

String Focus-Hex 16 (1.27) at 50.7 lb 23.0 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.

Focus-Hex 16 (1.27) mains / Cyclone 18 crosses

Stiffness50th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss76th pct · 1 measured
Energy return18th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential97th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite96th pct · 1 measured
String friction10th pct · 1 measured

Cyclone 18 mains / Focus-Hex 16 (1.27) crosses

Stiffness50th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss81st pct · 1 measured
Energy return18th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential94th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite94th pct · 1 measured
String friction22nd 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.

Focus-Hex 16 (1.27)

~18 hours of play

Cyclone 18

~15 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
MSV Focus-Hex 16 (1.27) Polyester16find18643858.60.6100.071
Volkl Cyclone 18 Polyester18$9.9918148857.10.5800.082

Add a third string Focus-Hex 16 (1.27) in full Cyclone 18 in full