# Bob Lee or TradTech Pinnacle Recurve?



## TonyU (Mar 15, 2007)

I'm drawn to both of these recurves and keep going back and forth between them. Those of you that have either or both, I'd appreciate any input you might have. Thanks.


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## Tajue17 (Aug 18, 2005)

if I shot both and couldn't decide then I'd go with the Bob Lee just because Bob & Rob have been around for years and their bows are pound for pound one of the best out there. 

tradtech may fetch a better price on the used market if you decided to sell it though? 

something I have heard that i haven't proved yet ,, the tradtechs like lighter arrows and shoot them great with not alot of bow noise,, where the bob lee's like a normal 8-10gr per # arrow weight and they are very quiet. 

for the record I think I still have a 52# 62" bob lee classic t/d longbow with the recurve style riser in my collection somewhere that was very very quiet with 50-55 11/32 cedars and was fast enough but not no speed king.


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## MikeByrge (Jan 4, 2005)

I have owned both....I personally would get the Bob Lee but they are both good bows.

They are both good shooters, decent speed, easy to quiet down, etc. The Lee has a more "solid" feel me and seems smoother late in the draw to me. The trad tech had more pre-load and was probably a little faster but not dramatically.

One big advantage for the TradTech is that you can get ILF limbs for not much money....you can also spend big bucks on a set of high-end ILF limbs that would probably make a better shooting bow. 

The finish work will be better on a Bob Lee bow and you'll be getting a bow made in Jacksonville, TX by a family that has been making bow for 50 years.


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## stew (Jun 15, 2005)

I don't wish to offend anyone. It has been a while since posting here but, I have a strong oppinion when it comes to the "TradTech" bows.

I deal with and I am friends with many professional bowyers from around the U.S. They are taxed 11% by Uncle Sam for every bow they sell. It is part of the federal exsize tax that caused wood shafts to be taxed 42%. 

The bows "TradTech sells are, IMHO a cheap knock off of bows designed by bowyers from North America. The Korean bow manufacturers that carve them out don't even attempt to hide their theft of a true bowyers hard work. AND, since they are not made in the U.S. they are not required to pay that 11% excise tax. Which I can never see as fair trade. 

If you are looking for a real custom bow, then please, do yourself a favor and search out a custom, professional bowyer in your area. If you aren't familiar with any I'll gladly put you in touch with one close to you.

Thanks for allowing me to rant a bit.


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## lastmanout (Jan 5, 2008)

Had a Pinnacle riser, was slower than my metal riser bows and the ILF adjustment was a very weak system (phenolic threaded sleeves). It was just a block of wood, without much stlye, IMHO no 'soul'. It had poor resale value. My recycled Warf bows out-performed it and, to me have more appeal. I would definately go with a Bob Lee, a classic now and a classic years from now.Will still have value down the road.


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## Hawksnest88 (Dec 12, 2005)

Two years ago I bought a new Bob Lee 64" Hunter. I had it 3 months and didn't care for it, and couldn't shoot it as well as my other bows. I sold it after 3 months and lost $200 on it. They do make good bows however, and I still have my Colt firearms bows "made by Wing" from the 60s, and they still shoot well. I have friends with Bob Lee bows and they love them. The bow I bought for 3-D shooting just didn't fit me well at all. Bill G.


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## hawgslayer (Jul 20, 2004)

:darkbeer:

I have a couple of trad bows but the one I hunt with is my Bob Lee HUNTER T/D. I've taken 5 does in the past 2 hunting seasons and this season isn't over yet. It's 62"s long and has a 48# draw. All 5 deer were double lung pass thru's and were shot under 20 yards. It has black limbs and the riser is grey and black. Wouldn't trade or sell it for anything.

GO WITH THE BOB LEE. Rob will set you up nice. Call and speak to him and he'll make you a bow you'll shoot for a long time.

