Head to head

Solinco Barb Wire 17 (1.20) vs Topspin Cyber Flash 16

Barb Wire 17 (1.20) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Barb Wire 17 (1.20) is 39 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Solinco

Barb Wire 17 (1.20)

Polyester · 17 ga

Topspin

Cyber Flash 16

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
18654th pct
18552nd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4371st pct
4781st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8626th pct
8520th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.954th pct
4.851st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.55791st pct
0.44552nd pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.11378th 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 Barb Wire 17 (1.20) at 52 lb

String Cyber Flash 16 at 53.2 lb 24.1 kg

Coming from Cyber Flash 16 at 52 lb

String Barb Wire 17 (1.20) at 51.0 lb 23.1 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.

Barb Wire 17 (1.20) mains / Cyber Flash 16 crosses

Stiffness53rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss74th pct · 1 measured
Energy return24th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential53rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite88th pct · 1 measured
String friction74th pct · 1 measured

Cyber Flash 16 mains / Barb Wire 17 (1.20) crosses

Stiffness52nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss77th pct · 1 measured
Energy return23rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential53rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite62nd pct · 1 measured
String friction61st 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.

Barb Wire 17 (1.20)

~19 hours of play

Cyber Flash 16

~16 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Solinco Barb Wire 17 (1.20) Polyester17$11.9918643864.90.5570.113
Topspin Cyber Flash 16 Polyester16find18547854.80.4450.093

Add a third string Barb Wire 17 (1.20) in full Cyber Flash 16 in full