Thoughts on a new crossbow

[carperdoug]

I went from an Ibex to a 355. Never looked back. The 355 is an excellent compromise on speed, balance and size.

[RobD]

I went from an Ibex to a 355. Never looked back. The 355 is an excellent compromise on speed, balance and size.

I don't see the 355 as a compromise on anything!

[Tom]

Sorry to disagree with you Anthony, but there seems to have been a breakage reported very recently. Your suggestion to buy one in the off season and shoot the heck out of it seems logical and I may do that.

grouse, every bow produced, no matter what company makes them, will have a certain amount of failures. It has been documented on here that the "micro" had a failure rate (% of bow sales) with less failures then any other model produced by Excalibur. It is just that with the availability of the internet you hear about most of them, not like when the first models were out there.

For me, I have an original Relayer, shot it for over 30 years and had no need to retire it just because you could not out shoot it and it had more then enough energy to kill even a moose. I have no backup bow, just because these bows are so reliable. But this "micro" has my interest. I would not buy it for the extra power but for its size, feel and balance. The only thing holding me back from buying one is I do not have funds available to me.

But I am confused, you say you have a back up bow, (Axiom) but are looking at it as if you have a failure in a new bow it will be the end of all ends. Backup bows are just for that, in case you have a failure.

I do believe that with the more power you build into a bow, there is a greater chance of having problems with the bow. Even in saying that, I have no problems buying a micro if I could afford it. In fact, I convinced my brother to buy a 355 just after they came out and I could not pry it from his fingers today, he loves the Matrix. He was dead set against them at first.

If you love the Size, Feel and Performance of the "Micro", I would suggest to you that you should get it. You have better "ODDS" (%) that you will not have any problems with the mirco then you will with other models.

Tom

[grouse]

Sorry to disagree with you Anthony, but there seems to have been a breakage reported very recently. Your suggestion to buy one in the off season and shoot the heck out of it seems logical and I may do that.

grouse, every bow produced, no matter what company makes them, will have a certain amount of failures. It has been documented on here that the "micro" had a failure rate (% of bow sales) with less failures then any other model produced by Excalibur. It is just that with the availability of the internet you hear about most of them, not like when the first models were out there.

For me, I have an original Relayer, shot it for over 30 years and had no need to retire it just because you could not out shoot it and it had more then enough energy to kill even a moose. I have no backup bow, just because these bows are so reliable. But this "micro" has my interest. I would not buy it for the extra power but for its size, feel and balance. The only thing holding me back from buying one is I do not have funds available to me.

But I am confused, you say you have a back up bow, (Axiom) but are looking at it as if you have a failure in a new bow it will be the end of all ends. Backup bows are just for that, in case you have a failure.

I do believe that with the more power you build into a bow, there is a greater chance of having problems with the bow. Even in saying that, I have no problems buying a micro if I could afford it. In fact, I convinced my brother to buy a 355 just after they came out and I could not pry it from his fingers today, he loves the Matrix. He was dead set against them at first.

If you love the Size, Feel and Performance of the "Micro", I would suggest to you that you should get it. You have better "ODDS" (%) that you will not have any problems with the mirco then you will with other models.

Tom

I'm sorry if I confused you. I only have one bow, the Axiom. A new bow would become my primary bow and the Axiom would be my back up. I guess I just don't believe the contention that Micros have the lowest failure rate. There have been too many failures (several multiple failures) reported by people on this forum for me to risk climbing into a stand with one. I may buy one in the off season (as suggested by Anthony) and give it a good workout to see if it is going to hold up.

[retrieverman]

I have had my Micro right at a year and shot it more than my other two hunting crossbows combined. This is the first time I've ever left a bow strung all summer and practiced with it during the off season, and I plan to do it again this year. I like the Micro that much.

This thread was really pointless since the OP is already an expert on the Micro from what he's read on this forum, and since there have been a few limbs break, all Micros must be undependable. His mind was made up about the Micro before he ever posted the thread.

I'm not saying limbs don't break (obviously they do), but I tend to believe that in most (if not all) cases there's more to the stories than is getting posted on here.

I guess my point is if you don't like a bow/don't trust a bow/whatever then don't buy one, but please don't come on here and talk down a bow that many of us like and have had great success with. Not cool at all...

[grouse]

I have had my Micro right at a year and shot it more than my other two hunting crossbows combined. This is the first time I've ever left a bow strung all summer and practiced with it during the off season, and I plan to do it again this year. I like the Micro that much.

This thread was really pointless since the OP is already an expert on the Micro from what he's read on this forum, and since there have been a few limbs break, all Micros must be undependable. His mind was made up about the Micro before he ever posted the thread.

I'm not saying limbs don't break (obviously they do), but I tend to believe that in most (if not all) cases there's more to the stories than is getting posted on here.

I guess my point is if you don't like a bow/don't trust a bow/whatever then don't buy one, but please don't come on here and talk down a bow that many of us like and have had great success with. Not cool at all...

I don't know why you decided to be insulting when everyone else has been respectful. Just as you are skeptical of the reported limbs breaking, I am skeptical of reports of reliability in the face of posts to the contrary. I like the features of the Micro and I'm glad for everyone (except you) who has had no issues with theirs. I will (as I have stated) probably buy a Micro in the off season and shoot it a lot to be sure I can count on it. I simply don't want to plunk down $900.00 on a bow that might let me down when I really need it. If you find that offensive, I can't help you.

