BowTech Pro40 Wheely
By Bill Krenz 

BowTech has rapidly built a reputation for fast bows and first-rate quality. Fairly new (the company sold its first bows in the fall of 1999), BowTech has nevertheless made significant inroads into the highly competitive dealer-only bow market. Great bows coupled with hard-hitting print advertising have shaped strong consumer demand. From coast to coast, inquiring bow hunters are asking about, and for, BowTech. 

Attempting to further broaden its base, BowTech had stratified its bow lineup for 2003 into three distinct categories: fast bows with single-cams, even faster bows with dual-cams, and one ultra-smooth model with dual-wheels. 

BowTech’s fast bows will get a lot of attention and press in 2003. Bow hunters love smoking arrow speeds and BowTech typically delivers fps in spades. But for several years BowTech has also been quietly offering a few bows that leaned more toward the forgiving side of the bow performance equation. Often those bows were longer, with extended-length risers that noticeable enhanced full-draw stability, increased bowstring angle and added mass weight. Target archers and bow hunters craving accuracy above all else, ate them up. 

Into that later category of most-forgiving bows, BowTech has plugged a brand new bow for 2003. The new bow is called the Pro40 Wheely. It’s a bow specifically designed to be smooth and forgiving. And yet it also seems to have been sprinkled with that magic BowTech pixie dust that somehow imparts uncommon speed. 

I admit that it may appear that I’m talking out of both sides of my mouth, saying that a smooth and forgiving bow can also be fast. So let me clarify. 

I’ve been shooting the new BowTech Pro40 Wheely for some weeks now. I’ve shot it indoors and out. I’ve tested it with both carbon and aluminum arrows, at short and long range. And I’ve formed very definite opinions. 

The new BowTech Pro40 Wheely is an unusually forgiving bow. It’s very easy to tune and very easy to shoot well. It also draws, compliments of its innovative dual-wheel eccentrics, with uncommon smoothness. Within those performance-restricting parameters it is also quite fast, certainly faster than other bows embodied with such smoothness. No, it’s not nearly as speedy as BowTech’s super-fast dual-cam bows. But, and this is the surprising part, the new Pro40 Wheely does generate speeds that closely rival those seen with BowTech’s one-cam bows of the same axle-to-axle length. 

So, what we have is a smooth and forgiving bow that is also uncommonly fast for a smooth and forgiving bow. Archer’s who appreciate pin-point accuracy shot after shot will love that. 

Key selling points

Smooth and more 
The BowTech Pro40 Wheely is a very smooth-drawing bow. The draw weight builds up gradually and lets off just as gradually. For anyone used to the relatively harsh force draw curves of most of today’s high-performance compounds, the smooth feel of the Pro40 Wheely is a welcome treat. And there’s more. 

BowTech co-founder and chief bow designer Kevin Strother is something of a whiz when it comes to compound bow eccentrics. His eccentric system designs are what have always made BowTech bow’s go so fast. So it should surprise no one that when Strother turned his thoughts to a dual-wheel system, it would be more than just smooth. 

Strother’s new dual-wheely system is surprising fast for a wheel bow. As I already mentioned, the new wheely system is nowhere near as fast as BowTech’s dual-cam bows, but it is at least in the neighborhood of many of today’s one-cam bows. That’s rather remarkable for what is basically a wheel bow.

In addition, the Pro40 Wheely, unlike more wheel bows, possesses a distinctively solid back wall. That makes shooting this unique bow more in line with what today’s archers want. Particularly with a release, a solid back wall helps maintain consistent draw length. 
This is the first wheel bow I’ve seen with such a solid wall. Most wheel bows are rather spongy toward the back of the draw. The BowTech Pro40 Wheely is a rock, and that feels good.

Forgiving length 
Bow length, as it relates to accuracy, is an interesting topic. It's been so for many years, with both traditional and compound bows. Target archers have always gravitated toward longer bows than those used by many bow hunters because the longer bows tended to provide increased stability during the aiming and shot process. As much as anything else, that additional stability comes from the obvious increase in mass located farther above and below the archer's bow hand. That same degree of stabilization just isn't present with a more diminutive bow. 

The new BowTech Pro40 Wheely is definitely a longer bow by today's standards, where 34 to 35 inches is about norm. The Pro40 Wheely measures a full 38 inches from axle to axle. In addition to the inherent stability that extra length provides, those 38 inches also deliver a broader string angle at full draw. With most archers, that broader angle makes it easier to find and maintain a consistent anchor point. That, too, boosts accuracy. 

New ergonomic BowTech grip
For 2003 BowTech has dramatically changed its wood grip. The new grip is slimmer throughout, with a thinner throat and a more comfortable heel. I like it. I like it a lot. My bow hand slips into the new thin grip easily, perfectly centering itself with each shot. That's good. It's also an extremely comfortable grip. That's good too. The new BowTech grip seems to work with you, which is the ultimate goal of any bow grip and the definition of ergonomic. 

VibraBlocks and Hush Silencers
All 2003 BowTech adult bows come complete with BowTech's new VibraBlocks and Hush Silencers. VibraBlocks are limb-mounted vibration dampeners that effectively squelch shot vibration and noise. Hush Silencers are string and cable-mounted silencers that successfully do the same thing. 

O2 custom-made bowstring and cables
Not your daddy's bowstring and cables, the new O₂ bowstring and cables on the 2003 Pro40 Wheely are custom-made to exacting accuracy standards. You can expect less stretch and more performance. 

BowTech quality assurance
I find it interesting that the staff at BowTech actually shoot every bow they build, documenting the performance of each in writing. The only bows shipped are those that meet or exceed the performance standards set for that model. That's an assurance of quality that every archer will like. 

Specs

ED NOTE: Reprinted with permission of Inside Archery.