So I bought 2 Bear Royales for my 11yo boy and 13yo girl today. Did the deed at Scheels for what that's worth. There weren't any shops around that carried them and I wanted the kids to shoot them. The techs were ok for fitting up a kid, it was a good thing that I'm halfway educated on the matter though.
I'm wondering what experience others have had and would like to state my thoughts for those thinking about them.
Anyway, after having them settle into the bows a bit I feel a little conflicted and slightly disappointed.
They are decent quality for the price, but fall unnecessarily short in a few areas IMO.
First and maybe worst, the whisker biscuit is junk, the vanes curl up when entering the bristles and its barely large enough to fit standard vanes. Also they saved cost by producing one that bolts on to the rear face of the riser and it only has one adjustment which is via the attachment bolt. You cannot adjust the elevation or forward/backward. There is a groove on the rear face of the riser that the rest snugs into so when you loosen it you can move the windage but elevation and forward/backward remain fixed . It's nice this design saves a few ounces of weight but I would rather have more adjustment.
Second, the string seems to have large strands and is not very twisted at all. On one bow I had the tube peep replaced with a 1/4in normal peep (the tube peep was also 1/4"). The string has alot of rotation when drawn. The peep rotates about 90 degrees from rest to fully drawn so it's very crooked at rest. Still needs some shots through it to settle it in but that's how it is right now.
The string and cables feels pretty loose at rest. I can bend them easily with my fingers. Now the draw weights are pretty low but so is the Diamond Atomic that the 11yo is growing out of and the string on it feels pretty taught. Not sure what to make of that.
Third, the specs state a draw weight of 5-50lbs but I doubt the 5lbs. One bow is set to about 20lbs and the tech said he didn't want to back out the limb bolts any more because he was worried it would come out. Looking at it myself I think you could get another turn or to but not anymore so I'm guessing 15lbs minimum but I'm not going to test that so grain of salt and all that.
My 11yo son who has a year of shooting under his belt did shoot fairly consistent with it but watching the arrows the looked like the were coming off the string inconsistently. That could definitely be due to no tuning but I suspect more due to that whisker biscuit.
Fourth, the string stop is pretty plain Jane, low quality but it does the job, zero frills there though.
Fifth, the cable slide looks like it is close to popping off the guide when fully drawn. There is a rubber cap on the end to prevent this but it got pushed off on both bows while trying them out. I think we lost them, forgot them at Scheels anyhow. I don't think the slide will actually come off but it's awfully close. I should go back and retrieve the caps and maybe glue them on.
I know it sounds like I'm dogging on the Royales and I kinda am, but they do have some good points as well.
The trophy ridge sight is good and I like the quiver as well, both decent for the price.
I really like the weight of the bow and it way a large reason that I was looking at them.
Both kids love them.
The riser seems very good quality and the limbs seem pretty decent although they look like carbon or resin limbs
These are very adjustable bows and large enough for my kids to shoot for at least 4 or 5 year.
If these tune well and settle in well I will be satisfied with the purchase.
My last thought is that if there was a larger Diamond Atomic I would probably have bought one of those. The sight and rest on those were also junk but I was impressed with everything else.
I'm wondering what experience others have had and would like to state my thoughts for those thinking about them.
Anyway, after having them settle into the bows a bit I feel a little conflicted and slightly disappointed.
They are decent quality for the price, but fall unnecessarily short in a few areas IMO.
First and maybe worst, the whisker biscuit is junk, the vanes curl up when entering the bristles and its barely large enough to fit standard vanes. Also they saved cost by producing one that bolts on to the rear face of the riser and it only has one adjustment which is via the attachment bolt. You cannot adjust the elevation or forward/backward. There is a groove on the rear face of the riser that the rest snugs into so when you loosen it you can move the windage but elevation and forward/backward remain fixed . It's nice this design saves a few ounces of weight but I would rather have more adjustment.
Second, the string seems to have large strands and is not very twisted at all. On one bow I had the tube peep replaced with a 1/4in normal peep (the tube peep was also 1/4"). The string has alot of rotation when drawn. The peep rotates about 90 degrees from rest to fully drawn so it's very crooked at rest. Still needs some shots through it to settle it in but that's how it is right now.
The string and cables feels pretty loose at rest. I can bend them easily with my fingers. Now the draw weights are pretty low but so is the Diamond Atomic that the 11yo is growing out of and the string on it feels pretty taught. Not sure what to make of that.
Third, the specs state a draw weight of 5-50lbs but I doubt the 5lbs. One bow is set to about 20lbs and the tech said he didn't want to back out the limb bolts any more because he was worried it would come out. Looking at it myself I think you could get another turn or to but not anymore so I'm guessing 15lbs minimum but I'm not going to test that so grain of salt and all that.
My 11yo son who has a year of shooting under his belt did shoot fairly consistent with it but watching the arrows the looked like the were coming off the string inconsistently. That could definitely be due to no tuning but I suspect more due to that whisker biscuit.
Fourth, the string stop is pretty plain Jane, low quality but it does the job, zero frills there though.
Fifth, the cable slide looks like it is close to popping off the guide when fully drawn. There is a rubber cap on the end to prevent this but it got pushed off on both bows while trying them out. I think we lost them, forgot them at Scheels anyhow. I don't think the slide will actually come off but it's awfully close. I should go back and retrieve the caps and maybe glue them on.
I know it sounds like I'm dogging on the Royales and I kinda am, but they do have some good points as well.
The trophy ridge sight is good and I like the quiver as well, both decent for the price.
I really like the weight of the bow and it way a large reason that I was looking at them.
Both kids love them.
The riser seems very good quality and the limbs seem pretty decent although they look like carbon or resin limbs
These are very adjustable bows and large enough for my kids to shoot for at least 4 or 5 year.
If these tune well and settle in well I will be satisfied with the purchase.
My last thought is that if there was a larger Diamond Atomic I would probably have bought one of those. The sight and rest on those were also junk but I was impressed with everything else.