Old guy needs help
 

Ok, I am an old guy, 50, however I am very active and in fine shape, fight MMA, so if you make a nast y comment about my age I will dig your eyes out with my false teeth and then beat you to death with my walker :p

I just started/learning wakeboarding, love it, older Blindside 140cm with rusty bindings, and 155 lbs 5'9". I clear the wake easy both ways, a few 360's, significant air, both elevation and also can land way out in the flat (hurts my feet:(). I am just starting to try inverts, I have crash landed a couple back rolls and even landed a tantrum with an accidental 180.....but with out the rope :confused:

Last weekend I loaded up the boat, huge wake, got huge air, read a copy of war and peace on the way up, and sang Handel's Messiah on the way down. Landed ok but spit the board lenth-wise and one binding pulled out.

What do I get now? I want to go high, want to do some upside down stuff, would like to land softer, and want better bindings. Not sure about board brand/model/size and what binding to put on it. I don't care, new/used just something to get me back on the water that is better than what I had.

Thanks

old guy do you want a three stage or a continous rocker. you could go anywhere between a 136 to a 140cm board. there are many to choose from. a center spine will help with softer landings or a double concave like i have on my board. i'm 51 and i can do wake to wake 180's heel and toeside on a 85' rope and still land in the flats. i'm 5'6" and about 165 to 168 depending on how much ice cream and pizza i had.LOL i like a continous rocker because it is more consistent.also it is faster to the wake so you don't have to cut as hard.all the new 2007 and up stuff will work fine. the boards are better and the bindings are easier to put on and softer to land from going big .good luck.

You guys rock. I am 35 just started last year. Seeing and hearing you guys makes me smile. I have 20 years of riding left at least. =) You guys ROCK!

OK Old Guy this is your younger brother (lower 40's) and the acronym is OG. lol And I watch MMA so we are on the same playing field. Your are starting to hit the big time tricks and now you need some big time equipment or "Pro" equipment, which means your going to have to shell out some money. The average setup runs around $300-$400 and the good stuff runs $450 for bindings and $400-$500 for a good Ronix...I mean a good board. Its lighter, stronger and has all of the helping technology you don't know that you need. Go with a little larger board 138-139 so the landings will be a little softer and you will get more air with more surface. I went with the Ronix Ibex (3-stage rocker) and the One bindings, simple light and tuff, and the footbeds of the ones are incredibly thick and spongy. You sound alot like myself, I workout several times a week, I marathon skate 25-30 miles a week, and rock climb weekly to stay up with these young guys. Lots of guys quit this sport in there 30's so keep up the good work OG, lol. Jet

you can ask me how i got the nickname "Jet" later, you dont get a name like that laying on the couch.

http://www.ronixstore.com/home/index/1399.1.1.1

Robert - not sure if I want a continuous or 3 stage. I like the idea of softer landings but I think extra pop would help me do inverts. How much difference is it, a couple inches, a couple feet? If it is just a couple inches I would go with the control and softer landings but if it is a foot or so that seems to be a good trade off.

Scott - only 20 years of riding left? I plan to do this for at least another 50 or more and then when I get old I will cut out the inverts.

Jet - I have been looking at the Ronix boards. Ibex, One, Vault.....not sure at all which I might like. I live in the middle of nowhere so no place to demo or even talk to anyone about it.

Hey OG. Sounds like you are doing everything right. Especially the huge wake! I'm an OG as well (55 in a couple months) and ride a 140 Motive (5-8, 165). I love the board but the design has been in production for a long time so there's probably better stuff out there.

I can't tell you the best board to buy, but I can welcome you to the club.:)

I'm just a few years younger and went with a flex deck to soften the landings. There are a couple to choose from, HL Roam (hear it is getting updated for 11), CWB Vibe, Sine, and the most tested Slingshot. More coming out in '11. I have been riding the Slingys and really like them, pretty much indestructible, 4 screw mounting system with their bindings, and the softest landings out there if you land a little tail heavy. They take a little getting used to, but after a few sets, most people never look back.

