I have a 2008 Martin Cheetah on it's way to me and recently learned that previous Martin Cheetah's have used 3 piece risers. What does that mean and do the 2008 Martin Cheetah's also have a 3 piece riser?

I guess by "3-piece riser"they mean that the limb pockets are bolted onto the riser rather than being machined into it. That's as close as I can get to figuring out whatit means.

Yes, the 2008 has a 3 piece riser. The grip and area below the grip is one piece. The sight window is the second piece, and the third piece is the area above the sight window to the upper pocket. They supposedly have strong joints that are pinned together to keep it in one piece. As I understand it, the failure rate is very, very low to nonexistent.

What's the reason for the 3 pieces instead of a single piece?

It is less expensive to machine three seaperate flat pieces and pin them together instead of machining one long, not flat, piece. The wasted aluminum is less and the smaller pieces allow them to keep tighter tollerences.

Think about building a bridge across a river. Imagine how much it would cost if they were somehow able to make it all one solid piece of steel instead of parts.

Bigbulls is exactly right. It allows them to manufacture a quiet bow with good specs that people want, and offer it for an outstanding price. For $400 or less, they are hard to beat.

I had no idea they were doing that. But then, I've been working on getting comfortable with being behind the technology curve. [8D]

Alpine started using the multi piece risera fewyears ago. I think they use 6 or 7 pieces to make up their riser.