[StarDog]

FYI, the usual suspects will ask what your budget is and how much poundage you are shooting now, are you looking for indoors and outdoors, overall goals, etc. Cuz you can spend a little or a lot. When I bought a fancy rig some years ago (which I sold cuz I needed the money) I spent about $1100 on riser and limbs. I find now that there are so many options that it is possible to get set up for way less than that all in, not just limbs and riser.

 

[teamfoltz]

Yes most salesmen will try to sell you top of the line but im not going to fall for that. I shoot 20 yards almost all the time and i am involved in many FITA shoots. I usually shoot indoor and that is my main concern. Im not really worried about outdoor as much. I am going to try outdoor though. But i was just looking for names that are reliable.

 

[Jim C]

Yes most salesmen will try to sell you top of the line but im not going to fall for that. I shoot 20 yards almost all the time and i am involved in many FITA shoots. I usually shoot indoor and that is my main concern. Im not really worried about outdoor as much. I am going to try outdoor though. But i was just looking for names that are reliable.

buy a used 25" riser and save a bunch of money. Some really good limbs you will find on the Used market are

1) Hoyt MI Limbs
2) Hoyt Vector Limbs
3) WW-WINEX limbs
4) PSE expression Limbs (almost the same as WINEX)-the older wood carbon are really good too
5) SAMICK AGULLA limbs

you should be able to get used pairs of these for under 350

risers-


Hoyt

Matrix
Nexus
Helix
Elan

are all really solid though the Nexus is better suited for lighter weight draws

most of the WW are good too

Xfactor by PSE-its a bit light for some guys' taste but nicely made

If you can find a Hoyt GMX used or a PSE x appeal they are both wonderful risers

 

[teamfoltz]

buy a used 25" riser and save a bunch of money. Some really good limbs you will find on the Used market are

1) Hoyt MI Limbs
2) Hoyt Vector Limbs
3) WW-WINEX limbs
4) PSE expression Limbs (almost the same as WINEX)-the older wood carbon are really good too
5) SAMICK AGULLA limbs

you should be able to get used pairs of these for under 350

risers-


Hoyt

Matrix
Nexus
Helix
Elan

are all really solid though the Nexus is better suited for lighter weight draws

most of the WW are good too

Xfactor by PSE-its a bit light for some guys' taste but nicely made

If you can find a Hoyt GMX used or a PSE x appeal they are both wonderful risers

Ok thanks for the names. I dont really like really light bows but i right now mine feels like im holding a tank. And as of now i shoot 32# limbs. That is subject to change and go up though.

 

[larry tom]

Hi teamfoltz. There are so many good risers, at every price point, that recommendations would be very subjective. Not knowing what your budget is here are two risers that you may want to consider. A lot of folks like the Sebastian Flute Forged Plus. Lancaster Archery has the 23" version for about $270 and the 25" version for about $250. Here are the links for both http://www.lancasterarchery.com/w-w-sf-forged-plus-23-recurve-riser.html http://www.lancasterarchery.com/w-w-sf-forged-plus-25-recurve-riser.html
An added plus .... both come with an arrow rest and a plunger. If you're a bit more budget minded, consider the Cartel Fantom riser. It's what I shoot with, and I coupled it with some T-Rex limbs. For $130 there's a lot of bang for the buck. http://www.lancasterarchery.com/cartel-fantom-25-recurve-riser.html Again, just my subjective $.02. Regards, Larry

 

[Jim C]

Hi teamfoltz. There are so many good risers, at every price point, that recommendations would be very subjective. Not knowing what your budget is here are two risers that you may want to consider. A lot of folks like the Sebastian Flute Forged Plus. Lancaster Archery has the 23" version for about $270 and the 25" version for about $250. Here are the links for both http://www.lancasterarchery.com/w-w-sf-forged-plus-23-recurve-riser.html http://www.lancasterarchery.com/w-w-sf-forged-plus-25-recurve-riser.html
An added plus .... both come with an arrow rest and a plunger. If you're a bit more budget minded, consider the Cartel Fantom riser. It's what I shoot with, and I coupled it with some T-Rex limbs. For $130 there's a lot of bang for the buck. http://www.lancasterarchery.com/cartel-fantom-25-recurve-riser.html Again, just my subjective $.02. Regards, Larry

agree with both. other than the paint job, we've been happy with fantoms. the SF is built on the machinery WW bought from Yamaha and its well made

