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First impression of Gong M Pro

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lightwind
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Re: First impression of Gong M Pro

Postby lightwind » Tue Sep 08, 2020 6:38 pm

GTC wrote:
Tue Sep 08, 2020 12:02 pm
Hi all,

Few months ago I purchased a Gong foil board. Catch 3CS 4.6 and Pro Wing M.

The board looks solid but I am concerned about how easily the surface gets scratched. Unlike other boards I have from other brands, the surface of the Catch is porous and without a glossy finish. It scratches with minimal friction on any hard surface and it also stains VERY easily.

Does everybody experience this issue on their Catch boards? I know it's a minor issue that doesn't affect the performance but can't understand how a top quality board has this poor finish.

Thanks in advance
Same setup here. Have it for one month. Liked the board, it’s light and fun to use. I don’t miss the glossy finish. Already cracked the board two times. Once with harness and other time with nose dive. It looks and feels fragile, but it doesn’t bother me.
Foil on other hand is super strong and perfect for beginners. All in all nice setup.

TomW
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Local Beach: Vejbystrand, Lomma
Gear: TW Surfboards hydrofoil board 110
Gong Veloce M, 100cm carbon mast
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Re: First impression of Gong M Pro

Postby TomW » Tue Sep 08, 2020 8:56 pm

Lots of factory boards are painted as last step. Slingshot foil boards too. All paint will scratch, think about your car paint. I've heard complaints about several brands.
The brands could eliminate painting, but then they'd be pretty plain.
What is staining your board? Spilling wine on it? :D

A foam surfboard of any type needs careful handling. Think of it like a sensitive string instrument. TLC.

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Flyboy
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Re: First impression of Gong M Pro

Postby Flyboy » Tue Sep 08, 2020 9:19 pm

mede wrote:
Tue Sep 08, 2020 9:58 am
You're absolutely right ;) I falsely assumed they would have a 100cm Alu mast as well.

For those who have tried the 100cm Carbon mast: how much better is it than the 90cm Alu mast? (I may change my mind regarding the carbon timing with enough evidence :D)
A 100cm carbon mast isn't "better" really. It's longer, certainly. Mostly, it's lighter. I have only used the alu 90cm Gong mast (which, incidentally, is somewhat longer than some other "90cm masts"). I have used an ultra light 100cm foil from another manufacturer. I'm not sure 100cm length makes a lot of difference unless you are really into speed & going upwind. Lightness is nice, but I'm not convinced it makes foiling easier ... in fact, I have a sense it may make learning more difficult as the heavier mast mast to seems add a bit more stability to the foil.

In any case,I would suggest starting with the 90 cm alu mast, perhaps adding a shorter one also for learning & shallow water (if necessary) as the alu masts are very inexpensive. You can always add carbon later.
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mede (Fri Sep 11, 2020 8:27 am)
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TomW
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Local Beach: Vejbystrand, Lomma
Gear: TW Surfboards hydrofoil board 110
Gong Veloce M, 100cm carbon mast
Ozone Hyperlink V1 7m
Hyperlink V2 9m, 13m
Concept Air Wave 4,5m
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Re: First impression of Gong M Pro

Postby TomW » Wed Sep 09, 2020 8:31 pm

I used gong 90 cm alu mast for 6 months. Then got the 100cm carbon. The only significant difference is that the extra length allows more aggressive leaning into transitions, and playing with altitude in wavy choppy conditions. I'll never go back to 90 cm.
I don't think you could have 100cm alu mast as gong alu mast is designed, it would flex too much.
The 100cm carbon is stiffer than 90 cm alu and a few 100 g lighter i think.
I always put my foil into my car fully assembled, and 100cm doesn't fit without folding all the back seats. Now i need a bigger car. ( a van)
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mede (Fri Sep 11, 2020 8:27 am)
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mede
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Re: First impression of Gong M Pro

Postby mede » Fri Sep 11, 2020 9:31 am

Thanks guys for chiming in on the mast lengths, appreciated. :thumb:

The question became redundant, though, *THANKS* to GONG..... :angryfire:
Which leads me to the fact that, while I obviously hope the foil will live up to the hype (I don't have any reason to doubt that), their (specifically: Jaime's) customer service is really SUB-PAR....

The story:
When I placed my order, I explicitly stated on the order comment that they should wait sending out individual parts of my order (They say on their website that the catch 4.4 is on backorder until Oct. 23, the 65 cm Mast until mid Sep, so I was aware of that.)
Reason for having 1 delivery is that I need to pay custom handling fees for each and every parcel where I live, and these fees are almost USD 40.-

Then, on the same day when I had placed the order, I started to think about getting the full carbon foil with the 100cm mast.
I immediately called Gong - nobody picking up the phone. Tried another 3 times during the day, without success. Wrote an email asking to change the order, and requesting final price.
Eventually, the day after, Jaime (sales rep) got back to me via email, saying changing orders was not possible, without further explanations.
I replied to him, asked him in a friendly way if he preferred that I cancel the order, got a refund, and then re-order.
He got back to me later that day saying that in the old times, he did change orders, but now it would be easiest to just cancel and re-order.
OK, so that's what I was going to do.....
Only that I had time to look at Jaime's reply in the evening after work..... and I learned that in the meantime, they had - 30 minutes! after Jaime messaged me - partially shipped my order, making it it factually impossible to cancel....... In full neglect of my instructions!

Needless to say I was underwhelmed, and I wrote to gong, pointing out my instructions in the order and my conversation with Jaime.

GOOD: Yvoline, the lady from logistics, came back, offering a polite apology. :thumb:
BAD: Not one polite or apologetic word from Jaime, on the contrary... Just a defensive statement that he had told me before that it was not possible to change an order. Not a word about our conversation to cancel the order, not a word about neglecting my explicit instructions, not an apology about creating 'fait acompli' with shipping partially. :cry: :evil:

Conclusion:
Don't deal with Jaime. Even if you don't speak French, use Google translate, and reach out to the French speaking crew at Gong. They are ways more professional and friendly.


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