Hoyt Torrex XT LD Review
Pros
- A true long-draw hunting bow - fits 30-31-inch shooters at a full 70 pounds with no youth-bow or non-adjustable compromise
- Keeps the Torrex XT's roller cable guard and Limb Shox dampers for a smooth, quiet shot
- Runs a forgiving 7-inch brace, an inch longer than the standard XT, giving long-draw shooters more clearance and margin while still rating 336 fps
- Same flagship X-Act grip and Cam & 1/2 system as the rest of the line, at a sub-$800 price
Cons
- The 30-31-inch draw window only fits genuinely long-draw shooters - anyone shorter wants the standard Torrex or Torrex XT instead
- The slick plastic X-Act grip surface divides owners - a few dollars of grip tape gives a surer hold for cold or wet hands
Editors' review
Most budget bows quietly forget about the tall shooter. The value tier tops out around a 30-inch draw, which leaves the 31-inch archer either fighting a bow that does not quite fit or paying flagship money to get a long-draw module. The Torrex XT LD exists to close that gap. It takes the Torrex XT - Hoyt's fast, refined value bow with its roller cable guard and Limb Shox dampers - and reconfigures it for the long-draw shooter, with a module that sets the draw window at 30 to 31 inches. The clever part is the brace height: where the standard XT runs a tight 6 inches, the LD opens back up to a forgiving 7-inch brace, giving the tall archer the clearance and margin they need, and the longer draw recovers the speed the longer brace would otherwise cost - so the LD still carries the same 336 fps rating as its shorter-brace sibling. This is the bow for the long-armed hunter who has spent years settling for bows that bottom out a half-inch short of where they want to be, and who refuses to spend $1,400 to finally get a proper fit.
Finish
Like the Torrex XT it is built from, the LD draws on Hoyt's standard hunting color lineup rather than the base Torrex's two-finish list, so the long-draw buyer is not penalized on looks for needing the long-draw bow. The familiar Realtree and blackout-based patterns Hoyt runs across its hunting line are the menu, applied with the same durable dip-and-coat process used on the rest of the family. As on the standard XT, Kuiu Verde 2.0 is the one pattern Hoyt did not extend to the Torrex XT platform, but the rest of the standard rotation is available. For a niche, long-draw value bow, getting the full color book instead of a token pair of options is a small but real upgrade - the LD shooter chooses a finish they actually want rather than taking what is left.Riser
The LD is built on the Torrex XT riser - the same cast Tec-Lite aluminum, beefed up over the standard Torrex to handle the energy of the faster setup, which is why it weighs 4.0 pounds rather than the base bow's 3.8. The casting carries Hoyt's reflex back-bridge geometry and stays quiet and creak-free under a press, the real test of whether a cast riser was executed properly. The cable guard is the XT's roller guard, not the solid rod of the base Torrex, so the cables roll rather than slide as the long-draw cycle plays out - a meaningful friction reduction that matters even more over the longer power stroke a 30-to-31-inch draw produces. The StealthShot string stop mounts off the back as on every bow in the line. Nothing about the riser is downgraded for the LD; it is the full XT chassis, simply paired with the longer-draw cam configuration and the more forgiving brace. For a long-draw shooter used to making do, a riser this solid at this price is a genuine find.Grip
The X-Act grip carries over to the LD unchanged, and on a long-draw bow it earns its keep. This is the same grip Hoyt puts on the Carbon RX-1 - thin through the throat, flat across the back - and it sets the hand in a repeatable, low-torque position that matters more, not less, as draw length grows, because a longer draw amplifies any inconsistency in how the hand meets the riser. In my experience the flat back is the detail that holds everything together, keeping the bow from rolling under the longer, slightly heavier-feeling pull of the extended draw. The surface is the same molded plastic found across the Torrex family, and it draws the same split verdict: some shooters like the clean, slick feel that lets them re-seat the hand at full draw, others want more tack, especially in cold or wet weather. The shape is excellent and fixed; the grip surface is a preference a buyer can adjust for a few dollars with grip tape or a stick-on wrap.Limbs
The LD runs the Torrex platform's wide split limbs in the molded polymer pockets that define the family - high-density plastic, no aluminum liner - and tips them with the XT's Limb Shox dampers to soak up residual vibration after the shot. The same honest framing applies as on the rest of the line: the plastic pockets look like a concession and have not proven to be one, because Hoyt's limb durability is the company's most bankable trait. The one place the LD's limb menu differs from its siblings is the peak-weight options: it is offered in 30-40, 40-50, 50-60, and 60-70-pound configurations, dropping the 55-65 option the standard and XT carry - a small detail, but a long-draw buyer should simply order the bracket that brackets their target weight. Draw weight adjusts with an Allen wrench across the bolt range without a press, and the split-limb design stores energy efficiently over the LD's longer power stroke, which is part of how a 7-inch-brace bow still posts the same 336 rating as the 6-inch XT.Eccentric System
