Rider: intermediate
Style: Freeriding, Freestyle
Weather: 18 - 28 knots

My Comments:
Hi there. After reading a number of reviews on the Nobile Boards I decided to buy a 2010 T5 (131/40 cms) last week.

Happy with the board, very smooth, good jumping, and it rocks up wind with literally no effort, and very comfortable pads. Also, love the graphics.

However, after having used it in flat as well as very choppy conditions for a few days, I have experienced 2 problems so far:

1) Straps loosen up and had to re adjust them a few times during each session.

2) Spry in the face seems greater than other boards I had (cab imperial, Crazy Fly Raptor Pro). I had a couple of friends to try the board and they seem to agree on this point. I understand this had been noticed in forums in the past but the issue was supposed to have been sorted with the 2010 boards.....

For a ‘top of the line’ board, I think these things should not happen.

Please note that being an intermediate rider I'm also aware of the fact that I may be doing something wrong....

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Martin

The spray in the face thing is a common Nobile thing if you have just switched or are used to another brand. Seems that after a while Nobile riders tend to compensate in their riding style to cater for it.

sometimes I think there are no really bad boards made these days, just riders not yet tuned to their board.

Have you fitted the shims to the heelside fins?

I've been riding my '09 NHP with them on since day one and don't get spray in the face other than occasionally when i hit some nasty chop.

Hi Koma.

Thanks for your replay.

What do you mean by "shims"?? The board only came with the standard fins, nothing else.

Cheers,
Martin

good point made above- mate rode my board for an hour and sooked about spray in the face......three solid sessions later he has decided to go buy one - you have to get used to stuff and give it a fair chance...

As others have mentioned, give it some time. I had a bit of spray when I first got my Nobile Shinn (much flatter than the 2010 T5) several weeks ago after coming off a higher rocker board but as my technique adjusted this ceased being an issue. I recently moved to smaller fins purely for feel but this further reduced any spray as a bonus. Any board will put up a bit of spray if you're heading into steep enough chop. Technique will minimise it.

The shims are little bits of plastic that are the same profile as the fin base but slightly thicker at the ends so that when mounted under the heelside fins they pull a bit more curve into the tips. They came with Nobile's flatter boards in 2009. You shouldn't need them on a 2010 T5.

Hi Djdojo,

Thanks for your comments about this spray these boards seem to make. If I can't sort it I may try with your suggestion (smaller fins).

For future reference, note that on Nobile's site the issue of this spray is noted on the T5 and they are supposed to be provided with those "Tip rocker profiles" (mine didn't come with them so yesterday I forward a request onto Nobile's distributor). Will keep you posted on how I go about it.

Cheers mate.
Martin

The Shims spoken about on the Website, are the Black Plastic bits that prevent the fins screws from cracking the deck and help to make a better connection Board/Fin.

The washers, thin 7cm long white plastic strip to be placed between the deck bottom and the heel-side Fin, were provided with most Nobile 2009 boards.

One of the Major cause of Spray has been addressed by moving the Footpads inserts towards the middle of the board to ensure minimal interference with water release on the rail. We have also tweaked the heel-side outline to reduce unwanted spray.

Hi Nobile,

Thanks for your remarks but we may be speaking about different things??

"Tip rocker profiles" as they seem to be called, are thought to be provided with the T5 2010 Boards (at least based on information on the official website). As commented earlier, on Nobile's site this issue has been noted and profilers suggested as the solution (I really hope so...).

Please check Nobile's website. Click on the T5 board and then with the mouse turn the board picture upside down - nobilekiteboarding.com/ )

Cheers,
M.

Yep, as the others have said and as even the Nobile website says... their little plastic shims that are thicker at the ends and thinner in the middle which causes the heelside tip to bend up slightly more. I've never actually ridden my board without them as i was recommended to fit them when i got the board.

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Nobile said...

One of the Major cause of Spray has been addressed by moving the Footpads inserts towards the middle of the board to ensure minimal interference with water release on the rail. We have also tweaked the heel-side outline to reduce unwanted spray.

Which as soon as you fit big pads to the board is completely negated.

Hi Nobile - Koma.

Thank you but still a bit confuse by some of your comments.

Website: after saying that the T5 2010 is provided this those 'profilers', it reads: “Should you have problems with excessive spray in your face, simply insert the profilers between the heel-side fins and the board…”

Cheers,
M.

Nobile are calling them profilers, i was calling them shims.
They go in this order from top to bottom...

SCREW
PLASTIC TOP PLATE (load spreader)
BOARD
PROFILER (shim)
FIN

The 'profiler' is a little piece of plastic that when screwed in between the board and fin, bends the heelside tips of the board up slightly which reduces/eliminates the spray in the face from the tip/tail of the board. Nobile or the shop you bought the board from should be able to provide you with some of the profilers to fit to your board.

Martin784,
The T5 will produce almost no spray in the face in flat conditions. The level of spray in the face is mainly dependent on the intensity of the chop. In general the flatter the board the more spray will be experienced. It is possible that your riding stance is not perfected which may be causing even more spray in the face. Having a little spray in the face is only a small sacrifice for the huge performance offered by the T5 which is one of those boards that can work for almost all levels. Already you have observed some of the awesome traits such as being very smooth, good jumping, rocketing upwind and comfortable pads. You will also find that the boards excels in lighter wind conditions due to the very fast rocker line. The T5 edges exceptionally well which allow for sending huge jumps. In really choppy conditions the T5 may give off some spray, however it is very difficult to lose an edge. The asymmetrical toe side edge allows for easy toeside riding which is very key when wave riding. Keep riding and you will see the incredible performance of this board.
The 2010 IDS pro straps are very comfortable and snug. I have noticed that they need the occasional tweaking which takes all of 2 seconds.

