Head to head

Prince Synthetic Gut 18 Duraflex vs Volkl Power-Fiber II 16

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is string friction, where Synthetic Gut 18 Duraflex is 18 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Prince

Synthetic Gut 18 Duraflex

Nylon · 18 ga

Volkl

Power-Fiber II 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16228th pct
15924th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
1916th pct
2122nd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9272nd pct
9274th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.621st pct
3.213th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.37410th pct
0.40526th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10468th pct
0.12686th 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 Synthetic Gut 18 Duraflex at 52 lb

String Power-Fiber II 16 at 54.4 lb 24.7 kg

Coming from Power-Fiber II 16 at 52 lb

String Synthetic Gut 18 Duraflex at 49.9 lb 22.6 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.

Synthetic Gut 18 Duraflex mains / Power-Fiber II 16 crosses

Stiffness26th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss17th pct · 1 measured
Energy return73rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential19th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite12th pct · 1 measured
String friction75th pct · 1 measured

Power-Fiber II 16 mains / Synthetic Gut 18 Duraflex crosses

Stiffness26th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss20th pct · 1 measured
Energy return73rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential14th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite24th pct · 1 measured
String friction83rd 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.

Synthetic Gut 18 Duraflex

~35 hours of play

Power-Fiber II 16

~34 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Prince Synthetic Gut 18 Duraflex Nylon18find16219923.60.3740.104
Volkl Power-Fiber II 16 Nylon16$14.9915921923.20.4050.126

Add a third string Synthetic Gut 18 Duraflex in full Power-Fiber II 16 in full