Head to head

Tecnifibre Black Code 18 vs Wilson Spin Cycle 16L

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where Black Code 18 is 30 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Tecnifibre

Black Code 18

Polyester · 18 ga

Wilson

Spin Cycle 16L

Polyester · 16L ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
20370th pct
20674th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4168th pct
3966th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8741st pct
8843rd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.645th pct
4.235th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.47467th pct
0.42037th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10468th pct
0.10063rd 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 Black Code 18 at 52 lb

String Spin Cycle 16L at 52.7 lb 23.9 kg

Coming from Spin Cycle 16L at 52 lb

String Black Code 18 at 50.8 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.

Black Code 18 mains / Spin Cycle 16L crosses

Stiffness72nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss67th pct · 1 measured
Energy return42nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential44th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite64th pct · 1 measured
String friction68th pct · 1 measured

Spin Cycle 16L mains / Black Code 18 crosses

Stiffness72nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss66th pct · 1 measured
Energy return42nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential36th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite43rd pct · 1 measured
String friction65th 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.

Black Code 18

~20 hours of play

Spin Cycle 16L

~20 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Tecnifibre Black Code 18 Polyester18$11.9620341874.60.4740.104
Wilson Spin Cycle 16L Polyester16Lfind20639884.20.4200.100

Add a third string Black Code 18 in full Spin Cycle 16L in full