First Time on here but thought it was time to put my opinion out on the new Sunova Shroom. Having the unfortunate responsibility of working in a shop where my boss lets me look after and ride the sup demo fleet i get to ride a lot of different boards and send people out on them and get feedback etc.
Been riding the shroom now for well over 20 surfs now and to say I'm impressed is an understatement .First glance puts most off , its definitely not a pretty looking board , but thats what a lot said about the Speeed , and its now Sunovas biggest selling model.
To sum up the shroom is not easy but here goes. Stable yet fast and responsive comes to mind. Definitely surfs different to the speeed but it was a welcome challenge which didn't take long to adapt to. Im going to finish off with the suggestion that the best way to find your next board or if you like the model or not is to ride it before you buy.

I have been eyeing this off in the 8'7 "for my wife" for a couple of months now, waiting for it to come out. I think it might have to be a new board for the holidays.

What length did you ride?

Mr Frothing, we need details! What is your height, weight, experience and favorite color. What size board did you ride? What type of surf do you normally ride? Where does it perform best?

On the spectrum of weird, the Shroom is in a class on its own. I have to admit it will have to be pretty good to get me on board. But maybe we have to think of SUP surfing in a class of its own and therefore the boards need to be different.

Over to you Mr Frothing

Hi Mate,
I've ridden the 8' and 8'3 . Weigh 9o kg and been riding sups and surfing for a while.I rode the 8'3 first and had fun on that than rode the 8' and was equally impressed . Find i prefer the 8' purely for tighter turns .

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SUPFrothing said..
Hi Mate,
I've ridden the 8' and 8'3 . Weigh 9o kg and been riding sups and surfing for a while.I rode the 8'3 first and had fun on that than rode the 8' and was equally impressed . Find i prefer the 8' purely for tighter turns .

Howdy Frothing
I was looking at maybe getting the 7.6 for choppy, windy, & maybe large messy surf - what do you think and have you actually seen the 7.6 Shroom and do you know what the exact weight might be, and also what are the two rear fins like that Sunova recommends ?:-)

We have an 8'3 Shroom in Demo if anyone in Sydney wants to take this new Bert creation for a spin!
Its a really fun board in the small stuff. One of the most stable boards I have ridden for its size.

ive this before - but at that stage the shroom was a prototype etc.

why would you go for a shroom when the speed is there

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AA said..
We have an 8'3 Shroom in Demo if anyone in Sydney wants to take this new Bert creation for a spin!
Its a really fun board in the small stuff. One of the most stable boards I have ridden for its size.

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AA said..
We have an 8'3 Shroom in Demo if anyone in Sydney wants to take this new Bert creation for a spin!
Its a really fun board in the small stuff. One of the most stable boards I have ridden for its size.

Are they the fins that come with the board and

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AA said..
We have an 8'3 Shroom in Demo if anyone in Sydney wants to take this new Bert creation for a spin!
Its a really fun board in the small stuff. One of the most stable boards I have ridden for its size.

Are they the fins that come with the board and also how different is it compared to the speeed (I really do not like the speeed :-)

Johndesu, these are the fins that came with our board. I will have to check if they are standard on the SHROOM.

Totally different board to the SPEEED. The SPEEED is narrow, has lower volume and lower profile rails.
Even though it is designed for high performance just about anyone can ride it due to the stability that the nose offers.
I find the Speeed handles both the small and the big stuff.

Here's my take on it after a couple of surfs.
The SHROOM is best likened to the SKATE - more fish like. It is designed for smaller less powerful waves.
The SHROOM is designed to generate speed and power when there isn't any.
The BIG Difference for me is that you have to move your back foot around , side to side on the SHROOM to turn it, due to the width of the tail.
On the SPEEED you just set back and it turns. That said if you don't step back far enough on the Speeed it doesn't turn
- the main reason why people don't like it at first.

You can go two ways when the waves get weaker - longer - 10'+ for more glide and more styling drawn out turns,
OR
shorter and wider (without sacrificing surface area) like the SHROOM so the board is nimble and quick to turn.

Two different styles for the same type of wave.

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AA said..
Johndesu, these are the fins that came with our board. I will have to check if they are standard on the SHROOM.

Totally different board to the SPEEED. The SPEEED is narrow, has lower volume and lower profile rails.
Even though it is designed for high performance just about anyone can ride it due to the stability that the nose offers.
I find the Speeed handles both the small and the big stuff.

