RE: Desert Stryker..
"I guess you do not understand what Excalibur is about."
Sorry Tom but I think I have at least half a clue about what I am doing and I sell quiet a few Excals. You are missing my point here, I am not questioning any aspect of Excal other than what happens when I as a retailer have to deal with a customer that is missinformed about a product. I am not ticked off, just frustrated. You have the advantage of being one person who has done his homework and understands the advertized speeds on this bow are correct with the 350gr arrow and you have no issue either sacrificing speed when using the heavier arrow that comes with the bow or buying/building lighter arrows to achieve the speed they list. I have the disadvantage of getting phone calls from novices who read these posts and the adds and do not do their homework and expect 305fps from a bow that will only shoot 288 with the components they can buy from the manufacture. Is that drop in speed a big deal? Not to a deer, but to a consumer who is reading one thing and getting another it is a big deal. Here is what I have to deal with all the time:
"I was looking at either an Excal Phoenix or the TenPoint Profusion. They both shoot the same speed so which one should I get?" I now have to follow with "Well, they really dont shoot the same speed. If I custom make really light arrows for you and upgrade your string they will, but out of the box the Profusion will be faster". At that point I end up selling the Profusion because the customer generaly feels that they were lied to.Quality, dependability, whatever, at that point it matters very little the customer feels that Excals performance was fluffed (even though it can be achieved safely) and he then questions whatELSE may not be "correct" with Excalibur. Was the information on the string upgrade and light arrows there? Yes. Did they READ it??? NO!! Welcome to retail where the lowest common denominator sets the standard. Many people will not read that little footnote.
Now with vertical bows the IBO speeds are such crap that it is a joke. No "human" will shoot what they claim without either breaking the bow or making it so loud and shock filled as to be useless. Crossbows however have the advantage of being consistant in the way they launch an arrow.Crossbow customersseem to have more of an expectation that crossbows will shoot what they claim than vertical customers. That is where I have run into issues.
As far as the automotive analogy the engine one is a better one since HP ratings have to be certified by an independant company where performance of a given vehical can be greatly enhanced just by a good driver.
All I am saying is that if a company (TenPoint recurves included here mind you and probably Parker with THEIR new recurves next year) is going to claim a speed then supply the components that will allow that bow to achieve those speeds or list the speeds that can be achieve with the components you do supply.....its too late for the vertical industry but the crossbow end can easily set this inplace.
Wyvern