Addicted to big brands

malbro

Instinctive Archer
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My first bow was a Merlin Diamondback in green, beautiful looking bow and more than adequate as a first bow, I bought it from my first coach as a second hand unit having tried it out for a few weeks. Still use it today especially as I seem to have lost some pulling power due to lack of practise during lockdown, coupled with arrow shafts from Linkboy in China, great product and cheaper than the big brands that I assemble myself (nocks. feltchings and points).
 

little-else

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People shuld also question where things are made rather than where the company that sells them in their own name are based. Many smaller parts that become our equipment are outsourced to China for manufacturing as the savings are massive. You then get a problem with "grey imports" where an excess run of a product is sold by the outsourced maker or products designed for a particular market end up being sold elsewhere. A lot of Chinese factories have invested large amounts of money into their production lines so the quality can be good but you also have the companies that just knock off others designs and have almost zero quality control. Both cna be bought from the same exporter in China, they dont really care but wont sell rubbish to the internal market because the govt will be down on them if they break domestic consumer law.
My brother used to build and race motorcycles and developed a device for getting more power out of 2 stroke engines. He made the devices in his own workshop but it was slow and expensive. He sent the spec to a company in China and tey could make it for 50p a piece delivered where it was costing him £15 to make them. It then becomes a no-brainer to outsource. As he never told the manufacturer what the end use was and had the electronic components set in epoxy resin it made it difficult for anyone else to steal the idea before he had basically fulfilled the market.
In simplistic terms this is wat the big players in the market do, create new products that in reality are very minor changes on last years model and then plug them and sell as many as possible before the competition wakes up.
The marketing will have a large number of people who WANT to believe that the latest whatever will give them an advantage. Even if they arent olympic standard the desire to get more points than the next person is enough to make them spend their money if they can afford to. Even someone well down the field who has been given the opportunity to try out someone else's kit may well be tempted to buy because they think it will improve their scores. There isnt a rule that says you are only 3rd class so you cant buy a new bow this year but it is common to hear disparaging comments about people in that position but you never hear anyone telling the club champ that they are good enough already so dont need new arrows or whatever. If the club champion used a knock off cheapo bow and fibre gless arrows what would we all have to say about that?
 

chrisgas

Supporter
Supporter
Ordered 8 Junxing F155 68" bows for club starter bows tonight, 320 euros delivered. Plus one F165 68" olympic style recurve and a B1 59" with ILF risers for under 240 Euros.
All club bows, suits my budget.
At a later date when my budget allows then I may look at quality.
This isn't a have a go at those who pay for quality, this is just my situation at this time.
These are to be added to the other compound bows, aisatic, longbow and horse bows that I have been slowly putting together for club use. All budget.
 

Timid Toad

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I think club kit is a matter of practicality. It will get dropped, miss handled, needs to be able to cope with over drawing and more. Cheap is good, as long as it doesn't break in anyone's face!
 

jerryRTD

Well-known member
You are right. I always go with the top brands no matter how expensive it is.
Another pearl of wisdom comes to mind ' Most compound bows can shoot far more accurately than the archer holding them
if you need an example of what is available take a look at the Diamond Medalist 38 available from Merlin.
If you think you need to spend almost three times the price to shoot at your best, then by all means go for it
 

Steve1968

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Nearly all of my equipment these days since my return to archery is WNS. Back in the 90's when I was shooting often and attending competitions on a regular basis I shot with a Hoyt Elan and Hoyt Fibre/Foam Limbs and was shooting approx 1100 FITA's and 575 - 585 Portsmouth's.

I had a brief return to archery back in the early - mid 2000's shooting with a Samick Agulla, but couldn't shoot anywhere near the scores mentioned above. Then I stopped archery again due to ongoing spinal issues and returned to archery last August.

With the WNS equipment I'm shooting fairly well considering I only shoot once or twice a week and some weeks I don't shoot at all depending on my back feels. My WNS equipment is: Motive FX riser, Motive F5 limbs, SPR 100 carbon sight, WNS leather tab, S-PFC button, WNS clicker, WNS SAT stabilisers. So far I can't fault this equipment. The bow is smooth to draw and shoot, the limbs are quite fast, the riser and limbs are straight with no twists/warps. I would highly recommend WNS equipment.
 

inthemiddle

Active member
Another pearl of wisdom comes to mind ' Most compound bows can shoot far more accurately than the archer holding them
if you need an example of what is available take a look at the Diamond Medalist 38 available from Merlin.
If you think you need to spend almost three times the price to shoot at your best, then by all means go for it
They look really good...for the price. I assume Diamond is still part of Bowtech?
The problem with these is availability. Not in stock, especially for a 60lb lefty like me.
 
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Sinbad

Member
They look really good...for the price. I assume Diamond is still part of Bowtech?
The problem with these is availability. Not in stock, especially for a 60lb lefty like me.
My son is left handed and he used to shoot a diamond, it took me 3 months to get it when he decided on the one he wanted and that was well before covid.
 

DarkMuppet

Member
Kinetic are now produced by Win & Win, I believe.
Kinetic are a brand that are owned by SSA, one of the main European distributors in Belgium. Others they own are Core, Avalon etc... under the umbrella of the main brand "Archersgear"



They use different manufacturers to make their products. Most of their current gear is made by Sanlida now ( as they do with a few other large European brands 😉) but in the past they've had W&W make a few limbs.
 
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DarkMuppet

Member
got to admit I liked the look of kinetic's scopus 23" riser. it seems a lot of riser for not a lot of cost. sometimes its murder trying to recommend kit for small or jnr left handed archers.
link if you arent familiar with the riser
They've been making some really nice risers, haven't they?

If you're looking for small risers (and in left hand too) take a look at the Kinetic Meos. It's a 21" CNC made riser, very similar to the Scopus.



I've ordered one the other week for a play about. 😄 I'm going to pair it up with some Sanlida Athletic 7's and make a fun little 3D bow.
It should arrive next week, I'll let you know how it performs. 😄
 

chrisgas

Supporter
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This is not the type of “clone” I was talking about. Go onto Ali Express and you’ll find 100% lookalikes to Uukha riser and limbs… and the Border Tempest - scanned, copied, knocked out. GMX is a bit old hat for the knockoff brigade now.

I think the Decut Basha and the Sanlida Miracle are the remaining “like a GMX” but there were ones that were much closer 5 or 6 years ago - both much lighter though. If you shoot them side by side you’ll see what they are (which might be fine) and what they aren’t.

Stretch
Oops, some of the cheap Chinese S**t arrived last week, one turned out to be the knock off Border Tempest. Except I ordered two, they cost a grand total of 170 euros for two, including delivery and tax. Again these are to be used as club bows and bought on a budget. I have been shooting them this last week and put around 400 arrows through each of them.
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