Uukha SX+ limbs: reviewed
Joe Parker puts them through their paces
Uukha gear needs little introduction to most UK archers, they are now an established mainstream recurve product and used at all levels and in all bow disciplines. The flagships of the previous range were the HM XX and the VX+ “X” curve limb, a limb that had a very curved profile, which made the final part of the draw even smoother but was a little harder to draw back at the start. Extreme curve limbs are a 'Marmite moment' for many archers. The feel of the HM XX was more familiar for many archers, as it had a smoother draw at the start which gets progressively harder in the later stages, although in the case of the HM XX limbs still very smooth.
For 2021 Uukha have designed a new limb profile they call the “S” curve, which is common across the entire new range. This development manages to give the archer the best of both worlds - a smooth draw from start to finish and at the same time increasing the stored energy for extra speed. The benefit of this draw force curve is less fatigue and possible injury throughout a day of shooting, specifically at the start of the draw when most limbs load up and the archer is drawing up this weight out of line. Also common across the range is the introduction of a longer XL limb, so no archer should have to compromise on
bow length.
Aside from the headline grabbing “S” draw force curve, Uukha have made some important improvements to the limb, the first being modifications of the limb foot. It is now both thinner and stronger, but it also means that their unique Uukha Formula adapter does not fit. The limb detent is now integral in the design; great news for those archers that have a habit of losing the spring and pin.
Look and finish
The SX+ limb is offered in two finishes - matt and glossy carbon, the new standard decals are very subtle and tidy and the lack of any graphics on the archer facing part of the limb is also welcome. For those who do not want their bow to be a billboard then you can specially order minimal decals with a matt carbon finish. This minimal decal option is available across the range and is apparently popular with field and barebow archers.
The finish of the limb is good, although it has to be born in mind that all Uukha limbs are about performance, so they do not pile on the lacquer (which adds extra weight) or try and hide any cosmetic imperfections from the monolith manufacturing process (carbon slippage) in the top layer of the carbon. Monolith limbs are not CNC finished or painted to make them look pristine, like laminated limbs, but in my opinion the performance should outweigh any minor cosmetic imperfections - but some archers do initially struggle with this mentally.
Testing the curve
When I first heard about the new range of limbs I was concerned that Uukha had chosen to continue on the extreme curved limb path. Personally I felt that they had gone as far as they should with the “X” curve, although a great limb which has produced some medal winning performances on the international scene, I always preferred the feel of the conventional curve of the HM XX limbs. Apparently, the unexpectedly higher performance of the XX limbs convinced Uukha that increasing the extreme curve was not their future direction, and the new curve shape sits between them both.
The previous HM XX and VX+ were already class leading by some margin when it came to speed and smoothness. Uukha have made some bold claims about speed right across the new range. Like everyone I cannot ignore an advantage that means that as I get older and I don’t train as much, I can drop draw weight and still get the same performance and/or keep the same draw weight without the extra effort and benefit from a flatter trajectory and less influence from the weather.
This limb test was conducted over a couple of weeks to give me time to set up my bow correctly and its primary function was to compare my current limbs HM XX 70/36 to the new SX+ limbs of the same specification giving me 38.6lb on my fingers. We all know that this type of test is not just a case of swapping over the limbs and shooting an arrow through a chronograph, although initially this is exactly what I did to get a bench mark and it showed an instant 2fps increase. Smoothness can be measured, but over the years I have found that in the real world from archer to archer this is subjective, but in my opinion the limbs did feel easier to draw back, initially resulting in coming through the clicker a bit too quickly.
The lack of expected speed was easily explained, firstly the limbs were weighing up a fraction lighter, so a small tweak of the limb bolts was necessary and the bracing height was a bit high. Changes to both of these showed an additional two fps increase making a conservative total of 4fps without the loss of the smoothness and a snappier feel to the shot.
Next I looked at my arrows and spine; to do this I shot a balanced bareshaft test at 18m. This showed the arrows were shooting a bit weaker than I like, but not drifting into a stiffer spine choice most likely due to the limb tip torsional stability and just required a small increase in spring tension to improve arrow flight. To be honest this only resulted in a negligible speed increase, but reduced any noise and tightened the group.
So after two weeks of getting archery fit and swapping bow setups for a like-for-like comparison, I found just over four feet-persecomd, which I think is quite impressive being on top of the performance of my HM XX limbs. When you look at the work done by KSL, at 70m 4fps is the equivalent of improving your sight mark from arrows landing low in the 7 to the 10. I am confident that there is one or two fps more by spending a bit more time with the set up, but as importantly improving my archery fitness, especially my release, which is quite erratic at the moment through lack of regular shooting and sometimes could account for up to a one fps difference from shot to shot.
When I look for a new limb there has to be a significant advantage to changing, and I have made the mistake of assuming new is better in the past. The new SX+ limb has certainly met my criteria of extra speed, easier to draw, limb stability, better arrow groups at 70m and 90m where I need most help to compete with those shooting 45lb plus.