Slingshot Review (Recoil 138 and Driver Boots)

I guess that I should start off this review will a little info about my riding. I ride behind an 04 X-Star(my parents boat) and I am somewhat of a novice, I can do grabs and 180's from both sides of the wake, HS360, backroll, and I am attempting 2 other toeside inverts and 1 other healside invert.

I truly felt like I was getting a little burned out of wakeboarding this past summer. I felt like my progression was really slowing down and I must admit that I was sick of my back and knees hurting after every ride. It got to a point of where I was afraid to go huge because of how hard the landings seemed to be. I know that at this point most of you guys are saying, "what a P&^%$". Do not get me wrong, I have been enjoying my time on the lake with my wife and my family, but wakeboarding just had not been the same.

I previously rode a 05 CWB Marius, with LF Team bindings. I have also recently demoed the Ronix Covin along with the cell bindings. For me, the Covin was a fun board, but it just was not that different than my Marius. It was lighter and it was faster, but when I rode it I did not get the, "I have to buy this board feeling." The cell bindings were a size 11 and I wear a 10.5, so they felt a little sloppy.

Now the good stuff! I rode the Recoil 138 with the driver boots 3 times this weekend. The demo cost me $0. Inland Northwest Mastercraft has free deoms. I walked in, gave them my info and I left with the set-up. I had an absolute blast riding this setup.

Boots:
I normally wear a 10.5, but the size 10 boots fit me perfect. Absolutely no heal lift on these boots. These boots fit like a glove. All of the laces take a little getting used to, but they are worth the time that it takes to put them on. The construction of the bindings seemed very well done. I never worried about cinching them up too tight and having them rip. I did not heat mold these boots because I figured that I would wait to do that until I owned them. These boots were awesome!

Board:
The first thing that I noticed when I looked at this board was how smooth the bottom was. This made me a little nervous because I thought that it was going to be very slippery. I was able to slide this board around out in the flats and do some surface tricks, but once I put this board on edge it stayed on edge. As I built up my progressive edge I felt like I could start to feel the board ever so slightly flexing and building up some of that energy that is used when you release off of the wake. The pop from this board was smooth and consistent. I thought that with the board flexing the pop would be more unpredictable; however, that was not the case. I was going bigger from both my TS and my HS than I have been this past year. My favorite part of this board was the landings. They were so much softer than any board that I had ridden in the past. The board actually flexed when I landed and absorbed a lot of the force that used to be felt by my back and knees. Even when I came down right on the center of the board and not tail heavy the landings were still soft. They were not just a little softer than my Marius, they were a ton softer. This was the first time all year that I was not afraid to take the biggest rip at the wake that I could, previously I would not take a huge cut because the landings on my Marius were not as soft as I would have liked.

Every time that I rode this board this weekend I was able to ride nearly twice as long as I was before. Some of that can probably be attributed to the excitement of a new board, but I truly believe that most of it can be attributed to how much easier this board was on my back and knees. I am usually sore at the end of the weekend from riding but not this weekend. My wife commented that she had not seen me have this much fun on a wakeboard in awhile and she was absolutely correct. I have nothing to gain out of posting this; however, I did feel that I was obligated to share my experience with the rest of you. I am a 24 year old high school math teacher from Spokane, Washington who will never be a pro wakeboarder. This board and bindings setup was awesome! I am going to demo the Slingshot Response next weekend and see what I think of that but to be honest I can not imagine liking another board as much as I liked this one.

If any of you are in the market for a new board, do your self a favor and try to ride one of the slingshot boards. I think that this type of board is the next step in wakeboarding.

(Message edited by mhsb1029 on August 19, 2007)

Here are some pictures of the setup. I think that it looks pretty sweet.

wow, your stance looks really narrow.

here's mine.

Yeah, I felt the same way about the slingshots. I have bad knees and even as nice as the landings are on the Shane, they cannot come close to the comfort of the landings on the Slingshot. It gives me a ton of confidence knowing that even if I attack the wake and land in the flats, it won't hurt.

The timing is a little different for me, I have to get used to the board, but after a few rides, there is nothing like it. I totally agree with everything in your post there. Glad you enjoyed it.

"...even as nice as the landings are on the Shane..."

Hey Nick, I'm very interested to know how the Recoil rides compared to the Shane as I love that ride. I've got no chance of demoing so any comparative info would be very helpful. Many thanks.

I rode a friends Slingshot, I've rode LF since I started and have all LF boards, and I'd give anything to have one of them. Absolutely the biggest I had ever gone before.

Can't say enough about the Recoil. Great board.

....wow that board shape wise pretty much looks like my cabrinha custom kiteboard. any one that wakeboards and kiteboards and has tried the recoil...can confirm if the recoil is a basic kiteboard.....if not whats different?

if you look at a liquid force recoil kiteboard on their website...it pretty much looks the same as the slingshot.


