Elite Flex Recurve Riser

Elite isn't normally a company we talk about much (or indeed at all) on this website. They are a pretty high-end compound manufacturer putting it out of our sphere of interest on the grounds of cost and the fact they only make compounds .. until now. With the recent release of a recurve riser, Elite have made themselves of interest to us. Specifically for riser innovation. Recurve archery has not had too many innovative leaps recently with change mostly coming in small iterative evolutions. However, anything new we like to cover as it may have implications for the future of recurve. Soyeahso, Elite have come up with a way to allow you to vary the length of your riser (and so the size of the bow) by 2"! Is this useful? We're not sure but let’s take a look at what Elite have done.

First let’s set the parameters of what we're talking about. The Flex recurve riser from Elite Archery is a 17" field riser intended for hunting*. It is ILF compatible, has bushings for weights or small hunting stabilizers, buttonholes and attachment points for a sight. So far, so pretty standard. Where does it vary from the norm?

Innovation the first. Let’s talk about the riser's Adjustable and Removable Shelf. While there are buttonholes and the bow is perfectly capable of taking a normal stick on/screw on rest, part of the shelf can be adjusted both in/out and up/down as required to tune your arrows or get proper clearance. In the picture left, the visible screw moves the plate up and down. There's a screw on the other side of the riser to move the plate in and out. This is a nice innovation when the archer wants to shoot off the shelf (it's a field thing) which, till now, has always been a one size fits all. The shelf/riser can be protected by the usual stick-on carpet which can easily be cut to size to fit onto the movable part of the shelf. Alternatively, easily removable if you wanted to use a rest. A definite quality of life upgrade and a nice little innovation for shelf shooters. As we said, more in the ballpark of the field archer but innovation is innovation and worth a nod.

the red and yellow arrows show the two mounting positions (currently set to 19 inches).

Where this riser really gets frisky is in the limb pockets. The ARC system (Archery Riser Configuration) effectively gives you two bows in one. How does it do that? Put simply, you can move each limb pocket from its standard mounting position near the riser grip to a second set of the mounting holes further away from the grip. This lengthens the riser from a 17" to a 19". This allows the overall bow length to vary from 58" to 64" using the riser's ability and the selection of small, medium or long limbs. That's giving a significantly larger than normal variation of lengths. At 17" you get 58", 60" and 62" bows dependent on limb size. While in its 19" configuration you potentially get a 60", 62" and 64" bow. This modification/limb options now raises/reduces the draw weight from 2-4 lbs (at a 28" draw) depending in what direction you are moving the pockets. That's much more than the usual 5% of draw weight (about 1.5 - 2lbs). This range means you can choose between a fast cast, small bow or a much more stable and less likely to stack longer bow. From the point of view of a 'murican archer, the bow could be set up in its 17" configuration for 3D where the target creature is foam and doesn't move. That speedy bow would give a flat trajectory and better accuracy if harder to hold on target for long. Conversely the 19" configuration would be more stable with a lighter draw making it more flexible and a better hunting bow for those targets that don't hang around to get shot at.

What does this mean for us target recurvers? Right now .. very little. The riser is primarily something that would vibe with the hunting fraternity in the US. We gain very little being able to jump back and forward in bow sizes and a specialist bow will always win out over a multi-use bow. In the UK, it makes more sense to just buy the bow size/weight you want/feel comfortable with. Also, to get the full range of sizes if you were experimenting, you'd need to buy multiple limbs and that sounds expensive. You could visit an archery shop and tried out many limbs on your adjustable riser taking many hours before purchase. Probably drive the shop mental but there are archers who would quite happily do just that ... (yes, HE would!).

"What's the point to us then?" we hear you say. Well, this innovation is something that could filter down to the target community over time. 27" risers are expensive and quite rare. A 25" riser with the potential to become 27" might cut the price/increase the availability/increase choice for archers of larger stature. Driving your bow up to 72" could also be an interesting experiment for outdoors where longer bows have been seen to be more forgiving at longer distances. Having a more stable 72" bow for outdoors at 70m and a faster cast 70" for 18m indoors might be quite useful. This would require Elite to create a range of 25"/27" recurve risers which is unlikely since they are a compound maker after all. More likely, they might license the patent to Hoyt, Win&Win or other recurve riser maker to test the market and the concept more thoroughly.

The cost of this puppy definitely puts it in the mid to upper price range. £600 (Merlin) is a chunk of change so it’s not a riser you would buy for LOL's. It would make a nice field bow for wandering in the woods at say Palacerigg in Cumbernauld but you are paying for the brand name and flexibility you might never use. Sadly, not a riser we would recommend in our target focused club for the above reasons. Still, it is nice to see some innovative changes to recurves when most people felt that the recurve had reached its zenith some years ago and isn't going to evolve any further.

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* Hunting with a bow is not allowed in the UK (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981)
Elite Archery's webpage
Merlin carry the Flex Recurve Riser
Many thanks to Mr Ross for the heads up on this interesting product .. hat tip deserved here. Even if he is a compounder AND from EK. ;o)