atlasman

So I made my yearly trip out to shoot the new bows of interest and see if they impress me more then my current setup.

The following is my experience and opinion of the bows I shot.

Mathews Switchback XT........I actually like the fatter grips of the Mathews bows even though I know they tend to be more of a torque issue with so much of the grip in contact with your hand. It felt good, drew smooth and shot well. It didn't feel great, draw great, or shoot great. I think this is a definate step backwards for Mathews as nothing about the bow made me say WOW!!. Last year the Switchback had everything except the speed IMO. This year the Switchback XT is an all around good bow with really no great attributes. A fine bow without any doubt but really just blends into the crowd IMO and there must be 50 bows out there just as good as the XT and probably half the price. The XT was also the least impressive at the chrono. It was slower then my 03 Patriot and only 9 fps faster then my brother's Fred Bear TRX which is from 01. Little let down by this one to be honest. Again, fine bow.........top shelf in today's market?? I don't see it.

Bowtech Tribute.........we shot a fully setup Tribute that a shop worker has as his bow. My first impression was it is HEAVY.......it just felt like it weighed a ton. I didn't say anything and handed it to my brother and he shot it a few times and said "This thing is too heavy" We couldn't figure it out because there were no accessories that would make it so heavy. We took the stabilizer out and it helped but the feeling of weight pulling your bow arm down never left. The bow drew VERY well and shot VERY well.....was dead in the hand and VERY quiet.......noticably more so then my Patriot. We put her through the chrono and I gained 23-24 fps with the same arrow vs my Patriot........OK now I am interested. The bow felt great, drew great, and shot great.......and speed was what I would consider significantly increased. Just couldn't shake the heavy feeling. My brother was so put off by it he said he couldn't see buying it for just that reason..............it's always something I guess. So overall the Tribute was an outstanding bow and very fast......with just a negative of excess weight.

What to do??..........the Allegiance is the same weight as the Tribute so we were in the same boat............or so we thought.

Hoping it was just the accessories we asked to shoot the Allegiance. Now this bow was bare so it would give us a good idea of weight of just the bow which we couldn't get from the Tribute without taking the guys bow apart. I grabbed the Allegiance and a smile came across my face as the weight was no longer an issue.........one or more of that guys accessories weighed more then they looked like because we got none of the weight issues when handling the other bow and the core weights are the same. The Allegiance was without question (IMO) the best bow we shot of the 3. It was smooth on the draw(something I think was absent last year) and shot dead in the hand bare bow (something I think was absent last year) and was SCREAMING fast.......something I think was present last year. The bow has it all IMO and really made me say WOW!!........now off to the chrono. Same arrow, same draw and Allegiance 64lbs and my Patriot 63lbs. The Allegiance was putting the arrows out there 35-37 fps faster then my Patriot...........ummmmmm........WOW!!! To gain 37 fps with a smooth draw and not lose any comfort on the shot or increase noise is something I would say is a definate step up and has me STRONGLY considering a new bow. Just a flat out beautiful bow that knocked my socks off in every department.

Just for anyone who may not know.......I may shoot a Bowtech and perhaps that does bias my opinion to a certain degree that can't be helped but I am in no way a Bowtech honk who will praise them no matter what they put out just because I own one. I shot there bows last year and was VERY un-impressed and said so here in this forum. I also said that Mathews impressed the heck out of me with the Switchback.......this year seems to be the opposite.


NOW FOR THE REAL DILEMA..........I NEED HELP!!!!!!

I am a short draw length of 27".........now if there is anyone out there that has an Equalizer or know someone who does or has any opinion on that bow please speak up and help me out.

According to Bowtech the Equalizer is pound for pound the fastest bow they have. My question is then..........if I have an Equalizer maxed out at 26 1/2" draw (27 with loop) and 60 lbs will it be faster then the Allegiance set at the same specs???

Also........with all that speed and power coming from a 26.5" draw at 60lbs I am concerned that the bow won't feel as nice or be a little louder then the Allegiance.

I mean, I just am having trouble seeing the logic here.......if the Equalizer is really faster then the Allegiance and every other bow they have then why not just extend the design of the Equalizer out to 30" and 70lbs and have an even faster bow then the Allegiance??

Simple solution is just to shoot it........I know........BUT. The shop owner is very worried that he will get stuck with the Equalizer if I don't buy it and is reluctant to order one due to this fear.

If the Equalizer really shoots 295-302 at 26.5" and 60lbs and has everything else equal to the Allegiance then I am sold on that sucker.


Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

D Man 1

Sorry I can not help you, but I would like tocomment on your post. It is very well written and explains youreach bows strengths and weakness very well. Thank You andgood luck with your choice.

bowtech die hard

Atlast:
The shop I help out at has one. The thing is yeah....it shoots great and is smooth, very little hand vibration. I shoot the tribute and understand the weight issue, however, it doesn't bother me, but then again, i'm a younger guy. The weight really has no effect on me, but that's me. Equalizer is a good bow, shoots fast and is smooth. As far as the weight goes, you'll be relieved, as it is not as heavy. I honestly think if he gets one in you'll walk out the door with it, with what you've said in your previous post and what you're thinking. It's a great bow IMO. If I were you I'd def. give 'er a shot. I don't think you'll be let down. It chorno's fast, and is overall a very respectable bow.

atlasman

We are only in our low 30's man.......we don't have a problem holding the weight......just prefer not to all other things being equal.

I guess my main question is if you are a shorter draw length (27") are you better off with the Equalizer or the Allegiance?

Thanks for the help man..........I appreciate it. I'm hoping I can find someone that has shot both or all of them.

How would you rate the Equalizer vs the Tribute and Allegiance??

Greg / MO

Yes.

Great post, Atlas -- although I was impressed with the XT when I shot it, but then again I didn't shoot the original Switchback.

I think you'd be extremely happy with the Equalizer. Don't worry; just go ahead and order the sucker!

TerryM

I went through exactly what you are going through now. I tested them all. The Switchback, the Switchback XT, The Trykon, the Tribute and the Allegiance and ended up buying an Equalizer. The BC on my Equalizer says: 60lbs,27",297fps. There is no other bow even the Allegiance that can beat that at 27" draw length. The other thing that sold me on this bow is it only weighs 3.5 lbs vs over 4lbs for all the others. Even with a all my accessories its a joy to hold and carry. The ATA on the Equalizer with 60lb limbs is actually 32 14/16" so its actually longer than a Tribute and basically the same length as my last bow which was a 03 Patriot. The Equalizer does not have the interchangeable draw force modules ( the draw length is adjustable with modules though ) like the other Bowtechs. It uses the same binary cam as the Constitution. It falls somewhere between the speed mods and the smooth mods in terms of draw and valley. This Equalizer shoots so flat that I changed my original plans of mounting a 5 pin sight and now have only a 3 pin as my hunting sight. I find that at 10-15-20-25 yds that one pin does it all and with a 363 gr Goldtip XT 5575 it impacts only 6" lower at 30 yds using my top (20yd ) pin. As I already said this thing is way faster than my Patriot was. If you do some research here and at Archerytalk.com you will see that the Equalizer is turning out to be one of this years' surprises in sales. My dealer has already sold as many Equalizers as Tributes. If I had a longer draw I would likely shoot an Allegiance but there is nothing I can do about that so for me the Equalizer is the best choice.

Greg / MO

Good info, Terry. That should make up Atlas's mind for him.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Commented in the Technical forum, locked and rerouted to see this thread.

bowtech die hard

Atlas,

The other thing is, which I forgot to mention, thee equalizer has smaller cams on it too. As far as it compares to the tribute, or allegiance, I think it's in those top 3 and depending on who you are you'd havea hard time distinguishing between the three. The equalizer isn't built for me cause i'm a guy of bigger frame. Sorry by the way, I wasn't trying to make you feel old or anything. I kinda got a chuckle out of that when I read it. But anyways, for a guy of smaller stature, as far as specs go on the bow I don't think it can be beat.

Matt / PA

Max specs on the Equalizer are 27"/60#......they were changed shortly after theprint mediawent to production.

An Equalizer lb for lb will be faster bow than an Allegiance, I'm assuming you shot one with "Fast" mods? If it did have fast mods and you liked them that much boy would you LOVE the "Smooth" ones.[:-]

I need to find out if the speed was adjusted Upward a couple fps for the addition of a 27" draw length on the Equalizer or if the 302 top end is the specs for that length? I forget to be honest since I haven't had a 27" draw length since I was about 10yrs old.

Don't expect the exact same shot feel as the Allegiance all else equal.......the lower mass weight will directly affect vibration and recoil. Not saying there is much to talk about anyway but obviously the higher the mass weight the lower the recoil in the same geometry.

As was mentioned, also not sure how the efficiency levels compare between the 2 with regards to different arrow weights.

I also need to go weigh and check my Tribute vs my Allegiance?? I don't recall thinking either feels heavier than the other? That would be the last thing I would expect to hear if the 2 are set up the same?

It does stink to have both downstairs for direct comparison.......[8D]