Stabiliser questions

OldNew

New member
I want to replace my very old (20 years) stabiliser (long rod, side rods, but no extender) and I have a few questions.

1. When you take your bow apart, do you leave the extender attached to the riser? I have an Aurora City Pack and if i leave an extender on the riser, the riser won't fit in the riser compartment. And it certainly wont fit in the Hoyt riser bag which I usually put inside the riser compartment.

2. I went to the local pro-shop (here in France) and the man (he is/was some kind of french national champion) said.....
a) Beiter stabs are not as popular as they were. He hasn't sold one for a few months.
b) Fuse Blades are more for compounds. He hasn't sold any to recurve archers yet. He thinks the wind-cheating benefits are oversold.
c) Arc Syst?me Pro-Lite (french brand) are very popular. The V-bar slides along the long rod, so you can position it where you want, and you don't need an extender.
d) Fivics Soma CEX5 are very good and very popular.
e) He doesn't sell many Easton X10, but he thinks they are good.

So my question is: what are the principle characteristics of the leading brands/models e.g. stiffness, lightness, shock absorption, prettiness. If you like yours, why do you like it?

I am a beginner (4 months shooting after a break of 17 years) and I am happy to spend money on equipment when I think I won't have to replace it sometime soon. I have a Hoyt Formula RX with Excel limbs (27lbs at my draw length).
 

Darryl

New member
Funny, there are quite a few recurvers using them in the UK, the blades that is. Take a look at Simon Terry he's using them from what I can see. A few of the local top archers down on the south coast use them aswell.

As for Arc Systeme, I guess they don't get much of a look in over here in the UK as it's mostly Easton, Fuse, W&W, Beiter, Fivics etc. The sliding V-Bar sounds like a good thing. Shame there isn't more modularity to stabilisation systems so that you can purchase a kit that would cover every possible longrod and shortrod length that you'd want so that you could try and see what worked for you. At the moment I'm itching to try the longest longrod that W&W do coupled with longer short rods. Yet ??? is holding me back.
 

backinblack

Active member
Hi OldNew,

I've added in my responses next to your questions below:

I want to replace my very old (20 years) stabiliser (long rod, side rods, but no extender) and I have a few questions.

1. When you take your bow apart, do you leave the extender attached to the riser? I have an Aurora City Pack and if i leave an extender on the riser, the riser won't fit in the riser compartment. And it certainly wont fit in the Hoyt riser bag which I usually put inside the riser compartment.

I don't leave the extender on the riser when I pack it away, as like you, it won't fit in the bow bag if I do. I do, however, know people who do leave it attached - it's a question of personal preference and what you can get away with in terms of space in your bag or box.


2. I went to the local pro-shop (here in France) and the man (he is/was some kind of french national champion) said.....

a) Beiter stabs are not as popular as they were. He hasn't sold one for a few months.

Multi - rod systems seem to be going out of fashion at the moment but wait a couple of years and someone will tweak the design and they will be back in again. I do use a multi - rod system, the Better One by OK archery which is, I believe lighter than the Beiter one and self - tunes as the clips gravitate to their optimal positions without the faff of having to play around and there is no tightening mechanism for them which sold them to me at the time. I got mine when they were more fashionable...it does a job - it's light and robust but otherwise hard to get too excited about.

One thing that it doesn't have which I have subesequently thought might be useful and yield more tinker time is an extender which lets you vary the angle of the v bar - I am a fan of having the weight lower on the riser and this might be something that I explore the next time I go shopping.

b) Fuse Blades are more for compounds. He hasn't sold any to recurve archers yet. He thinks the wind-cheating benefits are oversold.

This is a toughie, for me the jury is still out at the moment on the wind - beating thing but I can't see why it wouldn't work equally well for recurve. If I was in the market for new rods I would give it some serious consideration. Anyway, have a read of this thread on Archery Forum and you will see that the Aussies are raving about it...New FUSE Carbon Blade Stabiliser.

c) Arc Syst?me Pro-Lite (french brand) are very popular. The V-bar slides along the long rod, so you can position it where you want, and you don't need an extender.
d) Fivics Soma CEX5 are very good and very popular.
e) He doesn't sell many Easton X10, but he thinks they are good.

Yes the Easton rods, the ACE and X10, have good reputations.

So my question is: what are the principle characteristics of the leading brands/models e.g. stiffness, lightness, shock absorption, prettiness. If you like yours, why do you like it?

All of the leading brands will have some USP which will suggest why it is stiffer, has greater vibration dampening properties and makes you more attractive to the opposite sex. Compounders swear that different types of rod give them a steadier hold over others whilst they are aiming but I don't think that it makes such a difference to recurves as the perception of sight pin movement is less due to the abscence of a magnifying lens and, for me, the stabiliser set is something which helps balance the bow and take away some of the vibration and ownership of one does not get me out of bed in the morning desperate to go to the range.

