Elite Ritual. Any takers?
Equipment
Has anyone seen or shoot the new Elite Ritual? Just saw it today and seems good. They do seem to be taking some engineering out of the Obsession and Mathews playbook with that bow though.
Going to look into one myself. I still shoot an Answer.
If I wasn’t enjoying my impulse so much rt now I’d deffinetely be interested. Looks and sounds like a great shooting bow.
Probably the bow I'd buy if I was in the market. I like the ata length and if it has the traditional Elite feel, which it is supposed to have, it would be a great bow.
its gotten high marks from several guys that i respect that shot it. Most are placing it in the top three this year.
If they start putting some static yokes on those bows I'd be very interested
I have a call into my pro shop... Very interested.
I will be shooting one for sure this year. I am currently shooting an option 7 and as soon as my local shop gets one ill be picking it up. Reason im picking one up is purely the feel and the specs are spot on for my liking.
Elite didn’t make it even in the top 5 new bows introduced at the ATA this year which shocked me. I was looking at getting a new bow and Elite was one of them I was interested in.
Droptine, who was that from as I’ve heard from most it was in the top 3.... but most of those stats are opinions
Simply put...I have an Elite and buying another Elite for wife...enough said. Much smoother all the way thru turnover and solid backwall.
Has anyone on this site actually shot this bow yet? Very much interested in actual feedback and experience.
I love my Answer and will probably be shooting it for 10+ more years. Out of curiosity, what does this have on my 6 year old bow? The specs look pretty much identical to me.
I shot one at the ATA show, 30" and 60lbs. It was one of my favorite bows I shot at the show. It was vibe free and very smooth on the draw. If I was in the market for a new bow it would be between the Elite Ritual or the Prime Logic, both felt better than all the other bows I shot there.
So, the takeaway from this thread is no one's shop is stocking the Ritual yet...
The Elite dealer in my area (Central MS) is still waiting on a sample and visit by rep to share points about the bow.
"They do seem to be taking some engineering out of the Obsession and Mathews playbook with that bow though"
Spike78 ....as the design engineer behind this bow I can assure you that is not at all true. I hate to make jabs at another company or engineer but the level of engineering at Elite is ahead of to that of an Obsession bows.... period. And I would say Mathews is ahead of Elite in some regards. I could dive into the basis for this statement but it would take forever to explain.
Saddlereaper, I just meant the looks of it look like cross between a Mathews and Obsession. I have an Elite Hunter from 2013 and I have yet to draw another bow that is smoother as of yet. I’m debating on a Triax at the moment for the size but if Elite made a comparable bow I’m all in. I would like to draw the Ritual but with the ATA I might as well just keep the Hunter.
I shot the Ritual at ATA. I shot the 60#, 28" version. Honestly, I was very impressed. I have been shooting Elites since 2010 and I am an admitted GT500 fan boy. I currently own an 09 GT500, 10 GT500, 09 Z28, and 11 Hunter. I've owned many other models as well, but I always go back to the GT500 (I like the 09 better overall, but love the REV mod valley of the 10). I've shot most all of the hunter focused bows that Elite has ever made at one point or another. Honestly, the Ritual is the first one that I have picked up and shot that got my attention in both looks and shot feel in a long long time. The draw cycle had an old school Elite smooth feel to it. Kind of like a Hunter or Z28 does from start to where the cams start to drop into the valley. The valley has kind of REV mod cam feel to it in that it is generous and into that typical solid Elite wall. The transition or dump into the valley though was what I really liked. It was noticeable, but not quite that sudden dump feel that a GT500 has. Personally, I really liked that smooth but noticeable transition ... if that makes any sense at all. At the shot the thing was pretty much dead. All the bow had on it was a QAD rest and an Elite stabilizer. It is hard to fully evaluate a bow at an event like this, but I can tell you that it has my attention to the point that I will shoot one side by side with my GT's once a local shop gets some in.
The machining and fit/finish were absolutely top notch too. I have never been a slit limb guy. Trust me as an engineer myself, I get their merits and cannot argue the physics behind them. Ascetically though I have never cared for them. But I can honestly say that the limb system on this bow grew on me very fast. Overall the bow doesn't have that wide bulky blocky feel to me that other big name split limb bows have.
