Yet another wakeboard help thread
 

So I'm in need of a new board and am kind of stuck on what to get.

The 3 I'm interested in so far are the regular Harley, Watson Hybrid, and the One

Also interested on any reviews on the Marek and Murray Nova?

I have yet to ride cable or rails due to my not so convenient location in upstate New York, but I'm definitely interested in trying them eventually since I visit NC and Florida usually once a year, which also explains my interest in the hybrid.

I'm an intermediate behind-the-boat rider looking for a lot of pop. I would like a slider friendly board, but also grippy enough for hard carving at the same time. Softer landings are also nice. I don't know if any of this information is relevant towards my choice, but I'll provide it anyway. The lake I currently live on is usually ridable 50% of the time and massive 4 foot rollers the other 50% of the time. Again, I'm not sure if that matters, but oh well.

Any help with my choice would be greatly appreciated along with any other suggestions of great boards.
Thanks.

What board are you coming from?

I went on a Watson Hybrid from a severance which is exactly like a recoil, and liked it. Its a bit slower than the recoil and was a decent board but I wasn't blown away by it.

Right now I'm coming from a LF board I got a while ago, I'm not sure the model name but I'm pretty sure it's either an 08 or 09.
My worry about the Watson Hybrid is that it won't be poppy enough, how was it w2w?

Watson vs Harley (from my experience)

The watson has a more direct pop, not to say that it's bigger, it's just more abrupt. The Harley has better transitional speed (left to right, right to left, as you set up for your edge). The watson is a bit easier to edge harder with. Both land easy, I'll give a very subtle edge to the Harley. I also feel that the Harley releases off the wake a fraction sooner.

I'm riding the Harley. The reason I am is the transition speed. The transition speed allows me to set up quicker and build my edge speed depending on my trick.

That said... everyones riding style is different (weighting, stance, wake, etc) and what I look for in a board you may not. It's always best to demo.

Thanks, that was a lot of help in terms of pop.
How about the speed of the Harley? I heard it was a very quick board despite it's 3 stage rocker
How is the Watson's speed in comparison to the Harley?

And yeah I wish I could demo some boards, but the nearest Pro shop is an hour and a half drive

The Harley kicks ass! It is indeed very fast. It's also loose, which I really love. It's great fun for surface tricks. And of course, the pop is huge. Why would you want the regular Harley? It's not slider friendly! Get the Harley Grind if you want a Harley.

I've also ridden the One. Not my kinda board, but a shredder for sure. The speed and pop are similar to the Harley, but it's a much stickier board, at least with the standard 1-inch fins. It had a nasty locked-in feeling. If you wanna try the One, you might wanna think about using smaller fins or no fins. Unless, of course, you like a sticky board. In that case, you'd probably like the One a lot better than the Harley.

Well I was thinking the Regular because there's little chance I'll be using it on rails
Also I'm looking for a loose board, but hopefully won't be loose enough that I'll lose a hard edge when coming into the wake hard. Does the Harley do that at all?
And also, have you tried the One with the slider fins? I heard that helped a lot in terms of loosening up the "stickyness"

Ahhhh, makes sense. And no, the Harley will never lose its edge into the wake, even on a massive Raley. In fact, even the loosest boards from reputable manufactures seem to have plenty of on-edge bite when needed. The Witness Grind comes to mind. It's really just a matter of how you want the board to feel when you break it loose and get it sideways.

I haven't tried the One with slider fins, but I imagine it would be a much nicer feeling than the setup I rode.

I see. Thanks
I'm definitely leaning back towards my original choice of the Harley now, whereas the One kind of caught me by appeal.

Also I'm stuck on the size of the Harley that I should get. I'm 16 years old, about 150 lbs. and 5'9 ish? So I don't know whether to get the smaller 135 or larger 139 because I seem to be right in the middle of that.
Also, which bindings should I get if I decide to go with the Watson Hybrid

I picked up a Watson hybrid on Friday...rode it for the first time today. Amazing compared to my older PS3 and it was amazing. I too was between the harley grind and Watson hybrid. After hearing from several sources that the harley tends to have harder landings vs the hybrid and that the hybrid can be very fun.

Watson also used his hybrid more behind his boat that the regular or classic if that says anything.

Id say go with 139 and not regret it.

Bindings...thats a whole nother story and its all preference. Everyone has their favorite brands, color, flex ratings, etc.

I went with the Watson LTD boots coming from Ronix but wanted a mofe snug stiffer binding. Just read alot of posts/reviews on them I guess if u cant try them on.

Thanks for all that useful info, I'm dying to try the Watson too.
Another thing I just realized to take into account is the price. The Harley package would cost me 600 whereas the Watson would run me close to 900. I just don't want to get one, and then realize I should've got the other, which is my main concern.

Ur goin to start seeing companies drop 11' pricing bc LF is releasing their 12' products. Check performance ski & surfs site tomorrow and this week for some ideas. Is it the harley bindings ur wanting too? Or to mix and match? Do you have any friends equipment u can try on?

If your pro shop is only 1.5 hours away it's worth the drive to try on some bindings! Good bindings only make the board you're on that much better and a good binding is one that fits your foot right and feels comfortable offering the support you want in the areas you need it!

I'm rocking the Harley 139 (weigh in at 165 lbs) with Soven Boots.

Yeah I was planning on waiting for the '12s to come out so I could see a hefty price drop.
I was planning on getting the Harley boots along with the Harley board, and likewise with the Watson.
And to be honest, no. I'm pretty much the most experienced out of my friends (that's not saying much, I'm an intermediate rider at best). That being said, they really only ride no-name brand boards (still nice) from sporting goods stores around town and occasionally my old LF or BodyGlove. I'm also the only one out of my friends with a decent towable boat, I pretty much got them all into the sport because it's so fun and I didn't want to be alone. So yeah, long story just to say I can't really try any friends things, they kind of rely on me for that stuff, despite my mediocrety and decent equipment.

I second Jeff's advice about the bindings. Demo the boards if you can, but definitely at least put your foot in the bindings. I have a weirdly shaped foot and I found that the Harleys were the only bindings my shop carried that fit me well. It's very important to have a proper fit! Try the Sovens and the Watsons as well if your shop carries them. They're pretty similar to the Harleys.

As for the size, I ride the 135 at about 145 pounds, so I'd say go with the 135. I don't like my board to be too big because a bigger board feels harder to chuck around. That said, bigger is also more stable.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I think I might go with the 139 since I'm still technically growing.
And i'll definitely try to head down there eventually and try on some boots before I make my choice.

One more question:

I've heard and read a lot of stories about people breaking their Harleys, is this a reoccuring theme? How long would it last me (no rail riding) aproximately before it dies?

I've never heard of anyone breaking one. It's a strong board, what with the Carbon-X reinforcing the middle and all, and it's thicker than flex boards like the slingshots and most Ronix products as well. I pound on mine at least 3 times a week and it still feels new and springy.