FIBERBOW - First
Impressions by Andrew Smith 21 April 08
Finally,
we have shipped all our back of orders for the LH model. Fortunately we
have a good stock, so after months (a year probably) of waiting I can
properly get my hands on one and set it up to shoot. Ever since we started
to carry this riser I have been keen to try it out for more than just a
few arrows at a time.
So
last Thursday I took the plunge, I wanted to keep the weight on my fingers
similar to that on my current bow (41lb) but also wanted to the limb
pocket adjustment to be fully wound out as I feel this would be the most
stable position. Limb selection was between Hoyt 900cx, Samick Extremes
and W&W Innos, all are very good top of the range limbs but for me and
the configuration I required the W&W Innos were the most suitable. I
knew that my current ACE’s would be OK, so keen to set it up and shoot. I
set the tiller to 5mm positive, inserted the limbs strung the bow with an
18Strand Fast Flight Plus string and checked that the limbs were straight.
The next step was to take my Shibuya DX button I had been using indoors
and attach a stick on rest, I had intend to use a ARE 105 but I had a Win
& Win one in my box and decided to give that a try. After setting the
centre shot, I thought that the button was a bit stiff so adjusted it down
a couple of turns on the spring, next on the list was the nocking point
and for this exercise I just set it a few mm above square, with a few
twists in the string the bracing height came out at 9 inches, looking at
the limb shape I decided that this would be fine for now, then added my
sight and stabilisers and headed off to shoot.
It
was a very windy evening, to be honest absolutely ideal as it gave me a
chance to test it in a strong wind. I have read all the stories about a
light bow being blown around.
So
with no sight marks and a strong left to right wind I shot my first arrow
in anger The target was set up at 80 yards and feeling lazy I was too
impatient to move it, the first two arrows were short (but next to each
other) a quick adjustment and all the arrows were on. This bow feels very
different not just to my Whitehart but other ILF bows I have shot, it is
almost vibration free, very settled at full draw (even in a strong wind)
and quiet with the brace height set where it was (I might just be lucky).
After
a couple of ends things started to come together and I was getting good
groups, buoyed by this I moved the target back to 100 yards and again
considering the rough set up the groups were good and consistent.
I
have always felt that the Whitehart grip was as close to ideal and also
liked the new Hoyts when they first came out because the grip was almost
identical. The FiberBow grip is more traditional and due to the design of
the handle quite deep a bit like the Hoyt Matrix. Although different it
felt right and put my hand in the correct position.
But
no sooner had I started and it was time to pack away and head off to our
Clubs AGM.
With
CADAC York coming up in a weeks time I was in a quandary what do I shoot
my trusty Whitehart or my new Fiberbow.
To
settle the situation I decided to spend a bit of time this weekend tuning
the Fiberbow, as this would give me a full week to just shoot it and get
used to it before the competition. As time was not on my side I decided to
not play around with the tiller, 5mm positive was a good starting place.
Checking over the set up the centre shot looked good and as the arrows had
been flying ok a few days earlier I did not feel that much needed
changing. A bareshaft test at 20 yards however indicated that the nocking
point was way too high. After changing this I was happy with the bareshaft
test and decided that no adjustment to the button was needed. The bow also
seemed ok at the original 9” bracing height. So with that I went outside
to shoot at 100 yards, it was a very calm still morning, ideal to see how
my arrows were flying.
One
of the main reasons for changing bows was because my bow elbow was causing
me problems and the physical weight of my current bow was not helping. To
overcome this with the Whitehart I just took as much weight off the set up
as I could, but this just made the bow harder to get balanced.
The
advantage with the FiberBow at 600g was that I was starting with a dead
weight of around 900g less; this has allowed me to add weight to the set
up where it works best at the end of the long rod and twins. The overall
set up is still about the 900g lighter but the bow is far more stable and
much better balanced.
Already
I have noticed how much more I am in control of the shot especially
transferring the shot to the back, no more fighting with the bow arm and
collapsing on the last of 6 arrows.
The
tuning had done it’s job and the arrows were flying very well in fact
better than I expected, the groups were quite amazing for only a second
time of shooting the bow and to cap it all I finished off the morning with
a 6 gold end.
So
it looks like the FiberBow next Sunday, nothing like jumping in at the
deep end.
30
April 08 - Update
I
do not intend for this page to be a blog but thought as I mentioned it
above you might be interested in how Sunday went.
Well
great to be honest, a PB and a 2nd place in the York rounded off a very
good week. I can now spend sometime shooting the bow (yet to shoot 500
arrows through it) so that I can tighten up the groups.
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