StringSpec
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Browse all 791

Head to head

Poly Star Classic 16 (1.30) vs Polyfibre Hightec Premium 16/1.30

Classic 16 (1.30) leads on 3 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Classic 16 (1.30) is 48 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Poly Star

Classic 16 (1.30)

Polyester · 16 ga

Polyfibre

Hightec Premium 16/1.30

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
18653rd pct
17442nd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
5695th pct
5896th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
826th pct
792nd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.235th pct
4.235th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.46664th pct
0.38716th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.11177th pct
0.09353rd 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 Classic 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Hightec Premium 16/1.30 at 55.6 lb 25.2 kg

Coming from Hightec Premium 16/1.30 at 52 lb

String Classic 16 (1.30) at 47.3 lb 21.5 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.

Classic 16 (1.30) mains / Hightec Premium 16/1.30 crosses

Stiffness47th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss95th pct · 1 measured
Energy return4th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential35th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite59th pct · 1 measured
String friction71st pct · 1 measured

Hightec Premium 16/1.30 mains / Classic 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness45th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss96th pct · 1 measured
Energy return3rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential35th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite23rd pct · 1 measured
String friction60th 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.

Classic 16 (1.30)

~11 hours of play

Hightec Premium 16/1.30

~11 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Poly Star Classic 16 (1.30) Polyester16find18656824.20.4660.111
Polyfibre Hightec Premium 16/1.30 Polyester16find17458794.20.3870.093

Add a third string Classic 16 (1.30) in full Hightec Premium 16/1.30 in full