When a bow company prints "342 fps" on the spec sheet, how close is that to what the chronograph actually says? We pulled every independent at‑IBO measurement we could verify and graded the industry.
Each row is one brand. Small circles are individual at‑IBO measurements; the larger ring is the brand's mean Δ. Click a brand to see the year‑by‑year evolution.
Median at‑IBO Δ across all measured flagships, weighted equally. 2024 was the worst recent year on record; 2026 is n=1 and provisional.
§03
Methodology
01
What "at IBO spec" means
70 lb peak, 30" draw, 350 gr arrow, bare string, max let‑off. We only count measurements taken at (or within rounding distance of) those conditions toward a brand's mean. Sub‑IBO setups are shown in the bow tables for context but tagged separately.
02
The peep + D‑loop tolerance
Real-world strings carry a peep, D‑loop, and minimum nockset that bare‑string IBO tests don't include. That setup penalty is 5-7 fps vs bare-string IBO. We treat anything inside that tolerance as honest.
03
Extrapolation rules
When a sub-IBO chrono test is the only data on a bow, we project back using ±10 fps per inch of draw length and +1 fps per 1 gr of arrow weight reduction. Extrapolated rows are flagged with an asterisk.
04
Chronograph caveat
+10-15 fps high for archery (per Rokslide thread); popular budget unit. Trusted user-grade unit: Garmin Xero. Owner forum chronos with unknown hardware carry ±10–15 fps measurement noise.
