Flowrider board reviews, which to buy?

[spudstrawb]

Biker, who thinks weight has very little to do with bottoming out.

 

Thanks for your thoughts. You are probably correct.

 

Another contributor in my opinion is where the vinyl is glued together on each side of the anchor. The two layers of vinyl sometimes sit a bit higher than the rest of the vinyl. You can only notice it when the flowrider is turned off and the giveaway is that the white paint has been rubbed off where the seam is. If I'm on one of those flowriders (Explorer OTS from memory) I make an effort to have the board sitting flat when going across the seam. I still get caught regularly though.

[spudstrawb]

This thread has gone quiet. Did you buy a board yet JC?

 

I've pretty much decided that I'll have a crack at building a board (using fibreglass foam sandwich method/materials). The only item that I haven't got sorted at the moment (in terms of availability) is the EVA foam to go around the edge of the board. Any suggestions (without having to buy a full sheet) would be appreciated.

 

My current assumptions are for a 40" long board, 12" wide, with a round tail and a stub nose. Thickness would be around 3/4" (before the deck grip pad is applied). Any comments or suggestions regarding these dimensions are welcome. I was considering incorporating a concave deck but I think it would make it too difficult to apply the VGT deck grip.

 

The thing that I'm still a little uncertain on is the rocker profile. I've only ridden the flowriders on the ships, which means that I've only ridden Outlaw boards. I'm certain that the maximum rocker is slightly forward of the middle of the board on the outlaws, but I don't know exactly by how much. I have assumed for now that the maximum rocker is 40% (of the board length) back from the nose. Maybe it should be 45%, I'm really only guessing. It would be nice to get an understanding of how the Waveloch boards compare with the Ash and Mak boards in this respect. Russ Lomas mentioned earlier in this thread that most of the riders on his home wave (who have their own boards) prefer the Ash boards. I wonder how much the rocker profile contributes to this? There is a video on the flowriderschool website (the 24th video down the page) of a Mak board being laid up. Watching how the guy fitted the laid up materials into the press made me think that the Mak boards may just have a continuous rocker with the maximum rocker being right in the middle of the board (50% back from the nose). I would appreciate if anyone with a Mak board could confirm or deny this. The same with anyone with an Ash board. For that matter, anyone with an Outlaw or Shuvit might also be kind enough to indicate where the maximum rocker is on their board? It might help us all understand the subtle differences between the various makes of boards.

 

Assuming that I do progress to a build, I'd be happy to post a video on the internet if people would be interested.

[seanjulz]

Just wondering what board you ended up going with and whether you were happy with what you got? , I'm looking at purchasing one want one that carves hard but I'm just starting to learn how to Ollie and want one that will be good at going down that path as well

[xpcdoojk]

So, I bought an Outlaw 39 with channels at the rear.  It turns and never wants to stop turning.  I am sure if I did tricks it would be happy to do tricks.  I just carve.  A perfect run for me would be back and forth and back at forth at the top of the wave without ever losing balance and having to use my hands to get back under control for 2 minutes.  I have done this maybe one time.  I do it mostly but then catch an edge or get my weight wrong and have to restart building up the wave.  I carve pretty well, but I am no trickster.  If you want to see a bunch of good riders do a TA on a new ship with two flowriders, you will feel completely average in no time.  Graham built his own board, but I think he didn’t like it, and is going to build a better.  When I first road my board it bit me hard, as it would keep turning after I was trying to make it go the other way.  I had to learn to transition better.  I think this is the effect of the channels on the rear compared to the Outlaws RCI provides.  I now like my board very much, and it is a short board, which I like and which RCI is not providing with any degree of certainty.

 

Here is a pic from the flowrider web page.

 

this is the graphic on my board.  I have the black diamond top.  Funny on the TA last October/November a very nice guy named Richard from the UK had the same board.  

 

JC

[seanjulz]

Awesome thanks for the reply we did the crossing from Hawaii to Sydney in September and a lady was riding a ash board kicking myself for not asking for a go, they had the 39 outlaws on board I don't think they were the channel ones though I really liked those ones soo much easier to move around I went back to my local one the other day and all they have are longer boards and it feels like I'm riding a bloody Mal 

[skiiergirl]

20 hours ago, seanjulz said:

Just wondering what board you ended up going with and whether you were happy with what you got? , I'm looking at purchasing one want one that carves hard but I'm just starting to learn how to Ollie and want one that will be good at going down that path as well

 

15 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

So, I bought an Outlaw 39 with channels at the rear.  It turns and never wants to stop turning.  I am sure if I did tricks it would be happy to do tricks.  I just carve.  A perfect run for me would be back and forth and back at forth at the top of the wave without ever losing balance and having to use my hands to get back under control for 2 minutes.  I have done this maybe one time.  I do it mostly but then catch an edge or get my weight wrong and have to restart building up the wave.  I carve pretty well, but I am no trickster.  If you want to see a bunch of good riders do a TA on a new ship with two flowriders, you will feel completely average in no time.  Graham built his own board, but I think he didn’t like it, and is going to build a better.  When I first road my board it bit me hard, as it would keep turning after I was trying to make it go the other way.  I had to learn to transition better.  I think this is the effect of the channels on the rear compared to the Outlaws RCI provides.  I now like my board very much, and it is a short board, which I like and which RCI is not providing with any degree of certainty.

