RE: Switchback owners?
They cost about $625 around here.
Now, I have never been a big Mathews fan. There bows just never felt right in my hands! Well, I had a chance to shoot the Switchback and I was very impressed! The bow is smooth, nothing jaw-dropping, but still very good. It was pretty quiet, but that place that this bow shinned was hand-shock. There is hardly anything after the shot. The only thing that I noticed was the bow wanted to pull to the left when I shot it! It wasn't major, but it was there! I think that Switchback is probablly the best Mathews I have shot by a long shot. I still wouldn't buy one, the grip on them still drives me up a wall, but I still think it is a great bow. If they would get a new grip and maybe some higher quality strings, I wouldn't hesistate to think about buying one.
With that said, my sisters boyfriend has one on order and it will be in tommorrow! I will be helping him set it up and tune it, so I can't speak from experience with how the bow tunes yet! From when I shot it, it seemed like a pretty stable platform. It is still a short a.t.a. bow, but with Mathews putting even more parrallel limbs on it, it feels like a longer bow than it is!
As far as the Outback goes, I shot one at the shop side by side with the Switchback and there is just no comparrison. This was the first time I shot the Outback and I had heard last year that it was one of the smoothest bows on the market, I noticed the exact opposite! The Outback seemed to have a very stiff draw cycle. The Switchback has a MUCH smoother draw cycle. I would rank the Outback about average for a single hard-cam bow! I would rate the Switchback above-average for a single hard-cam bow. I wouldn't put it in the class of BowTech's Equalizer and Freedom cam or as the Hoyts Cam and A Half system, but it is close, definetly better than the majority of cam systems on the market.
I would shoot the Outback and Switchback side by side, and maybe go try a few other bows... BowTech Liberty and Allegiance, as well as the Hoyt V-Tec and X-Tec along with some others. Get a feel for each bow and figure out exactly what fits you best! After all, it doesn't matter what name is on the limbs, all that matters is that the bow is comfortable! Whatever bow you get, as long as it fits you, you have made the best decision. Nobody on here can tell you what to get as nobody has the same preferances for how the bow feels. Good luck and let us know what you get!