Ok, so one of my buddies has been riding with me for about 3 years. He has always ridden mine or a friends board but now he finally has the money to buy his own. Price is not a concern here. He is an intermediate rider. He want's a three stage rocker, and a board with super soft landings because he has bad knees. He also wants a quality board that will last him quite a while. <BR> <BR>Let me know what you guys suggest.

CWB Faction. Its an aggressive continuous but bucks like a 3-stage (I hate other continuous boards). The spine extends through the tips and it lands like butter. The ride is smooth and predictable, hard to beat it.

lf shane - it'll buck ya and has suuuuuuuuper soft landings. i rode behind tank's san 210 a few weeks ago. i underestimated the wake and cut pretty aggressively on my first jump. i went pretty big! on the way down, i kept saying, "this is gonna hurt...this is gonna hurt..." nope! suuuuuuuper soft landings on the shane 140! <BR> <BR>and heavy, you of all people know that predictability isn't found in boards. they're found in consistent application of proper technique and fundamentals.

trancend platinum.....badass board CWB has top notch customer service too

3-stage + Super soft + tough/long lasting = Slingshot Recoil. <BR> <BR>Softest landing board I've ever been on, Tough as nails, CRAZY pop....its amazing check them out.

I'll go seconds on the Faction, I am loving the board and I am coming off of a 3 stages over the years. It does everything well. My crew also has a few Transcends in it. Somebody just got a 142, but I haven't gotten to try it yet. They absolutely love those boards and both guys say that they land soft and pop great.

slingshot doesn't pop nearly as much as conventional boards though. even the pros don't go nearly as big on the slingshot.

Another vote for Slingshot recoil. <BR> <BR>no pro here, but i definitely felt that i have gotten more air with the slingshot than others. totally different kind of ride because of the flex and all, and super fun

most people do go bigger w/ a tower extension. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0>

MUCH bigger on a slingshot and a tower ext than a hyperlite imperial and tower ext. I rode both on the same boat <BR> <BR>remember that too<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/crazy.gif" border=0><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0> <BR> <BR>hijak: <BR>when you commin to powell Joe??? <BR>I've met Dave, now i need to meet the wakeworld top poster<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/proud.gif" border=0>... and that goes for all my other wakeworld fam. too <BR> <BR>(Message edited by wakerider111 on June 17, 2008) <BR> <BR>(Message edited by wakerider111 on June 17, 2008)

All and all though Matt, <BR> <BR>the boards that get talked about the most have been mentioned <BR> <BR>3 stage soft landing boards: <BR>LF Shane <BR>Slingshot recoil <BR> <BR>Continuous soft landing boards: <BR>Slingshot Response <BR>CWB Faction <BR>CWB Marius <BR> <BR>take your pic from these and you should be good, especially if you can get your bro to demo them

Joe, I would argue that point actually. While technique is certainly the most important part some boards are more forgiving and thus more predictable. One can't always be perfect when water dancing on your shred stick, so a board that responds similarly despite your imperfections is a predictable board.

forgiving = predictable? wow. <BR> <BR>my shane's pretty damn forgiving (especially w/ the smaller fins) but predictable? not by any means.

by the way, jeremy, don't forget to add the lf lyman in the mix. <BR> <BR>not sure when i'll hit up powell...it's such a loooooooong drive! getting people to come out is tough right now...and i kinda need them to go since they're the boat owners. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0>

Ive demo'd a fair share of boards this season <BR>-lf lyman, team <BR>-hl tribute and murray <BR>-byerly monarch <BR>-cwb marius, transcend, faction <BR>-obrien natural <BR>-couple double ups <BR> <BR>Im by no means a great rider but i found the natural to be my all around favorite and i really liked the murray especially the pop. The faction and tribute are amazing continuous rocker boards that have more than enough pop and super soft landings. All of these boards are extremely fast and very predictable off the wake. <BR> <BR>PM me if you need any other info and or input on any of the boards listed

slingshots have super soft landings, so definitly have him look into one of those.

I've done demos lately on a few of the boards that goride mentions above. I absolutely loved the Monarch. Amazing board with a predictable and (for me) effortless ride. Money is a factor for any board purchase of my own, but if it weren't the Monarch would top of my list. <BR> <BR>The Lyman was a close second for me. The Shane kicked my ass and didn't do it for me at all. <BR> <BR>Bottom line, your friend needs to demo a few boards and see what works for him.

goride, where can I buy Double Up boards?

Lyman by far best choice. Has the landings and consistancy of a continous and doesnt lack much pop. Go demo one its a great board.

Look into a hybrid rocker from LF. Continuous through the center and kicks up like a 3stage at the tip and tail. Best of both worlds

i bought all mine from ebay. <BR> <BR>I dont think the lyman is the best board for everyone. It was actually one of my least favorite boards.

ya its def not for everyone. Its fast and doesnt pop quite as well as a shane but IMO it lands softer and def. releases quicker off the wake. If he stated he was a bigginer I definetly wouldnt recommend it, but for an intermediate I think it would work well. Everyones different though so I feel ya on that one goride.

I will second the Natural. I try to take most my stuff into the flats and it always lands soft. It is quick on edge and to release. A lot of people in my crew love it as well. I am still riding an '06 and haven't had any issues with it at all so it can take a beating. I have an '08 in the closet if you are interested in picking one up for like $275 + shipping.

gator legend series. its randalls board. its super poppy. great for wake to wake and into the flats. It has the softest landing out of all the other boards that i have ridden. you will not be disapointed in that board fer sure. the gonzalez bindings are also super comfty

SS Recoil, the SOFTEST board in the history of EVER! I am in the same boat (so to speak) as I have bad knees as well. I have tried almost everything, the recoil is the best for bad knees, the Shane is a close second. I still own a shane as well, but ride mostly the Recoil. <BR> <BR>I did just recently get the Ronix Mana and it is a bad ass board as well. Soft landings, HUGE pop, great board.

Watson. Great pop, predictable, soft landings, and it is slippery if you want it to be.