I like how big the used Armstrong gear market in ANZ is...

I'm 90kg and still on my Armstrong V1 mast, 60cm fuse and the HA925 is my go to front wing.

It was suggested to me by an Armstrong dealer that at 90kg, I should be on the performance mast before upgrading to new HAs.

Alternatively, he reckons I could sell my V1 carbon mast and fuse and buy a new Alloy mast for not much extra $.

Bad idea?

All these new cool brands are tempting, but I'll stick to my Armie gear until there is a good market for the other stuff. Unlike some folks, I'm not made of money and need to get something for my old stuff when I move to newer stuff.

I've watched Uni, KT, Mikes, Axis gear sit in the used ads for long periods here on Maui, even when heavily discounted. Armstrong stuff go pretty quick, unless it is really outdated gear. V1 masts, fuses, A+, still sell if priced right. Newer stuff like MA and HA2 sell quick. Performance Masts sell overnight.

I recently picked up an Armstrong v1 72 mast and 50 fuse. Paired it with ma1225 and 195 stab +1 TTF. I also have a newer and at least twice the price hp795/60/ha880/140red which pumps great.
i still love winging the old kit. Especially on lower tide 10-15kt wind small lumps. At 80kg with 82L board it's a fun float and ride setup. Similar ride to 880 foil set but more sporty.
Winging probably less crucial for mast. I wouldn't be disappointed if i only had the older rig winging.
The HP mast i also use for sup paddle and wave if conditions are right.

All comes down to personal style, once invested into the eco system of a PM and 60Fuse its your choice by foil characteristics. I personally love the MAs and after watching the new HOME of Armstrong 2 video can't wait for the mark 2 version. My quiver is 625/680/685 each one is totally different! The MA 625 would be my favourite if it had a better stall speed, the HA680 has the glide but not the ripping ability of the 625. And the DW685 is my light day foil but it's got such different characteristics, I'll take it out for a wing if it's flat and windy causes it's fast and goes upwind really well. It's also a foil I'll downwind when the swell period is over 12s as the lumps are bigger and it just sits with the swell, favourite aspect is that the faster you go the lift doesn't move forward so you can just hang in the same foot position. Downside is it doesn't like to breach and turns are more drawn out.
Daily driver is the 680 (I found the MA800 very similar but without the glide factor of the 680).
Use the 140 dart with HA/DW and the 180 speed with the MA.
I've tried the 120 dart and would replace the 140 with it (it's just more refined)
77kgs 45yrs weekend warrior

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beached57 said..
i ask myself the same question. i have thousands of dollars invested in Armstrong foils, but when i see something like the Unifoil and how stiff it all is compared to the loose connections of the Armstrong gear, i wonder if it's worth a change. I know selling the Armie stuff will get me pennies on the dollar. For now, I just cannot justify it, but if you aren't as vested, I'd seriously look at the comp.

I will say the performance mast was not a game changer for me. I'm not particularly technical about my riding or my gear, but I really didn't notice any difference between my older masts and the performance ones. I'm about 90 kgs, so these masts supposedly would be more noticeable for me, and yet...not.

I was a Armstrong fan for 4 years but was keen to try another company .Went KT atlas set up absolutely fantastastic.Mast stiffer the ride is more locked in and not twitchy incredible speed of the wings from take off. Armstrong is very good but I reckon KT is better.

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I was a Armstrong fan for 4 years but was keen to try another company .Went KT atlas set up absolutely fantastastic.Mast stiffer the ride is more locked in and not twitchy incredible speed of the wings from take off. Armstrong is very good but I reckon KT is better.

Compared to the armstrong HA v2?

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tinka said..

beached57 said..
i ask myself the same question. i have thousands of dollars invested in Armstrong foils, but when i see something like the Unifoil and how stiff it all is compared to the loose connections of the Armstrong gear, i wonder if it's worth a change. I know selling the Armie stuff will get me pennies on the dollar. For now, I just cannot justify it, but if you aren't as vested, I'd seriously look at the comp.

I will say the performance mast was not a game changer for me. I'm not particularly technical about my riding or my gear, but I really didn't notice any difference between my older masts and the performance ones. I'm about 90 kgs, so these masts supposedly would be more noticeable for me, and yet...not.

I was a Armstrong fan for 4 years but was keen to try another company .Went KT atlas set up absolutely fantastastic.Mast stiffer the ride is more locked in and not twitchy incredible speed of the wings from take off. Armstrong is very good but I reckon KT is better.

