Head to head

Poly Star Turbo 16L (1.25) vs Polyfibre Hexablade 17L (1.18)

Hexablade 17L (1.18) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Hexablade 17L (1.18) is 6 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Poly Star

Turbo 16L (1.25)

Polyester · 16L ga

Polyfibre

Hexablade 17L (1.18)

Polyester · 17L ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16937th pct
16937th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
65100th pct
6499th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
781st pct
792nd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.056th pct
5.262nd pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.52184th pct
0.52084th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10570th pct
0.10063rd 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 Turbo 16L (1.25) at 52 lb

String Hexablade 17L (1.18) at 50.7 lb 23.0 kg

Coming from Hexablade 17L (1.18) at 52 lb

String Turbo 16L (1.25) at 52.9 lb 24.0 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.

Turbo 16L (1.25) mains / Hexablade 17L (1.18) crosses

Stiffness37th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss99th pct · 1 measured
Energy return1st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential58th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite84th pct · 1 measured
String friction68th pct · 1 measured

Hexablade 17L (1.18) mains / Turbo 16L (1.25) crosses

Stiffness37th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss99th pct · 1 measured
Energy return1st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential61st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite84th pct · 1 measured
String friction66th 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.

Turbo 16L (1.25)

~10 hours of play

Hexablade 17L (1.18)

~10 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Poly Star Turbo 16L (1.25) Polyester16Lfind16965785.00.5210.105
Polyfibre Hexablade 17L (1.18) Polyester17Lfind16964795.20.5200.100

Add a third string Turbo 16L (1.25) in full Hexablade 17L (1.18) in full