Here's my take on it after a couple of surfs.
The SHROOM is best likened to the SKATE - more fish like. It is designed for smaller less powerful waves.
The SHROOM is designed to generate speed and power when there isn't any.
The BIG Difference for me is that you have to move your back foot around , side to side on the SHROOM to turn it, due to the width of the tail.
On the SPEEED you just set back and it turns. That said if you don't step back far enough on the Speeed it doesn't turn
- the main reason why people don't like it at first.

You can go two ways when the waves get weaker - longer - 10'+ for more glide and more styling drawn out turns,
OR
shorter and wider (without sacrificing surface area) like the SHROOM so the board is nimble and quick to turn.

Two different styles for the same type of wave.

Hi AAWill you be at Merimbula because I will be there (I will the sup surfer who always surfs with sunnies & a Hat & all Naish gear) - please bring a small size Shroom so I can demo please ?:-)

I have been fortunate enough to have had a few small wave surfs on a 7'9 x 30 x 3 1/8 and 104 litres shroom lately. I am 87kg and usually ride 7'8 x 27 minion and been supping for many years and ridden many boards. The board has only been surfed in 2/3 foot beachies. When I first saw it at Surf FX I thought what the hell is this thing!

These boards don't win the prettiest board award but speak for themselves in the water.

Since getting over the initial weird looking shape and fin setup and hitting the water I have noticed the following....

1. Very strong and bulletproof construction
2. Extremely light so much my 9 yr old daughter can carry it from the car to the beach (great pop up carry handle) and
wants one for xmas
3. Super fast acceleration on take off and down the line (generates heaps of speed so easy)
4. Very nimble and easy to turn off the tail on a dime if you get your weight and back foot back on the tail pad
5. You need to get in closer to the peak to get the wave
6. Board surfs fairly flat on the wave and because of the super wide tail you need to move your back foot a bit
7. Super stable but small sweet spot when standing out the back.
8. Be carefull not to catch the nose when coming down off a closeout

Overall don't be scared off by the look of the board, give it a crack.Would love some bigger swell to test it out on.

Hi Guys, I'm back after a great few days of waves. Unfortunately due to time on the water testing boards don't find much time to get on here. However if you'd like to try the 8', 8'3 ' 8'7 or and the 8'11 shroom and are around gerringong , come and see us .
Rode the mighty Shroom(8') in overhead waves yesterday and waist to head hi this morning . For a rather wide odd looking piece of work i definitley put it up there with the 8'8 speeed and 8'3 Smik spitfire . All different boards , with unique features that offer a whole lot of fun . One thing I've learnt over the last few years especially is don't judge a SUP by its look , if we did we would never move fwd . Good on you Bert and scott, outside the square gets us somewhere .

We have ordered a 7'6 but haven't picked one up in the flesh. My intentions with the shroom was to have something for the days you described but the more i ride it the more it seems like a great all rounder. The Speeed and Smik still offer a bit more drive and top to bottom in sucker waves , but haven't had much to complain about with the Shroom in those conditions either . All great boards that put a smile on the dial

Just picking up on this thread - I'm curious what the 'static' stability is like on the Shroom? (ie. what's it like when stationery & waiting for the next wave?). With the big concave deck & bottom, it looks like it holds a lot of volume in the rails -
does that make it a 'stable table' when standing still, or is that volume more of a 'secondary stability' that initially tips but catches itself? Have read a lot about the performance on a wave - just curious on how it feels when not moving as I occasionally like to just chill for a few sets and take some pics, and trying to work out if the 8'11" Shroom @ 160L might do the job. Considered the 9'5" Speeed but don't really need the super tight turning & performance - stability would be the preference for this board.

FYI, 6'2" & 112kgs

808

I am 104 kg + full wetsuit (probably same as you, when I'm fully geared up)
I ride the 8'3 Shroom with ease in summer.
In winter, I am stable as a rock on the 8'7 Shroom.... it's actually too big for me, but a joy to stand around on for 3 hours in freezing temperatures.
Not as quick to snap around as the 8'3 but really easy and fun.

The 8'11 will be easy for you..... way easier than the 9'5 Speeed.
The side rails do add a lot of side to side stability.
But it is a different sort of board, and I would suggest a demo before committing.

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supthecreek said..
808

I am 104 kg + full wetsuit (probably same as you, when I'm fully geared up)
I ride the 8'3 Shroom with ease in summer.
In winter, I am stable as a rock on the 8'7 Shroom.... it's actually too big for me, but a joy to stand around on for 3 hours in freezing temperatures.
Not as quick to snap around as the 8'3 but really easy and fun.

