Now, that's a loaded question. Neither one is really "better" than the other. It's mostly a matter of personal preference. I like a good takedown recurve due to the mass weight the riser gives. Others like the longbow because of it's light weight. Speed wise, you're not going to see a whole lot of difference between todays recurves and R/D longbows. If you're coming from shooting a compound, you might find the contoured pistol grip and the mass weightofa takedownrecurve tofeel more familiar.