The LD uses the family Cam & 1/2 system - paired cams linked by control cables to fire and sync as a unit for a consistent, easier-drawing platform - with the cam set up on a long-draw module. That module is the whole point: it sets the draw window at 30 to 31 inches, where the standard Torrex and XT bottom out at 30. The published IBO speed (the industry chronograph rating at a fixed 30-inch, 70-pound, 350-grain setup) is 336 fps, identical to the shorter-brace XT, which is the elegant trick of the LD - the longer draw length recovers exactly the speed the longer 7-inch brace would otherwise surrender, so the long-draw shooter gives up nothing on the chronograph for the added forgiveness. There is no LD-specific chronograph data in circulation, but the platform is well-mapped: the Torrex cam pushes hunting-weight arrows in the high 260s to low 290s fps at 70 pounds, and a long-draw shooter at 30-31 inches will sit at the upper end of that range simply because they are running more power stroke. Let-off is 80 percent, so a 70-pound LD holds around 14 pounds at full draw. The roller cable guard keeps the long cycle running with less friction than the base bow's solid rod.Draw Cycle/Shootability
Drawing the LD out to a true 31 inches myself, I felt the difference at once - this is where the bow makes its case: instead of stacking hard into a too-short bow, a long-armed shooter reaches a natural, comfortable full draw with room to spare. The cycle builds with a defined hump before the cams roll over, then settles into a valley that, like the rest of the Torrex line, runs short - so staying engaged on the back wall is the habit to keep, and the reward is a firm, repeatable cable-stop wall that settles the pin. The 7-inch brace gives the long-draw shooter more forgiveness than the standard XT's 6 inches, which is exactly what a longer draw wants, since string-angle and torque errors grow with draw length. After the shot, the roller guard and Limb Shox dampers do their work - the LD runs smooth and quiet for a budget bow, with minimal post-shot vibration and very little torque back into the hand. At 4.0 pounds it stays manageable on a long carry, and a modest stabilizer steadies the slightly longer-leveraged hold. For a shooter who has only ever known bows that fit a half-inch short, the LD's full, settled draw is the headline experience.Usage Scenarios
The Torrex XT LD is a purpose-built tool for one job: putting a capable, affordable 70-pound hunting bow in the hands of a long-draw archer. With a 336 rating and the Torrex cam's proven real-world output over a long power stroke, it has the speed and the energy for clean pass-throughs on whitetail, hogs, and antelope, and the headroom a western hunter wants for elk inside a sensible range. Picture the 6-foot-3 hunter with a 31-inch draw who has spent a decade short-changed by value bows that stop at 30 - the LD is the bow that finally fits, at a price that does not require justifying a flagship. The forgiving 7-inch brace makes it a sound choice for a long-draw shooter who is still refining form, and the long, comfortable draw makes for relaxed practice and steady treestand and ground-blind holds. It is equally at home on a 3D course where a long-draw shooter wants reach and forgiveness. The one thing to be clear about is fit: this is not a general-purpose bow but a long-draw specialist - a shooter inside 30 inches gains nothing from the LD and should take the standard Torrex or Torrex XT instead.Versions
The Torrex XT LD is sold as a bow-only configuration at a $749 launch MSRP (2020-2021) - the same price as the standard Torrex XT, since the LD is that bow with a long-draw module and a longer brace rather than a costlier build; there is no long-draw price premium. Retailers assembled complete ready-to-hunt packages from it as with the rest of the line. It is the long-draw member of the three-bow Torrex family, and each sibling has its own review. The standard Hoyt Torrex (7-inch brace, 327 fps, $599 bow-only) is the forgiving, lowest-cost entry on a conventional cable guard, with a 26-30-inch draw range. The Hoyt Torrex XT (6-inch brace, 336 fps, $749 bow-only) is the speed-focused standard-draw bow, sharing the LD's roller guard and Limb Shox but in a tighter, faster, 25.5-to-30-inch package. A buyer reaches for the LD specifically when their draw runs 30-31 inches; otherwise one of the two shorter-draw siblings is the better fit.Hoyt Torrex XT LD vs Hoyt Powermax, Diamond Infinite Edge Pro
| Bow | Hoyt Torrex XT LD | Hoyt Powermax | Diamond Infinite Edge Pro |
| Version | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Picture |  |  |  |
| Brace Height | 7 " | 6.75 " | 7 " |
| AtA Length | 30 " | 31 " | 31 " |
| Draw Length | 30 " - 31 " | 24 " - 30 " | 13 " - 31 " |
| Draw Weight | 30 lbs - 70 lbs | 30 lbs - 70 lbs | 5 lbs - 70 lbs |
| IBO Speed | 336 fps | 328 fps | 310 fps |
| Weight | 4.0 lbs | 3.8 lbs | 3.2 lbs |
| Let-Off | 80% | 75% | 80% |
| Where to buy Best prices online |
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For the long-draw value buyer, the LD's closest rivals are the bow it replaced and the most adjustable budget bow on the market. The Hoyt Powermax (2016-2020) was the prior budget Hoyt that served long-draw shooters through its own LD variant, which reached 26.5 to 31 inches on a 7.5-inch brace and rated 325 fps - a similar sub-$600 dealer bow in its day. The Torrex XT LD improves on it where a shooter feels it: an easier 80-percent hold against the Powermax's 75 percent, and the roller cable guard and Limb Shox dampers the older bow lacked, for a smoother and quieter shot, while posting 336 fps to the Powermax's 325. The cross-brand alternative is the Diamond Infinite Edge Pro, around $549 as a ready-to-hunt package, whose enormous 13-to-31-inch draw range means it reaches the same 31-inch ceiling and then some - making it the budget answer for a household that needs one bow to fit a long-draw adult and a child alike. But the Diamond is built for span and reach, not speed, rating 310 fps on a longer, more relaxed 31-inch frame, and it does not match the LD's refinement. The decision comes down to priorities: the Hoyt Powermax for a bargain hunter cross-shopping the used market, the Diamond Infinite Edge Pro for the family that needs one bow to fit every shooter from a child to a long-draw adult, and the Torrex XT LD for the dedicated long-draw hunter who wants the fastest, most refined fit built specifically for a 30-to-31-inch draw.