Nothing pops like corn

hookworm said...

its the rider it doesnt matter what your riding if you load right you can pop off the water with almost anything, different designs just make it easier or harder depending on the rider and technique used.

We weren't discussing whether a board can pop or not, the fact is some boards are better than others. Therefore the board is relevant.

The boards flex has much to do with how you can pop.

My SX148 has bugger all pop because it has so much flex, hence why its awesome in waves/chop, but not so brilliant in flatter conditions unless there is light wind and you don't feel inclined to pop.

My Cab Custom 133 is stiff as hell and pops like a maniac, going out on a super choppy day means I'm in the air off almost every little peak I hit at speed.

It's like suspension on a car - the cab has none and the SX has plenty, the cab will 'out pop' the SX just about every time.

My 129 lunacy had good pop, just stomp it and up it went. It had verry little flex and was almost flat as a board but poped better with the kite at the higher side of the skale was great for learning tricks and landings stuck easily but wasnt a verry friendly board for the body.

To be fair at least most doors have some contours in them. The lunacy is more like a 2 x 4 from bunnings.

The sad thing is, it has the technology of a good slider board in it's construction, but without rocker and shape it's pretty useless on rails/ ramps.

07 model, yes that is a fairly stiff board but still not dead stiff like common wakeboards.

As has been said it's the tension that you create in your lines when you load against your kite that creates the "pop" you get off the water. There are different styles and ways of doing this, flex and non flex boards have different techniques to achieving the same goal. Some people say a "flex" board will allow them to "pop" higher, however it has been proven that neither will pop higher than the other and some people just go higher on a flex board because it is more suited to their style and not because it has flex.

Flex boards are more suited to the "back foot" loading type rider, whereas a stiff board is more suited to a more aggressive full body (hard front and back foot) type loader. With the flex board you can sort of "spring" off your back foot (tail) as you leave the water this can gain you a lot of extra height and if you are a weaker loader will help get you up there. The added bonus a flex board gives is the smooth landings, your knees will thank you.

The reason a lot of wakeboarders still ride dead stiff boards is because for one they didn't (until this season really) make boards that have flex with built in bottom shapes and fins, however now they make what they have dubbed "hybrid" boards (a combination of a wood core flex board with built in fins and contours) I'm sure we will see alot more riders swapping over in the near future. The other reason is because they are stubborn haha.

p.s. I really can't iterate enough that the production "flex" boards kiteboarding companies make for the most part are cheap rubbish. They flex because of the lack of materials and the poor placement of materials they use, what worse is they use this as a selling point... Don't be fooled.