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zebra strings and cables failure

i purchased a new matthews bow on 1/20/21 - i wanted the 75lb mods - which had to be ordered. they came in and the dealer to install them last Thursday. i shot the bow 6 times at the dealer - they made a minor string adjustment for the peep sight and it was good.

Saturday we were shooting magnus bullheads getting ready for turkey season. my brother wanted to try the new bow and he shot and hit extremely low ( field points) - this was odd - because we shoot the same. I got the bow and drew it back and my peep was way off, i let down rotated the peep and drew the bow again - and pow. the cable broke where it attaches plastic D-Ring - which i found a few feet away . the bow seems OK - besides the string is a scared up a little and the cable is broken - the other cable is still on and intact.

Seems though my internet search that zebra strings are problematic....

I have not gotten the bow to my dealer yet - i'm sure they will help me get it resolved because they are top notch...

any input or similar instances ?

I shot a Mathews MQ1 for 18 trouble free years with the Zebra strings and cables and only changed them once. I've been shooting a Mathews Halon 6 since 2016 with the original Zebra strings and cables. I've shot thousands of shots with no issues, just a new serving. I know there are better strings and cables out there but I've had no problems with the stock Zebra strings and cables.

I bought a VXR last year. Amazed at how rock solid the stock threads have been. I recently bought a new set from VaporTrail which I will put on when my new mods get here and keep the stock as backups.

i have a z7 extreme that still has the original strings..... maybe it was a fluke - maybe i nicked it on something and didn't know....

I had a hoyt bow a few years ago where the string went around the mod on the cam had a sharp edge and cut into a string and the serving on another string. I filed down the the sharp edge and no more problems. I was the second owner of bow and changed mod to fit my draw length. Is it possible the D-ring cut the string?

I have had a couple bows come apart at full draw. Exciting isn't it. I was back to shooting with my spare string and cables within an hour on my bow. The longbow that shattered at full draw was a lost cause. Bows are quite highly loaded and as a result there are failures. If we all do a good job inspecting our equipment every time out the excitement will be minimized. I don't think Zebra strings are particularly bad but defects do happen.

Sorry olebuck, maybe a fluke. I bought a brand new Vertix in Aug 2019 with 75# mods and stock zebra strings. All is good and outside of a little twist of the peep, i'm a thousand shots in and doing fine.

Something cut the string. Not string issue.

My Zebra strings only lasted 8 months. Put on ABB Platinum's 3 years ago and they are still rock solid never had any stretching.

Wally, when you say only lasted 8 months, can I ask why? Twisting, stretch, fraying? Approx # of shots?

I historically have replaced every year or two just as a rule (used VaporTrails, WC, etc.), but just wondering if something went wrong with yours.

I had a MQ1 and I thought about putting on a new string. I went to a Mathews Dealer and told him to order me a new Zebra string. He put on a string and I couldn't hit anything with it. I went back and he tried it and it shot all over the place. Come to find out he made the string himself. Mathews said that he should have ordered the Zebra and not put on one that he made. We put on my old string and it shot perfectly. I paid for a new string but, then the guy sold his business to someone else and the new business wouldn't honor giving me my money back and, neither would the guy that use to own the business. Be careful when putting on strings that the shops make up themselves. This is especially true with the MQ1 bow.

Probably not a lot of new strings being put on MQ1's since that bow has been out of production for about 20 years.

A brand new bow should not be cutting cables. Hmmm

Junk strings on my mathews vxr 31.5, the loop ends are not even served, I changed mine after a month

I agree that the new Mathew strings are junk. I immediately switched mine out with GAS strings. My last 3 Mathews which has been 3 since 2014 all the strings have sucked. They seem to never stop stretching. Shawn

i dropped it off at the bow shop Saturday. they assured me they would get the strings and cables replaced and make sure everything is as it should be. I will have to wait to see if Matthews is going to cover it under warranty. Either way i will be ordering a set of vapor trail strings today to put on the bow later on this year.

It was in 2008 when I tried to replace the string on my MQ1. The old string is still going strong and I gave the bow to one of my grandsons. He used it this fall to hunt turkey but I don't think that he had the opportunity to send an arrow towards one.

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