 

[teamfoltz]

Hi teamfoltz. There are so many good risers, at every price point, that recommendations would be very subjective. Not knowing what your budget is here are two risers that you may want to consider. A lot of folks like the Sebastian Flute Forged Plus. Lancaster Archery has the 23" version for about $270 and the 25" version for about $250. Here are the links for both http://www.lancasterarchery.com/w-w-sf-forged-plus-23-recurve-riser.html http://www.lancasterarchery.com/w-w-sf-forged-plus-25-recurve-riser.html
An added plus .... both come with an arrow rest and a plunger. If you're a bit more budget minded, consider the Cartel Fantom riser. It's what I shoot with, and I coupled it with some T-Rex limbs. For $130 there's a lot of bang for the buck. http://www.lancasterarchery.com/cartel-fantom-25-recurve-riser.html Again, just my subjective $.02. Regards, Larry

Thank you Larry, i will definitely look into these two.

 

[Ten_Zen]

As Far as brand recommendations, that is a matter of personal preference. SF is (in my opinion) producing some quality gear and selling it at very reasonable prices.

I used to wonder why are some limbs $700 and some $200, when they are basically made out of the same materials. Why is an Axcel sight $350 when it does the same thing as a much cheaper sight? These are difficult questions to answer in words. Obviously the company can tell you about the improved tensile strength of the foam due to the intense pressures used in manufacture. They can tell you about the aircraft quality aluminum that it was forged or machined from, or the overall enhanced performance, consistency, due to the ergonomic blah blah blah etc.

But what does that mean to me? All I care about is how it "feels." The improvement to my current experience. That is something that you can only really understand by using the equipment and comparing it with other equipment. I cant tell you exactly what it is about Winex limbs that makes them better than every other limb ive tried. I can try to explain how the draw is smooth and even, and the release is light and perky, not forced or tense at all. But you would only be guessing at what that actually means.

If you want reliable, affordable gear that for the most part preforms as consistently as the top end gear, SF is the way to go. If you want top of the line gear, go to a pro shop and test drive it before you buy it if you can. My 2 cents

 

[fluke]

my first bow was an sf forged+ with kaya k1 limbs, avalon tecone sight and decut stabs and that setup took me to 90 meters and it cost me around $550. riser wise i am convinced that SF is the best bang for the buck for beginner and intermediate archers even if i know at least 2 advanced archers using the risers. and the risers come with decent arrow flipper rests and button (at least the forged has a decent button. axiom is not so great)

however you say you want a light riser. the trex weights 980grams. you will hardly get anything lighter than that unless you go for fibrebow but that riser is not cheap.

 

[hwjchan]

Not sure where you're expecting to get a much lighter riser than the T-Rex at 980 grams and 23" size. The Forged+ is a relatively light riser and weighs in at around 1100 grams in the 25" form factor, and the 23" riser still comes in at 1020 grams. Only the Fiberbow, that I know of, comes in lighter, with the Fiberbow 6.3 coming in at 630 grams, but it is certainly a bit of a rarity among FITA shooters.

 

[Azzurri]

Forged + is popular and pretty good. Couple critiques: the grip is narrow and it doesn't have a big shelf (if you like to grip high and jam against the shelf). The little weight in front likes to wiggle loose.

 

[Kristjon]

Here is my story. I started out cheap, $130 riser SF I think from Lancaster, basic limbs and basic cartel sights and cheap stabilizer. I've now upgraded my gear to a Fiber bow 6.3 and Uukha EX1 limbs. I've found a Achery talk member that was selling his Fiber bow stabilizers and I upgraded my sights to Shibyua Ultimate RC . Compared to what I started with it is a huge improvement. My bow is a lot more quite that compared to before and my sight is easy to adjust vs the old one.

If your looking for a Uukha http://finditarcherysupplies.com.au/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=26 they had a sale on them it was about $100 less than what Lancaster is selling them for. You may want to ask them if they still are doing the promotion of $100 off.

If your serious about this hobby, then I would suggest jumping to at least middle priced items (if you can afford it)and skill the budget stuff as you will lose out once you decided to upgrade to better items. I learnt this the hard way.