Plenty of comments on how good Mikeslab is for speed wing foiling...but does anyone have experience in just free riding waves and swell?

be patient :-)

I am not into speed foiling (too scary), just freeriding, riding swell and waves in open sea.
I use 1150 when light and 825 otherwise. Also have 1300, 1100 and 800
I am 110kg
I would say they are overall excellent because:
- easy to ride
- start early for the size
- massive range
- no noize !
- they are like a hot knife trough butter and very confortable even in rough sea
- excellent glide (depends on AR as for other foils)
- they turn well depending on the span

The problem is:
- they are in one piece (that's why they are thin !) so not travel friendly
- they are expensive and long delivery time
- you don't have as much choice as Axis for instance if you want the perfect choice in foil and size to build your quiver

Hope this helps

The ML700 is the best multipurpose foil I have tried, it is not the best at anything but it is good at everything. If you are looking for a 100% foil there are better foils but it works very well, in my case perhaps the 96cm mast would hurt me in surfing

For reference, last summer my friend bought a new F-one mast/fuse/front/back setup at list price in the gorge. It was $200 more than a mikeslab setup.
but he got it that day.

I've certainly saved money by NOT buying all sorts of new parts over the last few years to get a foil setup to work properly.
Mikeslab is just plug & play.
to be fair though, it does require a new board to get the most from it (ie Tuttle). But they do sell a plate mount mast.

I made the jump to ML last year and the foil has exceeded all of my expectations. At 72kg, I ride the ML700 on a 96cm mast with a ~60L VB board (tuttle) and that setup works great from 12kt to 25kt+.

Speed: as others have mentioned above, these foils are fast and definitely feel slippery through the water. While the top end is good, it's the acceleration that is so impressive. After a maneuver (tack/jibe) I can sheet in, pump the foil a few times and I'm back in the high teens with little effort. With other foils I've ridden, whenever I pushed things above 20kts, things always got sketchy and I felt as if I was about to blow up at any moment. The 700 is very comfortable and stable above 20kts and I have yet to find it's limit.

Turning/Roll: the 700 is not a crazy high aspect race wing. With a relatively narrow span, it rolls great and I can turn it as I hard as I want. When flagged out on a swell, it loves to go rail to rail. Breaching is amazing and while I do get a little feedback, things stay in control. If you keep things in the powerzone, the glide is very good as well.

Low end: between the stiffness of the layup, monoblock and tuttle connection, the low end on this foil is better than I expected. With a 5.5m wing I can get going in around 12kts.

There are a few drawbacks to riding these foils:
- you'll never want to ride anything else (Ken A. nailed this one)
- people want to put their fingerprints all over your foil :)
- I have yet to travel with this foil but they don't fully disassemble so you'll need a decent sized bag

My experience so far is that these foils are well worth the extra money (and the hype) and the longer lead time. If you're ever on the fence, just put your name on the list. You won't regret it.