I prefer 3 piece string set on alphax and rx8 I don’t like 5 piece setup

 

I've heard a lot of people say that i just wanted to know if i made a mistake not going to the rx9 floating yoke system lol. That being said the RX8 draw is so much nicer than the RX9 lol.

 

Rx8 uses a binary cam system which has been around for years. Bowtech, Hoyt, Martin, and others have all used it. I personally love binaries. My Alpha x and both my Martins are all binary cams. The cams are slaved to each other. On my Martins, the nitro binary cams use a single limb stop on one cam and you better believe the back wall is extremely solid even twice as solid as my Alpha x on “xtra hard” mode. When one cam stops, the other can’t move anymore. My Martins have three track binaries and the RX8 and Alpha x use two tracks if memory serves. Anyways as Mkasuske1 said I also prefer a three piece string set and you don’t have to pull axles to change strings. You can’t get much simpler than binaries but to each their own. I love them.

 

First really good breakdown on it, so i definitely didn't "downgrade' with the rx8 not having floating yokes. I've been hunting forever just trying to learn more about the bows themselves so thank you!

 

I like full floating yokes and 5 piece string sets ..floating yokes are more forgiving

 

forgiving in what sense, i dont tune (maybe i should learn lol).

 

Does the floating yoke/5 string system make for a more stable/forgiving cam, with less lean as strings stretch?.. As cables stretch and age cams start to slightly lean with a binary system. This has an effect on accuracy and consistency. Just thinking through how they work comparatively... It seems the floating yoke system would have less cam lean, and pull on the cam more evenly as strings stretch and age ... Just a thought...

 

Maybe? Maybe not? I can tell you all my binaries shoot awesome and have no lean or at least not enough to notice or affect anything. I don’t have string wear and they all tune awesome. Last March I replaced a set of Catfish strings on my Onza that were damaged. They were just shy of a year old but I had shot a hell of a lot in 2022 and when I removed them I put them in my stretcher to check length compared to my new ones and I was shocked that the string measured about 1/2” longer than my replacement which measured to spec. I never compared the cables. That said I replaced because I had accidentally nicked my old set and cut a strand and the bow was still shooting awesome all the way to distance. I didn’t notice a thing.

 

Don't you want a bow that spreads the load for you?

It means less chance of cam lean, which in turn helps prevent the rubbing of cables, less chance of needing to move cams as extreme, it helps keep the bow nock travel running true throughout the power stroke... basically a bunch of math and geometry stuff is why they do it

 

I prefer the simpler 2 or 3 track binaries. I have had both, the floating set ups had less cam lean but didn't tune any easier in my opinion. I had a Darton ds 3800 (darton was the first to use the floating yoke binaries), wicked fast but needed shimming and still tuned a little close to the riser. Then I had a pse with the se cam, last brand new bow I bought. Both of those bows fell below my expectations for myself shooting a bow and subsequently got sold. In contrast, I have had several two track elites and they have always been tackdrivers that tuned okay for me, cam lean and all. In fact I have shot my best indoor scores with those bows. I really think bottom line it comes down to personal preference, I happen to prefer cheaper 3 piece string sets. I could add to that, the non floating yoke systems can be made narrower and particularly, I like the slim profile of the solid limb elites for a hunting bow.

 

The floating yokes probably even the load out on the limbs which is better but I hate the extra steps required to change cables.

 

Just curious.
The Hoyt Torrex has a split cable on the top limb but not on the bottom limb. What is the purpose of that?

 

The hoyt torrex uses a hybrid cam still, which is what hoyt used to feature on all there flagships up until a few years ago. Totally different from a slaved binary system. On the Hybrid system, you have a control cable which ties the two cams together and provides synchronization between them, and a buss cable with an eccentric track on the bottom cam and it terminates in a static yoke on the axle ends of the top limbs. A good system too and I love the way hybrids shoot generally, but they do tend to go out of time after a while as the buss cable tends to stretch. You know it when they go out of time. The binaries tend to avoid the problem of going out of time with good quality cables because the load is evenly split between and they should stretch at a very similar rate.

 

I noticed both Hoyt and Elite went to the split yoke cable system this year... two thoughts. One, a patent must have expired recently allowing them to make the change. Two, there must be an advantage to doing that if both (reputable) companies made the change.

 

Darton held the patent. Not sure if it is expired or not. I could see an advantage to it for Elite because with their S.E.T. system, a person could get into cam rub on the cables near the limits of the system and end up having to shim. Perhaps the floating yoke will alleviate that to a degree. I know Hoyt had issues with module screws breaking last year at higher poundage and longer draw lengths, perhaps with the improved load distribution is intended to alleviate that. I don't see bowtech going the floating yoke direction with dead lock. I feel it would either significantly reduce the system travel by taking up axle space or they would have to make the limb platform even wider. I see it as the market all moving one direction because there are only so many ways to skin a cat. Darton did it first, PSE licensed it, now you have Hoyt, Elite, Xpedition... I could be forgetting some. Kind of boring to me.

 

I'd take a guess that there is slightly less lateral nock travel with the yokes coming off either side of the cams than without them.

As far as the 3 vs 5 piece set goes; I can't speak for the Hoyts, but with the pse's I'm currently running I haven't noticed much of a difference between the two. The 5 piece does equalize better and there is less cam lean; but in terms of scores and groups I haven't noticed a difference. I will caveat this by saying I haven't broadhead tuned any of the pse's, yet, so i'm not sure if there is a difference there between the fixed or floating yokes in that respect.

 

Yoke splitters are just extra plastic pieces that can break. It’s happened to me in the past so I much prefer binary cams. Simple and effective.
Hoyt really had binary cams figured out with the 8. The previous years they had some cam lean. None with the 8.
As far as the mod issue with Hoyt, it’s because they didn’t torque the mod screws enough. They updated torque specs a few months after release.

 

My RX8 comes in today, can't wait!

 

Another huge +1 for 3 track slaved binary's