Head to head

Solinco Tour Bite 18 (1.15) vs Volkl V-Torque 18 (1.18)

V-Torque 18 (1.18) leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where V-Torque 18 (1.18) is 28 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Solinco

Tour Bite 18 (1.15)

Polyester · 18 ga

Volkl

V-Torque 18 (1.18)

Polyester · 18 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16228th pct
15721st pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
5189th pct
4678th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8519th pct
8626th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.876th pct
6.079th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.56392nd pct
0.50279th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09759th pct
0.08331st 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 Tour Bite 18 (1.15) at 52 lb

String V-Torque 18 (1.18) at 53.5 lb 24.3 kg

Coming from V-Torque 18 (1.18) at 52 lb

String Tour Bite 18 (1.15) at 50.6 lb 23.0 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.

Tour Bite 18 (1.15) mains / V-Torque 18 (1.18) crosses

Stiffness25th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss87th pct · 1 measured
Energy return22nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential77th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite91st pct · 1 measured
String friction53rd pct · 1 measured

V-Torque 18 (1.18) mains / Tour Bite 18 (1.15) crosses

Stiffness24th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss83rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return23rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential79th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite82nd pct · 1 measured
String friction38th 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.

Tour Bite 18 (1.15)

~13 hours of play

V-Torque 18 (1.18)

~16 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Solinco Tour Bite 18 (1.15) Polyester18$13.9916251855.80.5630.097
Volkl V-Torque 18 (1.18) Polyester18$10.9915746866.00.5020.083

Add a third string Tour Bite 18 (1.15) in full V-Torque 18 (1.18) in full