New Bow Headaches!!

[Big_Holla]

Well this past Monday I was able to pick up my new bow. I ended up buying the Mathews Creed, 28" draw & 60 lbs. max. When I shot the bow before putting it in layaway it felt like a dream. Shot so smooth and was quiet, just had that feeling at the time this was IT!! The day I picked it up they had the QAD HDX rest installed and the peep in the string, just not tied in yet. Things were looking good!!

After we got the final set up on it I asked the bow shop guy about tuning....since this has been a hot topic of late it was fitting!! Well, I was informed that the tuning basically was up to ME! They could give advice and maybe help some but I was the one to take care of it from there forward. I mentioned that I figured since I just bought the bow from them they could at least make sure it was ready and his reply was that they are tuned at the factory. I was a bit taken back and reflected on the tuning posts that were made here before.

So, I took the bow out on to their range and shot it some and figured he was probably right, I mean I don't really understand what even really goes into tuning the bow for performance other than maybe walk back tuning and broadhead tuning. After a little while of shooting I thought my bow seemed a little loud. Then again there were a couple others shooting at the time so I figured it was just all the commotion. So, I packed it in, said thanks and made my way home to do some more shooting!! Boy was I excited to finally have my bow!!!

My daughter decided to come out with me as well so there we were shooting together when she says to me 'dad your bow is really loud!' I had noticed it too but somehow ignored what I was hearing. Then I started looking at my bow some. Looking from the rear at the eccentric wheel I noticed the wheel was leaning quite a bit. That was when I realized the left limb, split limb bow, was about 1/4" higher than the right causing the wheel to be on an angle!!! Looking at the yoke I realized that the right side had many more twists in the string than the left and that seemed to be the culprit. I laid an arrow along the edge of the eccentric wheel and by the time the arrow ran out there was almost a 3/8 of an inch gap to the string!!

So, Friday I finally was able to make a trip back to the bow shop to have them take a look at the yoke and mentioned the loud noise, coming mostly from the cam on the shot. Well, they agreed, it didn't look right and they put it in their press to add a few twists to the one side of the yoke. LMAO that's when he had me come over and look at it to see if I liked how it looked!! Uhm...I am the fugging peon....shouldn't HE know what it should be adjusted to?!?! :banghead: Eyeballing it and hoping it was right I said it looked good and took it out on the range to shoot. The loud sound was gone, likely a result of the misaligned cam to eccentric wheel. After losing all of the credibility I gave them for being a Pro-shop I then took my bow home.

Now with all the tuning posts of late here I could see both sides from MikeF and Buckstalker 17 saying they would only be the ones to ever tune their bows to SKO bringing up the idea of having someone else, even mail order so to speak, do the work on your bow. After my recent experience, not having the knowledge or the tools to work on my bow I can certainly see why some would have others do the work....Hell, I can see why some would send their bow out to have it done!!!! I still do not have confidence it is at it's peak for performance but after shooting it the last two evenings I can now say I really do enjoy shooting the bow. Shot it out to 50 yards and was quite happy with it. Sill have doubts though if I am REALLY getting the most out of the bow.

[mrbb]

well congrats on getting the new bow home, but sorry to say it sounds like that bow shop is mostly worried about the sale and not service
all bows are set to "X" set ups at the factory
and are set by humans, humans have bad days, lazy moments, and some just don't care how one leaves a factory
a GOOD bow shop, shoukd notice thing out of norm
and be more than willing to make sure the bow is set up, you happy before you leave there shop with it

but like i said before, so many folks today don't care or know what to look for, or are just happy with a new bow, no matter how its set up, lots of weekend warrior hunters that OK is all they care about, not a in tune set up right bow needed for so many!
i would paper test it now, and see if further tweeking is needed
good luck

[MQ1]

A Mathews dealer is supposed to take care of you .. atleast setting the bow up properly getting the timing set the first time out . I could see a small fee for timing or tuning the bow in the future. But to say how does it look?! : /

I know there is a certain amount of cam lean etc. especially with a split limb bow with a little more flex. which they should know what the measurement should be. They are sent to Mathews in Wisconsin to learn how to take care of the line properly. I would watch for ab-normal string wear , I would look your cams over too and inside the limbs to make sure that cam that was so far off didnt get bent or nicked or the inside of the limbs there. I would be lets call it JACKED OUTA SHAPE! to put it nicely.

