A friend received his new PLV few weeks ago and told me she seems to be very slow. So we measured the speed and compared it with other bows:BW PsaV, Border LB(Hex4),BT Rec,Samick Lion,one no name 120$ LB.
I was very dissapointed:The PL was among the slowest!!!!With a 9grain/pound Arrow and a 30 inch draw only 178 fps-my PsaV shoots 200fps at this drawlengt!!
Is this bow damaged or are the Pl's realy that slow.

I read Bowhunting World tested the PLX and got 183fps with a bit under 9grs. (You can do a search for the article). It was the fastest of the bows they tested. (Savanah, Fergusons, Tomahawks are ones tested that immediately come to mind). My Border GL was a tad faster at that weight but who's to say I successfully controlled for all the variables? I'm not certain why this bothers you.

I don't care that my Border recurve is faster than my longbow.

To quote Sid (from Border bows): "It is possible to make an even faster bow. But the thrust of the longbow is in the tradition and for me that means it has to look like a longbow. If we build it even faster, the bow would have combined our limb technology with short limbs and a very long riser. In a short limbed bow the riser would have to be much longer and a bit bulkier and the limbs wider to take the stresses and tight bend radiuses that would occur from shorter acting limbs (We have made bows like that). But we wanted to enhance the traditional look and feel and so we did not go for that design. We wanted our bows to look like longbows."

[7]"There is a huge traditional movement and some people join that movement without having the true feeling for it (like a fashion) and then they twist and change things. Bow speed is just o­ne of those elements. The drive for faster and faster perverts the holistic "traditional" aspect of the movement.  Again where does the balance sit?"

Food for thought. I think Widows are great bows at any speed.

Take care,

Steve

Blacky has done some tests  http://www.bowreports.com/longb-select.htm  there is only four bow results there, but the PLX is the fastest of the lot.

Personally I´m very happy with my PLV, absolutely no complaints.
John

No complaints about the speed of BW PLs from numerous goats, donkeys, pigs, horses and a camel over this way.

I'm a BW fan and I didn't say all Pl's are slow, but this one is!
It is able to see it without a chrono.
Could it be that there is a failure in this bow or are they tested speedwise from the widow boys?

Sorry, I just re-read your post. A 30" draw should quicken it a bit, especially with the arrow weight you described. Is the arrow flying nicely? I've never shot mine through a chrono (never even seen a chrono), so I've got no figures to share.

@ Ben
The arrow is bareshafttuned and flies straight, I expected a speed of almost 200fps with this drawlengt(My BW Psav is well over 200 with a 30" draw at 9grain/pound), 178 is realy slow, maybe my friend should contact the Widow staff.

Well, the Widow staff would definitely be able to say whether that was an acceptable speed or not. They're always happy to help, too. Just as one last question, and you've probably checked and re-checked anyway, but is the arrow really 9 grains per pound? Anyway, if he just sends an e-mail to Roger, he'll get the answer.

By the way, do you have kangaroos hopping down the streets in Austria?

Sorry, mate! Just kidding!

Good luck with it all!

The arrow was slightly under 9grain/pound(8,88), we also measured the real draw weight(exactly like it is marked).
Kangaroos? Do you mean the ones with the leather pants, mounain climbing shoes a huge beart and allways a little bit drunk?  

What is the weight of your PLV? Just interested.

It's not my bow.
She is 47@29 but the drawlengt is 30".
Heard from other guys the Pl is one of the fastest LB, the same shows the test of Blacky.
That's the reason why I'm so confused.
We will contact BW in the next days, I will let you know the results.

I shoot heavier arrows out of my PLX's (715-725 Grains). I never put it through a chrono, and dont plan to. To me it doesnt matter how fast the arrow gets there, only how accuratly I can shoot it. They are very quiet though (I think the heavy arrows help that). Intresting thread...I will keep my eye on this one.

I'm not too concerned about speed either however if my bow was shooting more than 10 fps slower than others of the same model I would want to know why. Could be a bad chrono reading,someone colapsing at release or anything else.I would still want to know.

Dude , dont get hung up on speed!!!!!!that bows fine...good luck..marco

I have a 64" PLV 50@28"s and A  62"PL Protype#1 50@28"s. Shooting 60/65# spine, tapered and parallel Sitka Spruce Woodies it seems the protype is quicker. It does have a little more reflex deflex than the Standard PL.  If you check around  some of the Trad Gangers  and other folks have done Chrono tests on an assortment of bows. Most are in the same ballpark with a  very few out of the ballpark. Most Folks don't buy a Widow because it's the fastest Trad Bow out there. A well placed arrow and a quiet bow kills, not speed.  A deer can even duck the string on a noisey wheely bow.

I have a 64" PLV 50@28"s and A  62"PL Protype#1 50@28"s. Both bows are 47#s @ my 27" draw. Shooting 60/65# spine, tapered and parallel Sitka Spruce Woodies it seems the protype is quicker. It does have a little more reflex deflex than the Standard PL.  If you check around  some of the Trad Gangers  and other folks have done Chrono tests on an assortment of bows. Most are in the same ballpark with a  very few out of the ballpark. Most Folks don't buy a Widow because it's the fastest Trad Bow out there. A well placed arrow and a quiet bow kills, not speed.  A deer can even duck the string on a noisey wheely bow. Not to get off the subject.

I don't think this thread is about if a bow needs to be fast or not.It's not about speed but performance.The question is why this particular bow isn't performing nearly as well as similiar bows of the same model and bowyer.

The question also brings up the the validity of the tests.anyone can make mistakes or have a bad chrono reading.The results could also be correct and there could be some problem with the bow.

Whatever the case the differences in performance deserve more investigation IMHO. I would not simply wright it off by saying I'm not interested in speed.

Exactly right.

My suggestion is that if there is a question about the bow send it to B/W they will be oh so helpful.   Then you will know....

Joe

Looking at the "tests" someone posted a link on above I would say the pl is a decent performer and not slow.Something could be wrong with your bow or Chrono. I shot an old lag and was happy with it. The pl`s are much faster from what I hear.One good thing if you are disapponted the Widows sell quick and keep value better than most.RC