Head to head

MSV Focus Hex 17L (1.18) vs Pacific XCite 16 (1.30)

XCite 16 (1.30) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where XCite 16 (1.30) is 13 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

MSV

Focus Hex 17L (1.18)

Polyester · 17L ga

Pacific

XCite 16 (1.30)

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
22490th pct
22088th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2841st pct
2740th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8848th pct
8843rd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
6.586th pct
6.687th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.46664th pct
0.49977th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.0727th pct
0.07615th 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 Focus Hex 17L (1.18) at 52 lb

String XCite 16 (1.30) at 52.9 lb 24.0 kg

Coming from XCite 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Focus Hex 17L (1.18) at 51.1 lb 23.2 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 17L (1.18) mains / XCite 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness90th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss41st pct · 1 measured
Energy return45th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential87th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite66th pct · 1 measured
String friction9th pct · 1 measured

XCite 16 (1.30) mains / Focus Hex 17L (1.18) crosses

Stiffness89th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss40th pct · 1 measured
Energy return45th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential87th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite75th pct · 1 measured
String friction14th 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 17L (1.18)

~28 hours of play

XCite 16 (1.30)

~28 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
MSV Focus Hex 17L (1.18) Polyester17Lfind22428886.50.4660.072
Pacific XCite 16 (1.30) Polyester16find22027886.60.4990.076

Add a third string Focus Hex 17L (1.18) in full XCite 16 (1.30) in full