Hawgslayer........:darkbeer:


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## GEREP (May 6, 2003)

*The bows "TradTech sells are, IMHO a cheap knock off of bows designed by bowyers from North America. The Korean bow manufacturers that carve them out don't even attempt to hide their theft of a true bowyers hard work. AND, since they are not made in the U.S. they are not required to pay that 11% excise tax. Which I can never see as fair trade. *

1. Currently, there are only two TradTech bows, the Pinnacle (Pinnacle II currently) and the Titan. The Pinnacle is a 19" laminated ILF riser that was designed jointly by the owner of TradTech archery and Samick. It is not a knockoff of any other bow (American or otherwise) on the market as there is/was no other bow like it.

2. The Titan, which is a 17" aluminum ILF riser, the only one on the market, is made in America.

TradTech was also the first to introduce and ILF longbow limb...also a joint design between Samick and TradTech.

Like them or dislike them, but at least be accurate about what you imply.

KPC


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## Hawksnest88 (Dec 12, 2005)

GEREP said:


> Like them or dislike them, but at least be accurate about what you imply.
> 
> KPC


Thank you KPC, took the words right out of my mouth, and you are correct in what you say. Bill G.


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## [email protected] (Aug 2, 2007)

Thanks to GEREP and Hawksnest. The Pinnacle was designed in a cooperative venture by the owner of TradTech and Samick. The limbs are also made for us by Samick to our specs. The Pinnacle riser underwent some major design changes last year, making it less "blocky" and rounding off some edges and slimming it down. Hence, the Pinnacle II.

the Titan machined riser is made and anodized in the U.S., assembled and aligned in Lancaster, at TradTech.

The Bob Lee line of bows are excellent custom bows, as are many of today's custom bows.

My suggestion is to try to shoot as many bows as possible, and make a decision based on your personal preferences. If you are interested in learning more about the TradTech bows and variety of limbs, please feel free to contact me at TradTech.

Thanks,


Lee 
1-800-829-7408 ext 237


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## petew (Nov 14, 2004)

Tony, I reviewed the Pinnacle, and updated the review with the Pinnacel II on my Trad Reviews at www.peteward.com .
I still stand behind the reviews and think the PinnacleII is a good bow.
As for Bob Lee, I have never shot one, but I do hear lots of good reports from owners.

Pete


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## TonyU (Mar 15, 2007)

*thanks to all for your input...*

It's greatly appreciated.


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## [email protected] (Oct 17, 2003)

*TradTech, FET and other factual corrections*

Clarification of the facts concerning Stew's misinformed post.

TradTech Archery is the division of Lancaster Archery Supply, Inc. 100% dedicated to shooting sightless, single-string bows in a "traditional" manner for either recreation or hunting. Our 26 year reputation for excellence, technical knowledge and service stands squarely behind TradTech.
Personally, I was taught, trained and have 45 years of experience shooting a variety of traditional styles in addition to my world-wide travels competing in FITA competitions and also competing and hunting with a compound and release. A decades long & valued Trad-Shooting friend of mine, Lee, joined us a year and a half ago to assist with and now lead TradTech. We recently published the largest Traditional Archery Catalog in the world featuring 50% more items than any currently available. There are few people or companies as committed and hard-working toward the success, health and promotion of all forms of archery as the family of employees at Lancaster Archery Supply.

TradTech's efforts to enlighten Traditional archers to the many advantages of the Olympic Style ILF (International Limb Fitting) system will be a great advantage and opportunity for the professional and hobbyist bowyers in the USA. With ILF, They can now begin to make beautiful bow risers and limbs that will be interchangeable with thousands of others as part of an accuracy and performance proven standard limb connection system. We applaud the bowyers in the USA and around the world who are passionately crafting their bows with excellence.