Got an 09 555. Great board, no spray issues (it does have the Shims).

The straps are crap though, terrible, worst ever. Too hard, need lots of adjustmetn when the board is new. Mine have worn in some what but they are still not great.

I will be changing to Liquid Force pads/straps asap. They are beautiful.

KOMA - Thanks for the explanation (profilers = shim). English being my second language sometimes gets me into troubles. Hopefully I’ll be able to get those Profilers from the distributor soon. Cheers.

IWB - Thanks for your comments and for such technical review. I can see that you agree with the positive characteristics I had outlined about this board + added a few extra ones. I would definitely check my ‘riding stance’ as you said but I doubt it may be the problem.

Now a couple of comments on what u wrote:

1) IWB: “The T5 will produce almost no spray in the face in flat conditions.”
Well, it sounds like one should be glad that at least it doest not do it in flat conditions???

The chop is really an issue with this board…if you are not used to boards that produce this spray in the face. Hopefully those profilers everyone talks about will help. As soon as I try the board with them on I’ll keep the forum informed.

2) IWB: Straps “I have noticed that they need the occasional tweaking which takes all of 2 seconds”.

I’m sorry say this but this “occasional” tweaking you mention seems to me more ‘regular’ so far….at least with the 2010 T5 I bought.

Some are suggesting that this is because they are brand new; I hope this is the case and in a few more runs it gets sorted. I will definitely keep the forum posted on this matter, too.

As noted on my very first post, the board has very good things (up wind, pads, jumping + the ones you outlined).

I guess it is all about the “pre-purchase expectations” we all have. The T5 is marketed as a Top of the Line board, and the last thing you expect after paying for it is to have problems with a) straps, and b) issues when you ride it in choppy conditions.

Cheers,
M.

I had spay issues with a 08 ,666 EXT even though it had the shims , also ride a 09 666 134x42 and no spray at all.
I fixed the spay issue on the EXT by removing the healside fins and grinding a 5-6mm curve in the top of the fin where it sits on the underside of the board . when the fin is fitted it flexes the end of the board up 10-12mm this stops 90% of the spay in your eyes.
Also the noble foot pads hav a bevelled 45 degree edge which seems to direct any wash off the rail straight into your eyes ,I also took the pads of and trimmed these to 90 degrees with a sharp stanly knife ( only on the front facing edges where your heels sit ) This got rid of the other 10% of eye stinging spray...........
It's like a new board.

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Rattlehead said...

I had spay issues with a 08 ,666 EXT even though it had the shims , also ride a 09 666 134x42 and no spray at all.
I fixed the spay issue on the EXT by removing the healside fins and grinding a 5-6mm curve in the top of the fin where it sits on the underside of the board . when the fin is fitted it flexes the end of the board up 10-12mm this stops 90% of the spay in your eyes.
Also the noble foot pads hav a bevelled 45 degree edge which seems to direct any wash off the rail straight into your eyes ,I also took the pads of and trimmed these to 90 degrees with a sharp stanly knife ( only on the front facing edges where your heels sit ) This got rid of the other 10% of eye stinging spray...........
It's like a new board.

can i buy it back now that you fixed it

bloody hell it does work ..rode board today and was pissed off now i sold it ..no spray in the eyes what so ever if you have this problem .what rattlehead has done has made a massive change to that ****ty eye spray

now give it back to me you old sailboarder

It's an easy 10-15 min fix ,trust me it works .and you can throw away those shims..

Hi Rattlehead, can you please post some pictures of the board with your improvements? English is my second language too and I'm struggling to figure out what you did to fix the problem ...
Thanks
S_

I'll post some pics tomorrow or next day

up even scoob could get them on here bye now people want to see now print them

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rhinoman said...

up even scoob could get them on here bye now people want to see now print them

surely a new benchmark for forum incoherence. hats off.

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rhinoman said...

up even scoob could get them on here bye now people want to see now print them

You need to lay off the wacky.need to get some batteries for my camera...

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Rattlehead said...

rhinoman said...

up even scoob could get them on here bye now people want to see now print them

You need to lay off the wacky.need to get some batteries for my camera...

i have a camera .and i has a charged electric thingy that makes it go click flash .time out for some scoob ......

-
Hey, did those modification pictures ever surface?

I have a 2009 Nobile 666 NHP XTR 143x48.

I had the US Distributor send me the Profilers, as they were not in my box.

I replaced the pads/straps with Litewave Hybrid lace-ups
(which come standard on my Litewave Wing 153 and Spirit 132 boards).

I'll report back on any face-spray experienced with the Litewave pad swap.


Marc

Sorry guys got a bit side tracked ,camera died and internet not real flash where I am presently .Here are some quick photos I uploaded off my phone ,shows the concave I ground in the top of the fin and another phot shows the flex the fin pulls in the end of the board ,also there's a pic of the edge (45 degrees) taken off the side of the pad.hope these help any questions post em.....