 

Here is a pic from the flowrider web page.

 

this is the graphic on my board.  I have the black diamond top.  Funny on the TA last October/November a very nice guy named Richard from the UK had the same board.  

 

JC

Great info JC! 
 

Mr Ski ended up with 39 inch Outlaw (no channels).  He uses it to carve and spin (360) and it has turned out to be a good board to come from the top.  He doesn’t attempt many “tricks”.  He isn’t fond of channels.  He takes it each trip as RC  May or May not have 39 inch a available.  It is a very quick board and changes direction fairly easily. He likes it since it is relatively new the edges aren’t “worn” like some of the RC boards.  

[FlowBroTy]

I Am Also Looking At Getting The 39" Inch Outlaw With No Channels As That Is The One I Usually Ride On The Ship. 

[seanjulz]

I'm probably going to get the outlaw 39 just got to decide weather to get one with channels

[Lordnlkon]

If you don't want to do tricks, the channel boards are good but if you ever want to graduate into tricks, I recommend without channels. Also the outlaw boards are some of the most unresponsive boards you can buy. I currently own 4 boards but have owned 8 in total. 

[seanjulz]

2 minutes ago, Lordnlkon said:

If you don't want to do tricks, the channel boards are good but if you ever want to graduate into tricks, I recommend without channels. Also the outlaw boards are some of the most unresponsive boards you can buy. I currently own 4 boards but have owned 8 in total. 

Wow 4 boards that's awesome living in Australia it costs a fortune to get one over here to get a outlaw deliver is going to be nearly 800 230 of that is postage, I would love to try a different board I liked the look of the ash one I saw on my last cruise but if I got it and didn't like it I would be gutted, when you say unresponsive do you mean to turn or more for when your doing tricks, also does the channels hamper spinning the board is that why no good for tricks? 

[Lordnlkon]

3 hours ago, seanjulz said:

Wow 4 boards that's awesome living in Australia it costs a fortune to get one over here to get a outlaw deliver is going to be nearly 800 230 of that is postage, I would love to try a different board I liked the look of the ash one I saw on my last cruise but if I got it and didn't like it I would be gutted, when you say unresponsive do you mean to turn or more for when your doing tricks, also does the channels hamper spinning the board is that why no good for tricks? 

 

 

Yes I have bought several boards and did not like them, so I sold them. I have learned over time what type of boards I like and don't like. I also prefer different types of boards and on different types of waves. To answer your question about responsiveness. Some boards are like an old 1970's cadillac with a lot of play in the wheel, it takes a lot of pressure to get them to respond, where some boards respond at the lightest touch. And yes, channels keep the board wanting to go straight because of how the water flows. This makes it more difficult if you want to spin and do other things on the wave. Not impossible just more difficult. 

[A&L_Ont]

I also use the Buick VS Sports Car idea.
 

The ship boards are heavy duty, slower and reliable. My boards are more like a sports car; lighter, quicker, more responsive.  The ship’s boards have to last thousands of rides over its lifespan while taking the most abuse possible.  Mine get 7 days of riding, at most 3 weeks a year with some abuse.😉

Edited December 30, 2019 by A&L_Ont

[FlowBroTy]

4 hours ago, seanjulz said:

just got to decide weather to get one with channels

I Prefer The Board Without The Channels. I Think The Channels Make The Board "Unresponsive" To Hard Carving.  

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

I also use the Buick VS Sports Car idea.
 

The ship boards are heavy duty, slower and reliable. My boards are more like a sports car; lighter, quicker, more responsive.  The ship’s boards have to last thousands of rides over its lifespan while taking the most abuse possible.  Mine get 7 days of riding, at most 3 weeks a year with some abuse.😉

We bought Toby the 38" Shuv It, no channels for Christmas. He gave it a thorough workout this past week on Oasis. He's quite happy with it   

Edited December 30, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[A&L_Ont]

55 minutes ago, FlowBroTy said:

I Prefer The Board Without The Channels. I Think The Channels Make The Board "Unresponsive" To Hard Carving.  

