Rider: Weight 80kgs
Level - intermediate
Style: Freeriding
Weather: choppy 35knots - butter smooth 16 knots
Build Quality: 9.8/10
Satisfaction: 10/10 (how could a brand new board not give 100% satisfaction?!)
Disclosure: alliancegear.com.au
My Comments: Cardboards Tempo
Since I started kiting I have viewed Cardboards as being a cool company because of the way they specialised in custom boards and the fact they are made here, the boards of theirs that I tried were always good but for one reason or another I ended up on something else but not for any negative reasons.
This year I decided I would get on the programme and buy one of their boards, after much talking with the owner dan (yes he loves a chat just like me!) he gave me lots of helpful hints in deciding which board in the range would suit me best ,I finally gave in to the 135cm Tempo. This board is aimed at more of a wake style rider, im more of a free rider so only time would tell if I made the right descision.
I received the board in the customary heavily padded packaging you would expect, the board comes un assembled which is great as you get to see the top notch workmanship! The deck is a glossy finish that is very well polished, there are no dry patches of fibres showing and the result is a depth that makes you want to dip a spoon into it. This is good if you want to sticker up the deck to show sponsors or whatever! Underside is a matt finish, this will probably soon turn into scratched/ matt job after a few weeks of running onto the sand and shells at my local spot. For a 135cm board it feels quite light, it almost looks like a wake board with close to 40mm lift in the tips, huge channels in the bottom which they call a “D-track” shape. The outline has fairly wide tips with a funky cutouts that compliment the hull shape and lastly the fins are a smaller than usual 40mm variety to keep your ride on track.
Tempo construction according to cardboards is “Nomex honeycomb combined with full Paulownis timber core, Triaxial laminate, with some Unidirectional Carbon fibre thrown in for good measure. All to optimize flex, flex response and torsion flex control”, that too me is one hell of a mouth full. But what is does translate to me in laymen’s terms after flexing on my knee and every which way I could to get a feel for it is, good medium to soft flex in the tips with a much stiffer section through the centre of the board. This was everything I had hoped for, having only owned flat bottom softish boards I was super keen to see what this ride was going to do.
Onboard suspension is covered by a basic 3D molded pad, I call it basic as there is no gel insert or heel pad options, simple and effective.
Locking your feet to the ride are easy to adjust straps, after they are bolted into place you simply rip the Velcro back and there is another tab underneath that you use to adjust the size and then smooth the top flap back in place. It took me about 4 sessions to get the pad/ strap combo how I like it, usually its 1-2 but this combo does take a little longer to conform to how you like it as the straps are firm.
RIDE
My friend stole this board from me while I was rigging my kite the first day, he claims it was calling out to him! Judging by the grin on his face I knew straight away it was going to be fun. First session was in 25-35knts, very choppy onshore conditions, when I say choppy I mean solid 1 ft chop! After about 5 runs I started to feel at home on the Tempo, it has a skatey feeling and still goes fast despite the big rocker. Cardboards really have nailed the flex on this board, for me it has enough give for chop and heavy landings do not fold the board, you can land very heavily in the flats and ride away with speed even if you out fly your kite. The turns provide thick buckets of spray that can take oysters off rocks! The upwind ability seemed good, i steamed upwind ½ km just for fun, more to get away from the crowd than to test its performance.
It was hard to tell with so much chop how well the board popped, it did feel nice but I needed some flat water to really put it to the test.
2nd session on the board served up some butter smooth flat water leading into a choppy river mouth, with much lighter wind. In this session I really got a good feeling from the board and it felt like I have been ridding it for some time. I guess im trying to say it the shape grows fast on you, it was so different from my last board but suddenly after so little time I felt at home and comfortable. I cannot emphasize the amount of pop this board offers in flat water its insane! You can load it up and it is like a catapault I have never had a board that does it so well. Hard landings seem to be soaked up by the slight flex and generous rocker so my knees and joints should get another few good seasons out of riding hard!
CLOSING
After spending a good deal of time on the Tempo I’m enjoying the extra length but still learning it the finer points of using it too its full advantage.
The board still feels fast even with the massive rocker line and definitely likes to be ridden powered, I do feel it probably won’t like the really light wind days though. What little you do loose in low end it more than makes up for with excellent pop, smoothness and is very predictable for hard fast landings.
Cardboards as a company has been really good to deal with in regards to answering questions and helping to choose the right board, the product does everything they said it would and the quality is up there with the best. Honestly there is not much i would want to change about the board, its a big step up from my last ride!
Card
> 9 months ago, 3 Aug 2010
, there is definitely going to be carnage[}:)][}:)][}:)]
