Cable board

I went to Wake Nation twice this summer so far and plan to go back a few more times, but my Lyman is taking a beating. 3 out of the 4 molded in fins have had a little bit of separation, but there's no worry of the board absorbing water is there?

When I rode my buddies roam at the park and liked the piece of mind that I wasn't going to ruin my board and liked the flex on the rails as well, but prolly want to look for something that can hit the kickers since I assume the roam isn't very good for that.

What do you guys suggest for <$200 for cable? What I had in mind was:

1. 2008 Slingshot--good all around board for rails and kickers, possibly also for boat use. Downside is I'm not likely to find any 08s for >200

2. 2008 LF Substance 138 Grind--Good for rails and kickers, just not a huge fan of the shape, I prefer fast boards and heard it lands heavy.

3. 2008 LF Press 142--Don't know much about this deck, but how does it compare to the roam? Would it be decent for hitting kickers?

4. Roam--Good board for rails, but I assume not for kickers?

slingshot is good for cable, except for the fins which will break off depending on your luck and how u hit the obstacles

Substance grind is tough and sick on sliders but yup its a bit of a tank

forget the press and roam, too limiting

A good all round board that I think would suit you would prob be the 08 PS3 ltd which has the ptex base. Pretty tough board, holds up on obstacles and holds a nice edge for air tricks or cutting into the kickers.

Also if your lyman molded fins have opened up I would suggest getting some epoxy and sealing it. Its quick and easy and will prolong the life of your board.

I saw that Substance Grind on Boardersbestbuy a day or two ago. You might be able to get a steal on it!

Yeah, they got some of those available still apparently, but I think ima go with an 08 PS3 limited as long as I can get a good price.

Roddyrod, I see you ride on Orchard Lake, where do you live?

SS REFLEX Finless

I love my recoil at the cable.... if you have good edging habits riding finless won't be an issue.

The 09 SS stuff is tough as nails (durabase rocks).... check for a blems, get some deals.

+1 for the finless REFLEX. Pretty much all I ride is cable / rails and I love it.

The Ronix Arcade By Bill is one of my favorite boards I have ever ridden, but I haven't ridden the new Hperlite Clash yet. It looks pretty sick though. For under $200 I would look into closeouts on 08 LF Grinds

any LF Grindbase board!

RONIX ARCADE!

I would definitely go for the grindbase shane

Peter from Wake Nation contacted me and they give out 2 all day passes when you buy their boards and they're great guys there, so ima give them the business and get a PS3 grind base

Hyperlite CLASH!

Made for and to the standards of the best cable rider in the world right now.

I will admit that the clash is the best shape ever made (3ds, pulse, tfd, call it what you want). However, Nicky D broke 3 clash's during the 2 days that he spent with us at the WakeNation .. Not only is the grind base slow as balls, it is also much weaker than a normal base. I know bcz i broke through mine yesterday and it now fills up with water as i ride

The Clash has been a bit of a disappointment. LF's grind base is super tough, and the Bill is great too, but a word of warning if you're using 09 ronix boots... DONT use the extender piece to mount them. That thing acts like a can opener on the deck and causes premature breakage. I've seen many many boards broken from using those things and its always right along the inside edge of the boot.

Just my opinion but of all the boards Ive ridden at cable I found the clash the least fun. Heavy and slow feeling in the water, huge fins, altho thats fixable. I dunno it just didnt feel good. Of course Nick rides it, but he could rip on any board.

Luke, that happened to me last week at TSR. I have a huge crack on my Bill from the extenders... I hate to hear that about the Clash, it looks like a sick board.

+1 for any grindbase LF. Substance lands a bit harder, but still nicely balanced board, that you need for parks. PS3 limited is even better or any 09 limited or grind...

IMHO the ultimate park board would be like that:
- hybrid rocker
- grind base or some other really tough material
- PVC core for strength. Or PVC stringers and normal core.
- kick tail
- a lots of color/graphic/size options

id vote for the substance out of all of those. sure, it's not the best shape and it lands a little harder than most boards, but the grind base will help a lot. the other 3 are fun boards, but all 3 have their limitations. there are plenty of riders who shred on flex boards, but i still maintain that flex boards make air tricks harder to learn.

the ps3 is also a solid choice, i rode that for awhile last year and enjoyed it.

Do you guys suggest a bigger or smaller board than normal for cable? I'm 6', 170 and ride a 139, rode a 136 last year, but think I could handle the ps3 in 137 or 141..which way do you guys think is the way to go?

Normal board. Most of the cable riders tend to ride a bit smaller boards because it is easier to get it into a cut, or spin, or whatever, even if you don't have good technique. On the contrary - if you know how the rope and the trick works this is limiting - you have no pop, the cut is not precise, the catapult is not smooth. So if you are learning basic inverts/spins - get a smaller board (136-137), if you're learning advanced inverts or trying to get them stylish - get a normal board (138-141).

I think the size of board is all personal preference and has a lot less to do with height and weight than we all think. A smaller board sits lower in the water and therefore does allow for an easier, deeper cut for air tricks on the cable. However, most cables run at 18 mph with the exception of OWC at 20 mph... which is already much slower than the boat, so really any size board will allow you to learn and perfect air tricks. I ride a good amount of both boat and cable using the same wakeboard, and personally I prefer the larger wakeboard for the softer more controlled landings.

I agree with Curt its all personal preference.
One thing i have noticed is that with most girls when they get on a smaller board they nearly always look much stronger straight away & are able to throw the board around much more easier.
Ive got to say i dont know what the craze is with the flex boards epecially how there is no channels under them it seems to me that these are back to the early days of wakeboard design where there was no channels just a dirty big fin at each end as for me i love a new board because of the stiffness & cant stand the flex & slipperyness of these flex boards.
But i guess if u never plan on doing big air tricks or hitting kickers then maybe the new flex boards are for u.
Im riding a Lf S4 & also the witness i ride it 5-6 days every week on obstacles & it has lasted me quite a few months.I beleive they last even better then the grind bases although my grind base board lasted me a long time to.When i get damage in one board i ride the other while im fixing the other board up.The boards imo seem to be stronger this year??

don't forget the hybrid flex boards that are comming out like SINE. not sure what they make their boards out of and how but to see a board nearly fold in half and then bounce back somewhat to its original shape instead of just snapping is just crazy (see their video if you have not yet)... not to mention that the boards are kind of translucent.

LF has a couple and Humanoid too (when they release) have some shape to the bootom but still quite smooth

also in the future judging from the prototype pics floatin arround and comments from randall and Co. about not making "flex boards" but making wakeboards and utilizing flex as a FEATURE, a statement i really like.

i'm sure other companies might be workin on stuff too. think i remember hearing a rumor of a rumor about CWB making some kind of board with flex...

i LOVE seeing a nice flexed out nose press. one of my favorite things to watch!

(Message edited by wakerider111 on June 24, 2009)

Yeh true that Jeremy, i rode one of Mike Ennens boards for quite a while a few months back & it was very nice to ride & had all the channels that i look for in a board & it really held up well on obstacles to so yeh i will admit ill be definately checking out the hybrid flex boards when ever they come out although i do like a stiff board.
Ill be interested when they make a stiff board similar to witness with the same materials they are making the flex boards out of cause i reckon they will take much more abuse.
Heres a pic i took of Mike getting his steez on here at cdub about a year ago.