Looking for twin tip for tall and heavy rider with good upwind, pop and soft on knee capabilities.

Rider: 98kg Weight, Level (intermediate wanting to become advanced)
Style: Freeriding, Surf, Wake, Freestyle
Weather: 18 - 35 knots
Kites: 8 / 10 / 12 meter
Board: Cabrinha Custom 144cm year 2009

My Comments: Guys, I am looking for some good feedback for my next twin tip board. My current Cabrinha Custom 144cm is not tracking upwind well enough. It is great for pop and soft on landings, but I am just constantly fighting to get upwind, due to the big rocker in the board.

Since I am 98kg heavy and 6'5" tall, the choice of boards is just not as easy for me.

I have tried the North X-Ride 141cm of a mate (these days only available in 139cm) and it tracks upwind very nicely and was very soft on knees, but I just wonder if there are any other suggestions here for to overcome my issue.

I Recently tried:
- Cabrinha Caliber 139 (2012) - similar characteristics to my Custom and for my size/liking not good enough upwind performance
- Jaime Pro 139cm (year 2012) - good upwind but too hard on knees and sprayed water in face and felt too short
- Naish Arcade 139cm - one of those high performance boards, possibly very good for small rider but it was not going upwind well for me and felt very stiff and thus hard on knees

Would the Nobile 50 Fifty 141 x 43cm or even the Nobile NHP 137 x 44cm work for what I am looking for??

Good upwind, advanced enough board for plenty of pop of the water, soft on knees and reasonable in the choppy bay conditions.

Looking forward to your suggestions!!

- The X-Ride is always a popular choice and easy on the knees

- In NAISH I think you tried the wrong board, the Momentum will have the characteristics you seek

- 50 Fifty can be ridden faster in chop than the NHP but feels a bit skatier with less rocker in the guts

- NHP is much smoother than any previous year, landings are it's stand out feature. Still not quite as comfy in the chop as the X-Ride though.

I think you were on track with the X Ride but the lack of large sizing is its drawback for you.

You really should try the Naish Momentum 138cm AND the Nobile board you weren't considering. The T5, try the 137 or 140cm.

Jason

The 50fifty is great for tall guys. The 141x43 would be perfect in giving the pop of the custom with better upwind ability and softer landings.

lars ive been on xrides 09,2010,2011.which i thought were a nice board but ive switched to the shinn monk 135 42 ,try all the boards you want you wont find a more smoother easy on the body board if you can lay your hands on one,the foot pads are like slippers super thick memory foam, big rocker , supple flex ,zero spray, points upwind superbly, i ride in very choppy strong wind conditions and i love this board,ive passed it around and never had a negative vibe ,they usually ask where to buy one, i suffer with knee and back dramas and this board lets me get on the water for longer and lets me go harder than any other board ive trialed, if your at kite stock your welcome to take mine out for a run

Nobile footpads n straps are also really really nice on the 2011/12 models...

NHP is awesome board- very forgiving & flies upwind.

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djdojo said...

The 50fifty is great for tall guys. The 141x43 would be perfect in giving the pop of the custom with better upwind ability and softer landings.

you have no idea, 141 is tiny and only for girls pretty much. If moving to a wakestyle board go bigger.i am 167cm, i used to have a 130 naish thron, now i ride a 134 50fifty and it feels like the right size. Most guys go for the 140, if you are bigger than that, get the biggest size!!

most competitors are getting bigger boards now on average, not smaller. most boards used in the pkra range from 136 to 140.

ps i don't find my 50fifty particularly forgiving on the knees. but i like it anyhow.

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cauncy said...

lars ive been on xrides 09,2010,2011.which i thought were a nice board but ive switched to the shinn monk 135 42 ,try all the boards you want you wont find a more smoother easy on the body board if you can lay your hands on one,the foot pads are like slippers super thick memory foam, big rocker , supple flex ,zero spray, points upwind superbly, i ride in very choppy strong wind conditions and i love this board,ive passed it around and never had a negative vibe ,they usually ask where to buy one, i suffer with knee and back dramas and this board lets me get on the water for longer and lets me go harder than any other board ive trialed, if your at kite stock your welcome to take mine out for a run

The Nobile NHP sounds to me like the best of the batch you have mentioned for what you want. 50/50 is a great board but a bit too flat water & freestyle exclusive to do all that you are asking for.
BUT I definitely agree with cauncy - try the Shinn Monk. It fits your bill perfectly. Absolutely awesome board.
If thats not exactly what you want then try the Super Shinn. Havent seen it here yet but its not far away. Mark is saying its 'freestyle' but not hard core so will probably suit those who are pretty serious about their freestyle but still looking for performance elsewhere as well.
Cant wait to try one. Should be available for demo from a few selected shops round Oz in about 2 weeks.

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puppetonastring said...50/50 is a great board but a bit too flat water & freestyle exclusive to do all that you are asking for.

I have to disagree. Though plugged as their flagship performance board the 50 is phenomenal at cutting through bay chop quickly, smoothly, and spray-free. For a tall guy with a high centre of gravity the longer platform works well, especially for landings. It has a wide stance too and at 6'3" I appreciate that.

It also has enough rocker and grip for shredding carves onto wave faces.

I rode a custom ( which I still rate as an awesome board) before I got my 50 so I know where Lars is coming from. He doesn't want a flat board, just something with a bit more "pep" than the custom, with similar pop.

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salt said...

djdojo said...

The 50fifty is great for tall guys. The 141x43 would be perfect in giving the pop of the custom with better upwind ability and softer landings.

you have no idea, 141 is tiny and only for girls pretty much. If moving to a wakestyle board go bigger.i am 167cm, i used to have a 130 naish thron, now i ride a 134 50fifty and it feels like the right size. Most guys go for the 140, if you are bigger than that, get the biggest size!!

I have no idea? Perhaps a re-read of our posts would be useful?

Hi guys ive ridden and sell most those boards i love the 50/50 in the surf, especially when its big, im only 73kgs and ride the 139 all the time ,ive got lots of big guys using the bigger ones and they seem pretty happy. But i will say did a down winder on the knew NHP on the week end and i did have a lot of fun .I think a lot of big guys will find the NHP 134 or 137 this year to be their board loads of pop ,soft on knees, great up wind, soft landings .
Hope this helps
George

Guys, I have to say "THANK YOU!"
I massively appreciate your input and suggestions to my questions! I bought a 50Fifty Nobile today in the biggest size 141cm x 43cm. Its a bit tricky buying something you have not tried, but all your inputs have helped me massively. When looking at the web, there is mostly very positive feedback about this board and just researching about it and having ridden all the other boards first mentioned in my post, I feel quite confident I made the right choice.

Will let you know how I go as someone else might benefit from this post. "not bad those online forums........" :)

Hope you enjoy your new purchase, just want to add my 50c worth for those who will read this for info... I have ridden both x-ride and 50/50, 98 kgs and a surfing background, I bought the north and love it in the surf! The 50/50 was just a bit too skatey for me in the carves, the x-ride just hangs in and carves as hard as you can push it, goes nicely upwind and has pretty decent flatwater form as well. I find it can be as much fun as a SB!

50Fifty is awesome, just what I was looking for! So much more enjoyable than the Custom. It tracks upwind nicely, it wants to come/pop out of the water easy, even toeside in light wind I just have so much more power in the kite.

Alright, enough said even though I could go on and on. Thanks fellas for your input!

Lars