hi all, following on from a recent post about power and edging, i'm still keen to hear from folks who've ridden the lunacy, nobile 666, and other flatter and wide-tipped twintips.

i'm about 80kg, ride with straps, don't bother if its less than 15-16 knots or more than 35, and am mainly on port phillip bay, from altona butter to brighton chop.

currently riding a cardboard tempo, 135x41, but considering something less wake-oriented and faster.

keen to demo when seabreezes kick in a bit more reliably, but meantime would appreciate comments on these and other high-end freestyle boards with straps (not boots), including your weight, board size and conditions.

cheers, djdojo

I don't think thats the type of board he is after though Darren. Maybe the North Team

Jas

I deffinatly aggree with Max, you dont buy a lunacy to cruse it is fairly much a hard core wake/freestyle board, has a super aggresive fast hard pop lands nice and smooth, but take your eyes off the watter while cruising for a second and bang you are gulping down salt watter. out of 10 i would give the lunacy 8 as it rules for flat watter.

The nobile 666 is one amazing board, you can ride a slightly bigger board than normal and it doesnt feel like you are. This board is a great allround performance board that will handle any conditions from waves to chop or flat. I went from a 129 lunacy to the 134 666 and havent looked back since, the board gives a softer ride overall, it doesnt feel as skaty as the lunacy but isnt grippy enougth to cause problems landing tricks. The pop is great but unlike the lunacy you have to wind it up and let it go with a bit better use of a progressive edge, it feels softer to land than the lunacy even with the bigger board due to the amount of flex through the whole board. It has verry little spray in the face compared to the lunacy and with the odd shape of the board landing and ridding toeside has never been easyer. id give the 666 9 out of 10.

But with all that said i really love the lunacy it is one tougth bombproof board that you will not be able to kill and if you ride it and abuse it like you stole it you will allways come back grinning. Im going to be keeping mine for slider and other general acts that would kill a normal board because i know the lunacy will live through it not a problem.[}:)]

Rider:95kgs
Conditions: 12-35kts
Love flat water and ridding wakestyle/freestyle.
Current boards:137 555, 134 666, 129 lunacy, nobile skim, 5'10 fish. M8 DEK w/boots.

dont make the mistake of buying something to stiff, if your going to ride mostly at brighton you will regret it! i did

The new nobile boards are in and should have one toonight, not sure weather to grab a 50 fifty or a new 666 i will check them out and hopefully let you know what they are like. The new bottom profile will be the real testing point looks cool. I hope it hasnt lost to much of the NHP 666 feel.

When i mentioned progressive edge, that was only compared to the lunacy which really is a stomp and fly board where as if you use proper technique on the 666 you will absolutely fly. the 555 i find a bit to soft and you dont get a lot out of it when you load it right up but it is one of the crusiest boards ive ridden, the thing doesnt even have to be up on a plane and will hapily go under waves etc without dumping you, great for learners.

hi all and thanks for the responses.

i just got back from two hours of 25-30 knots at brighton (vic), fully lit on my 8m switchy, and played with a few different popping/edge-loading techniques. i found that with my current skill/technique, i struggled to really load up much unless i slowed down more than i wanted to.

i also just jumped on the scales, and was surprised to see i'm only 75kg now (dehydrated post-session perhaps but still lighter than i thought). whilst i'm still in the earlier stages of learning to pop solidly, after this session, i wonder if at a lanky 6'3" 75-78kg i'm lacking the strength to really load up my current board (tempo135x41)? thoughts on this?

the lunacy is probably too dedicated both for my current skill level and the chop that i often deal with. perhaps the 131x40cm 666 (noticed the '09s on sale at kitepower) would be a good compromise between speed/pop and ease of use in chop. i tend to be at altona in seabreezes so chop is a lot less of an issue then. (how are the straps on the nobiles?)

seems like all of you who've responded so far are a fair bit bigger than me so i guess i'll be looking at a size or two down from what you've mentioned.

further comments much appreciated, and other boards to consider too,

thanks, dojo

www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Kitesurfing/Boards/~r6pfj/2009-Nobile-666-NHP-131-cm.aspx?search=JIFAOSlMixHWdiopLvCzVQ%3d%3d

this is what you need ,I'm over 100kg and am on the 134x42 in 14kts on a 12m rhino.these boards kick ass .very quick ,dry no more water spraying in your face like the older models .

Stick with the Tempo and learn to ride it properly, its easily as good as all the boards mentioned, avoid the Jaime though, I had one for a couple of months and it snapped with no warranty.

I just got back from the beach after hanging around waiting for wind all arvo, it finaly kicked in just after sunset. so we quickly pumped up and chucked some foot straps on a new nobile 50 fifty. bright yellow looks cool. we also had black but i like yellow.

All the pads for the 555, Nhp and 50 fifty were the same. They are a vast improvment over the standard pads from last year they feel a lot softer and have a better contured shape. They have a little buckle to adjust the strap this year instead of the vellcro which was quick and easy to use. They feel great when ridding and take the shock of landings verry well.