To me the channels help to cut the wave, like the channels on car tires giving better control. My thought is a bald tire aqua planes and a tire with tread cuts the water. I also don’t have an issue doing multiple 360s In a row with them either. However others here have also said they find them hard to do it with, which is why everyone is different.🤷‍♂️

 

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

We bought Toby the 38" Shuv It, no channels for Christmas. He gave it a thorough workout this past week on Oasis. He's quite happy with it   

I could not think of a better gift. I bet it got a great work out this past week. 

[Ourusualbeach]

11 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

To me the channels help to cut the wave, like the channels on car tires giving better control. My thought is a bald tire aqua planes and a tire with tread cuts the water. I also don’t have an issue doing multiple 360s In a row with them either. However others here have also said they find them hard to do it with, which is why everyone is different.🤷‍♂️

 

I could not think of a better gift. I bet it got a great work out this past week. 

The day we were in St Thomas he was  the only rider for advanced and thete was a max of 4 riders forvthem next 2 hours. Other port day mornings were max 5 or 6 riders. Sea days got busier but nowhere near the lines like at March break. 

Edited December 30, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[spudstrawb]

On 12/29/2019 at 2:28 PM, xpcdoojk said:

Graham built his own board, but I think he didn’t like it, and is going to build a better.

 

Wow, this thread has certainly come back to life. Hi JC - I hope all is well in your part of the world.

 

I did end up building a second board and like it way more than the first board. The whole process has been a great learning experience, so I might put some thoughts down on paper here in case it is of use to seanjulz. 

 

To put things into context, I'm an engineer, so I have a tendency to want to know how things work. I also like having little personal projects happening from time to time, and building a flowrider board is the sort of challenge that I like to take on. I turned up in Sydney with the first board and jumped onboard Ovation for the Sydney to Hawaii cruise. I was amazed to find out how many guys on the cruise could ride, and also how many guys on the cruise had their own board (seven by my count):

1) JC with his outlaw with channels

2) Another outlaw without channels

3) A wooden shuvit

4) A wooden Ash board

5) A Mak board

6) A Jaan board

7) My board

I found my board to be difficult to ride (it was very unforgiving), then got talking to a guy from the UK who also owned a Jaan board but hadn't brought it on the cruise. He explained to me that he thought my board was too stiff and his preference was for boards that had more flex. Over the course of the cruise, I rode all of the above boards except the Mak. Of the other boards, they all seemed reasonably similar, except for the Jaan. It was lighter and more flexible, and I found it more suited to my specific riding style (or lack thereof). So subsequently my second board is lighter and more flexible than my first board. The only outing to date for the second board was a long weekend to Cairns. That was my very first time on a land-based flowrider and it took me a while to get used to the extra steepness and power of the wave. Once I got that sorted though, I was quite satisfied with how the board went. I went up there with 2 other guys, one of which was the guy from the cruise who owns the wooden shuvit. He is a much better rider than me and he had one ride on my board and really struggled on it, so my board clearly doesn't suit everyone. I'll hold off on the tick of approval for my board though until it's had a run on one of the ships. That might be a challenge though, because my wife has become bored with cruising. I'd be there in a heartbeat if the ship had a flowrider, but she doesn't think along the same lines.

 

So seanjulz,  I'd definitely consider a Jaan board as well as the WaveLoch boards. At least one of Lordnlkon's boards is a Jaan by the look of things. I believe that Jaan boards are made in the UK? Now here's the rub, I am currently in London and will leave here on 10th Jan. If you could get the planets aligned, I would be prepared to bring the board back to Australia. You could then arrange for a courier to pick it up (from NSW central coast). Alternately, if you are in Cairns, I have a trip planned back there in mid-April to ride the flowrider up there. Just a thought and it would probably be a stretch to make it all happen, but the offer is there. It seems that you can only contact them (Jaan) via facebook. I don't have a facebook account. I also have no idea where in the UK they are based, so that could be a showstopper as well. The whole thing would also require a leap of faith on your part to trust me to uphold my end of the deal. I'm sure that JC would vouch for me in here to do the right thing though.

[seanjulz]

1 hour ago, spudstrawb said:

 

Wow, this thread has certainly come back to life. Hi JC - I hope all is well in your part of the world.

 

I did end up building a second board and like it way more than the first board. The whole process has been a great learning experience, so I might put some thoughts down on paper here in case it is of use to seanjulz. 

