Review at a Glance
-Feel: nimble and smooth, but slow post-shot
-Finish: Cheap, lots to be desired
-Hardware: Good design with quality control issues, a mixed bag
-Features: Jam packed to customize your shooting experience
-Overall: A solid riser with lots of features, but quality doesn’t match the price. Not for everyone, but perfect for Oly archers who will be shooting high volumes Standout Features
-Lowered Geometry
-Adjustable, solid clicker plates
-String Tension Technology -Internal dampeners
-Brass dovetails
-Indexed limb bolts With all the hype around it over the last year, I decided to give the GMX3 a shot (or several thousand). I put it through its paces in practice, drug it through the woods in 3D and Field shoots, and shot a few 70m tournaments, and am setting it up indoors as we speak. After all that, I can safely say I've gotten to know the bow’s good, bad, and quirks.
A note: the GMX3 I ordered was after the period where they were on backorder forever, which happened after Jake Kaminski presented his review about all the issues the riser had, so mine is likely a “second run” of the riser.
Having shot, and loved, the Hoyt Xceed, one of the main reasons I chose a GMX3 was it had all the features I’d come to appreciate in the Xceed. If I could find a LH Xceed in 27” I probably would have just got one of those, but the GMX3 seemed like a good option, and I was curious to try a bow with a lowered geometry like the Fivics Argon, a riser I got to shoot a few times and enjoyed.
The Construction
I was gunshy about the GMX3 given what I saw in Jake Kaminski’s review, but I had hoped that they’d fixed the issues he’d found. Honestly, they didn't.
Bushings
The front center stab bushing doesn't quite sit flush , another thing Kaminski mentioned, but it wasn’t drastically bad enough that I felt like returning it…but again, for the money, I’d expect the bushing for my long bar to sit flush.
Finish - Expect your riser to look beat
Mine had a weird bump in the finish where it tapers under the grip, which isn’t a problem per se, but when you’re dropping that money on a riser, you typically expect something as close to perfect. I’ve never actually seen a riser with this sort of imperfection, and I’ve owned a lot of risers across a few brands now in various price points.
I loved the slate’s classic, dull gray color (though do miss the blue-gray of the Xceed’s slate), but I have no confidence in the paint job long term.
Early on I was already wearing the paint off on mine. In various spots on the shelf, where on occasion the arrow comes in contact as I’m setting it up on the rest (no, it's not arrow or fletching contact) are worn through, and where the sling slides down the riser during followthrough is completely worn away. This is the riser I’ve shot the least of any riser I’ve owned to date, and it looks by far the most beat up. Others I’ve spoken to have seen dings show up in their paint after minor scrapes and impacts too. This isn’t necessarily a deal breaker for me, as I view my bows as work-trucks and not Ferraris, but it definitely left a lot to be desired and makes me yearn for the tougher anodized finishes of my other risers. If you’re looking for your riser to stay pretty and shiny, this isn’t your pick.
The Limb Bolts - WTF
The indexed limb bolts are also a simple but appreciated touch, as normally the first thing I wind up doing to a new riser is put sharpy or tape on the limb bolt to mark my turns. After shooting the Fivics Titan EX for a season, I also appreciate you can just “bottom out” the limb bolts and back them out the acceptable amount of turns, vs eyeballing where max in and max out is like my Titan or the Gillo GT I used to shoot.
A problem I had early on was, depending on my tiller, one of the limb bolt’s set screws would back out. With one tiller or brace height the top one would back out quickly (maybe 20-30 arrows)...and if I adjusted, the lower would back out. It was only ever one set screw at a time, and it would alternate depending on a variety of factors. For my first few tournaments I actually just carried an allen-key with me and tightened it as I shot. My brace height, while high (normal for me) wasn’t by any means out of the normal, and my tiller was even or ⅛ positive, so I couldn’t figure out why it would have this problem. Eventually I got frustrated and disassembled the limb bolts entirely, and was surprised to see tons of rough metal shavings come out as I backed them out. They looked like they were shavings from when they tapped the riser. I cleaned them out and inspected the threads, reassembled, and never had the problem again. It’s something I’ve never seen on any other riser, and was really disheartening to see on a riser of that “grade.” I spoke with a Hoyt sponsored archer about it after, and they confirmed my findings: “Yeah, happened with mine too. If you get another, just take it all apart right away and clean out the threads.”