EVERY TradTech bow is 100% designed in the USA by me with the input of credentialed engineers, staff and experts in the field. The CNC Machined Aluminum TradTech Titan Riser is 100% made in the USA, except for the brass ILF fitting made by esteemed Spigarelli of Italy. We work with Samick, the world's leading Olympic recurve bowyer in Korea to build our limbs to our specs and design along with the Pinnacle II Wood/Phenolic Riser. Several years ago, Eric Hall(of CT's now bankrupt AIM) sent a Black Widow and a SKY Hawk to Samick AND asked them to duplicate it for the HIM to take to the US market. They were eager to please someone they trusted at the time and made the bows for him under the AIM name. These models have been discontinued by Samick for two years now at my insistance! Every new model of Samick traditional bow is of original engineering and design from Samick with input from archers in the US.
Samick bows provide exceptional and unmatched value for traditional archers.
The 11% Federal Excise Tax (FET) that Fred Bear(and the rest of the archery industry) VOLUNTEERED to pay the Federal Government as an additional to the Pittman-Robertson act to purchase and support Federal Lands forever open to the hunting public is paid each quarter on 100% of every TradTech or Samick bow and all taxable archery equipment that we sell. The FET is to be paid on archery equipment made, imported or sold in the USA. There are many hobbyist bowyers who make a few bows that don't pay FET and that's up to each individual, however every bow we sell has the FET paid on it.

Thank you for the opportunity to set the record straight in a factual manner.

Sincerely, 
Rob

PS: Stew, BTW (I am occasionally offended by deliberate smears and slander, but have a Merry Christmas!)

(From Stew's Post) 
"The bows "TradTech sells are, IMHO a cheap knock off of bows designed by bowyers from North America. The Korean bow manufacturers that carve them out don't even attempt to hide their theft of a true bowyers hard work. AND, since they are not made in the U.S. they are not required to pay that 11% excise tax. Which I can never see as fair trade."


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## Stykshooter (Aug 2, 2007)

Tony,

I have owned and shot a good number of the custom bows out there, Robertson, BW, Bighorn, etc. I have never owned a Bob Lee but agree that he has a fine line of bows and have been tempted several times over the years to make a purchase.

I do have a Pinnacle, in addition to my Titan, that I like very much. I got one in after the first of the year with 50 pound long bow limbs on it. I didn't get to shoot it much as my oldest son really liked it and pretty much adopted it as his own right off the bat. I ended up purchasing a second one in late summer with 55 pound long bow limbs on it and have been shooting it quite a bit. 

Mine is reasonably fast and very quiet, especially once you get the brace height up above about 8.5 inches. I think the bow has one of the best feeling grips of any traditional bow I have shot and I have had custom bowyers manufacture grips to my hand and specifications. I shot several deer during early season with my Titan and then switched over to the Pinnacle. I have really been enjoying shooting it and ended up shooting a pretty decent 8 pointer with it a couple weeks ago. As I said, both of the Pinnacles in my house have longbow limbs. I do have two friends who have bought Pinnacles with recurve limbs and they seem to really like their bows. We now have a total of six guys in the area who are shooting Pinnacles.

You can't hardly go wrong with the Pinnacle, especially for the money. You can purchase a bow and an extra set of limbs for what a low end bow from most of the custom bowyers will cost you. A real bonus of having a riser that has ILF connections is that any ILF limb will work on your riser. You can try out a set of your buddy’s limbs on your bow or have one riser with a set of recurve limbs and a set of longbow limbs. The only down side is that you can't get some of the pretty, exotic woods that the custom bowyers offer but if you are more interested in performance the Pinnacle will work out well for you.


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## GEREP (May 6, 2003)

Rob:

Thanks for the clarification. Any word on the new ILF riser that you guys have been working on?

KPC


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## kbob (Dec 18, 2007)

*also consider limb choices*

Hi TonyU,

I guess another thing to consider is limb choices.
With a custom bow from any bowyer you're kind of locked in to their limbs if you want different draw weights or bow lengths.

With the ILF setup you have a bunch of limb choices regarding draw weight, bow length and limb materials and composition. 

I think a very revealing fact about the utility of the ILF system is that some high end traditional bowyers are now building risers and limbs for the ILF system. And they most likely can build you a set of pretty wood limbs at the draw weight you like.

Good luck and no matter what you get it's not like you're married to it, you can always change or get a different one.


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