[MQ1]

My shop even tells me when i get a new Mathews from them. put 600-750 shots on it and bring her back in to put it back in time after the new string stretch and it settles in place.

[hortontoter]

Hopefully you have it somewhat where it should be. Maybe a little tweaking, like Stan suggested and things will be up to par.

[buckstalker17]

im glad you are happy with your new bow but with out going back into the whole tuning topic there is a little trick ive learned to check cam leaning. i remove the string stop and run a string from cam to cam or cam to wheel on solo cam checking one side then check the opposite side if there is no gap in the string on either side then you are good to go hope this is something you can do that may ease your mind:hurray:

[mrbb]

well I guess from this, if you want to make a fuss, you can also contact Mathews, and tell them about your experience
I am sure they would maybe make some effort to make you happy, and be glad to know if a dealer is doing this to more than just you
again, if you want to rock the boat, if not
I also guess you can hit up another mathews dealer, and ask them what there set up specs are, and ask them to check your bow over
a small problem now left un corrected can maybe do more damage later on
but again, it sounds like you have it close, ?

[Mightymet]

I am not a fan of Mathews but every Mathews dealer I have been to has been great as far as service is concerned. The archery techs at these places are usually great. I have been to large beautiful stores and one that is in a glorified shed behind a guys house. The one in the shed is the best one I have ever been to. The owner is great and he has a 3-d course across the street. I happen to know that Mathews has always been very picky on the retailers they allow to sell there product and I believe you should send them an email about your experience. You never know. They may even give you something.


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[buffdog]

Big,
That's the worst Matthews dealer service I've heard my dealer spent 2 hours letting me shoot And tweaking my new Creed in fact I've been back twice checking string stretch and adjusting.My Creed is the quietest & smoothest Matthews I've owned I'm on number 6 Matthews has the best customer service in the business. Did you know there are two draw stops For the Creed a big one & the small one if you want a little more valley I'm sure your dealer Neglected to inform you he probably did not know anything about the products he sells I would definitely inform Matthews of your experienceIt took a little tweaking to get my Creed Where I need it super quiet and I'm shooting my tightest Groups ever at 80 yards I've shot them all and I wouldn't take nothing for my Creed.

[Big_Holla]

Thanks buffdog! It has been a frustrating experience that's for sure. I have the utmost confidence in the bow out to 30 yards but beyond that it seems like a temperamental bitch when it comes to grip and anchor. Several times I have just thought about putting my sight back on my old Q2 and calling it a season. I'll give it a couple more weeks and hopefully I can work out my little form issues and all too in the meantime.

[nomad_archer]

That sounds like a terrible dealer period. But customer service is not the completely on the bow manufacturer. I've dealt with good and bad dealers. Where I used to live the hoyt and mathews dealer wasnt so good but the bowtech dealer was so even though I shot a hoyt and still do all my work went to the good dealer down the street. I talked to the manufactuer (hoyt and mathews) about my experiences with the dealers and they didnt seem to care one bit.

As for form issues I havnt looked at the new mathews bows but the one thing that made me walk away from them was the soft backwall which it sounds like they fixed with the drawstops. The other gripe I had was the huge grip didnt work with my smallish hands. It sounds though that you are starting to get used to the bow I hope everything straightens itself out.

[buffdog]

Nomad,
The Creed has a solid wall I was going to get a Mathews Chill but it had no wall. Mathews new Slim Fit Inline wood Grips Is A lot thinner than the older Mathews wood grips. I still may put a Shrewd grip on my Creed

[Big_Holla]

As for form issues I havnt looked at the new mathews bows but the one thing that made me walk away from them was the soft backwall which it sounds like they fixed with the drawstops. The other gripe I had was the huge grip didnt work with my smallish hands. It sounds though that you are starting to get used to the bow I hope everything straightens itself out.


