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Loz79 said..
To be honest I take the board review section with a pinch of salt... Pretty much 99% of reviews are over the top positive. That's cool as I am the same after getting a new board and feel somewhat required to say how good it is to justify the purchase... It would be refreshing to see someone say some honest negative comments about their current board...I'm wary of opinions of guys who jump from one brand to another spruking how wonderful each and every board is... Easy to read between the lines and see that there is some sponsorship deal going on...
Hey Loz79 - I'm a sucker for best-in-class products (SUP or otherwise) & as you mention, I'm personally guilty of pimping most of the brands I've previously owned (Laird / JP / Naish / Deep / Gulliver etc.) which is 2nd nature...I guess. On the other hand, I've also had some average experiences (construction & performance related) but you have to be very careful about slagging off a brand which implies reviews are always going to be skewed to the positive side....kinda like no more red thumbs.
In terms of Sunova (to whom I have no affiliation) I've tried a number of their boards (unfortunately in NZ, there is minimal demo stock...although hopefully this will change because I think they are ramping things up....so it's a complete leap of faith buying a board) some of which I didn't gel with:
- I found the 10' Style (which was a 1st generation Style) to be a bit slow / stiff & there was too much volume for me
- I subsequently bought a 9'6 Style which is a beaut (I think you get the best out of the 10' Style as a bigger paddler or more as a dedicated nose rider vs the 9'6 Style which is a more versatile board)
- I also found the 8'7 Flow to have too much volume for me & after comparing it to my Acid, I prefer an Acid/Speeed quiver combo because they are better suited to my local conditions (the Speeed handles everything vs the Acid which is a performance machine)
- I personally prefer the smaller model Speeed's (8'5 & down) vs the larger ones only because I find I surf them better & they are easier to turn
- I initially bought an 8'10 Speeed because I wanted to use it in choppy conditions but after comparing to my 8'5, I sold the board
Bottom line, we all have very different tastes / we surf a variety of conditions / we have different expectations & our ability levels differ massively which means we are all on a very different journey. No 1 board nor brand does everything perfectly however Sunova certainly do tick a lot of the right boxes in terms of performance / constuction & good value.
By all means (& this is not directed at you Loz) earmark my reviews as 'pro Sunova' but I'm certainly not going to apologise for giving honest feedback
burleighlocal
> 9 months ago, 26 Nov 2016
