This is a project I’ve wanted to do for some time and the opportunity finally presented itself. When we first started dating my wife took up archery and quickly began winning more trophies than me! She continued to shoot for many years, but four kids later time was short and archery took a back seat to being a loving mother.
Fast forward to last year with our youngest at eight and my wife’s time freed up enough to begin shooting again. Before she was shooting a beautiful metallic baby-blue Hoyt Medalist with laminated wood limbs, shooting fingers. When I went to pull out her bow a couple of weeks before the upcoming leagues that she wanted to shoot, the string was in no shape to be shot. Unfortunately the older style string was not in stock anywhere and time was short.
Thus I found myself short-stringing my coveted Hoyt Ultratec for her to shoot until we could fix up the other bow. I also somehow convinced her to try a release for the first time. Needless to say, as amazing a bow as the Ultratec is, she was not too keen on the camouflage color and “man-looking” bow. The hunt was on and for our anniversary, I presented her with a new bow that was sized for her and not jury-rigged to fit.
Finding the Perfect Bow
I needed to find something that fit, something with some speed and something that she would be happy with, not only in performance and fit, but also, the all important appearance! After much searching locally and across the internet, I found a used Elite Synergy in 50-60 lbs. Fortunately my wife is over 5′ 8 ” with a 27″ draw and she can shoot a wide variety of bows. The only downfall to this find is that the limbs were camouflage.
I decided to go full “girlie” on this bow with a black and hot pink theme. When the bow first arrived I told her that I was using it as a test-bed (which I was, it makes a great addition to my arsenal of test equipment!) and was able to have her shoot it a few times and get it sized properly. This was pulled off by telling her that since the draw was set too short for me, I had a hard time shooting it, which is also actually true.
Turning the Synergy into the Perfect Girl’s Bow
After sizing it up to fit her and doing an initial tune on it, I was convinced it would work well and set about customizing everything, cam to cam. She had mentioned many times that she wanted something pink and unique, something that screamed “this is a serious girl bow.” The last thing I wanted was a “sissy” bow but rather a serious shooter, with good looks to boot.
I broke the bow down completely, thoroughly cleaned out everything and sent the limbs off to get coated. For this project I opted to used a vinyl coating on the limbs as I have a friend and neighbor who does this kind of work. In the meantime I started looking for accessories.
The rest that came with the bow is a Trophy Taker drop-away that was in great shape and so I left it alone other than changing the cord to…wait for it…pink! I’ve been doing a few reviews on string makers and Little Jon Bowstrings stepped up to make the strings for this bow in hot pink and black. These strings really make the full package as they are extremely vibrant (not to mention well made! I made a black and pink sling (Archery Report’s own Survival Bow Sling) and installed a Fletcher TruPeep.
Probably the hardest component to find was a good sight that would match the pink and black theme of the bow. I didn’t want something cheesy or cheap, but couldn’t find what I wanted until I came across the Rush sight from Black Gold. Not only is it a great, sturdy sight, it has a pink sight ring and the hood turns purple in the sun. It couldn’t be a more perfect match!
This was a very fun project for me to put together as not only was it something out of the norm for me to do, but it was for someone so special to me. I think it turned out great and the pictures don’t do it justice. It doesn’t only look good, it performs extremely well.
The only thing I would do different is to have the limbs dipped instead of vinyl coated. While the vinyl looks extremely good, you have to be extremely careful when pressing the bow so as not to mar the vinyl. I will most likely have it dipped in the future during some downtime. Otherwise, I can’t complain about anything on this bow. It tunes well, shoots better and turns a lot of heads!
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sweeet
WHERE DID YOU ORDER THE SIGHT FROM?
Emily,
That is a Black Gold sight (http://blackgoldsights.com) with the optional pink housing ring. You can order just about any of their sights with the pink ring at any Black Gold dealer. When I ordered this one I wasn’t charged any extra for the ring and it really adds a nice touch to the bow.