 

To put things into context, I'm an engineer, so I have a tendency to want to know how things work. I also like having little personal projects happening from time to time, and building a flowrider board is the sort of challenge that I like to take on. I turned up in Sydney with the first board and jumped onboard Ovation for the Sydney to Hawaii cruise. I was amazed to find out how many guys on the cruise could ride, and also how many guys on the cruise had their own board (seven by my count):

1) JC with his outlaw with channels

2) Another outlaw without channels

3) A wooden shuvit

4) A wooden Ash board

5) A Mak board

6) A Jaan board

7) My board

I found my board to be difficult to ride (it was very unforgiving), then got talking to a guy from the UK who also owned a Jaan board but hadn't brought it on the cruise. He explained to me that he thought my board was too stiff and his preference was for boards that had more flex. Over the course of the cruise, I rode all of the above boards except the Mak. Of the other boards, they all seemed reasonably similar, except for the Jaan. It was lighter and more flexible, and I found it more suited to my specific riding style (or lack thereof). So subsequently my second board is lighter and more flexible than my first board. The only outing to date for the second board was a long weekend to Cairns. That was my very first time on a land-based flowrider and it took me a while to get used to the extra steepness and power of the wave. Once I got that sorted though, I was quite satisfied with how the board went. I went up there with 2 other guys, one of which was the guy from the cruise who owns the wooden shuvit. He is a much better rider than me and he had one ride on my board and really struggled on it, so my board clearly doesn't suit everyone. I'll hold off on the tick of approval for my board though until it's had a run on one of the ships. That might be a challenge though, because my wife has become bored with cruising. I'd be there in a heartbeat if the ship had a flowrider, but she doesn't think along the same lines.

 

So seanjulz,  I'd definitely consider a Jaan board as well as the WaveLoch boards. At least one of Lordnlkon's boards is a Jaan by the look of things. I believe that Jaan boards are made in the UK? Now here's the rub, I am currently in London and will leave here on 10th Jan. If you could get the planets aligned, I would be prepared to bring the board back to Australia. You could then arrange for a courier to pick it up (from NSW central coast). Alternately, if you are in Cairns, I have a trip planned back there in mid-April to ride the flowrider up there. Just a thought and it would probably be a stretch to make it all happen, but the offer is there. It seems that you can only contact them (Jaan) via facebook. I don't have a facebook account. I also have no idea where in the UK they are based, so that could be a showstopper as well. The whole thing would also require a leap of faith on your part to trust me to uphold my end of the deal. I'm sure that JC would vouch for me in here to do the right thing though.

Wow thanks for all the info I will have a look into the Jaan boards, I also went back and re looked into the postage and it was only the ash boards that had the 160usd postage the wavelock and mak boards are only about 70, also if you are ever going to be on the Gold Coast dreamworld has a flowrider there little bit closer to you than Cairns 

Edited December 30, 2019 by seanjulz

[xpcdoojk]

I would absolutely trust him to do the right thing! 😉

 

Graeme (sorry forgot the proper spelling) have you considered a new wife? 😉

 

Just kidding Julie, maybe! 😉

 

I still haven’t edited enough videos from our cruise to send you a link to watch them.  My new camera was 4K UHD and the files are huge.  I edited, them but they are still to long to upload to Smugmug, where I host my pictures, so I need to cut them into smaller pieces.  

 

That said, tell Paul, I was watching Juan, a man from south Florida on my Symphony cruise, (My videos) last year do the trick that Paul tried to accomplish the entire trip and finally did it on the last day one time.  The gentleman on the Symphony, did it over a dozen times consecutively in a single ride.  

 

Like I said, going on a TA on the big ships will quickly make you think that you are not very good.  As Graeme knows I don’t try to spin, and I am not good at it.  Spinning means falling and I prefer not to. 😉

 

 

jc

[spudstrawb]

Haha JC. I'm not even going to mention that comment to her. That said though, it would solve the problem, wouldn't it.

 

Have you considered converting the 4k video files to 1080p mp4 files? That would reduce the file sizes significantly.

[xpcdoojk]

I did edit them to 1080P, but they still seem a lot larger than the originally shot at 1080P.

 

jc

[Lordnlkon]

Yeah I love my Jaan board. It is just too light for some waves. I don't use it on Liberty of the Seas because of the giant rooster tail in the middle of the wave.

[xpcdoojk]

That rooster tail in the middle was horrible 4 years ago, are you saying in all this time they haven’t fixed it?  I can scratch Liberty off the ok list.

 

Graeme, maybe if you tell Julie that you are going to cruise with a, “wink” friend.  Maybe she will reconsider...

 

jc

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

I can scratch Liberty off the ok list.

I assume the Flowrider, like the rest of the ship, will get a make over during the dry dock.

[Lordnlkon]

17 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

That rooster tail in the middle was horrible 4 years ago, are you saying in all this time they haven’t fixed it?  I can scratch Liberty off the ok list.

 

Graeme, maybe if you tell Julie that you are going to cruise with a, “wink” friend.  Maybe she will reconsider...

 

jc

 

 

Was still there Jan 2018. I will be back on Liberty in February, so I can confirm again. They did dry dock on her in 16 I believe, so sounds like they didn't fix it then.