there really seems to be a link in trends. wakeskates first came out it was a cool concept. small companies popped up...the best was t. horrells cassette...but many many followed. the sport grew for a few years then quickly got settled into its place in the wake scene. obviously present but much smaller than wakeboarding...do not take this the wrong way you core skaters! <BR> <BR>introduce the flex trend of 2007/08. more and more flex companies popping up. aiming at contending with the wake construction we all have been riding. <BR> <BR>tough to predict the future here with the flex trend. do you think it will follow wakeskateing, grow some, and then settle in as its own sport? for jibbing, sliders, or do you think it will just be a side gig...extra board type of trend. or do you think it is the best thing since sliced bread and will eventually take on the entire mind set of those that give us wakeboarding?

im suprised byrom didnt post this o wait i forgot he thinks that regular boards are a side trend hahaha <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0> <BR>if you see this bro just giving ya a hard time

I would NOT say that flex is or will be <i>responsible</i> for any "settling" into its own sport of rail riding and such. I would say that cable parks would be more <i>responsible</i> for that trend. I would be willing to bet that flex has and will further <i>push/progress</i> this trend, at least from what i can tell from the things i read and hear in the wake media. <BR>Seems there is still an expectation that rail/cable riders do well on wake, behind the boat too. But I think we will see a further and further separation of the two. of course rails will always be apart of wake, but i see a separate FOCUS on rails (and obsticles in general) too. I think the Sesitec 2.0 will help push this "FOCUS" even more and in fact has done so a bit already with great events like the wake lab. <BR> <BR>Though i personally think flex is "the best thing since sliced bread" i do NOT however think it will dominate "traditional" style/ stiffness boards. It will just be a style preference with as great an impact, if not more so than 3-stage vs. continuous. I do predict that flex-patterns will change in general for ALL boards in the future. seems there is already a greater emphasis on creating unique flex patterns, "more flexy here and less flexy there." or maybe these are just advertisement ploys... But again with the comparison to 3-stage and continuous. It seems there are more and more HYBRID rockers out there and not so many purely 3-stage and continuous. i think flex will fall in the same pattern. there is gona be a lot more hybrids in the future, but always with a side of pure-end-of-the-spectrum models. <BR> <BR>and thats your typical highly-analyzed response from jeremy byrom ;)

no prob kyle^^^<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0> <BR>i do post other things besides slingshot related stuff though. but slingshot and flex in general definitely is my "staple food" and then "Lake Powell" posts would probably be the substance i wash it down with<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0> <BR> <BR>(disclaimer, I am no rail rider myslef, never had much an opportunity to get into it really, living in the middle of no where. i am just going by belief based on observations really) <BR> <BR>(Message edited by wakerider111 on October 27, 2008)