Head to head

Polyfibre Hexablade 16L (1.25) vs Polyfibre Poly Hightec 16L

Poly Hightec 16L leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Hexablade 16L (1.25) is 23 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Polyfibre

Hexablade 16L (1.25)

Polyester · 16L ga

Polyfibre

Poly Hightec 16L

Polyester · 16L ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
17240th pct
16937th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
6398th pct
6198th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
791st pct
792nd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.645th pct
4.440th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.44351st pct
0.40728th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09759th 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 Hexablade 16L (1.25) at 52 lb

String Poly Hightec 16L at 54.2 lb 24.6 kg

Coming from Poly Hightec 16L at 52 lb

String Hexablade 16L (1.25) at 50.2 lb 22.8 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.

Hexablade 16L (1.25) mains / Poly Hightec 16L crosses

Stiffness39th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss98th pct · 1 measured
Energy return2nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential44th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite49th pct · 1 measured
String friction57th pct · 1 measured

Poly Hightec 16L mains / Hexablade 16L (1.25) crosses

Stiffness39th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss98th pct · 1 measured
Energy return2nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential41st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite31st pct · 1 measured
String friction55th 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.

Hexablade 16L (1.25)

~11 hours of play

Poly Hightec 16L

~11 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Polyfibre Hexablade 16L (1.25) Polyester16Lfind17263794.60.4430.097
Polyfibre Poly Hightec 16L Polyester16Lfind16961794.40.4070.093

Add a third string Hexablade 16L (1.25) in full Poly Hightec 16L in full