Postby jb8431 » Thu Jan 18, 2018 1:55 am
Hey brothers,
I own the imperator iv. I also owned the nomad ultra wave. These are both different boards in terms of style, but when analyzing construction they are quite different. First of all the imperator is not a true custom board , it is a top shelf carbon constructed smaller production, made in Germany, all around kiteboard ; and it is very good at pretty much everything. The imperator is the lightest most comfortable board in almost any condition that I have tried or owned. I've used boards that might be faster and maybe a little stiffer if that's a desirable trait , but none of them have come close to the all-around performance of this board. It took no time to get used to and was like a perfect fitting shoe, but the one thing lacking that nomad can do is Taylor the boards flex characteristic for your weight, make the correct size for your stats and riding conditions, and adjust inserts for your desirable foot positions. I kite A lot so I want a board that performs in almost all conditions,won't wear out quickly, and is forgiving on my knees as much as possible to prevent injury. I would say pretty much if you're not a pro or an extremely athletic and aggressive kiter A production board such as the imperator Will be your best choice if you want a high end kiteboard.
Simon from nomad is awesome. He absolutely knows what he's doing he's an expert at this type of laminate construction. However, when you buy a custom board there is no telling how it's actually going to feel in real world conditions until you ride it. If you don't like it the problem is it's custom-made for your specific stats and may not be desirable for someone to buy from you. Now you're stuck with a board that just didn't work out for you as much as you wanted. Simon has worked out A lot of the research and development into his designs, but if you Tailer some of the aspects of the board it becomes customized to you. For the every day rider I think carved has made an awesome board without being completely custom to an individual rider, but will be the closest to a custom board without the worry of getting it wrong since it's been designed for real world conditions, but with premium construction techniques.
I ended up selling my nomad because I found it to be too stiff. I had 1 foot position built into it, but in hindsight I would've liked more positions in order to change the way I road the board. Simon advocated going for the one position. it's saved a little money and a little weight which neither was worth doing that. By the way I sold it for less than half of what I paid for it and it was in nearly perfect condition besides a few cosmetic things.
Anyway, just some things to think about when buying a custom made board. Do you think you really need that. In hindsight I do not. It was better for me to buy a high-end production board that was built for real world conditions.
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