Kiteus Maximus wrote: 85% of riding a board lies in the skill of the rider.
So far I agree with you ...
I can't count how many times each session I see guys pulling out the wrong board. And mostly because it was a board they either started with or simply became comfortable with and have just "made it work" as their go to board.
True but you fail to mention the reason why .... it´s mainly because most people want to " look " like a pro even thought they can´t hardly stay upwind but, if the rest uses a pro board ( mostly a freestyle board ) < insert your preferred local brand > they will do it and believe , with a great board I´m going to be a great kiter type of thinking .
I have literally kited every board made...or at least try to
I have a hard time believing this ( don´t take me wrong ) but to build up your mind about any gear you can´t simply try it out for 10 minutes and it took me 4 sessions just to try out the Nobile range of boards which means ..... you´ll spend probably 100 sessions each year trying boards ?? and when do you actually get the time to ride your own stuff ?
Sorry guys...as much as we would all like to say gear makes a better kiter the truth is the advancement of our ability to adapt is what actually makes us better kiters. If you get stuck riding one specific way based on your mental limitation according to what you think the limits of your gear are then you will never become a better kiter.
Really ???
Let me tell you a story about ( as mentioned in this post over and over ) the Nobile boards .... it happend to be back then in early 2005 when the first came out , it was literally a carbon copy of the very popular North Jaime pro and one of my kite buddy´s ride them since them . Every time I tested the latest & greatest board I hated it simply because it sprayed like crazy into my face and I can´t stand that ( most of the riders I know suffer the same problem ) but then again , one day I was riding together with my buddy and found out that for whatever the reason , he got far less spray into his face comparing to me and asked him to give another try to his 666 ... well it came out that if I move my body further to the back adding more pressure to the back foot the spray almost stopped but ....
Here comes the interesting thing about that experience .....
I had to adjust my riding style to that particular board and after 10 minutes it felt so badly uncomfortable to me that I started to get back pain ...
SO .... what you say is : the entire f**** kiting industry has been doing it wrong all these years , they should make one kite and one board and force the people to get used to it.
The equipment I buy should fit my riding style and
NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND .
Why spend usd 800.- on any board , go to your next wood store , get a piece of plywood , cut some edges and screw some straps and with some kinesthetic thinking that board will perform as good as ..... no rocker , no flex , no nothing ..... it´s not the board folks , it´s your riding style which is wrong ....
Riding in chop...especially heavy chop its almost impossible to avoid spray..
Well , that´s the freaking part ...... that woody sprays nada , zero , nothing , nichts in really heavy chop like we are used to here in Tarifa .
Sorry to offend anyone with this post but its true.
True to you or true to the rest of us ? You should better use some of your kinesthetic thinking and open a bit your mind ...
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polarstorm wrote:
I kept an open mind reading through this post, but it seems to me that if that makolike board is heavy (and it looks heavy) that that can't be a good thing.
The woody is less than a half kilo heavier comparing the rest of my boards , 3-400 grams more ? As I said , I don't have a digital scale but the difference is barely noticeable
When I'm shopping for a board am looking for something that's not going to destroy my knees and ankles and weight is important because of the associated forces acting on your body (good and bad).
I did mentioned that I had the effortless and most comfortable 2 hours session ( both for my back and knees ) in 800 ( with an average of 120-140 sessions per year ) since I started ....
Regards
Franz