Head to head

Polyfibre Cobra 17/1.20 vs Polyfibre Poly Hightec 18

Poly Hightec 18 leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Poly Hightec 18 is 32 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Polyfibre

Cobra 17/1.20

Polyester · 17 ga

Polyfibre

Poly Hightec 18

Polyester · 18 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15417th pct
15013th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
6499th pct
6197th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
803rd pct
815th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.621st pct
3.927th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.38515th pct
0.43547th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10772nd pct
0.11278th 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 Cobra 17/1.20 at 52 lb

String Poly Hightec 18 at 54.3 lb 24.6 kg

Coming from Poly Hightec 18 at 52 lb

String Cobra 17/1.20 at 49.4 lb 22.4 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.

Cobra 17/1.20 mains / Poly Hightec 18 crosses

Stiffness15th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss98th pct · 1 measured
Energy return3rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential22nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite19th pct · 1 measured
String friction74th pct · 1 measured

Poly Hightec 18 mains / Cobra 17/1.20 crosses

Stiffness15th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss98th pct · 1 measured
Energy return4th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential25th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite42nd pct · 1 measured
String friction76th 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.

Cobra 17/1.20

~10 hours of play

Poly Hightec 18

~11 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Polyfibre Cobra 17/1.20 Polyester17find15464803.60.3850.107
Polyfibre Poly Hightec 18 Polyester18find15061813.90.4350.112

Add a third string Cobra 17/1.20 in full Poly Hightec 18 in full