I never had issues with loose connections on the Armstrong rigs except for one new front wing that was out of spec and was warranted. I owned all of the iterations of the Armstrong mast including the Performance mast which is still the best mast I've ridden (I really like the NoLimitz V2 as well). The difference really comes into play with heavier riders on bigger span foils, but even my lighter buddies notice a big improvement in smoothness, stability and response on the Performance mast. I'm on the KT system now and also very happy, but the mast is good, but not stiffer than the Armie Performance mast. As an aside, the KT Nomad foils are what Armstrong riders dreamed the original MAs were going to be: fast, loose, good glide without being too spanny. It'll be cool to see the Armie MA V2s when they come out shortly.

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Windoc said..

tinka said..

beached57 said..
i ask myself the same question. i have thousands of dollars invested in Armstrong foils, but when i see something like the Unifoil and how stiff it all is compared to the loose connections of the Armstrong gear, i wonder if it's worth a change. I know selling the Armie stuff will get me pennies on the dollar. For now, I just cannot justify it, but if you aren't as vested, I'd seriously look at the comp.

I will say the performance mast was not a game changer for me. I'm not particularly technical about my riding or my gear, but I really didn't notice any difference between my older masts and the performance ones. I'm about 90 kgs, so these masts supposedly would be more noticeable for me, and yet...not.

I was a Armstrong fan for 4 years but was keen to try another company .Went KT atlas set up absolutely fantastastic.Mast stiffer the ride is more locked in and not twitchy incredible speed of the wings from take off. Armstrong is very good but I reckon KT is better.

I never had issues with loose connections on the Armstrong rigs except for one new front wing that was out of spec and was warranted. I owned all of the iterations of the Armstrong mast including the Performance mast which is still the best mast I've ridden (I really like the NoLimitz V2 as well). The difference really comes into play with heavier riders on bigger span foils, but even my lighter buddies notice a big improvement in smoothness, stability and response on the Performance mast. I'm on the KT system now and also very happy, but the mast is good, but not stiffer than the Armie Performance mast. As an aside, the KT Nomad foils are what Armstrong riders dreamed the original MAs were going to be: fast, loose, good glide without being too spanny. It'll be cool to see the Armie MA V2s when they come out shortly.

Excellent post - someone who actually knows what they really talking about - well i agree with everything you've said anyhow

Two winters ago on Maui I switched to the Armstrong HA680. Last year I had a chance to try the new KT Atlas and switched as soon as I could get the KT foils. Foils feel similar but the KT is faster, can carve harder and feels more balanced. Somebody else here said "more refined". I think that's a great description. When you get to the bigger sizes(790-960-1130), the differences become more pronounced, the KTs feel faster with significantly better low end and can be turned more aggressively. I'm 190lbs and ride in the winter in Maui in waves only.
After ~6months of nearly daily riding on the KTs I have to admit that I've become a total "fanboy". The foils have made me a much better winger in the waves, the glide, speed and ability to turn super tight is a dream when riding waves both in sideshore or downwind riding. After the foils became available there were many riders who switched from many different brands to KT. Everyone likes them for different reasons. The parawingers love the insane low end and easy getup. The downwind crew loves the glide and ability to turn aggressively. And we wingers love it for the glide, speed and amazing turning.
connections are bombproof, the shim system is the best in the industry and gives me always a super balanced foil.

the foils are very easy to ride and are also very forgiving. I've had a bunch of situations where I made a mistake, had a massive wobble but somehow didn't crash whereas I would have crashed with the Armstrong
for your style riding you may want to try the Atlas 790 w the 145 stab and the short fuse. Short fuse makes it somewhat pitch sensitive, but it carves like a smaller foil and could be what you're looking in terms of "skatey turning". I wing the 790 in low wind conditions w the long fuse and absolutely love it.
that said, the Armstrong HA 780 is a very nice foil, but for me the turning felt too drawn out. I really liked the HA680 but it always felt somewhat slow. Switching to the KT felt like removing the drag.
lastly, if you are prepared to give up some glide, the Nomad 830 turns even tighter than the Atlas 790. Btw, I pay retail for my gear, just want to share my experience.

