Speed test-opinions?

[Michl]

What do you think about this speed test?
 

[James Wrenn]

I liked it.It is a great way for guys that like building bows to see how they are doing.I am sure they will have even more bows in the next one.

[Molson]

I would have liked to have known the bow weight and arrow weight.  The only numbers I heard were for the ACS 520 gr at 52#. They did a great job, especially testing bows set up for hunting.  Those numbers have meaning.

[James Wrenn]

Molson they were all shot with 10gns at a 28" draw.They were shot with the string setup the owners sent with the bows.

[Michl]

199fps with 10 grain and 28" for the wippenstick? Could that be true?
13fps faster than the ACS?

[MikeW]

^^^^
Yep

[James Wrenn]

Sure it was true for the way they were tested.The ACS was set up as the owner hunts with it.String silencers and probably a heavy string.I think all the bows were shot just as the owners sent them in.

[Dartwick]

I think if ACS sent a bow to the speed test it would be faster than that ACS.

[Apex Predator]

Ken's bows are the fastest on the planet right now.  The guys participating in this event are right on the cutting edge of custom bow performance.

[Molson]

I must have missed the 10 gpp @28 part.  Wasn't sure because they mentioned some set up for flight shooting and some set up for hunting. Those are all very good to exceptional speeds.  I thought the ACS set up for hunting and shooting in the upper 180's was pretty impressive.

[pete p]

does Ken sell his bows? do the wippensticks have a website?

[O.L. Adcock]

"Ken's bows are the fastest on the planet right now."

Might be but they left a lot of variables open to question and none have handed one to an independant tester like Blacky or Norb. One cardinal sin is you never test bows in that way with fletched arrows. Brace heights?? Nock fit?  Hard to tell from the video but it looks like Ken's bow had at least 1" if not more lower brace height. I'm sure it was fun but a long way from a controled fair test....O.L.

[James Wrenn]

Well if a guy sets up a bow to shoot the way he wants and sends it in the way he shoots it he gets the numbers as he uses the bow.Sure it is not apples to apples in every respect but it is after all just a way to see what there bow is doing.I see people take very fast bows and do all sorts of things to make them slower.From what I can see this one not one of those test where you shoot a bow at two inches less braceheight than the bow will shoot well at to get numbers.It was shot with the setup the bowyer or owner liked to use for the bow.If anything the numbers are more real that way for practical purposes.If a guy shoots his bow at an 8" braceheight and two sets of silencers wants to see how his bow performs taking silencers off and dropping to a 6" brace height or changing strings tells him nothing about how he uses the bow. jmo

[Dartwick]

Well look at all the people talking about the fast speeds - on a bow set up by the bow maker for speed obviously.

These numbers seem artificially impressive because the same tests were done on well known bows - but they were not set up for speed.
Additionally as OL noted we have no idea hows consistent the knocks were since they werent even mentioned.

I can definitely see why reasonable people dismiss the tests as being useful.

[James Wrenn]

I can definitely see why reasonable people dismiss the tests as being useful

Well I think it is usefull to the person that sent in his bow to be tested.He knows how his bow set up the way he uses it and stands up against a few others.Now I agree if someone is wanting to look at a list to buy a bow that is a few fps faster than another it might not be the list to look at.But this testing was for guys to see what THERE bows were doing.If you want different numbers just look at Blacky's test in TBM if you want to.From what I remember (don't take it any more) most everything he has tested has been so close a few grains of arrow weight will make them all shoot the same. lol

[Deadsmple]

All those bows were shooting 10 grains per pound at 28 inches of draw? That takes some effort just to set up that many different bows to compare like that! If that's the case I'm impressed at their effort!
I thought it was a nice video. There were some nice numbers posted. Not real impressive numbers but good numbers none the less. Good stuff, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens at their 2009 event.

[Dartwick]

Well thats kind of my point. The video presents itself as a comparison that the viewers can learn something from.

But mostly all they learn is how a particular bow shot - but they dont even learn how it was set up.

[James Wrenn]

Well I was very impressed by some of the numbers myself.    What impressed me the most were not the fastest numbers but those that Badgers all wood bows shot.Way faster than any I have ever seen.Would love to see how one would shoot after being hunted with a while and really shot in.

Guys anyone can send in a bow.You can set it up any way you want and tell them what braceheight to shoot it at.You furnish the string and it will get shot with a 10gn/lb arrow at 28".If you don't agree with the way a certain bow was tested send in one set exacly the way you want it.Pretty simple really.  

[Apex Predator]

I will add that it's an open invite to any and all bowyers.  I think many of the bows are overbuilt for very good reason.  They are sold to the public!  There is a distinction made between the bow sold to the public and one built just for a speed test.  That redlined bow may not last through the testing event.  There are tons of very fast bows that are built to hunt, and Ken's bows are some of the best.  Unfortunately, many big name bowyers won't send in a sample to get beaten by a relatively obscure bowyer.

[O.L. Adcock]

James, "From what I remember (don't take it any more) most everything he has tested has been so close a few grains of arrow weight will make them all shoot the same. lol"...Only about 20% difference!    

Apex, "Unfortunately, many big name bowyers won't send in a sample to get beaten by a relatively obscure bowyer."

Many won't send bows to folks with agendas and not holding a fair test either. It either needs to be casual as it was and therefore limited value or tow the line consistant paying attention to every detail.....O.L.