Nomad,
The Creed has a solid wall I was going to get a Mathews Chill but it had no wall. Mathews new Slim Fit Inline wood Grips Is A lot thinner than the older Mathews wood grips. I still may put a Shrewd grip on my Creed

Yes, the Creed has a solid back wall with the draw stops. The one thing that is hard getting used to is the back wall is right at the end of the draw cycle and occasionally I have to catch myself as it wants to 'go' right away. Not sure if that can be adjusted any but it takes some getting used to. Like buffdog said, the new slim fit grip is definitely slimmer than the old grip which takes some getting used to as well. Grip is definitely more important to have it in that sweet spot now as any torque sure seems to show up with it. The older fat grip on my Q2 just seemed to fit perfect in my hand and never had that feeling of twisting. Still love the feel of the wood grip though so that is still very important when I pick up a bow.

Shot some Slick Trick standards through it last night and really liked how they performed. They were off a little from my fieldpoints at 30-40 yards, about 3 inches away slightly low and to the right. But I don't know how many times I put the arrow in the same hole at those distances...very consistent!! So I have a little bit of work to do to make things perfect.

[nomad_archer]

Sounds like its coming together for you holla. I found I am a side plates kind of when I went to hoyt. There is nothing wrong with the new mathews bows but I just don't have the itch for a new bow at this time so Im not even looking.

[Big_Holla]

Sounds like its coming together for you holla. I found I am a side plates kind of when I went to hoyt. There is nothing wrong with the new mathews bows but I just don't have the itch for a new bow at this time so Im not even looking.

I agree, it took me 14 years to finally upgrade to this new bow so the dag-gone thing better do me some good for a while!!

[00buck]

yeah i haven't bought a new one for a couple years but for some reason i look at the new hoyts every year

[Mightymet]

I read an article in field and stream a couple months ago about grips( and a bunch of other stuff that is supposed to be better or worse) and the thought that bigger is better or vice versa. They tested the theory out on three different bows and I believe one of them was a Mathews. The end results were surprising in that they all shot significantly better with no grip than with any other grip. I shoot a bowtech and the grips on them aren't very thick and I was thinking about getting a larger one but after reading that article I may just stick with what I got.


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[nomad_archer]

Well Mightymet if you look at the standard grips on the high end target bows most of them do not have any grip on them at all just the painted riser. The reason behind that is that the bigger the grip the more likely one is to accidentally torque the bow which will affect accuracy. Most hunting bows have some sort of grip on them. I like side plates since it finishes the bow since hunting bows all have some type of grip on them but they are small and unobtrusive. Some people like to have some sort of grip on their hunting bow because when its 20* out in november and you are waiting a deer to come it your hand can get really really cold even with gloves on holding that metal riser with side plates or no grip. The cold riser inst something that bothers me but I'm sure it bothers some people and thats te reason they like grips since wood and composite grips wont transfer the cold as readily to your hand.

[Big_Holla]

Exactly nomad_archer, that is the first thing I looked at (and felt) when I was looking at new bows. The one's that only had a metal riser and no wood whatsoever I could have cared less to even shoot. It has to be comfortable in my hand and wood makes all the difference in the world to me.

[MJH]

BH,

I picked up a new Mathews a couple weeks ago also. I had been wanting to upgrade for awhile also. I ended up with the Helim tho. I just liked the feel better. Anyway I have been having some accuracy/consistency issues too. You are right in saying they are very sensitive. I have delt with the draw and the wanting to "go" like you stated also. Mine comes when I really am trying to relax and concentrate on my form! I shoot a hell of alot better then too.Gonna talk to dealer and see if maybe shortening the draw a 1/2 inch would help. Seems when I relax my arm holding bow is when she "goes"! My thinking is my left arm can relax and not lock and still keep same anchor!

Mike

[nomad_archer]

MJH what you are experiencing is that you are relaxing to much and your form is collapsing. Pair that with what sounds like a shorter valley on your new bow and you get the feeling the bow is ready to go. At least that's what it sounds like. Shortening the draw though it may help wont help you with form issues. You need to keep your bow arm rigid and squeeze your shoulder blades together. That will allow you to relax. You want your bow arm rigid and carry the tension through your shoulder blades and to your release and anchor. Essentially right now your are relaxing that tension and creeping forward from your anchor and the bow is getting off the back-wall in through the valley. Keep practicing and relax but make sure you don't collapse your form it only takes a little bit to get out of the valley.

[Big_Holla]

Yep that's a lot of what I feel as well MJH. I am also thinking that the much lighter bow is what is causing most of my wobble and unsteadiness too. A lot to get used to and I only wish I had another month or two to get ready and to be able to tweak a few things.