(Message edited by absoluteboarder on August 20, 2007)

Great Review! Where is your review Joe? I want to demo one.

Does Greenride Demo?

This is one of our team riders boards, (NorTex WaterSports) Thomas Freeman's board. He loves the board and made a few adjustments to the bindings. He doesn't use the inner linings at all, he removed the laced and replaced both the outer laces with the black inner strings. You still dont get any heal lift and the bindings are ten times easier to get into, with plenty of support.

jess that is what i did to my slingshot boots as well! makes them a lot easier to get in and out of

Can you use other company's bindings with the boards?

Brutto, the shane as you know is a kick ass ride, but the slingshot is so much easier on your body. To me, they felt like they edge very similarly, and even though the shane has great pop, this is even better if you edge properly.

I have ridden the recoil and the response, but it was a few months ago that I rode the recoil. I still think I like it better, but I rode the response about 10 days ago. The response felt a lot looser than the recoil did, and was a much bigger difference for me than the Shane to Recoil comparison.

They do take some getting used to, but the forgiveness of the board is incredible. My "style" of riding tends to have me coming down really tail heavy from time to time as I don't have the best fundamentals out there. On the shane, when I come down tail heavy, my lead knee usually HURTS as it gets slammed down last, but the slingshot eats up that pain by flexing and setting me down nice and soft. I seriously won't do another wake jump at all until I buy mine.

So everyone knows, I am in no way affiliated with Slingshot or any dealer in particular, but if you have any doubts, go demo one. All I need to figure out is what size I want.

The 2008 slingshots have their original 4 hole pattern and also the normal, every other board binding pattern. So you can use any binding you want. BUt if you use the non- four hole pattern then you really take away from the flex.

Jruss~~~
really??? that is way cool. I mean the two in one hole thing. What other info do you have for the '08 gear? I too am deeply a slingshot convert and have given much of my reviews on here too.

I cant wait to get any and all the info on the 2008 stuff


I seriously hope they make aluminum fins next year. The fiberglass ones will strip out. The fins get loose real quick with all the flexing. I too have only ridden demo boards and plan to get my own set-up next year.

to all trying out the gear...

I strongly recommend demoing a board bigger than what you normally ride. I know it sounds weired, but do it. I was stuck demoing a larger board my 3rd time out and found i liked it more. WHY? More flex!! More Air!!! think of it this way, it is like puting a longer ruber band on a wrist rocket!

check these lists of suggestions too http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/472328.html?1185231148

p.s. here is my long review too http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/457454.html?1181955081

wehn do the new ones come out! my next board shall be a slingshot

I bought a 142 Response about 5 weeks ago and love it. I am an old guy compared to most of the folks on this forum and thought the softer board would be easier on the joints and that has proven to be the case, not just on air (which is not that much for me anyway) but also absorbing chop. The board is loose when flat but once on edge carves like a snowboard. Surface spins are very easy. The bindings were a pain until I removed the inner lace and the velcro strap. It did not noticeably reduce the support and they are much easier to enter and exit though the inner booties are generally still on my feet when I get them out the outer bindings. My wife and daughters give me grief about the suggestive print on the booties themselves! I have not come out in a crash yet and I am not sure I ever will based on some of the ones I have not released on.

I have not had a problem with the fins or bindings coming loose but do make sure to check them every day I ride.

Just for comparison I used my 3DS one day and could not wait to get back on the Slingshot. I am sold on this being the future of board design going forward. I think it will be as big of a change over the next few years as shaped skis were to the ski industry.

To be more clear about fins on my experience. As many might guess, there are some individuals who do not take car of their rented gear as much as their own gear. I bet there are many wo ride those demos hard and do not check the fins. Then someone new rents it and might not check either... soo the fins get looser and looser, putting greater stress on the fiberglass threads in the bolt holes of the fin. I do believe that checking the fins atleast daily will be good. temporary locktight thread locker would help too

I got a pair of them to demo this weekend, and I will write a full review of both next week. I got a 142 Response and a 142 Recoil so I can figure out which one I want.

As for the bindings, I think the most comfortable and easiest way to get in and out of them is to remove the inner lace (black) and leave both outer laces (red). This makes them nice and snug, but the red laces should be shortened if you use both. When I decide which board I like better and buy it, I will shorten the two outer laces and simply remove the inside lace but not the whole inside lacing flaps as they are sewn into the outer boot.

Some pics from my last demo... the background is worth posting alone (Powell 's place to be!!!) brought a 147 responce board (BIG board, but still an awsome ride... cant say the same with other big boards) down for a friend to try. these are some pics of me enjoying it









and one of my brother getting some air for a first time this year. (he has ridden only 3-5 times at a nearly once a year basis... so i think it is pretty good air)

Nick (bird_dog0347) said "I got a pair of them to demo this weekend, and I will write a full review of both next week."

Nick, what did you think? How do they compare?