Know your bow

Find your size: 1980s–90s Oneidas

Label worn off? Oneida color-coded the cable ends by size. Read the colors, then use the outboard limb, the cam, your brace height or the old string to break any ties.

  • Difficulty Moderate
  • Time 15 minutes
  • For 14 Oneida models

Oneida Labs bows from the H-500 to the Stealth Eagle. The Discovery has no cable color code.

All how-to guides

We're still double-checking this guide against how we do it in the shop. If anything doesn't match your bow, stop and text us or call 270-318-2020.

Before you start

  • Know your model first; the same colors mean different sizes on different models.
  • This is all looking and measuring.

Steps

  1. Pin down the model with the serial or 'Which Oneida do I have?'.
  2. Find the power cable (to the clevis) and yoke cable (to the saddle) at one end. The Stealth has no clevis; its saddle holds both.
  3. Write down every paint color on the power and yoke cable ends.
  4. Skip to the other clues if there's no paint; replaced cables, including most G-String cables, aren't color-coded.
  5. Match the colors on your model page.
  6. Tomcat EXP: read the power color as the peak-weight group (gray, clear or white); the yoke is always orange.
  7. Expect ties: Medium and Long share colors on the Tomcat I, Phantom I, Strike Eagle, Tomcat II, Phantom II and Aero-Force, and standard-weight H-250/H-500s share blue/black from 30–34 in.
  8. Check the outboard limb size: S on Short and Medium, L on Long.
  9. Send us a photo of any dots on the outboard limb; a hand-drawn chart in our files reads dot patterns by model and size.
  10. Check the cam against Oneida's cam chart; the Tomcat I, Phantom I and Strike Eagle yoke colors changed with the late-1991 I-Cam.
  11. Measure brace height and compare with your model page; treat it as a clue, since twisting changes it.
  12. Read an original Oneida string by its loop and serving colors, knowing black/black could be a 47 in B-50 or a 50 1/2 in Omni-Flite.
  13. Read the power-limb stripe code (AAA–G): usually weight, but on the Tomcat I, Phantom I and H-500 the Long bows use a different letter.
  14. Stealth: use its one string length and color set; call us if your outboard has a 'Stealth Long' dot.
  15. Send us your model or serial, both cable colors, any dots, the cam, brace height and string length.

Tips

  • Write exactly what you see on each end (e.g. 'top power: yellow / yellow').