I have had this Xpedition Xcentric 7, in about two month and I like shooting it. I have a very bad shoulder and an operation didnt make it better. So I am very sensitiv for bows, with a stiff draw cycle and hard to hold.
I am no expert, at draw cycles and all that, but just a quick review, on how it felt to me. I shot it alongside my Bowtech Invasion for comparison, which I think, give me a better feeling of the difference.
The Xcentric 7 is a 60# bow and I shoot it at 29 with 55#. I shot it with a Unigram slide sight and whisker biscuit. I also transferred my 8 oildampend Octane stabiliser and they still felt lighter handling than the Experience.
I did fine with the Xcentric at 55# and it felt very similar actually to the Invasion at 55#. Way more smooth to me than an RPM 360 at same poundage. Nice smooth start builds up to max draw weight and then just a smooth transition, to an absolutely solid brick back wall. I actually was expecting a dump, to tell me to soften up, for the wall and never got it, so I tended to come to an abrupt stop on that wall. If I was to order one, I might adjust the draw/limb stops a bit as I felt like, I slammed into the back wall if I wasn\’t concentrating. Likely operator error and I may need to go up 29,5 DL. Either way though quite nice on both. I shot them both quite a bit and my shoulder feels fine, no pains whatsoever. Typically I would have some soreness, so thats saying a lot.
The other day I put these two bows in the hands of my 15 year old son, just to see if he could shoot them. It is the first time he shoots an other bow than his Diamond Razor Edge at 38#. After shooting about 10 arrows through them both, he said that he would chose the Expediton. I could actually see that it was easier for him to shoot the Expedition.
So whats my pro´s and con´s :
- draw cycle is very smooth for speed bow. Comparable to the Invasion in feel of force curve, but maybe just a tad stiffer, actually it is more like the Carbon Overdrive I shot this fall.
- I actually love the grip on these bows. It felt great for my shooting style, fit right into my thumb/palm and felt very repeatable. The op/down angle on the grip, have a steep angle and that fits my hand way better. I liked the Xcentric grip way better than my Invasion grip.
- At full draw, it held great solid on the back wall and that gives a very stable platform to aim, and seemed much easier to hold at full draw, than the Invasion, for an extended period.
- My 1st impression was, Xpedition did a great job on riser design, they are very nice looking….didn\’t see any finish flaws.
- I didn\’t test, creep and valley very much, but it never felt like it wanted to take off on me and I bounced off the back wall a few times and it just held there. I could relax a lot and it just sat there, like it was glued to the back wall.
- On the shot, it is obviously fast and almost with out a sound (only with the factory build on vibration and noise dampener). Just a thwunk as arrows smacking the target and this was out of whisker biscuit. I didn\’t have a chrono to give any numbers, but it seem plenty fast.
- I will say that it did have some vibration and some noise after the shot. The Invasion I have, has none and is completely dead. I transferred my 8 oildampend Octane over to see if it would go away. The stabilizer lessened the vibe some, but was still there none the less. It doesn\’t detract at all from the shot, but I do feel it. That is my only negative a slight vibe through the riser after the shot. I bet that could be tuned out some, and it wouldn\’t stop me from owning one thats for sure.
I would buy this bow, just on draw cycle, feel at full draw and grip alone. It has jumped to the top of the list of bows to replace my truly belowed Bowtech Invasion as my go to hunting rig.
Thank you to Tony Gram at www.buetikken.dk for borrowing me this bow for a season, to test it out. I will be bringing a wrap op conclusion after this season.
