[Hank D Thoreau]

For all that are interested, here are some specs and pictures for the recently released Best Zenit barebow kit. The kit contains weights designed to attach to the standard Olympic style Zenit riser. The original Zenit barebow version is no longer manufactured.

The following is for the heavy 400g weight kit. There is also a 320g kit.

Right plate 140g
Left plate 143g
Bolts 21g
Cylindrical insert weights 2 @ 35g a piece
Total weight 374g

Weight of riser with weight kit, Cavalier Champion II rest and Beiter plunger: 1779g.

It appears that the kit can be used with or without the insert weights providing three possible weight options:

304g, 339g and 374g. (Somewhat below the advertised 400g)

The 320g kit does not come with the insert weights. It could be the same plates without the cylindrical inserts – just a guess.

Firing resulted in a small tip of the upper limb back toward the shooter--very much like the Moon Arco Nudo. I have yet to add weights to the stab bushings to reduce the tip. (I can tolerate a little tip to keep the bow weight down.)

One downside is that my weights tended to work loose causing the plates to shift. The lower bolt almost came out after only 40 minutes of shooting. I still have to figure out how tight I can make the bolts without damaging the finish of the riser.

Overall, the weight kit works well. The look is not up to the high machining standard that Best is known for – it does not add to the aesthetics of the bow as some weight kits do. It certainly is not up to par aesthetically with the Moon barebow kit.

 

[Dave T]

Aestheticly I preferred the original Zenit Barebow riser, but this one is at least proof the Italian makers recognize and understand barebow recurve, unlike the Koreans or Hoyt.

I'm a little surprised, with the maximum factory weights added the thing still tips back with the upper limb. It looks more bottom heavy than that.

Dave

 

[pilotmill]

barebow

thanks for posting the pics. I wonder if a little teflon tape added to the tips of the bolts might help the problem with them. thanks again. Gar.

 

[Hank D Thoreau]

Followup Comments

Good idea with the teflon tape. I will give that a try. I had the same problem with the Spigarelli weights in that riser -- the vibration caused the weight to loosen.

As far as the tipping, there is always the possibility that it has to do with my form. The bow behaves pretty much like the Moon. My Moon weight kit is 285g per weight and I have both installed. That means I have 570g in my Moon but only 374g in my Zenit.

It does not say on Best's web site, but I think the plates may be Aluminum and the inserts steel. That would account for the difference in weight with respect to size. It could be that steel was too dense to mount without moving. The small steel inserts have sticky tape on them to hold them to the riser (my assumption). This is another reason to believe that the plates are probably aluminum.

 

[arrow1347]

zenit

nice bow hank.

 

[SBills]

Clever Italians.

I agree with Dave on the original BB Zenit looking nicer but that is a nice alternative. Something like that for the Hoyt GMX would be pretty nice.

 

[Teucer]

new to the game

What makes a bow a good one for barebow. I see alot of comments in posts that only ceratin bows are made with the barebow shooter in mind. So what is the the big difference. I honestly haven't been able to shoot any of the italian risers but I feel good about my shots with other bows, just curious about what makes a good barebow.

 

[Hank D Thoreau]

Standard risers are designed to balance properly only when a stabilizer system is attached. Barebows have extra weight integrated into the bottom of the riser to provide better balance without a stabilizer. There are several companies that provide kits to add weight to the low half of the riser. The ones I am familiar with are Bernardini, Spigarelli and Best. There are two risers that I know of that are designed exclusively for barebow: Spigarelli 650 Club and the new Fiberbow 8.99. All risers mentioned are Italian.

 

[Vittorio]

All Italian aluminum risers have been designed since the origin in order to give a good balance and feeling to a bare bow made with them, without stabilizers.
This should be a logical choice for all riser manufacturers, as it is of course much easier to stabilize a bow already stable than make one critical by himself because of design, and then leave to the archer to fix everything by adding external weights. But logic does not seem to be in risers designs from Korea and US, or at least what is the logic for the Italian designers... And, for sure, Bare Bow shooting is totally out of any basic concept of design for US and Korean risers.
In addition to this, Bare Bow is presently the most rapidly increasing style of shooting in Europe, much more than Compound here, and of course a European manufacturer has to think first to his area...

 

[skybowman]

Does the kit fit other risers?

When alt services first cataloged that item I wondered if it would fit other risers with cutouts. Any idea Hank?

 

[Hank D Thoreau]

Skybowman,

I will look at the dimensions later today and get back to you. To fit requires two parallel flat surfaces with holes in the right places on the riser for the two bolts. It needs sufficient surface area under the plates to keep the plates from shifting. Last night I cut some 1/16 inch gasket rubber and put it between the plates and the riser. My plates were shifting and I am hoping that the rubber will stop it. There will need to be solid riser below where the steel inserts rest or they will have to be left out.

 

[Hank D Thoreau]

Attached is a dimensional drawing I did for one of the Zenit Barebow weight plates (inches). The second picture shows the weight kit attached to my wife's Winstorm II. The steel inserts are installed as well. The third picture shows the rubber gasket I cut to keep the weight kit from shifting. I have not tested the gasket yet for effectiveness. I would definitely recommend the gasket for mounting on a Winstorm II to protect the paint and to reduce shifting. There is a chance that this weight kit will work on other risers provided there is a geometry match and enough surface area contact to keep the weights from shifting.

 

[skybowman]

Thanks

Great info Hank.