Flex Board Experiences

Hey gang.

I've been riding a LF Witness for a long long time. It's super comfy and mostly catch free. That being said I want to get a board that can spice up my sessions with....

1) Throwing down mad ollies for buoy bonks and big hops off the wake
2) Give me flex to where I can load the board in and out of carves and throw some big spray
3) Give me flex where I can butter the tail and make it real nasty

You guys have any thoughts? I'm about 5'7 and 165 lbs. I've seen all the Zucky videos, the recent Shaun Murray Low Impact video, and the recent Slingshot Nomad hype relative to boards that might deliver my 3 wishes above. What are you guys liking? Good experiences and bad experiences welcomed.

And if you want to share any pictures in the process that would be super awesome. I'm so bummed as it's already snowing across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and so on. A few pictures would help warm us up !

Rob in Detroit

Flex is a great option for fun on the water. I'll take my cable board out for a rip when my body is shot.

1.) Super flexy boards do reduce ollie height. I went from the Ronix Kenetic to the Top Notch mid-season (park) and I prefer the Top Notch for a lot of reasons, but I did sacrifice some snap off the water. "Flex boards" are almost all wood/sandwich style constructions and are tougher than traditional foam core boards.

2/3.) You will sacrifice a little response off the wake, but a softer board has a much better feel on the water, IMO. If I never left the water, I would absolute be riding flex behind the boat.

In general a softer/flex/sandwich construction board is a more mellow ride. They are super fun to ride, but they aren't progression machines. Every advantage you get from a flex board on the water turns in to less consistency and power off the wake. That is why 99% of the time, I am riding a proper stiff boat board behind the boat.

***It should be noted that the Zucky videos are enticing, but he is riding a finless, completely flat based board (not easy). The reason it looks so good, is that he is an absolute board control master. That guy has been ripping super hard for a solid 20+ years.***

I switched in 2011 and I ain’t never goin’ back

1. Yes you will get good Ollie pop- better if it’s got a stiff belly and soft tip and tail so you can load it up

2. You will feel the board load up unlike a stiff board, they also edge more like a snowboard than a wakeboard because they’re loose

3. Maximum butterability

The only thing that may suck is you may lose like 6inches from your wake jump because of the way the boards can absorb the wake.
But then again what’s 6 inches over 7/8 feet

@simplej, what boards do you love? SS Response/Whip, Humanoid, LF Timba?

I’ve been converted to a humanerd but I started on slingy’s then got a CTRL now a on Humanoids- I’ve ridden nearly all their shapes.

I ride the cameo, it’s fast and loose and bucks hard at the wake. Run it as a tri for a little more edge power also a big big fan of the oracle, now the I/O, which has a similar personality but not as fast and a little looser.

Anything that is stiff AF between the feet and flexi tip and tail is gonna get you what you want for boat riding

Thoughts on Slingshot Nomad?

My brother rides the Slingshot Nomad and he loves it. He likes it for cable but we ride mostly boat. So that's what I'll comment on. In my opinion it's really fast and not very locked in; playful. The landings are good - even if I case the second wake it usually just absorbs the impact. So really good with landings. Easy to use, loose, not overly aggressive. I think my only complaint is that you don't really get that aggressive snap/pop off the wake that some other boards offer. Having said that, I can't really tell when I watch my brother ride. He basically gets just as high as I do (I ride LF Timba) but I found when I tried it, the pop was slightly dampened. The pop feels more like a catapult launch (probably because of the size and flex) as opposed to a quick snap.

The Timba feels different. It's loose and fast but feels a lot more aggressive/abrupt with pop off the wake. I really like it! I find it really easy to use. It's so fast for me and feels like I can get a lot of vertical pop with minimal effort. It's pretty stiff, so it doesn't really feel like a "flex" board to me. I'm coming off a Slingshot Response though, so I guess stiffness is relative. The Nomad does feel flexy and you notice that as you ride.
My only complaint with the Timba is that I can't use it at the park. It's supposed to be a crossover board and has a grind base. I don't know what's wrong with me but the bottom is so sticky that it's virtually unusable for me. I tried to wax it, but I still stick on everything I hit. I used it for a whole day at Westrock and stuck on everything. I switched to a Humanoid at the end of the day and was completely fine. I was warned Liquid Force slides a little slower than some other boards but this one is too much for me. I'm sure most people don't have this problem because obviously there are tons of people who ride LF so keep in mind that this is just my experience.

Originally Posted by simplej

I’ve been converted to a humanerd but I started on slingy’s then got a CTRL now a on Humanoids- I’ve ridden nearly all their shapes.

I ride the cameo, it’s fast and loose and bucks hard at the wake. Run it as a tri for a little more edge power also a big big fan of the oracle, now the I/O, which has a similar personality but not as fast and a little looser.

Anything that is stiff AF between the feet and flexi tip and tail is gonna get you what you want for boat riding

So how’s the io on boat? A more playful version of the oracle ? loved the predictability and landings on that board

Originally Posted by Reez

So how’s the io on boat? A more playful version of the oracle ? loved the predictability and landings on that board

Not sure, have not ridden it yet.

its a very similar shape but with different bottom features