Does anyone have any experience with Gong wings...they look pretty nice and priced well.

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Shaunger said..
Does anyone have any experience with Gong wings...they look pretty nice and priced well.

Their new wings are very good.

As most of them are sold in Europe, You will have more feedback on winging groups / forums with lots of European (especially French) people.

Just ordered the Plus 7m. We have several other Plus 2023/2024 Plus 7m users at my local who say they're good for the price.

One guy had a 2024 Unit 6.5m (regular, non D-Lab) and dumped it for a 6.5m Aramid Droid, said the Droid felt much better to use.

Two dudes with the Superpower said it was crap, though. Both the old one and the new one with the half double-skin design.

I have the Droid Aramid 5.5 and recently added Droid Aramid X 4.5. Excellent wings for an unbeatable price, since the Aramid range is basically Alula. Tested them back to back to my Strike V3's, Units, and Slicks. Almost as grunty as a Unit and very stable flagged out, a lot less nervous than the Unit or Slick. Way easier to get going than the Strike V3. Love the carbon boom with pistol grip as well, and that is included standard in the Aramid versions. I have ridden the 5.5 extensively in 2024 and its canopy is holding up a lot better than my Strike V3's. For the price you can't really go wrong with them, they're excellent wings and Gong riders are regularly on the podium in various disciplines so they do know what they are doing design-wise. Downsides of the brand are sometimes waiting time for production as they work in small batches, almost no way to test gear before buying, and limited discounts/no wiggle room on pricing when you ask for it, although they do do special deals for stock cleanups. So unless if you know a mainstream brand dealer that standard gives you 40% discounts on new gear, Gong is definitely best bang for your buck and worth looking into.

Edit: i am not a Gong ambassador,not even a fanboy, i had my troubles with them way back,but fair is fair...

I have Droid Aramid X in 5m and 4m.
Neutra Aramid X in 3.5m.

Droids: they are super stable and grunty, great upwind and tacks.They jump 30% higher than anything else,serious elevators, and they hang glide to a soft landing.
They do have a bit of a hard feel,specially the 5m, and IMHO the boom could be lighter (i think it is the beefy plastic elbiws) and a bit thicker diameter tube (more like windsurf boom) .But overall i would buy again ,no doubt.

Neutra: Softer,lighter feel, great for stronger winds (usually gustier).Still perform fine, jump ok but not the magic elevator of the Droid.

Overall very happy with the quiver,would not choose different now.

How is the boom placement on the droid. I noticed in videos that people have their front hand all the way in front. Does it pull very hard on the front hand?.
I tried an RRD evo gold once. And it was so horrible, i could use that wing with both hands on the front handle, because the back hand was doing nothing.

My current wing, north nova pro, is great, but too heavy. I always use a harness. But i want a wing that feels balanced between the front and rear hand.

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larsdegroot said..
How is the boom placement on the droid. I noticed in videos that people have their front hand all the way in front. Does it pull very hard on the front hand?.
I tried an RRD evo gold once. And it was so horrible, i could use that wing with both hands on the front handle, because the back hand was doing nothing.

My current wing, north nova pro, is great, but too heavy. I always use a harness. But i want a wing that feels balanced between the front and rear hand.

No worries, it is perfectly balanced on the two sizes i have (4m and 5m).

I used to windsurf and going back to a boom is very nice :).

I know, for me the same. I dont want any other wing without boom. Boom only :)

Had the Droid Aramid 5m, was very happy with it, upsized to Droid Aramid X 5,5m to better suite my location. Extremely happy with both of them. Feel the X version gives even better hang times.

Owned 9 different wings the last 3 years and tried even more. Was unhappy with Gong Plus and Droid series wings from 2023, but Droid Aramid X range as it is now is just supernice. Love the boom as well!
Its almost half the price of Aluula, but the same or better performance. Would recommend harness for longer sessions though.

Cheers for the details. I've been tossing up between the droid and neutra and you've helped me reconfirm that droid isn't the way to go if riding unharnessed.

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maxpwr said..
Cheers for the details. I've been tossing up between the droid and neutra and you've helped me reconfirm that droid isn't the way to go if riding unharnessed.

