| 24 Jan 2011 Nimes 2011
All the pictures posted here are thumb nails click on them and you will
get bigger detailed pictures.
Prices - as and when they
are released you will find them on our online shop or in store.
One of the largest indoor tournaments with well over 2000 archers of
all ages and abilities is put on each year by Nimes Archery club in the
South of France. This shoot is now part of a much larger money competition
tied in with the Las Vegas shoot so this guarantees that all the world top
archers are in attendance. The organisation is fantastic and spectators
continually find themselves rubbing shoulders and talking to all the top
archers especially those helping out on the trade stands.
For European dealers the trade show running along side the competition
is a great opportunity to catch up with all their suppliers and
manufactures and get hands on with all the new stuff that has been
released over the last couple of months.
Full results of the competition can be found here.
Below is a sneak preview of some of the items that caught our eye this
year and all being well will be available in our shops soon.
Hoyt RX & Limbs
Not what we would call new
yes they were on the Hoyt stand but in the shooting hall it was interesting to
see the vast number Hoyt RX bows with either F3 or F4 limbs being shot and
not just by the top archers like recurve winner - Brady Ellison but juniors and club
archers of all abilities. In Europe sales of the RX have gone through the
roof and anyone trying the handle who has shot for any length of time will
appreciate why, however in the UK sales are rising but not in the same
way, not sure why but it probably has a lot to do with ILF being an easier
marketing story and not switching across appears on the face of it as
being low risk because of the opportunity to mix and match handles and
limbs. The success of the Hoyt Paralever System means that it is now safe
to say that it is here to stay and Hoyt have said they would like to see
their entire range incorporate the design within 5 years, in the past 6
months they have added to the range and there is a bow to suit all budgets
- even a field bow.
Other manufactures also are studying the design closely and I guess it
depend on how tight the patent is as to whether other manufactures will
follow in the same direction.
Uukha
Uukha had on show a prototype adapter for their limbs especially the
UX100's & 10's that fitted the RX handle perfectly and even Hoyt were overheard
saying how clever it was.
But the real big news was
that the new distinctive carbon handle will be available later this year,
it certainly looks different is well balanced and sweet to shoot.
Beiter
A Compound arrow launcher
for life, Nimes was the first opportunity for most to get to see the new
Beiter Compound Launcher announced last September, being Beiter dealers we
had the honour of Mr Beiter and Andreas demonstrate all the features. This
blade type launcher has been in the making for a number of years and the
research behind the product is back up by loads of slow motion footage.
But first lets get over the
shock of the price around £180 does on the face of it seem a lot of money
when most of the competitors are around £60 - £90. I can honestly say
looking at the launcher you can see that every penny is justifiable.
Firstly each launcher has serial number and from that Beiter will be able
to tell where it was bought - why because this is the first launcher that
comes with the full backing of the manufacturer and a life time guarantee,
should you have a problem then the service will be second to none - one
proviso and a very important one do not move touch or fiddle with the 10
screws holding it all together they are factory set and should never need
adjusting.
The launcher is made of
only the best and highest quality plastics, this is the first surprise -
how light it is as the design looks a bit chunky.
Now down to business the
adjustments and the accuracy of the movement is unheard of in any other
launcher available today and resetting the launcher takes only a matter of
seconds.
A lot of time has been put
into the blade, obviously only the best materials are used but using the
high tech filming facilities at the Beiter Centre they have made a blade
that does not bounce after the arrow has been shot. Traditional blades get
bent down by around 3mm science dictates that the recovery will see
2.9ishmm of movement above the natural resting place of the blade. The
design of the Beiter Blade means that there is not this much movement -
any upward movement is not good as it affects the arrow clearance and arrow flight.
The angle of the blade is also governed by the design and can accurately
set time after time after time especially when changing a blade.
Finally, tests using a
Hooter Shooter at 70m in Beiter's own indoor range have proved to be very
revealing. A compound bow was set up to shoot 10 pence piece size groups,
and moving the blade by no more than 1mm either way and instead of a round
group the group could clearly be seen to open up in a horizontal oval
pattern.
Fortunately all the scales
are well marked and the accuracy and smoothness of the adjustments means
that you should be able to set it up or go back to a favoured position
quickly.
Supplies of the product
will be very limited and before April we are probably only going to
receive one or two in the next week, demand around the World means that
most of the current production is already back ordered.
Call us if you are
seriously interested as it is doubtful until the end of the year that we
will have any free stock and that will go for all Beiter Dealers.
Samick
Samick Masters Handle - this was only available to see
in
prototype form but we are told should be available in April - I did check
that when we were told this nobody on the stand had their fingers crossed
as we are only now starting to see the handles and limbs promised for 2010
- (Xentotech handle and Masters 2.0 limbs to name two) The handle has been
re engineered to enable Samick to offer an anodised finish - for many the
handles only weakness over all it was considered a great handle but without great care the paintwork
did chip easily. From what we could tell the handle retains all the
qualities of the original including the unique design.
Sebastien Flute
New to the range for 2011
will be an anodised version of the SF Forged Handle, this in our opinion
will be the option to go for if you are looking for a low priced handle
and an anodised finish is top of your features list.
Win & Win
Lots of cosmetic changes to
handle colours, but the big news is a carbon handle called the RXC-100 a
full carbon handle weighing in at just over 1kg, the grip is similar to
the CXT and allows for a positive hand position shot after shot. Bushed
for all the usual accessories and a range of RXC limbs will make this
popular.
Mathews
Although the Mathews range
is detailed below see 4 Jan news, it was good to see all the new products
- especially the ones we expect will be most popular in the UK this year
the New MR7, Apex 8, Apex 7 and Conquest Triumph.
Hoyt
Like the Mathews again
fully documented since the launch in October, but is was great to see the
Target Compounds in their full glory especially the Contender Contender
Elite and the cross over bows like the CRX.
On the recurve front we
have had all the range in stock so no surprises there.
Spigarelli
3 new products and a
prototype.
The Evo 2 rest is now
available with a carbon fixing plate, Spiga have launched a new mid priced
sight, well made and we are sure will be popular as it is light functional
easy to use and looks good, finally a new range of very stiff stabilisers
in an octagonal shape ideal for recurve and compound archers again all at
a reasonable price.
Flex Archery
It has been a busy year for
this Spanish manufacturer of quality archery goods and strings.
The Le Brunet armguards
have proved popular todate and now there are a further 5 bright colours
including purple.
The new bracing height
gauge is a well thought out tool, it comes standard with Metric or
Imperial tapes so you can stick on your preferred ones, the string clips
are detachable and come in two sizes for different thicknesses of strings.
A peep tool on the end makes fitting peep sights a dream, you can also
check the angles of your vanes are 120 degrees - well small shafts but in
reality they are for broad heads adjustment and all the fittings are
rounded so as not to damage servings.
Coloured weights launched
last year are now slowly becoming available and the new Dampster top rod
works well.
BCY
If you make lots of strings
you will be thank full of an attachment to a BCY string server that lets
you wind the serving on with even tension using an electric drill - we are
not going to tell Steve about this the thought of servings the length of
the string... :)
Proving very popular and
now in more colours are the 8125 1/4" string spools.
Fivics, Kaya & MK
Fivics will shortly launch
a new CNC handle and limbs, Kaya had on display their K7 foam carbon and
K5 wood carbon limbs.
Now getting a lot of
interest if not new are the MK range of limbs, initially hard to source we
can now supply the complete range.
More to follow soon...
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WHAT'S NEW - EQUIPMENT
