# Hoyt Elan info please



## DeepRiverBowman (Mar 22, 2007)

I am new to competitive oly bow shooting. After shooting compounds for may years and trying out recurve for bowhunting for the last two seasons, I'm ready to try target shooting with a recurve. I am looking to build a good intermediate competition bow. I just bought a Hoyt Elan riser on eBay. I know it was introduced in 1997, but I don't know how many years it was in production. Just wondering so as to get an idea of how old it might be. I also downloaded a pdf manual for Hoyt recurves from 2000 that doesn't mention the Elan. Does anybody have an Elan owner's manual you could send me?

I bought only the riser so I'll need a string and limbs at a minimum + rest, plunger, sight, and stabs. Any suggestions or advice to help get started is appreciated (Remember, I said "a good intermediate" bow. I'm not going to pay $300 for a plunger )

Thanx,
mike


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

Mike, congrat's on getting a sweet deal. That riser is worth so much more than you paid for it! (I was following it too!).

The riser was around until the late 90's. Not much to gain from an owner's manual, since the Elan has no moving parts. What you should know is that you do NOT unwind the limb bolts past the edge of the riser, and always tighten the set screw before stringing the bow, otherwise you'll risk buggering the threads in the riser. Before you ever shoot it, you may want to remove the limb bolts and put a light coat of bowstring wax on the threads and re-install them so they turn smoothly and don't bind up.

Other than that, the grip is the nearly universal Hoyt Avalon-style grip that was used on many of Hoyt's risers for about 10+ years. You can still get replacement grips for it (plastic or wood) for $16-50

For limbs, look at the Samick Universals to get started. They are very good starter limbs that are quite capable.

You'll need a rest. You don't necessarily need a plunger. The Hoyt Super Rest has a plastic "plunger" tab on it that takes the place of a plunger and will get you shooting cheap. And it's a quite capable rest. Just make sure you use the adhesive spacer that correctly sets the centershot for your bow. 

Set the limbs to a medium setting (usually about 4-5 turns out from full-in) and adjust until the tiller is about 1/4" closer on the bottom limb than the top. Set your nock height to 3/8" above square, and go have fun.

Welcome to "pure archery" 

John


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## jmvargas (Oct 21, 2004)

the elan was my first ILF riser when i started to get into serious olympic archery in 2004....i got it pre-owned and it was in the hoyt catalogue up to 2004 or 05 IIRC...

it is an excellent lightweight and responsive riser and ideal for those who like these qualities in a riser like seniors(me), ladies and smaller folks....i saw some olympians still using them on 2004 and also in 2008..

i had 2 of them and sold/traded them (which i now regret)but was able to later get a 23" version which i still have... 

if yours is straight ..guard it with your life!!..


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## LoneBear (Feb 6, 2008)

You have a PM :smile:


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## DeepRiverBowman (Mar 22, 2007)

Thanx for the helpful advice guys. I haven't received my riser yet. It's due UPS on Monday. John that's good to know about the grip. For inexpensive limbs I was even looking at Samick Privileges. I figure I'll go through a few sizes before I get to a final weight - why spend a fortune when I won't be keeping them? I was also considering a Cartel x-pert. I've shot magnetic rests on most of my compounds and like them. I looked at the Hoyt manual I downloaded and saw where it said the string length should be 3" shorter than the bow length. I thought recurve strings were 4" shorter and longbows were 3" shorter. Is it different with the longer recurves?

mike


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## Vittorio (Jul 17, 2003)

Elan was the cheaper (in manufacturing) replacement of the Radian. A very good riser, used by Natalia Valeeva for several victories and records. Only draw back, it was almost impossible to find a straigth one, and it did not have any limbs/riser alignemenst system. Double check the one you bought to see if it is one of the very few good around.


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## DeepRiverBowman (Mar 22, 2007)

I got my riser on Monday like they said. It's really nice. After reading some of the information here at AT about this being a light riser, I was surprised to find it felt rather heavy compared to what I'm used to with my 17" riser. I'm not sure what you consider a heavy riser, but this one seems weighty enough especially it will only heavier as I add stabs, sight, etc. I assume the grip on it is a medium, but I found it quite high for my taste. I didn't see any low grips in the LAS catalog. Does anyone have or know where I could get a low grip? I guess from LimbWalker's post it's a pretty standard Avalon type grip.

mike


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## Greysides (Jun 10, 2009)

Email Alternative Sporting Services. The Spigarelli or Best low grips should fit.


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

Well, it is 8" longer... 

When moving from traditional longbow to Olympic recurve, it took quite some time to get used to the 4X heavier bow. You'll get used to it.

Also, when moving from traditional bows to Olympic bows, even medium grips will feel high. I can assure you they are not. Again, you will get used to it.

I'd really suggest you just start out with that medium grip that's on the bow. It was designed that way for a reason. As you get a little experience, you'll be able to understand what it is that works best for you. 

John


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## DeepRiverBowman (Mar 22, 2007)

"Well, it is 8" longer..." LOL I guess I deserved that one John. I'll take your advice on the medium grip too. I'm just getting into oly recurve and there's a lot I don't know yet. I've already figured out that it's a whole different game than shooting traditional bows. I had a question on string length I didn't see an answer to yet - "I looked at the Hoyt manual I downloaded and saw where it said the string length should be 3" shorter than the bow length. I thought recurve strings were 4" shorter and longbows were 3" shorter. Is it different with the longer recurves?" I'm sure the Hoyt manual wouldn't be wrong, I just don't want to make a string I can't use. And is FF (or similar) the way to go, or would I be better off with B-50?

mike


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

I'm pretty sure every set of ILF limbs is FF compatible these days. So yes, use FF strings. I have used 8125 for many years, and most of the top recurve archers I know still use it.

3" less than the bow length is correct for string length.


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