# Samick Athlete Vs Hoyt Horizon



## Double_E (Jul 30, 2011)

Somebody there?


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## chrstphr (Nov 23, 2005)

sorry, I'm not familiar with either of those two risers, though probably both will shoot well for you. 


Chris


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

Athlete is solid intermediate level bow, Horizon is good beginner level bow. If the price is similar, I'd get athlete 10 times out of 10. It has better feel for me, better alignment hardware, better materials, it's heavy enough and you can see them even in international competitions every now and then. Only downside is the paint job, like in every Samick riser, it chips if you're not careful. Tho paint jobs in the cheaper Hoyts aren't the best either. Only plus for horizon is interchangeable grip, but for me, stock Samick grip is better.

I've shot both, tuned few athletes for archers that I coached and bought and tuned half a dozen horizons for club bows. Some horizons have been twisted, athletes rarely so. Athletes can handle my poundages (46+), horizons rattle like hell at that.

Horizon is brilliant kids/youth/ladies bow because of the light weight. Also ok to use for club bows for the same reason.


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## Double_E (Jul 30, 2011)

Thanks Chris for the friendly message 

Thanks Zal for such experienced answer! I will definitely go for the Athlete (now somebody offered me a Hoyt Matrix, help!!).


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

Double_E said:


> Thanks Zal for such experienced answer! I will definitely go for the Athlete (now somebody offered me a Hoyt Matrix, help!!).


Matrix is a good piece of kit. Go for it if the price is right.


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## Double_E (Jul 30, 2011)

So Between the Athlete and the Matrix, the Hoyt is the winner even if it´s an older bow? Thanks for advice


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

It has proven track record. Olympic gold medals and such.

Athlete is a good riser, Matrix is a great riser.

Age has nothing to do with how good a riser is. Some of the most successful bows these days have been made in 2000-2004 or earlier (like masters, ultra, zenit etc.) and some of the new ones have been quite horrible in fact. Not to mention that production quality seems to have been going down recently, and some people are moving back to old kit or risers that they know have been made properly and are straight etc.


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## Greysides (Jun 10, 2009)

> Athlete is solid intermediate level bow, Horizon is good beginner level bow. If the price is similar, I'd get athlete 10 times out of 10. It has better *feel* for me, *better alignment hardware, better materials*, it's heavy enough


Zal, what qualities separate a beginners riser from an intermediate level riser?

Is there more to it than the features you mentioned.

Thanks.


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

Imo those are more or like it. Plus they are generally machined using slower programs so you can feel the difference even from surface texture and amount of twisted or otherwise uniform products. And generally they are on the lighter end of the weight scale, to help boost sales for youths, and to save in production costs by using smaller aluminium blocks.

Those forumites who have actually manufactured risers can probably be more precise.


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## Greysides (Jun 10, 2009)

Thanks Zal.


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## Double_E (Jul 30, 2011)

Thanks a Lot Zal, You´ve been super claire. I´ll post some picts as soon as I get it.

eD


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