The Feel: Sporty but Slow, and a Little Picky
The GMX3 is a weird mix of “sporty and nimble” while handling and during the shot, but with a slow rolling follow through and post shot feel. I often feel like I'm losing some feedback post shot that I've felt with other risers, but then again it also is quiet and smoother than others I’ve shot. Some archers may not like this feel, some may enjoy it. I’ve always had a pretty slow shot, so it works for me. I suspect the lowered geometry is one part of this; while I can't say I've noticed big differences in my nock point height (one of the advertised reasons for the lowered geometry) I suspect this may be one side effect.
I tried the riser out with a variety of limbs (make, recurve degree, and length), several strings, and lots of different stabilizer and arrow combinations. Some shot beautifully smooth, others were the harshest bow I've ever shot, which leads me to believe that while you can get a good feel from the GMX3, it might take some tinkering and trial and error in a way I haven't experienced with other risers. It just seems a little more choosy about how it wants to be set up. Experienced archers won't have problems, but a newer archer may get frustrated.
Once I figured out how to tame the beast, it shoots great: with most limbs and setups it has that aforementioned mix of snappy and slow, but is smooth the entire way through, but man did it take some work to get there. Once I worked out the issues with limb bolts, I’ve never had any problems with anything coming loose on me.
Stabilizers: More Weight!
To date it seems to prefer a relatively heavier stabilizer setup, which I’ve heard is a natural consequence of its lowered geometry. For rock-solid holding I tend to run around 5 ozs on the front stab (30” + 3” extension) and between 5-7 ozs per side stab (14-15” sides). I drop my back stabs a hair lower down, or add some weight to the bottom of the riser to offset the geometry. I'm not confident archers who want to use a lighter setup will have a fun time with this riser. I’ve heard from a few sources that the benefit to needing heavier stabs like this is it will hold better in the wind…which does you no good if you’re exhausted from holding the bow up. I actually like having the heavier weight, but it’s something to be mindful of if you’re a younger archer or someone who doesn’t like to have a lot of weight on their stabilizers. For what it's worth, I've found the GMX3 also likes the side bars to be dropped a little lower than I normally set them. I suspect this is because the riser is top heavy. Something to consider depending on the stabilizer setup you want to run.
Features: Make it Your Own
Originally I was torn between the Hoyt GMX3 and the WinWin ATF-DX. The Hoyt won out for me both because some of its components seemed more durable (brass in the limb pocket dove-tail instead of delrin), but also because I could customize it in more ways.
Internal Dampening
While I’m not sure how much the included internal dampeners are doing, the ability to swap them out for various customized weights is a bonus in my eyes, and something I’m hoping to play with soon. Hoyt, Ramrods, and Shore Shot all make custom weights that can be installed.
Clicker Plate
While an adjustable height clicker-plate is pretty normal with bows nowadays, the Hoyt’s solid clicker plate stood out and has consistently given me the crispest feel on the click compared to any other riser I’ve shot. You definitely feel it before you hear it.
String Tension Technology
While many archers I’ve known have dismissed the Adjustable String Tension as a gimmick, or just never thought to play with it, I’ve actually gotten a lot of use from it. It’s like having 3 different limbs for every set of limbs you have. While I typically use the “relaxed” setting given my long draw length, at various points I've shot with the intermediate and performance settings, which profoundly affect the feel through the draw and expansion. I spent the early spring playing with shooting a 70” vs a 72” setup, and found being able to adjust the back-wall of my shot let me keep my bow feeling smooth on shorter setups with a variety of limbs, but crisp on the longer ones. Typically Uukha’s have been just a little to spongy for me, but on the Performance Setting they felt just right; conversely, I could smooth out limbs with more standard recurve that stack aggressively for me typically. If you get a GMX3, don’t sleep on experimenting with this feature. Conclusion
The GMX3 is a solid riser, and is likely the riser I plan to shoot for some time, but depending on how much of a perfectionist you are the price might not be worth it. It has by far the worst paint job of any riser I’ve owned, and the hardware issues are pretty inexcusable for a riser at that price point.
That said, you could absolutely make this your go-to riser, and more so you can make it exactly the riser you want it to be, just be prepared to accept its quirks. I had a great season and a half with it--won lots of shoots, and even set a State record--and do like the riser, but think folks should consider all the factors when they're looking at it. Newer archers may have a rougher time getting the bow to feel smooth and do what they want, but experienced archers will quickly become fast friends with it.
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