Since you are knew to the sport you may not know Sine may have the most interesting marketing. Enjoy:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2924920/sine_wakeboards/

Old Guy,
I'm in my mid 40's, same height and weight as you. I've found that equipment is everything! I ride the CWB Transcend 142(also comes in a 138). It has great control, pop and super soft landings. I like the CWB Vapor bindings. They are easy in/out, soft footbeds and have velcro straps. Every company is going to make a board/binding that you will like and several you don't. My advise is to demo before you buy. There are plenty of people on Wakeworld that you could go ride with and check out their equipment. Good luck

O G i don't know what else to call you even though i'm a little older. what i can tell you is there are 2 different kinds of riders . wake to wake riders all their landings are relatively soft and they generally prefer three stage rocker you don't have to use as much energy or have as big a wake to get straight up pop and more height. that being said it won't feel too good if you land in the flats with that kind of trajectory.it's more straight up and down. whereas a continous rocker gives you a more floaty lengthly pop. landing in the flats with those boards isn't as bad although landing in the flats no matter what your age is damaging to your knees.me i prefer to sky everything and land in the flats because to me it's cool. that is just my opinion.i don't know you but if you want to wakeboard another 50 years you will need to think about preserving your knees. i highly recommend THE WAKEBOARD CAMP in clermont florida.they can help you with your inverts and teach you in a manner so you won't take as many falls or as severe as not coached falls.they have all sorts of boards and bindings from liquid force for you to try but they don't push anything on you. i ride CWB and they never made any comments or hinted i should change.they are all great coaches and very friendly.good luck

I'm only a couple of years younger, 5'10' 175 and ride an Ibex 144 and love it, I like the pop. I only started about 4 years ago and used a Frontier (Continous rocker) the first year, probably good that I did that, but I prefer the 3 stage Ibex. My buddy, the same age as me, loves his Slingshot because he has a bad back and he says the landings are soft.

The good news is, most places are starting end of summer blow outs on gear so you should be able to find a good deal on 2010 stuff, or smokin' deals on '09 stuff. Honestly, at our age, buying the latest gear would be more of an ego thing, which is cool too, but you would be fine with something from '09 (or even '08 in some cases).

Welcome to a very addicting sport!

It is extremely difficult to predict what board someone will ride best. So you just have to demo boards with various shapes, preferably behind your boat as wake shape affects how well a board will work for you.

I have ridden most of the 3 stage rocker boards made by LF for 4 years, with the Lyman being my favorite. I rode a SIne for a year and by far it was the lightest, easiest to throw around, and softest landing board I have ridden. But I found it harder to ride and get consistent pop. I recently switched to a Humanoid and my pop and consistency improved greatly. Even though it is a continuous rocker board, it has a huge rocker with predictable pop.

So demo everything you can before buying. Humanoid will send you a board to demo for a week for $50 if you want.

FWIW, I am your exact age, height, and weight and ride the Humanoid Stiffy 140, Sine 138, Lyman 135 or 139, Watson (orig) 138, Witness 136, and S4 138.

I just want to say that I am STOKED you are 50 and trying inverts and rotations! I LOVE IT!

My step dad is 50, he rides every weekend, loves it, but can't even jump the wake. He uses the "But I'm 50" card on me now since his step daughter rides better than he does. :)

Nicole, next time he makes excuses, show your step dad this... I'm 50 in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPKQBCcCNjY

John,

You are my hero. I won't make that bag of tricks at 50 (next year) but I'm working on adding to the bag every week. Keep charging & leading the way!

Hey I just thought of a question. Does anyone know the oldest person to perform an invert? That would be cool to find out stuff like that. You guys are inspiring me though. I turned thirty last month and I won't be able to afford a nice boat until I get out of school in 4 years, but it's good to hear There is lots of time left.

^ land an invert or learn an invert?

To telling how many young lads you just inspired with your video John.

Thanks guys. I've been wakeboarding since I was 40 and learned the backroll in about my second or third season (old brain forgets). My first year was on a surf style Connelly with sandal bindings and I didn't learn a lot on that. My boat is a 92 Ski Nautique that I originally bought for slalom skiing and has a terrible wake dispite putting over a G of weight. That video wasn't my boat. In the 90's I rode nearly every day. I switched to riding the cable around 2000, and have a few tricks in the bag there.

I've been real lucky with my knees. Probably the fact that I tend to go wake to wake and not so big has helped a lot with that. I've never been too concerned with a continual progression of new tricks (I'm a chicken) and that surely has helped me avoid injuries. I mostly work to keep the bag of tricks I already have and consider exercise to be the main goal.

I've been skiing all my life and did a lot of trick skiiing in my 20's. IMO years of riding and *not pushing the limits* is what conditions the body to hold out for the long run. So I guess I think the motto "Go big or go home" really is more like "Go big and eventually you'll go home". Hopefully one day I'll throw a backroll when I'm 70. Only got 15 years more to go.:)

John, that's awesome. Atthelake, I meant just land one, but learning one could be a category too. So John is the oldest so far as I know to land an invert. Anyone else?

What a great group, all of you rock!

Thanks for all the help and support here and in PM's.

John, looks great, hope to see you out on the water when we are both triple digits.

I found a 138 Watson to try this weekend, don't know much about it but at least I will be out there.