The 8'11 will be easy for you..... way easier than the 9'5 Speeed.
The side rails do add a lot of side to side stability.
But it is a different sort of board, and I would suggest a demo before committing.

Thanks for that Rick - don't think my local Sunova guys have an 8'11 in demo (from memory they only had an ~7'10 or so but that was a while back) but will call around. Appreciate the feedback re. stability

i'm 6'3" and about 92 kgs. bought the 7'9" schroom, and it has been a handful for me...probably too small. when moving i'm sort of ok, but it's very difficult to stand still on the thing. stability is tough both sideways and front-to-back. the few surfs i've gotten on it were good, but if i had to do it again, i'd probably go 8'3" minimally. i have no problem at all on my 8'0" Hypernut, but that's got about 30 more liters of volume, which is obviously substantial.

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GizzieNZ said..
I have a sunova......the deck is delaminating

I have a pavlova....the meringue is delaminating

Would you classify the shroom as a Simmons style sup ?

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London said..
Would you classify the shroom as a Simmons style sup ?

No London... I would not... but thats from my personal experience.
Rocker and fin placement are very different and designed for a different style of surfing than the Simmons type.

The Shroom is a carver in my view... very nice tight carve, not skatey or pivoty.
Speed like a Simmons, but likes to be put on a rail in low speed, small or mushy waves.
When it gets bigger, the wide tail and overall shape make it harder to lay on a rail because it was not designed for large or powerful waves.

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London said..
Would you classify the shroom as a Simmons style sup ?

No, the Simmons have fins really on the tail. This means they are late in engaging the turn: you must step back and bank the board and wait 1/2 second for the board to begin turning. It is more an "airplane" banking turn than a surfing one.

I love the feeling, but it is special. This is why you see a lot of wide-tailed boards with "standard" fin clusters (more forward), so that they offer a more classic feeling.

Most Simmons also have a deep concave on the tail to add control and ease of turning, at the expense of some speed.

The Shroom appears to be an updated version of the Skate .
Based on specs and pics here is what I would expect if I compared to similar boards

8"3 Skate
115 L
29 3/4 wide
4 1/8 thick

Most similar Shroom

8"0 Shroom
115L
31 1/6 wide
3 3/16 thick

A. The Shroom has slightly more nose rocker
b. The Skate has a wider tail and is harder to turn but more stable
c. The Skate has a flatter deck and would be more comfortable to stand on
d. The Shroom is wide and would seem more
but that would be countered by the flat Skate deck. Could go less wide on Skate and feel same stability
E. Skate should track better due to centre fin, however parallel rails of Shroom may even things up
F. Skate has slightly better glide due to length and slightly thicker
G. Skate catches waves easier due to wider tail. Shroom needs to be closer to pocket
H. Both boards have noses that are prone to catch on small beach breaks but probably worse on slightly longer Skate
I. The Shroom is just as good a paddler as the slightly longer Skate due to parallel shape. Both are good paddlers for their size.
Skate maybe slighty faster paddler due to longer length and narrower width
J. Equivalent surf shape board to 8'3 skate and 8'0 Shroom would be a 9'0 foot board
K. The Shroom is slightly more versatile
L. The 8'3 Skate would suit a less advanced rider
M. Both good for small surf
N. The Skate is faster on the wave. You could slow down much easier on the Shroom
O. Shroom more versatile
P. The longer 8"3 Skate has better front to back stability
Q. The Shroom is easier to control
R. Skate is easier to get out the back due to pointy nose
S. Skate easier to stand on out the back due to flat deck

Would be interested to get thoughts on the above from those who have used both and why you would choose one over the other.

Mate have yet to set eyes on a shroom but have surfed the 8 6 skate for the last 2 years and an 8 ft hypernut the last week ( bought for my daughter who then decided she like the skate better ) . My take - skate much faster on the wave ( maybe yet to find the sweet spot on the hypernut ? )
- skate much better glide
-both easy on the paddle out ( nose on the hypernut punches through without issues)
- skate much much more prone to catching a nose - especially in the wind chop .
- hypernut requires latter take off - and is capable of very late take offs which the skate would really struggle to make .
- both very stable standing out the back
- both seem to have very good quality finish - both light boards
- both attract plenty of attention due to the shapes
-both lots of fun in the small surf , hypernut much faster on the turn , skate holds speed better down the line .
- both would suit intermediate riders in my opinion

hope that is of some help .