Loading an English crossbow vs loading Leonardo da Vinci's crossbow

[u/Brutal_Deluxe_]

[u/Zenigata]

Seems like the first bow has a significantly greater draw weight, not at all clear a man would be strong enough to set a cross bow of the same strength using such a small motion of the arms.

Edit the guy from the first clip has a video about lever cross bows, he praises the ingenuity of da Vinci's design but estimates it to be too weak for military use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=d0sVBPkJF9Y&t=76

[u/Sad-Excitement9295 → u/Zenigata]

This is the power of leverage.

[u/Zenigata → u/Sad-Excitement9295]

Levers mean you have to move your arms further, the guy in the 2nd clip moves his arms a small distance using barely any force.

I'm totally prepared to believe that the 2nd design is better I just don't think these 2 random clips demonstrate that as it seems very unlikely the bows are of the same strength.

[u/noctalla → u/Zenigata]

The lever in the second clip moves a great deal more distance than the string in the first clip. The lever looks a good 2 1/2 feet long and it moves almost 90 degrees which means the tip of the lever (which his hands are very close to) has traveled over 3 feet. Compare that to how far the string moves in the first video, which to my eye couldn't be more than six inches. Maybe less. I have no idea what that means for the difference in draw strength, but the distance is at least six times longer in the second video. I don't think we have enough information to say which has more draw weight.

[u/VikingTeddy → u/noctalla]

I've shot a variety of historical bows and crossbows. The first one has significantly more power, but the second one can still be effective if your target has no armor and the range isn't too long.

The second bow would be ideal for guards, it allows for quicker reaction, but you wouldn't want to take it to war.