Looks like the Mathews Grid-lock riser is here to stay, for a little while anyways. From what ive read the new Heli-M im guessing pronounced "Helium" is just a featherweight z7 with a few changes here and there. What do you all think? http://mathewsinc.com/product/helim/
You're correct - the name is pronounced "Helium". You can check out a video we put together here. http://www.bowhunting.com/videos/New-Products/NEW-Mathews-HELIm-Bow_1237 Having shot the bow I have to say, it's pretty impressive. The draw is silky smooth, thanks to the positive draw stop it has a solid back wall, and it weighs less than the Hoyt carbon bows at almost $500 less. All in all, I think it's a winner. I already have mine on order and provided all goes well, I may get to shot something with it before this season ends.
Just watched the video. Looks sweet. Dunno if I'll be trading my Z in in one though. Guess I'll have to go shoot one and find out.
Don't know about the Heli-M but I like their grid lock pattern. Hope they never change it. Don't care for that honey comb look of the safari. Looking for a monster7 with the grid lock now. Love their bows.
Looks like they improved on at least 4 fronts: Faster, lighter, shorter, and maybe cheaper. And did they add an extra color? When do you think they will make it to the distributors? Will their 2011 bows get a little cheaper now, or stay the same.
Sweet looking rig!! If Mathews made it better than the z7x then this bow will be flying off the racks.
Really just lighter. The Z7x is rated at 230 so the HELIM is just 2fps faster which I don't really see as an improvement (or at least worth the extra money) the Z7X is shorter than this one but it is a .5lb lighter. From the prices on the website it will go for around $60 more that the Z7X but I guess you won't really know till you go talk to a dealer. Hopefully the draw cycle is smoother than the Z7X. Shouldn't be too hard to do. That should be where it really shines over the Z7X I will definitely shoot one when I go to get a new bow after the first of the year but the one I am most excited about shooting is the Bear Anarchy. I know they have them at the shop now I am just putting off going to shoot because I don't have the money at the moment.
Having shot the Heli-M I can testify that the draw is ULTRA smooth. I know the focus on this bow is the light weight, but the smooth draw is really what impresssed me the most. The draw stop was a nice addition as it now has a rock solid back wall that everyone has come to love. As for speed, I'm not sure what people are really looking for these days. That 330+ mark has been pretty much industry standard for at least 5-6 years now. Sure, there's some bows out there shooting faster but the majority of the flagship bows from the big companies are right around that mark. If you want more speed you can always go to the Monster line, which is built for that purpose. This bow is built to be the perfect combination of speed, weight, accuracy and quietness. Judging from what I saw, this bow is all of that and then some. You have to admit that it's impressive to have a 3.5 lb bow, which is lighter than Hoyt's carbon bows, while still using an aluminum riser and costing less money. That's taking into consideration the much larger risers of today's parallel limb bows versus bows of the past with very short risers than had similar weights.
I only see 1 front. Its lighter. faster, not really. shorter, it's longer than the extreme. I would doubt it's cheaper, cause its new. I just shot a Z7, magnum and extreme this weekend and I liked them all. I want to shoot one before I make a decision though.
I'm rather happy with this. Mainly because I bought a z7x last spring and if they would have already come out with a better one, well, that would suck cause I'm not buying a new bow anytime soon. That said, I'm happy to see where Mathews is taking the bow. I too like the gridlock riser, just makes the bow stand out from all the others. Also, I like the weight has gone down and the draw is even more smooth. I may go shoot one just for kicks, but I bought the extreme because the ATA. Justin, how is the back wall on these? My xtreme isn't bad, but sometimes if you're not careful it will come down.
As I was hoping now there should be a 28.5" 60lb draw eZ7 for sale in the used market as the masses sell off last years bows and buy the newest offering! I'm totally good with well cared for year old technology!
The back wall is rock solid thanks to the positive draw stop. The valley seems rather forgiving, so you don't seem to have to worry about creeping and the bow feeling like it's going to jump out of your hand. You generally only get that on harsh dual cam bows that are built for speed.
Hmm.. this bow intrigues me. I like the 7" brace height and light weight but the smooth draw would really seal it. I still love and shoot my Bowtech equalizer.... but smooth it is not.
Looking forward to shooting one, my next bow will be my first Mathews. I hate the advertising everywhere and dislike having the same bow as every Joe but have always been a fan. I also would be interested in a Z7X in good shape if any of you are planning one giving it up for the new HeliM.
Watched the video and it look impressive. Considering the weight, 7" brace height and speed it looks like a great bow. Might be time to start considering a switch from Hoyt
Looks like a great bow. I still prefer the original Z7 to the Z7X and I'm not sure that this offers enough to move me. Have to wait and shoot it I guess and see if it offers anything more.
Ssshh I'm a PSE fan but I really like the looks of this bow. I like the length of the Zx7 though but a smoother shooting bow is always good. Can't wait to shoot one when nobody is around to witness. LOL
The jumping out of my hand feeling was the reason I chose it over the element. I kept grabbing the grip on the release of it, just couldn't get into it at all. The positive draw stop is what I was more referring too. The z7x just isn't as forgiving as I would like. However, that is my ONLY complaint and it's more likely a fault of the shooter.
