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2010 New Bow Preview
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3/1/2010
Even a brief glimpse into the 2010 bows shows “Beyond-parallel” limbs are the new design rage. Check out what's new this year.
by The Editors
Monster 7 and Z7
The most obvious thing you will notice about the new Mathews bows is the highly sculpted design of the risers. Both the Z7 and Monster 7 have dozens of small cutouts creating a riser that resembles a screen when viewed from the side, or a web. There is not an ounce of material on these bows that doesn’t have to be there. Mathews also redesigned their single-cam on the Z7, but now we are starting to get ahead or ourselves. Let’s jump right to the bows.
The Z7 is the new top of the line single-cam bow from Mathews. Last year it was the Reezen and this year it is the Z7. It is hard to get ahead of a company when they keep cranking out improvements each year. Granted, the improvements may not be earth-shaking, but they are improvements nonetheless and after a few years of advances accumulate, it is time to buy again. We remember a recent study that suggested bowhunters replace their bows every three years, on average. Three years of improvements at Mathews would indeed start to look like something earth-shaking and certainly be compelling enough to warrant an upgrade.
For example, the new Z7 features the highly sculpted riser mentioned previously. This produces maximum stiffness at minimum weight. The bow weighs in at just less than four pounds. It has a lot of interesting stuff on it. For example, the new roller guard actually pushes the harnesses out rather than pulling them in. This reduces friction on the rollers and makes the bow slightly more efficient. It is called the Reverse Assist Roller Guard and is highly machined like the riser.
We also like the grip, not only because it is narrow and comfortable for accurate shooting, but also from a tuning standpoint. There is a red inlaid stripe in the grip that indicates the bow’s centerline so you can simply line the string and rest up with this stripe to hit the bow’s true center, resulting in quick, accurate setup.
The cam is the new Z7 SoloCam, a new design that also features the Quick Change Axle. We’ll have a lot more to say about this bow very soon once we have had the chance to shoot it.
Last year Mathews broke with their tradition of single-cam exclusivity and came out with the Monster, a two-cam monster of a bow. Pure speed was the bow’s number one selling point, but Mathews decided to tone it back with a 7-inch brace height. Toning it back is a relative term, however. How can you say it was “toned back” when it still produces an IBO speed rating of 342 fps? It is 33 1/2 inches long and features the same AVS dual cam system that graced last year’s Monster.
If you will recall, it is an innovative system that permits the harness endpoint to cross over the axle so it can aid as well as fight the draw forces giving the engineers another valuable lever to play with. They call the three Monsters in the line the “McPherson Series” to differentiate them from the single-cam models.
The new DR2 is kind of a mix of old and new from Mathews. It doesen’t have the beyond parallel limb designs that everyone is going for, but it does have a smooth single-cam, roller guard and string suppressors. It is 33 inches long, has a 7-inch brace height and an IBO speed of up to 320 fps. It is lightweight, at under 3.9 pounds and will retail for less than the other new models. The DR2 has kind of a Mathews retro look to it, sort of like a ‘best of the best’ from the last few years.
