I think that there isn't really a clearly defined line between the "speed bow" and everything else. When you consider that IBO speeds for perhaps 50% of the production adult bows today are above 300fps it's hard to define what is truly a speed bow and what isn't. I think that it used to be that bows weren't nearly as efficient as they are today, so getting a lot of speed meant making a lot of sacrifices. Microscopic brace heights, ultra-reflexed risers, overdraws, wicked cams, etc...made a bow fast, but a PITA to shoot well. Today we have bows like the Allegiance that are as fast or faster than the "speed bows" of 10 years ago, but still not too hard to shoot well. I have rather little experience with modern compound bows. I owned one bow before my Ally, and I barely shot it over the 13 years I've owned it, and before that my only serious archery experience was with recurves as a Boy Scout (and I have the Merit Badge to prove it!), yet with just a few practice sessions I went on to shoot a 294/400 on my first 3D course, and can shoot palm sized groups at 40 yards. I've never chrony'd my Ally, but I'm shooting 380gr arrows and just comparing it to other bows it's very fast. I guarantee that I couldn't shoot a speed bow of 10-15 years ago nearly as well as my Ally. That is, I think, the greatest thing to come of the current technology. Not so much that bows can shoot arrows of realistic length and weight over 300fps, but that it can be done with a bow that doesn't require the skills of a master archer to hit what one's aiming at consistantly.

Mike