I'm looking at the Matthews Lift as my new 3d target bow. I've shot it a few times and the draw cycle is something I will need to get used to. I have mostly shot Elite and the draw cycle is smoother on them, except for my Echelon target bow. Nevertheless, the lift is pretty light for its size and apparent speed improvement I would get over, say, a Basin is considerable. I could drop down in poundage and still maintain the same speed. I've looked at some of the other Elites and Matthews bows and they are all heavier, something I need to consider as I get older.

So the trade offs are a potential decrease in weight compared to my Echelon versus a decrease in ATA length and an improvement in speed versus an more aggressive draw but possibly offset by a drop in draw weight.

I'd still use my Basin to hunt with. It's light, easy to draw so 70lb is doable but the trade off is a slower bow.

Thanks.

I can't speak to the Lift as I've not shot it, but IME with Mathews they have a much harsher draw cycle than other bows, especially the Elite. The Basin is a mid level bow so comparing that to a Flagship bow from Mathews is like comparing apples to bananas.

My experience with light bows ( like the old Helium ) was that they were harder to shoot at distance. 20 yard tree stand chip shots were no problem, but stretch it out to 40, 50 or 60 yards became difficult. My Mathews Halon 32 I could not shoot well at long range....Just could not do it. Liked the bow alot, but at distance could not shoot good groups with it. Moved to an Elite Enkore, heavier bow and i put a heavy 8 pin sight on it....its a bit of a log, but distance shooting is not difficult.

Go shoot the new Elite Flagship line ( I believe this year is the Omnia and the Ethos) to give you a better apples to apples comparison with the Lift vs. the Basin vs. the Lift.


Everyone has their bows they like, I'm a Mathews fan but I'll shoot Elite for the foreseeable future, as I can't find a better package of speed, shootability and accuracy than what they offer

The new Elites have moved to a less smooth draw cycle than the older ones. I wasn't comparing the Basin to the LIft. I was comparing a smooth drawing bow to a more aggressive bow. I also shoot better with a heavier bow, for a while. But after picking it up and setting it down 60 times, and carrying it through a 3d course, my accuracy suffers after about the 18th target.

As a shop shooter, I know Matthews will make me a deal. I haven't asked Elite yet but I have shot both the Omnia and Ethos. I think both of those are heavier than the Lift.

Thanks for the feedback.

Thats a shame elite is sacrificing smoothness for an extra 3 fps. My Enkore is extremely smooth and fast.

From what I've seen , all elite bows are in the 4.2-4.5 range as a bare bow

I don't know that I have a lot of input on it because I don't have a lot of experience or history for comparisons..
Purchased a new lift in Dec (for no reason other than my PSE carbon had a crack in the riser and was sent out for warranty with a 3month estimated wait and they happened to have one hanging for retail instead of being over priced like I had seen everywhere else)
I have enjoyed setting it up and shooting it over the last couple months I do not have a lot of experience with varieties of bows.. couple solo cams in the past and then the pse carbon for a couple years..
Weight and holding it on target is great I do have the 33" model, Draw cycle feels good, solid back wall although the valley is shallow (I don't know if the previous Mathews are the same? VXR,v3 or phases)
It feels more stable and faster than the pse, but I do feel like the draw is stiffer than the pse.. I have not had both to shoot them in the same day.. but I don't think I will sell the pse when it comes back
it is a good solid bow I have no complaints.. I do wish they had a few options for the tophat spacer sizes as from one increment to the next seems to be too much one way or the other..

So which Elite models should I be looking for that have the smoother draw cycle?
And 80% let off.

Look at the Omnia