The best riser?

[clickerati]

I'd like to get your opinions on what you consider the best recurve riser and why. It could be your current bow, one you aspire to own, or one no longer in production.

Cheers.

[Little Miss Purple]

I like my matrix, after having a wooden riser, an Agulla and a Kudos, this is my favourite. I like the grip, the weight and the overall feeling of the bow! The colour is stunning also

[Thunk]

The Matrix is very nice, but when I looked at it I thought some of the adjustment systems were very crude. To adjust limb angle you are required to move washers from one side of a bar to the other! I've met people who have had to reduce a washer in thickness by rubbing it down on a whetstone in order to achieve a proper set-up.

My new riser is a Merlin Quazar: it has screw-on limb pockets (I think Keith Gascoigne makes one like this too). Limb adjustment is of a worm gear type, using setscrews either side of the pocket. Made precise setup very easy.

An interesting point - I did the setup on Quicks indoor range (with help - thanks a million, Keith!) and trying it out there, I found my sight marks had gone up the scale by 18mm from those on my old Agulla! WOOHOO!

[clickerati]

Does that mean you think the Quazar is the best, Thunk?

[Mufti]

oh oh !

At the risk of being boring - FiberBow.

For reasons already mentioned (several times) in other posts

[JohnK]

Rather than try to judge which is the best riser, I'll tell you about the ones I've owned and what I liked about them:

PSE Intrepid - medium weight, solid construction, good limb alignment system (tricky to get to know, but after a little practice it should be easy). Not much vibration on the shot even without stabilisers, and while not punchy, it's certainly not dead in the hand by any means. My only problem was with the stock grip, but Eolla grips fit it too and I ended up with a Loesch grip. I can't envisage ever selling my Intrepid.

PSE X-Factor - very light, but the balance makes it behave like a heavier riser without the excess weight. Punchier than the Intrepid, but still very little vibration. I thought I liked light risers, but after shooting this for a few months I realised I didn't like them as much as I thought, so I passed it on to someone more deserving Still an excellent riser and certainly should be considered, especially by ladies, juniors or anyone else who needs a light set up.

Hoyt Helix - good weight, okay balance and superb grip shape. This is easily the best feeling Hoyt riser I've ever shot. It was easy to find a comfortable stabiliser set up and I really enjoyed the way the bow felt when I shot it.

Best Zenit/Border Talisman - a really, really good riser. Heavier than some, but so well balanced you might not notice. Excellent for barebow, and I wish I hadn't had to sell mine now for that very reason. Frangilli had a great deal of success with his before he switched over to W&W for his riser as well as limbs.

I've shot many more risers than this, but these are the ones I've owned and had time to get to know. Hope it helps

[Thunk]

Originally Posted by clickerati

Does that mean you think the Quazar is the best, Thunk?

I'm hardly an expert - it's certainly the nicest I've tried. But there are others here who have shot many more bows than I, and have greater expertise with which to compare them. I was really looking at it from an engineering point of view (I was an engineer, once upon a time!) and when you consider the price of a Matrix riser, I would expect a bit more in the precision department.

The Quazar is much nicer in my opinion - better engineereed - and is considerably cheaper!

[Bald Eagle]

The best riser on the market today is............"the one that feels nice in your hand, is easy to tune, not too heavy, grip feels right." Peer pressure is a terrible thing!

[cecile]

I fall in love with mine : Elan. It is no longer made by Hoyt.
I just think this is the best riser for women or people that do not shoot a high draw weight and need a light riser.

[simmo]

I'm liking my Matrix....