Finally ... that grip ... wow! I fell in love with the grip on this bow. It just feels so natural in hand.
Overall, I was really impressed. Whether I buy one or not is yet to be seen, but I did like it a lot. And NO ... I am in no way what so ever affiliated with Elite.
Spike78, its always a challenge to create something that looks truly unique... given constraints of manufacturing methods, cost, time to develop, but more importantly creating something that is structurally superior than the previous years model.
(I can only assume you are primarily talking about the riser here)
When I designed risers (I resigned from Elite archery end of august this past year) I didn't just design them to have a new look. The goal was to actually make then stiffer and lighter (to an extent), continually improving upon previous years designs. Its a challenge to do this while maintaining a family type look, or brand identity. ....And inevitably sometimes looking similar to another riser already on the market. I can assure you some companies simply spit out new looking risers....without having a solid engineering improvement to show for it.
Interesting thing - Between the Triax, Hunter, and Ritual you are talking about 3 bows with 3 very different geometries. Shoot them all side by side and see!
Saddle, honestly most bows out there are top notch and made well. I can understand how you guys hit a wall where you have to figure out something that’s different. Same as the broadheads as well! You did a great job with the Elites. Funny how my Hunter now looks old school with the split limb designs now out there!
Spike78, Thanks and you are absolutely right. Its hard to find a bad bow these days...sure some are much better feel/ performance wise than others today, but compared to 10 years ago... My 63yr old father replaced his smooth drawing Bowtech General for an Elite Hunter when I went to work there. I also owned a Hunter for a few seasons. Fantastic bow... super forgiving, great size, decent speed and very smooth drawing. Hopefully solid limb bows don't become totally obsolete!
Talked with local bowshot today who is the Elite dealer. Elite rep gave store a visit yesterday and let the archery shop personnel see and shoot the 2018 Elite Ritual. The guys told me that they were blown away with everything about the bow. They said the draw was like butter, quiet at shot and no after release vibration. They said the bow has an 85% efficiency.
The shop placed an order and hopefully order will be shipped soon. I am really anxious to shot this bow. I have read and heard nothing but accolades for this bow. Seems like Elite learned from the Option series fiasco and has reinvented the qualities and characteristics the Elite bow well known reputation.
Hands down a great shooting bow, just got one in the shop and it shoots great, has that Elite feel dead in hand and quiet, won't be disappointed. Have an Option 7 will be trading it for a Ritual.
Was able to finally shoot one tonight, sweet bow! I could hold it rock steady and was able to be precise with where I wanted that arrow to hit. This bow is back to the Elite draw cycle and backwall that they are known for. I shot it next to a new Hoyt Rx1 and loved the feel of them both but the Ritual will be my next bow!
It is a sweet bow to shoot.
Supply to hopefully arrive at local bow shop around mid February. Anxious to see, feel and shoot.
The Ritual is a little short for my likes but I am wondering what the point of split limbs without a yoke is. I've had 5 Elite bows over the years. Very well made but I absolutely hated the grip. HATED it. Why did I buy 5? Don't have a good answer for that other than stupidity. I would like to try out this new grip they've got though.
Shaft2long
You will like the new grip, trust me!
Its an improvement over the Option(s)/ Revol grip if you're familiar with the feel of those. The throat is just slightly wider and there's a little more depth front to back. Edge radii are softened where they need to be and have definition where they need it as well. It was a tough thing to do getting the company to buy in on changing the grip but it was long overdue. Of all things on a bow grips generally shouldn't be messed with since they give a company identity....but when its needed.... gotta do it. Honestly I always had liked PSE's minimalist type grip (G5 Primes as well), and wanted to create something similar that would achieve a consistent hand placement (something the old Elite grip always made hard), proper hand positioning, be relatively torque free, and pressure point free. I feel the final tweaks to the Option grip, seen on the Ritual, make for the best grip in the industry. Granted grips are very personal and subjective when it comes to feel, I didn't just develop it for my hand (I'm 5-7" small frame, small hands). We had a variety of users with differing ability levels and hand sizes test it out.... it was a winner for everyone.
