What is it with O'Brien?

I wanted to demo the O'Brien Natural and Player after reading some of the postings here, but I can't seem to find them at my local dealers. One of the larger dealers said they don't keep many O'Brian boards in inventory anymore - they just don't sell too well. He did say they're a good board. What really makes LF, CWB, and HL so much more popular? Just curious.

Good question. Obrien has a super strong team with Dallas, Watkins, and Sanders, but I guess team isn't everything.

Nice profile pic.

My understanding is that they are huge in Australia, but just haven't developed the market in the US. I could be wrong. I agree though. The product looks great, but the dealer support is poor.

they have a good team, just not a good american team. i'm sure they're huge in australia, but watkins (as great as he is) and sanders (for what he lacks in style, he makes up for in raw trick count) just don't get the same publicity stateside as a shawn watson, danny harf, or even rusty and chad sharpe. it also wouldn't hurt if o'brien's biggest rider actually had a male pro model board.

also, o'brien should have considered giving their wake department a different name--a la connely and CWB--so their $300 wakeboards don't share the name of their tubes and skis

Obrien makes some really slick boards, they just dont push the advertising and inflate the cost like others do. As you can see, they DO have a good team and good development team to match. I dont know about other areas of the country, but Ive seen more and more people on them lately.

It's too bad - sound more like an advertising issue. Their stuff does sound/look like a good product. I find myself more likely to purchase a product (or demo) by reading reviews and opinions of people at my level, whether it's a wakeboard or some other product (TV, stereo, tires, car, etc...).

it also may have something to do with the fact that o'brien doesn't really have a staple board shape. for hyperlite, cwb, and substance, you basically know what they offer in the premier, absolute, and substance. as a buyer, you know you'll get a quality board with any one of those, so you can use them as your starting point and then move to something like a 3ds or transcend based on your preferences. with o'brien you're kind of choosing blindly

It is always better to demo a board but characteristics generally tell you how a board is going to perform. If you are strong fundamentally, then the amount and type of rocker, length, width, fins, tip and tail will generally tell you how it will ride. If you arent fundmantally sound, then it wont matter anyway.

-Big 3 stage is gonna be slow and poppy
-continuous is gonna be fast and edgy
-dimensions are gonna tell you how much more/less surface area for pop and landing and how much more/less swing weight
-wider tips are more poppy but less responsive
-more narrow tips have less snap but more responsive under your feet
-Molded fins with no added fins is more skatey
-bigger bolted fins is more sticky

Once you get past brand loyalty and genreal popularity, thats all thats left.

I think that it is cool that O'Brien hasn't tried to hide behind a different name for there wakeboard line. CWB, Hyperlite, J-Star are all just marketing tools used to confuse the uninformed.

Or maybe it's not that O'Brien is trying to stay true to it's roots, but that they don't want to invest the limited marketing dollars they have to change everything over to some cool new hip name?!?!

Either way, I don't care! I love my Natural and Argons. I personally know the guy that designs O'Briens stuff and if O'Brien worked as hard to market there wakeboard stuff as he does designing it they would be kicking everyones butts!

If any of you are ever in the Spokane area and want to demo some O'Brien stuff, let me know and I will see what I can do to help!

Later,
jjakober

Is it still Jason N. that is taking care of some of the product development for O'brien?
Funny to hear this talk about brand names/reputations etc...
I am sure at least a few of you know the whole Obrien > HO shakeout with good 'ole Herb.
Classic story.

JG thats great info and dead on except for "Thats all thats Left"

thie thing you left out that is left is easy and available to

1.demo then Purchase from a local shop that has the whole updated line

2.once you decide on purchasing said brand you want to make sure the warranty can bne done in a reasonably fast time with little hassle which goes back to #1..

3.if you cant get both #1 and # 2 in your local area then you usually will go to brand 2 ...

Seems like Obrien isnt carried by all the popular shops and its hard to guage their product from all aspects an consumer might look for..thats all thats being said here..i think Obrien makes nice stuff that perform well but there isnt a readily available line at my local pro shops that I do business with so its never caught on with me..

You hit the nail on the head Bill. I don't have any brand loyalty and would be willing to give the Natural a try, but I can't go off just specs and reviews, even though it sounds like a board that would fit my needs.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that the Obrien's left Obrien?

I really wouldn't say the O'Brien's "LEFT" O'Brien. It was a long time ago, long before wakeboarding was even a twinkle in Herb's eye!

jjakober

Didn't they all just leave where they were working at again and are going to something by themselves, father and son agian...

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quote:

What really makes LF, CWB, and HL so much more popular? Just curious.

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exactly what makes ipods more popular than other mp3 players....marketing.

It took awhile, but Apple did get their act together on advertising. I remember years ago they had half hour infomercials on the Mac, showing how it's great for the entire family. Even grandma and grandpa can Email... How nice. <sniff> That was some of the worst advertising I've seen. People want to hear about power and speed, or something exciting.

Joe is right about the marketing thing, but obrien started hurting when shapiro went to liquid force

I demoed a 139 Natural and I have to say Obrien has themselves a sweet board. I ride the 138 Murray and it is a pretty fast board that has decent pop for the continious rocker. But the Natural was just as fast and weighed about half as much as my HYPERHEAVY and also had a ton more pop with the 3 stage.

Jam - I did read a WakeWorld review saying that it was a really fast for a 3 stage. How did you like the landings?

Bill, that is true which is why I prefaced my statement with "it is always better to demo". But, the local shop can also be a double edged sword. When you order board X and there are no board X shops in your area, then the company must deal with you directly if issues come up. Anyone who has ever dealt with warranty issues with a shop as the middleman knows how easy it is for communication to breakdown. Anyone who has ever dealt with a company directly knows how well direct customer support really works.

so are you guys saying Obrein doesnt have good support for the board after you buy it? I am highly considering getting a dimented board.

True Jason but you dont have to take it back to the shop just cause you have a dealer and bought it there. If you choose you can go straight through the manufacturer and deal direct with customer service or the warrenty dept.

EastCoastJedi - So what is the story?