Seriously, the best thing you can do is take your bow along, try as many different types as you can and try to form a view based on how they feel and how the bow behaves and sounds with them on. If you feel one type suits you or your set up more than another and it does not break the bank then go for it.

I am a beginner (4 months shooting after a break of 17 years) and I am happy to spend money on equipment when I think I won't have to replace it sometime soon. I have a Hoyt Formula RX with Excel limbs (27lbs at my draw length).
One last thing, it is normal to have a longer rod on a more powerful bow and if you have aspirations to up - bow at some point you might look at that. I'm not really sure what the normal parameters are for this and perhaps someone else can help out with this. I simply went for the longest rod I could get as I thought I could do with as much help as possible to prevent me torquing the bow - a persistent form flaw of mine.

Happy shopping,
Backinblack
 

scalawag

New member
Hi, I got a full set of X10 rods (28" long rod,10" twins and 4" extender) before Christmas, and I love them. I tried out a few setups in the shop before buying, and I can't tell you exactly why but the X10's were what felt most comfortable and inspired the most confidence for me. Absolutely no regrets in buying them at all, they perform and look great.

I don't keep the extender attached to my riser, but it is kept permanently attached to the V bar (W&W CX Carbon). I don't have any problems with setting up or things coming loose whilst shooting using this method.

Hope this helps

Paul
 

cornish george

New member
Hi, I got a full set of X10 rods (28" long rod,10" twins and 4" extender) before Christmas, and I love them. I tried out a few setups in the shop before buying, and I can't tell you exactly why but the X10's were what felt most comfortable and inspired the most confidence for me. Absolutely no regrets in buying them at all, they perform and look great.

I don't keep the extender attached to my riser, but it is kept permanently attached to the V bar (W&W CX Carbon). I don't have any problems with setting up or things coming loose whilst shooting using this method.

Hope this helps

Paul
I am the same, except for using Merlin Triads, the extender and rods have individual bags made by Arrowhead.
 

OldNew

New member
Thank you all for your comments.

I guess, like many posters who ask about what to buy, I was looking for confirmation that my gut-feel was right. So I'm going to order:
Easton X10
Side rod 10 inch
V-Bar extender 4 inch
Long rod 32 inch
W&W CX V-Bar 35 degrees

It would be great to try lots of different makes and models before buying, but the shop doesn't have any shooting facilities (and doesn't have X10s in stock).
I would have been tempted by the Fuse Blades, but the price is SO much higher........ and I think I will need all the excuses I can get when we start shooting outside - lol
 

harvyedavies

New member
Suggest avoiding the Easton x10 extender both 4" and 5", I have had three fail dumping long and side roads on to the ground, bit of a shock when it happens! In all cases the glue holding the metal fitting to the carbon rod gave way. The long and side rods are great but very disappointing quality control considering the price
 

Whitehart

Well-known member
Suggest avoiding the Easton x10 extender both 4" and 5", I have had three fail dumping long and side roads on to the ground, bit of a shock when it happens! In all cases the glue holding the metal fitting to the carbon rod gave way. The long and side rods are great but very disappointing quality control considering the price
Yes this is dissapointing and not confined to the X10's quite a few do fail sometimes but not always its due to over tightening - I have found that a good hot melt glue sticking them back is better than say an epoxy resin.
 

Brum2010

New member
I use a full W&W HMCplus setup, originally bought for recurve, on both my bows (recurve and compound) and love it. I personally preferred it over the X10s. Soma CeX5's are very good rods too. I would thoroughly recommend trying before you buy though, as I would never have found out about the HMCs if I hadn't given them the time in the shop.
 
J

josh 77

Guest
Thank you all for your comments.

I guess, like many posters who ask about what to buy, I was looking for confirmation that my gut-feel was right. So I'm going to order:
Easton X10
Side rod 10 inch
V-Bar extender 4 inch
Long rod 32 inch
W&W CX V-Bar 35 degrees

It would be great to try lots of different makes and models before buying, but the shop doesn't have any shooting facilities (and doesn't have X10s in stock).
I would have been tempted by the Fuse Blades, but the price is SO much higher........ and I think I will need all the excuses I can get when we start shooting outside - lol
I've got pretty much the same setup as that (40 degree v-bar tho) and it works great, loads better than the Merlin Triads I used to have and so light!
Also I find they catch the wind less than the Triads and look a hell of a lot better too ;)
Like you I have the Formula RX but I found the 5" X10der to be too long and the bow just didn't react right having the COG out that far.

Last night I took off the 5" X10 and put an extra weight out front and shot it for a while and the bow (despite not balancing properly) felt loads better.
I'm going to shoot it like that until I can get a 3" extender which I hope will solve the problem.
If anyone has a 3" X10 extender and would like to trade for 5" one, look me up!

Also, I always leave the extender & V-bar on my bow when I'm using one, it takes up valuable shooting time putting that on every session!
 
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