I was a bit lucky to also have the new 555 kite thanks Bastian, to demo. Only complaint was the light faded quickly and there wasnt any pockets for glow sticks.lol but the board with the yellow foot pads stuck out like dogs balls even in the dark.

The finish on the new NHP and 50 fifty were out standing. The Nhp cmpared to the 666 last year seems to have a bit more rocker and with the new bottom shape on the NHP if its anything like the 50 fifty will ride even better than last years.

Will do a bit more of a board review with pics latter but so far are verry impressed.

I think with a bit more rocker in the board this year you could easily ride a size bigger than what you are used to the 140cm 50 fifty felt like a much smaller board.

mattress, yeah the nobile stance does look duckish in the pics. waxman, how did you go with the stance? and yes i'd like to hear your thoughts once you've ridden the 2010 nhp.

plenty of food for thought here and yes, whatever board i ride i know my technique will be a big factor. i also know that whatever my skill level, some boards will suit my style, physique and local conditions better than others and therefore support faster improvement in my technique.

who's selling/ demoing nobile in melbourne? no detailed nobile info on kite republic's or shq's websites at the moment. i guess i can pick up the phone in the morning too.

axis, i'm guessing the lunacy will be too dedicated to lentenesque madness for me but still, i'd sure be up for giving it a ride if we're at the same beach sometime soon. i'm away for a while now but if conditions are good later next week i'll be in touch.

i'm still grinning from today's session and more excited about this sport than ever.

great info, thanks again, dojo

for those who've been looking at the new nobile info (and for those who do nobile's proof-reading), bear in mind that when they say they've increased the radius of certain curves they mean decreased and vice versa. increasing the radius gives you a flatter curve, decreasing it makes the rocker/outline/whatever more curved. took me a little while to clarify this by cross-referencing with pics and other info but each time they use this expression they mean they increased or decreased the amount of curve (by respectively decreasing or increasing the radius of curvature).

hope to demo a 666 soon. over and out from nerd central.

ok melbourne pimps, come out of the woodwork and tell me who's got a 2010 nhp 131 or 134 for me to demo. feel free to pm me if you'd like to be discreet.

cheers for the comments, i'll post my impressions when i get a ride on one,

dojo

I also had the opportunity to try the 134x42 2010 NHP... very impressive board and as Waxy has said the footpads are an improvement in my opinion. I have been riding the 2009 666NHP 134x42... I am also over 100kg. The 2009 does have a slight advantage of being a bit better in upwind performance but of course the rocker on the new boards (especially the 50fifty) is aiming more towards the wakestyle/free riding style giving you that extra pop quite easily. I have also ridden the 50 fifty briefly and was immediately comfortable with the longer size board, awesome finish on the boards as has been mentioned... no spray on either board and softer landings.... I recommend having a demo ride on one!

Waxman, the T5 10m kite that you have is one that I have had out a few times now(I have had it out in 17-18kts through to 30-35kts... no problems at all) ... another significant improvement on the previous model... I will be getting one soon hopefully, very impressed with the turning and safety/relaunch of the kite! You will love it... if you have the chance to get out again, do it!!!

Cheers,
Dave

koma said...

... I've got it fitted with Cab Sync's as i found the stock Nobile pads to be very VERY hard...

Hi Koma,

Can you tell me how you find the Cab Syncs on the 666? I found the Nobile pads pretty bad too, in fact after a day in the surf I had no skin left on one instep and limped for a few weeks.

After that I went and got some Syncs too... but haven't been able to try them yet. Keen to know how you find them?

Cheers,
Dave.

kiteboy dave said...

Can you tell me how you find the Cab Syncs on the 666? I found the Nobile pads pretty bad too, in fact after a day in the surf I had no skin left on one instep and limped for a few weeks.

After that I went and got some Syncs too... but haven't been able to try them yet. Keen to know how you find them?

I actually bought the board without the Nobile pads and straps as i demo'd one with them and whilst i really liked the board i wasn't so keen on the pads/straps. Just way too thin and harsh on my knee's for the kooky rough landings i tend to do.
Cab Sync's mounted up to the board no problem. I played around with the angle of them a bit and ended up with them quite duck footed but that's what feels right to me. As of last year i could honestly say i had the best board with one of the best strap/pad setups i could get. I'm sure with all the other sandle straps on the market now there's probably more options, but i'm still extremely happy with the setup.

I've had no problems with the Cab Sync's build quality and they look like they're holding strong. This is the second board i've put them on.

Had another great day out on the new 50fifty and i am lovinng it, it does everything that that style board isnt ment to do whith that much rocker it shouldnt go up wind but i am going upwind harder than ever, it shouldnt ride well fast but it does, and being 140cm you should get blown off your edge in strong gusts but it doesnt it just holds the water and goes. un believable!

Had it out from 10-25kts yesterday with my 13m bandit 3, and never had any problems was expecting to loos my edge but it never happened. For such a big board it just blows my mind how good it is, I did buy it to put bindings on but now i may just use it for everything and bolt the bindings or straps on as needed.