2011 Cable Guard and SOS

[Ehunter]

Kind of suprising to me as well that those are concerns. I would think the only real concern would be string and cable length. Letting them come in closer to the bow, even at rest would make me think that the cables and string would need to be a hair shorter. On my Firecat, it looks like the cables sit closer to centerline at rest than they do on my Moab with the cable rod and slide.

[Arrow Splitter]

That is interesting since those are the things it's designed to eliminate.
Removing the torque helps with cam lean as I understand it.
Isn't that why the shoot thru bows don't have cam lean?

The TRG will not eliminate torque, but it will help reduce it.

You are correct.

Shoot through bows don't have torque/cam lean because there is nothing pulling out on the cables.

[Rockyhud]

I fully understand what you guys are saying about torque and that being the main area of improvement TRG is supposed to provide. That's part of what puzzled me when I got email from Martin saying these were potential problems areas when using the TRG on older bows like mine that use CAT cams. Their explanation was there's a difference between the new Nitro cams and CAT cams that causes this incompatibility to exist; the tension from the cables is applied to the cams differently through the draw cycle and thus causes issues with older bows.

As I had been away from home on a business trip recently and didn't have my bow to look at and compare to the 2011 bows I could only take their word on it. When I returned I had pretty good memory of how the Nitro cams looked and were oriented in the limb tips, so when I checked out my cams I honestly couldn't come to a logical reason for their story holding true. Yes, there are obviously differences, especially to the side where the cables wind up around the axle but the cam wheel the string runs on looks to be exactly the same position and offset on both bows. The cables track onto the cams somewhat differently but not extremely so as memory serves me.

I don't know if anyone else with an "older" CAT cammed bow has tried using the TRG/SOS but I can't imagine I'm the only one who would like to hear from them and what they experienced. I'm still seriously considering buy the combo and trying it out.

[dan476]

Rockyhud,

How are you? I've had this system on my bow for a few weeks now and have not noticed any cam lean or any other cam/limb problems. 2 things i have noticed though were a rubber stop piece on SOS tore after approximatelly 100 shots. I had my local shop replace that and have not had that problem again. Second, i am starting to notice that my string is starting to fray a little where it rides on TRG. This could be attributed to my string being old though. I've had bow for 3 years with the minimal use but string is starting to show its age. Once i replace it I will be able to make better judgement.

As for the price, I'll be honest I am not even sure. The archery shop i got it istalled at tried 2 different string stoppers before this one, but they didn't work very well, so they installed this system. They were not sure how much it cost so i gave them $50, but once my shop finds out the price I will either get some money back or pay a little more.

hope this helps.
Dan

[MLN1963]

The TRG will not eliminate torque, but it will help reduce it.

You are correct.

Shoot through bows don't have torque/cam lean because there is nothing pulling out on the cables.

Okay Arrow Splitter, you have me on poor word choice but the TRG is supposed to reduce it. I believe the rest of my statement is on point. REDUCE the torque, reduce the cam lean.

[Arrow Splitter]

REDUCE the torque, reduce the cam lean.

Right on!

[elkslayer4x5]

That is interesting since those are the things it's designed to eliminate. Removing the torque helps with cam lean as I understand it. Isn't that why the shoot thru bows don't have cam lean?

Yes that is why shoot thru bows don't have limb tourque, because the limbs are pulled down evenly by the 4 cables, connected to the cam on one end and the cam axle on the other end. Makes them very easy to tune.

[Rockyhud]

Dan, thanks for the feedback. I have a few more questions, when you get a chance to answer (hopefully). Thanks in advance.

First, you said you noticed some fraying of your string where it passed through the TRG. I presume you had an original Martin slide and cable guard previously. Did you notice any fraying while using that setup? I still have my original string and cables too and have hardly any fraying in all this time and I've shot it quite a bit, especially the first couple of years. I do keep them waxed well and fairly often which I believe has helped. I changed my cable rod slide out for a BowTurbo briefly then back to the OEM slide and then bought a Saunders Hyper-Glide Slide that's been on the bow for about a year with good results - very smooth drawing and no cable wear caused by it to this point.

Second, I noticed there's quite a distance between the SOS and string in you photos posted earlier. You also mentioned the pro shop shortened the rod some and that you had to replace the SOS rubber piece. Did you initially have the SOS position closer to the string than you do now? Was shortening the rod done after the first rubber dampener tore to prevent the new dampener from tearing or was it to find the position that provided quietest performance?

I ask these last few questions as I set my string-to-STS distance much closer; about 1/16" gap, to attain the best, quietest performance.

[Rockyhud]

I finally decided to pull the trigger on buying the TRG/SOS system to try out on my Firecat. I also bought a pair of the new VEM modules.

The TRG and SOS are finally available through the online catalog but for whatever reason the new VEM modules aren't listed. I called Martin and spoke with Joel to see if I could buy all items over the phone. He then connected me with Carly in sales. She said Martin can't take individual customer orders over the phone but said I could order all these parts from a Pro dealer. She advised me to contact F/S Archery to make an order and have it drop-shipped direct to my home. So this is what I did and it went well.

I'm anxious to get the TRG/SOS on and see if it works OK or not. If they work I'll be able to remove the bottom STS and the custom upper STS I made, making the bow look a little leaner.

The new VEM modules are supposed to be fully compatible with older bows and dampen vibes and noise even better than the originals I have. My bow is shooting pretty darn accurate and quiet even now - it will be interesting to see/hear if these make it even quieter.

As soon as I get the TRG/SOS on and have some time to verify if they'll work OK or not I'll report back on my findings. I'll also give an update on the new VEMs.

[CarlosII]

Joan (who may or may not still be with Martin) told me the TRG will not work on my 2010 Shadowcat. I really wanted to try it but according to her, the rod size is different.