[retrieverman]

I don't know why you decided to be insulting when everyone else has been respectful. Just as you are skeptical of the reported limbs breaking, I am skeptical of reports of reliability in the face of posts to the contrary. I like the features of the Micro and I'm glad for everyone (except you) who has had no issues with theirs. I will (as I have stated) probably buy a Micro in the off season and shoot it a lot to be sure I can count on it. I simply don't want to plunk down $900.00 on a bow that might let me down when I really need it. If you find that offensive, I can't help you.

Are you serious?!?

[grouse]

I don't know why you decided to be insulting when everyone else has been respectful. Just as you are skeptical of the reported limbs breaking, I am skeptical of reports of reliability in the face of posts to the contrary. I like the features of the Micro and I'm glad for everyone (except you) who has had no issues with theirs. I will (as I have stated) probably buy a Micro in the off season and shoot it a lot to be sure I can count on it. I simply don't want to plunk down $900.00 on a bow that might let me down when I really need it. If you find that offensive, I can't help you.

Are you serious?!?

I'm serious about everything except the thing about your limbs breaking, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I don't want to feud with you so let's just agree to disagree over an unimportant issue. Life is too good right now to sling mud balls. Our rifle season opens Saturday morning and there is a really big buck running around on our farm and I would rather daydream about him than have a petty dispute with you that neither of us can win. Good luck with your hunting and I'm sorry if I offended you.

[Tom]

I'm sorry if I confused you. I only have one bow, the Axiom. A new bow would become my primary bow and the Axiom would be my back up. I guess I just don't believe the contention that Micros have the lowest failure rate. There have been too many failures (several multiple failures) reported by people on this forum for me to risk climbing into a stand with one. I may buy one in the off season (as suggested by Anthony) and give it a good workout to see if it is going to hold up.

LOL, I know that you curently only have one bow and that your next bow would be your primary bow. This says that you will have a "backup" bow, therefore if there is a failure, it would not be as drastic as if it was your only bow.

.......... I guess I just don't believe the contention that Micros have the lowest failure rate. There have been too many failures (several multiple failures)........

It is not "contention" that the micros have the lowest failure rates, IT IS FACT which Excalibur tracts "all" failures and have since the early bows.

It seems that you have made up your mind that there is a "major problem" with this bow from "asumptions" and not from fact.

Then why are you reading this forum for information if your not open to "all of the facts" and only going to jump to conclusions.

Tom

[grouse]

Tom, I'm sorry that I have awakened such hostility in you and Retrieverman, I must be communicating in a way that I don't intend to.

For me, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction on the internet. I haven't seen the report on the failure rates of Excal's various crossbow models that you refer to, but it seems odd to me that the bow with the lowest failure rate seems to have the highest failure rate among the posts on this forum. I have yet to see a reported failure of a Grizzly, 310, 330,355, Exocet, Eclipse, Ibex, Phoenix, Vixen, Axiom etc. I realize that this is far from reliable info., but it is hard for me to believe that there are more failures of Grizzlies than Micros.

I am sure that you are not consciously trying to deceive me when you tell me something is a fact, but you still might be wrong. I will make a decision and buy an Excal during the off season. The info and opinions that you and others have offered has been valuable to me (despite your and Retrieverman's insulting insinuations) and I thank everyone. I am better informed to make a better decision.

[Tom]

Tom, I'm sorry that I have awakened such hostility in you and Retrieverman, I must be communicating in a way that I don't intend to.

For me, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction on the internet. I haven't seen the report on the failure rates of Excal's various crossbow models that you refer to, but it seems odd to me that the bow with the lowest failure rate seems to have the highest failure rate among the posts on this forum. I have yet to see a reported failure of a Grizzly, 310, 330,355, Exocet, Eclipse, Ibex, Phoenix, Vixen, Axiom etc. I realize that this is far from reliable info., but it is hard for me to believe that there are more failures of Grizzlies than Micros.

I am sure that you are not consciously trying to deceive me when you tell me something is a fact, but you still might be wrong. I will make a decision and buy an Excal during the off season. The info and opinions that you and others have offered has been valuable to me (despite your and Retrieverman's insulting insinuations) and I thank everyone. I am better informed to make a better decision.

My post was not hostle. Just stated the facts which have been posted on this forum earlier.

grouse, do a search of Excaliburdude's posts. Peter has confronted this "micro is such a bad bow" statements before. He has also compared some of models failure rates.

At BooFest I had the privledge of talking at great length with Peter. Some of the talk was about the misconceived notion that there was a major problem with the micro. I was told that the micro had a failure rate of less then 1percent while the other models were near 2 percent.

For me, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction on the internet. I haven't seen the report on the failure rates of Excal's various crossbow models that you refer to, but it seems odd to me that the bow with the lowest failure rate seems to have the highest failure rate among the posts on this forum.

Just because you do not see it on the internet does not mean it did not happen. Have you ever read any failures from the earlier bows. In todays world, people have the internet right in their pocket and can rant & complain right at the time of failure. In the world before,people did not have easy access to the internet so you never heard of most of the failures.

Also, how many micros have been sold. Because the stores can not seem to be able to keep them in the stores, I imagine it might be very high sales. With a 1 precent failure rate, the more sales means more possible failures.

Plus there have been posts on the internet where one failure was posted on different forums, under different names, and that one failure was counted as 3 different failures. How many times has that happened.

Tom