I'm using the 4.5 Neutra Aramid-X for winds 15-25. Supremely well balanced and suited to riding swells and then pointing high back up into the wind. It does pull a bit when pointing very high, but on a reach is light in the hands and suprisingly fast. So for reaching back and forth without a harness in powered conditions, and able to pump onto plane as opposed to being pulled up, would be a fine flat water wing.

It is unreal in it's ability to disapear while on a wave. Very few wings are as good in off-shore winds. It's definitely not grunty, but has good low end that takes a few uses to fully develop from factory fresh. Love the boom. Oddly, I've seen a round larger diameter boom shipped with these, but mine have a small diameter oval boom. I have a 5.5 too for marginal wind wave days, but at 90kg I've only used it once and instead prefer to work the 4.5. Where I live the wind is either pretty windy, or pretty bad (or both!)

Legend, that's exactly the sort of review to tip me over the edge. You've helped me dial in that 4.5m will be the right size too! Just waiting for some other Gong gear to be available next month and I'll get one in.

Anyone with Aramid Gong wings having issues with pierced bladders. I've had 3. Love the Neutras 2024 but this is getting really frustrating. Got a small sharp fibre in my finger as I massaged the new bladder into the sock.

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strekke said..
So unless if you know a mainstream brand dealer that standard gives you 40% discounts on new gear...

Where does the belief (that 40% discounts on new gear are even possible) come from?

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don said..
Anyone with Aramid Gong wings having issues with pierced bladders. I've had 3. Love the Neutras 2024 but this is getting really frustrating. Got a small sharp fibre in my finger as I massaged the new bladder into the sock.

I had a problem with a Pryde Firefly pro, continual leaks, every time I repaired they seemed to get worse. Like you I thought I felt a sharp fibre on the inside seam of the leading edge strut, it turned out to be a broken needle point. Can you pull the problem area through the strut zipper to inspect?

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Taavi said..

strekke said..
So unless if you know a mainstream brand dealer that standard gives you 40% discounts on new gear...

Where does the belief (that 40% discounts on new gear are even possible) come from?

Can't do it as it's in the centre strut. Just happened again as I inserted a new replacement bladder. Have to remove and repair an unused bladder. Its happened to 2 of my Gong wings. Frustrating alright.

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don said..
Can't do it as it's in the centre strut. Just happened again as I inserted a new replacement bladder. Have to remove and repair an unused bladder. Its happened to 2 of my Gong wings. Frustrating alright.

For me it's a broken needle point. Sounds exactly the same problem I had. The bigger problem, each time you take the bladder out repair and replace, it gets worse as you're dragging the bladder over the broken needle, I ended up with multiple puncture holes along the length of the bladder, not just where the specific problem was.
Try and locate the exact spot, you'll then have to get a repair shop to unpick the stitching remove the needle point and re stitch. If you can prove it's a needle presumedly Gong will have to cover your costs.
Inflating the bladder inside the strut to max pressure throwing some soapy water over the suspected area, which is what I did, should locate the spot.

Repaired the slash. Bladder is holding for now. Thx for the advice.

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moosh said..

don said..
Can't do it as it's in the centre strut. Just happened again as I inserted a new replacement bladder. Have to remove and repair an unused bladder. Its happened to 2 of my Gong wings. Frustrating alright.

For me it's a broken needle point. Sounds exactly the same problem I had. The bigger problem, each time you take the bladder out repair and replace, it gets worse as you're dragging the bladder over the broken needle, I ended up with multiple puncture holes along the length of the bladder, not just where the specific problem was.
Try and locate the exact spot, you'll then have to get a repair shop to unpick the stitching remove the needle point and re stitch. If you can prove it's a needle presumedly Gong will have to cover your costs.
Inflating the bladder inside the strut to max pressure throwing some soapy water over the suspected area, which is what I did, should locate the spot.

What's a broken needle point and how goes it end up in a wing? I'm curious

A needle that's broken when the material was stitched together, a broken tip can end up embedded in the stitching. The tip should be located and removed, but some clearly slip through with high volume producers, as was the case with mine. It seems don's problem wasn't a broken needle tip.