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Black Eagle Riser Design

7K views 45 replies 12 participants last post by  Blackeagle1 
#1 ·
How many different riser designs carried the Black Eagle name (Not BE2)? I've owned a Black Eagle 2 and these had the distinctive, more oval shape as compared to the original Black Eagle risers. However, I just came across a bow that had the exact same riser design as my Black Eagle 2 but this one is labeled as a Black Eagle only. Thanks in advance for any clarification on this issue.
 
#3 ·
i have had 3 different black eagles with different risers, depending on the timeline which they were made. One of them was the only one like it I have ever seen, I was told it was an original prototype. It like a few others bows was factory signed by Loomis.
 
#8 ·
Yes Oneida knew that the original Draw Cycle of the BE was nothing like the older Oneida's which some were accustom to being the geometry with the Pylons had a very different that having the Cams directly attached to the riser. Years back in 2002 I got one of the original BE from a Sale Guy that took his pay out in Bows since they (Oneida Labs) owed him for his pay. Another guy learned he was looking to sell the few he took and was selling for a low price I got one. The Valley was short or for me non existent as compared to the Aero Force I had been shooting for many years. So when I would stop at CP Oneida I talked with Matt Pollington and he was aware that it needed some redesign and Claude heard the conversation and talked how they were working on changing it to make it more like the older ones so they could sell the newer bows to their customer base. So over time they tweaked the riser and then came out with the ESC Limbs because it did not take so much time like the wood laminated limbs to make and have the tight tolerances so the limbs would hold up to shooting being they got some limbs that the ends delaminated and so they dropped the wood limbs and went with the ESC Limbs but many did not like the sound that the ESC Limbs gives off when shot. The Groove along the back is very different and does not have the same shape which is solid the ESC has a shape that is not and gaps where the string seems to sit which seems to cause a different sound of release. So as RightWing mentions there has been slight changes to the riser but again just history some know about and others don't been shooting an Oneida exclusively since 1995 and because of the no valley on the BE I found an LFM and never looked back had 6 at one time now down to 3 all have Wood Limbs a friend that had a LFM the limb delaminated and he had ESC put on and it never shot the same it was always coming out of tune and CPO was the place that did the replacement. never took a look at it he since moved to TN and switched to a Wheeler Bow back then and put the LFM away... He took it back a few times and they worked on it but after shooting 50 arrows it was all over the place no consistently as the wood limbs were. Maybe that had changed over time but again cannot say have not shot any newer models with ESC Limbs. But they have worked on the riser design look at the Extreme, BE II, Falcon & Kestrel they all are slightly different as they found ways to better the design as time goes on but again it is not quick and simple you have to do a lot of R&D or you will have issues like the "Stealth" and "Discovery" Models had and that costs a lot of $ to recall and many wanted a Refund after getting a Stealth or they could not get the Discovery made because of parts issues they could not get and many pre-ordered the Discovery then and had to give refunds. You have to shoot the bows with all the different set ups and see if it is good and / better. They had a die cast riser they were looking to have as a medium priced bow but had issues with it and things happen then and they put it on the shelf and never seen light of day again. Many think they can just make bows and put them out and that is what seem to cause the downfall of Oneida Labs among other business practices they had.

Any way there are many things over the years that few are aware of that happened and that is why some guess that there was only one riser for the BE and learn these being they have not owned all the different versions of the BE like RightWing has seen...

LFM
 
#12 ·
CPO labels varied through the years. Depending on the year your BEII could be labeled as just a BE with BEII written on it in pen or not at all. If it has the oval cut-outs it is a BEII. I have had a couple as well as a couple of Extremes and the later ones always have a 'proper' label while the earlier ones tend to be hand written in whole or in part. Kind of funny that they would go out and make a new bow and forget to add BEII or Extreme to the list of models on the label. I have never seen a Falcon or Switchblade label, but I bet they are the same since there were so few made.
 
#21 ·
I wouldn't consider that site as a reliable source of information. It also displays a 2006 BEII as a BEI. Matt told me the reason for the change in riser design was strength. They discovered micro fractures in the BEI risers. Nothing major but felt it warranted improvement. I wish they had felt that way about limb caps, PDC's, & plastic timing system. Thanks for posting the pics Bore.
 
#24 ·
That won't be hard to find. Keep an eye on MI CL ads. The older Oneidas pop up there a lot. E-bay sees them too. Your old BEII looks like a late 2008 or 2009 model and the green one an early 2006. Your old one might even be newer than 2009. I have heard of people picking up 'new' BEIIs from CPO as late as 2011/2012.

IIRC that particular Extreme in the pics has changed hands a few times. I think the second owner had it done that way. There's a blue one that has had a similar history too.

Have you thought about a Blealth? An old Loomis Stealth riser that was converted to BEI specs. I had one of those that CPO converted in 2000. I should have kept that bow. The old wooden limbs are nice.
 
#26 ·
There are two different BE risers from the Loomis transitioning to CPO era... easily told by the cut outs as well as the stamped "Black Eagle" Cornhusker mentions...

BEII's had/have a single a riser cut-out design/pattern... and it doesn't matter if the label has BE along with the hand written "II". A single BEII look.

One of the things I love to hate about Oneidas... no matter who was controlling the company...they seem to be hell bent on confusing you.

Gerry
 
#31 ·
I wouldn't be surprised at all if there were a few that were built off of a Stealth riser, as basically it's just a cam swap out. Claude was not a fan at all of the Stealth (to put it mildly), so I know a good number of them were converted.

The first ones I remember seeing were the cast ones that had the Black Eagle in the riser. My father had one, sold it to my buddy, and it's still in use today.
 
#32 ·
Entirely depends on just what you mean by one bows being made from another riser. H250, H500,SE all shared the same riser. The Extreme and Falcon are very similar if you pay no attention to the cut-outs.

I've seen a photo of what was a supposed prototype BE that did indeed have a Stealth riser, but with the split K cams we've all grown to expect on post 2000 Oneida's. This "prototype" I saw could be made today by any Stealth owner... they are commonly referred to as Blealths.

The first "true" BE's IMO were based on the Stealth riser... different cut-outs obviously... some very minor differences in the milling... Stealths had sharper angles... BE's more rounded/curved... stupid little things to be seen as well where the stab screws into the riser... but yeah, the same riser when all is said and done.

And unless the pamphlets/data sheets I have from Oneida's 1999 line up are a complete misrepresentation on their part... risers for both the BE's and Stealth's are machine forged... not cast as has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread.

Not sure if anyone at this point would care to see photos of the three different BE risers that I'm aware of all in one place... labeled Loomis Era, CPO Era, BEII... but if you are let me know.

Gerry
 
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