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georgsurfer said..
Two winters ago on Maui I switched to the Armstrong HA680. Last year I had a chance to try the new KT Atlas and switched as soon as I could get the KT foils. Foils feel similar but the KT is faster, can carve harder and feels more balanced. Somebody else here said "more refined". I think that's a great description. When you get to the bigger sizes(790-960-1130), the differences become more pronounced, the KTs feel faster with significantly better low end and can be turned more aggressively. I'm 190lbs and ride in the winter in Maui in waves only.
After ~6months of nearly daily riding on the KTs I have to admit that I've become a total "fanboy". The foils have made me a much better winger in the waves, the glide, speed and ability to turn super tight is a dream when riding waves both in sideshore or downwind riding. After the foils became available there were many riders who switched from many different brands to KT. Everyone likes them for different reasons. The parawingers love the insane low end and easy getup. The downwind crew loves the glide and ability to turn aggressively. And we wingers love it for the glide, speed and amazing turning.
connections are bombproof, the shim system is the best in the industry and gives me always a super balanced foil.

the foils are very easy to ride and are also very forgiving. I've had a bunch of situations where I made a mistake, had a massive wobble but somehow didn't crash whereas I would have crashed with the Armstrong
for your style riding you may want to try the Atlas 790 w the 145 stab and the short fuse. Short fuse makes it somewhat pitch sensitive, but it carves like a smaller foil and could be what you're looking in terms of "skatey turning". I wing the 790 in low wind conditions w the long fuse and absolutely love it.
that said, the Armstrong HA 780 is a very nice foil, but for me the turning felt too drawn out. I really liked the HA680 but it always felt somewhat slow. Switching to the KT felt like removing the drag.
lastly, if you are prepared to give up some glide, the Nomad 830 turns even tighter than the Atlas 790. Btw, I pay retail for my gear, just want to share my experience.

Do you ride that 830 with long or short fuse? How's the pitch stability on the Nomad?

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strekke said..

georgsurfer said..
Two winters ago on Maui I switched to the Armstrong HA680. Last year I had a chance to try the new KT Atlas and switched as soon as I could get the KT foils. Foils feel similar but the KT is faster, can carve harder and feels more balanced. Somebody else here said "more refined". I think that's a great description. When you get to the bigger sizes(790-960-1130), the differences become more pronounced, the KTs feel faster with significantly better low end and can be turned more aggressively. I'm 190lbs and ride in the winter in Maui in waves only.
After ~6months of nearly daily riding on the KTs I have to admit that I've become a total "fanboy". The foils have made me a much better winger in the waves, the glide, speed and ability to turn super tight is a dream when riding waves both in sideshore or downwind riding. After the foils became available there were many riders who switched from many different brands to KT. Everyone likes them for different reasons. The parawingers love the insane low end and easy getup. The downwind crew loves the glide and ability to turn aggressively. And we wingers love it for the glide, speed and amazing turning.
connections are bombproof, the shim system is the best in the industry and gives me always a super balanced foil.

the foils are very easy to ride and are also very forgiving. I've had a bunch of situations where I made a mistake, had a massive wobble but somehow didn't crash whereas I would have crashed with the Armstrong
for your style riding you may want to try the Atlas 790 w the 145 stab and the short fuse. Short fuse makes it somewhat pitch sensitive, but it carves like a smaller foil and could be what you're looking in terms of "skatey turning". I wing the 790 in low wind conditions w the long fuse and absolutely love it.
that said, the Armstrong HA 780 is a very nice foil, but for me the turning felt too drawn out. I really liked the HA680 but it always felt somewhat slow. Switching to the KT felt like removing the drag.
lastly, if you are prepared to give up some glide, the Nomad 830 turns even tighter than the Atlas 790. Btw, I pay retail for my gear, just want to share my experience.

Do you ride that 830 with long or short fuse? How's the pitch stability on the Nomad?

I only ride the Atlas, and prefer the long fuse as I wing only. I tried the short fuse and realized that I rather switch to a smaller front wing than ride a bigger front wing w short fuse. That said, a friend of mine who comes from surfing and is always riding in the pocket, really likes the Nomad w the short fuse. It gives him enough glide and he can carve super hard. When he rides at a spot where the wind is super fluky on the inside, he rides the Atlas for the added glide and better ability to stay up in spotty wind. When the wind is more reliable he goes to the Nomad for tighter turns.
I'd say, if you are good enough to always position yourself in the pocket, go for the Nomad. If you want some extra glide to get you where need to be, Atlas.
re pitch sensitivity, I found it less of an issue w the 790 and more with the 680.
also, have done 110 miles in the last 2 sessions on the 570 Atlas. Now, here's a foil that turns so tight and with so much speed that it becomes a challenge to move your body quick enough. Definitely not a glidey foil like the 790 but the sensation of speed and instant turning is really addictive.