Head to head

SuperString Nikita Original 1.25 vs Tecnifibre X-Code 16

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where X-Code 16 is 25 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

SuperString

Nikita Original 1.25

Polyester

Tecnifibre

X-Code 16

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
19967th pct
18855th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4372nd pct
3864th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8626th pct
8522nd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.416th pct
2.02nd pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.3718th pct
0.41634th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10975th pct
0.21099th 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 Nikita Original 1.25 at 52 lb

String X-Code 16 at 56.7 lb 25.7 kg

Coming from X-Code 16 at 52 lb

String Nikita Original 1.25 at 47.5 lb 21.5 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.

Nikita Original 1.25 mains / X-Code 16 crosses

Stiffness62nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss69th pct · 1 measured
Energy return24th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential12th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite11th pct · 1 measured
String friction89th pct · 1 measured

X-Code 16 mains / Nikita Original 1.25 crosses

Stiffness59th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss67th pct · 1 measured
Energy return24th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential3rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite29th pct · 1 measured
String friction97th 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.

Nikita Original 1.25

~18 hours of play

X-Code 16

~21 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
SuperString Nikita Original 1.25 Polyesterfind19943863.40.3710.109
Tecnifibre X-Code 16 Polyester16find18838852.00.4160.210

Add a third string Nikita Original 1.25 in full X-Code 16 in full