Is strapless overrated?

[mikelet]

The question can also be : how many people that rides strapless does also surf ??? Tons of them NOT !!!,In my spots i laugh internally at strapless riders bs talking about surfing with their kites , when the majority of them only dig the raíl on the wave and downtheline ride it... I also surf and nothing can beat the flow and freedom riding a good wave ,neither can do it strapless kitesurfing watch it as you want ...but you're still slave of your kite no matter how free do you feel without the straps....i see strapped kitesurfing as tow-in surfing , a way to enjoy bigger days with added control ,entering waves at full speed and kitesurfing it VERTICALLY !!,closer to the peak, stitching the wave top to down , applying all the power avaiable at your kite to your ride and aerial exit if in the need.....
Good looking ride in straps IMO it doesn't consists in going overpowered all the time ,but a fine combination of when to charge your rail and when to depower your kite and flow with the wave....Same way, good looking strapless riding it doesn't consists in riding a wave with your kite depowered and in drift mode all the time......Resuming a good blend of power and flow is a must for any style !!
I undoubtly enjoy strapless sessions (do both) when the conditions are right : cleaner lined up sideshores, lighter wind sessions or specific spots...but nothing beats for me the thrill of big waves /high winds strapped sessions....
Regarding jumps , i really enjoy to boost here and there or aerial escape at the end of a wave breaking with my kitesurfboards...
If you said this is ugly , please don't look at foiling freestyle or foil boosting
Strapless is the bigger bussiness for the industry ,same as foiling , lighter and lighter gear that you break in no time at higher and higher prices....

[tautologies]

Oh what are we becoming a wave snobbery forum here again? Are we going back to the only way to ride is strapless fixed bar bullshit? Something that was pretty obvious to most others weren't to this little clique. So someone has to surf to "know"/ GTFO. People ride what they like, and they can talk about it.

I surf, SUP, foil, kite strapless and unstrapped. I am not a pro at all, but I like what I like. That is all there is to it. Who are anyone to tell me anything about how I want to ride a wave...it has literally no impact on your life at all. Let stay away from snobbery.

[jumptheshark]

What thread are you reading ?

The title: is strapless overrated? The link in the OP is a snark piece about strapless, and in the pages that follow the long winded stuff denigrates it as fashion and religion while expounding on the superiority of straps for performance!

Offer a rebuttal,,, and you're a snob!

Please!

Obviously a few are going to point out that strapless is not really a little clique, but generally more popular the world over, with the ratio becoming extreme as you move up the talent ladder.

All this talk about performance is bullshit when virtually all the people actually capable of performance riding opt to do it without straps. It's not dogma to point that out. It's dogmatic to suggest they are doing it against their own free will.

Maybe those who feel slighted should come at it from the opposite tack and argue that straps are underrated instead of simply trolling for an argument so they can trot out the tropes of religiosity, dogma and snobbery.

[omg]

What thread are you reading ?

The title: is strapless overrated? The link in the OP is a snark piece about strapless, and in the pages that follow the long winded stuff denigrates it as fashion and religion while expounding on the superiority of straps for performance!

Offer a rebuttal,,, and you're a snob!

Please!

Obviously a few are going to point out that strapless is not really a little clique, but generally more popular the world over, with the ratio becoming extreme as you move up the talent ladder.

All this talk about performance is bullshit when virtually all the people actually capable of performance riding opt to do it without straps. It's not dogma to point that out. It's dogmatic to suggest they are doing it against their own free will.

Maybe those who feel slighted should come at it from the opposite tack and argue that straps are underrated instead of simply trolling for an argument so they can trot out the tropes of religiosity, dogma and snobbery.

Amen!

[mikelet]

You seem to have an unresolved conflict with the strapless fixed bar thing .....i expresed how i like to ride and what it looks and feels good for me , of course do whatever you like in the water !!, snobism being having no clue but pimping current year brand " N " gear by the way

[mikelet]

Enjoy

[Flyboy]

What thread are you reading ?

The title: is strapless overrated? The link in the OP is a snark piece about strapless, and in the pages that follow the long winded stuff denigrates it as fashion and religion while expounding on the superiority of straps for performance!

I don't know what you're reading, but I don't find the article linked to in the OP a "snark piece" at all. Yes, it has a deliberately provocative title (that's "journalism"), but the points made in the body of the blog are right on the money IMO.

My observation is that most riders can reach a good level of strapless competence if they dedicate the time & effort to it. They are not likely to reach the level of Airton. What Airton does is not really "strapless surfing" anyway, it's more like strapless freestyle (although, obviously he is an extremely skilled surfer also). I have not seem anyone IRL remotely close to being able to do that stuff.

Even if they had the raw talent, most kiters don't get to spend their whole life, like Airton, refining their kiting skills. Most recreational kiters need to find a balance between pushing their skills to the next level ... & just enjoying their current session.

I think the most compelling point of Axel's argument is No.4: Strapless is not right in lots of conditions. When you see clips of the best riders in the world going down the line at One Eye - yeah it looks amazing because the conditions are so perfect. The videos never show anything more than a brief clip of the rider on the wave carving turn after turn. There is, of course, all the in-between stuff - getting back upwind for instance. Although my local spot is a decent "wave spot" & I have ridden all over the Great Lakes & all down the east coast & many spots in the Caribbean & some in Europe, I have yet to experience anything like the perfect side-shore conditions at One Eye, or other exceptional surf spots.

In my view strapless is more difficult initially, but entirely do-able with practice. It offers advantages to strapped & some disadvantages. I think in really good wave riding conditions strapless offers more advantages, in a lot of other conditions, which a lot of us ride in most of the time, it's more questionable,

[jumptheshark]

I ride onshore conditions like most of the planet.

That has no real bearing on it.

The masses are on TT's the the bulk of wave riders are strapless, including pretty much all the good ones.

I love riding full on chaos conditions strapless and feeling at ease.

Its one of life's best feelings. It totally dictates the riding, but it's what I enjoy.

[tautologies]

You seem to have an unresolved conflict with the strapless fixed bar thing

haha you might be right on this part.

[tautologies]

What thread are you reading ?
...

Offer a rebuttal,,, and you're a snob!

Please!

This is what I read that made me put that comment out. :

how many people that rides strapless does also surf ??? Tons of them NOT !!!,In my spots i laugh internally at strapless riders bs talking about surfing with their kites , when the majority of them only dig the raíl on the wave and downtheline ride it...

I might have been a bit harsh, but hey some days that is the first reaction. When it comes to the clique, I did not mean the people who likes strapless riding..I am one of them. It was the people who did the whole ride strapless and fixed bar and said it was the only way to ride. I am working with Mikelet here to resolve my issues with it tho LOL. His comment to me was just too funny