Wakeskate Help....Please

After refusing to give up wakeboarding for quite some time because of a bad knee, i finally decided it would be best to switch to wakeskating in hopes that it is less stress on my knee.

I have no idea what one to buy. What do you suggest? What Length?

6 ft
Approx 190 Lbs

http://www.buywake.com/catalog/detail/DSesP

Most wakeskates are going to be around the same length; about 40-42 inches... It is not the same idea with a wakeboard where there are a couple different sizes. Technically speaking, if you're going to be going W2W go with a longer board, and for lip/ flip tricks go with a shorter board.

You also want to decide if you want grip or foam. Grip will give you better board control and feel, but you have to wear shoes and your legs can get torn up on falls. Personaly preference here; most serious riders use grip.

I ride a HL skate, its alright, but my next skate will definately be an Integrity. Support a rider owned company that puts out a top-of-the-line product. www.Integrity-wake.com

Some other reputable skate companies:
www.omenskates.com
www.sattelyte.com

Ok Peter, I am going to try to give you my opinion.

I rode both HL and LF lowest end skates. If you are buying very low end (ply flat skates)I cannot reccomend either, although I felt that the LF was a tad higher quality. Both will probably bite the dust pretty fast though, as they pale compared to Integ and other niche market companies.

However, as far as upper end skates go, I have been very pleased with my HL Catalyst 06'. It is long and wide enough for a big rider like me (187, 6 foot), and also has a great shape (nice 3 stage with a great concave). It is a heavy board, which is GREAT for W2W stability, but not as great for flip tricks and shuvs (which I cannot do, but not because of the board : ). Its a very thick board though, and some people may find it clunky, so try it out and see what you think.

Anyway, its really all preference. Just one word of advice: everyone on this site seems to reccomend "rider owned" even if that is not what would be the best choice, or is WAY out of the target buyers price range. As far as I am concerned, every buyer should pick the skate with the features that they want, at a price that they are comfortable with. Not everyone has a freaking unlimited budget, and to boot, it is a competitive market. Maybe it's just me, but I feel that if a company wishes to put out the best product AND hang with the big guys (HL and LF), they have to hit a price point, even if that means taking a bit of margin off the top. Unless you have some stakes in the company (or moral objections to another), it should be your job to be an informed consumer, and choose competitively

Good luck , and feel free to email if you need pics/more info.

thanks for the opinions, it would be nice to try some out before buying but i don't think i will get the chance

Bro dont start wakeskating because you think you wont get hurt as easily because that is not at all true. Do it because you want a different feel or what ever but dont think for a minuite you wont get hurt as bad or even worse on a skate.
Just sumptin to think about.

peter, riding a board really would be your best bet, because wood, composite, and compression molded all feel different. Feeling is the biggest thing when it comes to a wakeskate, and if you don't like the way that wakeskate rides, it doesn't matter how much you spent on it because it will never hit the water. So if you have any friends that have boards, or have access to any demo days, I'd strongly recommend that.

And kyle is correct. You can still hurt your knees (think: byerly and murray), among other things.

but good luck and have fun!

Yea, but 'think: byerly' is riding strickly wakeskates because even a simply wake jump on a wakeboard that has some loft to it is going to be a pounding on the knees. You can mess around on a skate and not worry too much about hurting a bad knee where as messing around on a board is going to be considerable pressure on bad knees.

What i'm trying to say is dude's logic to switch to skating because of knees has much validity to it... As does ya'lls opinion about creating horrible knee injuries skating!

you should look into getting an OAK. they're good, solid wood concaves. a friend of mine has one and its got great pop. id got for the artificial heart or prodigal.

or id go with a integrity. i got to ride nick taylors pro model today and it was amazing. great pop and spun really well.