Head to head

Volkl Cyclone 18 vs Wilson Revolve 16 (1.30)

Revolve 16 (1.30) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Cyclone 18 is 50 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Volkl

Cyclone 18

Polyester · 18 ga

Wilson

Revolve 16 (1.30)

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
18148th pct
18451st pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4885th pct
4577th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8517th pct
8522nd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
7.191st pct
7.292nd pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.58094th pct
0.43044th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08229th pct
0.0600th 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 Cyclone 18 at 52 lb

String Revolve 16 (1.30) at 51.2 lb 23.2 kg

Coming from Revolve 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Cyclone 18 at 52.8 lb 23.9 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.

Cyclone 18 mains / Revolve 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness49th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss82nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return19th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential92nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite91st pct · 1 measured
String friction16th pct · 1 measured

Revolve 16 (1.30) mains / Cyclone 18 crosses

Stiffness49th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss80th pct · 1 measured
Energy return19th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential92nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite57th pct · 1 measured
String friction1st 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.

Cyclone 18

~15 hours of play

Revolve 16 (1.30)

~17 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Volkl Cyclone 18 Polyester18$9.9918148857.10.5800.082
Wilson Revolve 16 (1.30) Polyester16$13.9518445857.20.4300.060

Add a third string Cyclone 18 in full Revolve 16 (1.30) in full