Guru Trampboards, now taking pre-orders

I know some of you have been asking, but I cant find the other thread. So here a heads up, they're now taking pre-orders: http://www.perfski.com/showitem.cfm?catnum=0&itemnum=1886

yeah....but they are $300!!!

You can buy an older, used kids boards for under $100 and used bindings much cheaper than that.

The last thread was an advertisement. Pretty sure it was breaking the rules.

yeah, yeah I was a little blunt. But I couldn't find the other thread.

That, or buy a cheap wakeskate (most are around 110 cm), drill some holes in it, and screw some old bindings.

I know everyone on this board has some old equipment they dont use. I can't believe they are marketing these. But I guess you can sell anything that promises weight loss, hair growth, bigger john, or better wakeboard skills.

hmm what happened to my post about these being a bit steep ,you can buy an old roam and cheap bindings for half of this cost and be just as good or better..its a great idea and looks reallly good but maybe too much r&d went into this and now its costs too much..??

wow, i guess i will be going another route with my trmp board.

figured they might be 100 or so..maybe 125 but 300, wow

wow thats alot of money i got an old skateboard deck took the grip tape off and put my own bindings on works great

the bounce board is even cheaper at 89 bucks..!!

whats a ounce board,link??

Here is a piece we did on the Bounce Board: http://www.wakeworld.com/getarticle.asp?articleid=50

Photo Gallery featuring the magnificant Blabelmooch: http://www.wakeworld.com/Galleries/Gallery.asp?GalleryID=252

Here is their website: http://www.wakeworld.com/getarticle.asp?articleid=50

the stance on that bounce board needs to be about 14 inches wider

"That, or buy a cheap wakeskate (most are around 110 cm), drill some holes in it, and screw some old bindings."


Somebody... hasn't tried jumping on a trampoline very high with a no-flex board. Wakeskates are good for trampolines for like 2 feet of air, but trying huge wakeboarding tricks isn't possible.

I think its a great idea. The price? Not so much.

I'm with Leo - wakeskate off eBay, $40, old used snowboard bindings, $25. Subtract from $300, leaves you almost enough to buy the trampoline itself.

Aden, not sure you understand... You bolt some bindings to the skate. I'll show you slob and nose grabbed HS FS 5s all day long with that set-up, and I'm not even that great of a rider.

(Message edited by dococ on June 05, 2006)

I understand, maybe I am just seeing it wrong.

I tried a 127 wakeboard with bindings on my trampoline and I couldn't go any higher than about a foot because the tramp would bend more than the board, and the board started cracking.

Maybe with a wakeskate it would be different... sorry.

$300 is ridiculous.

No worries, that's crazy about your board cracking. I also have an ancient Hyperlite BAFF (the original HL twin tip) in a 137 that we've used as a tramp board for years, never any trouble with it, and I'm guessing we can get at least 6-8 feet of air, maybe more when I wasn't so old and fat. Weird about yours cracking. I promise I don't mean this to be insulting, but was it an O'Brien? I had an O'Brien sponsorship years ago, and it seems like their boards would break easier than a lot of the other brands. No dissing intended, I'm sure they've fixed those problems by now, and their customer service always was excellent about sending me out new replacement boards very fast. Anyway, didn't mean to start a board bashing thread, just wondering...

I actully think it was one of my very first boards, maybe a LF Search but they didnt make them that small, so I have no idea. It could have also been that I was on a rectangle trampoline, a LOT smaller than a octagon/circle one, therefore the flex would be more and board = breaking.

I have done it on a snowboard, because they flex with the tramp, but the wakeboard scene was bad news.

Definitely use a snowboard. I used one for years and it worked great, that is if you have an old snowboard. The metal edges are a little rough on the tramp surface but only caused minor scuffing.

We used our last seasons snowboards. Worked fine (Schoolrider) Tape the edges of the snowboard with duck tape.

Actually $300 dollars is Cheap!...Board, bindings and instructional DVD...Unless one of you were at Ackworth's Pro tour stop and witnessed Phillip, Dallas, Shane, Shaun, and a host of other top pros demonstrate the GURU board, I would say you don't know what your missing. In the meantime, check out Broadband sports/GURU Trampboards....How do you think Amber Wing learned her 7?...GURU my friends!..
Thanks for the amazing support from the wakeboard community thus far!

Sincerely,

Mark Norwell

President, Co-Founder

GURU LLC

I am sure anyone with the funds can benefit from using this board, but the key word in that scenario is FUNDS.

I am sure 300 may be cheap to you or anyone who's daddy is paying for training etc, but for those of us just trying to fill the boat with a full tank of gas; I will stick with my skatedeck and shoes until I see something cheaper.

Good luck with your product. If I had the income I would probably be all over it; but I dont and 300 is like two tanks of gas, lol.

Mark, welcome to Wakeworld. Thanks for posting and expressing your opinion and thanks for sharing your stoke. But "cheap" is a relative term, and the consensus perhaps seems not to agree with your own expressed opinion. Anyway, I wish good fortune to you and anybody else who is trying to make a go in this industry with a novel new product, it is very difficult. BTW, you misspelled Czechoslovakia in your profile.

Amber Wing learning her seven from a guru.... Hey it sounds good.

still bounce board and THE BOOK still keep it under 200 bucks, and everbody agrees the book is the ••••• nit..

So...the only thing you can do to differentiate your product from the DIY suggestions here is drop names?

Sorry guys, you don't get all the pro-endorsement poser points for improvising a tramp board, better drop $300 for the real deal.

For 300.00, in my opinion, it's either over engineered, or someone is trying to get rich.

Mark, what can the Guru do that a flat piece of wood with mounted shoes can't?

Maybe guru should send some demo boards to some select dealers **cough** Texas Tige so we can see for ourselves.

From the looks of it the Guru DOES look like a $300 board...maybe. The shape is nice and the bindings look top notch. The question is, can someone make something similar that will give them the same performance at a much cheaper price? YES!

Tramp boards aren't like water boards in the sense that different characteristics won't change the way the boards jump, like the way channels and rockers change the way wakeboards ride. A piece of foam is a piece of foam.

I went into Sports Authority today and saw a 40" high density foam boogie board for $29. I can take an electric sander to it and shape it to my liking in about 5 minutes. Then cut a few slits for some velcro straps and presto! I have a tramp board for $30!

I do see the benefit of using high density foam though. I wouldn't want to be strapped into a rigid board (old skate or wakeboard) that wouldn't give if I landed crooked. That would seem like an easy way to roll an ankle.

I think if Guru lost the high end bindings and replaced them with straps, they could probably retail this thing for under $100. Then I might consider buying one.

For those with the home made version here is something I did:

Something I did with my skate deck that was pretty cool was to attach some 2 1/2 lb weights to the nose and tail to add extra swing weight when I was trying to learn to grab inverts and build muscles for off axis spins.

A non-intrusive application of straps or bindings to an Indo board is probably another good way to go about things. $100, plus some ingenuity and you've got a quality balance board that doubles on the trampoline.

OK, so I was in the booth right next to Guru at the Acworth PWT stop. Here are some of the selling points that I heard and saw over the weekend....
It has the same swing weight as a wakeboard.
The high density foam is not supposed to break down.
The flex of the foam allows you to land nose or tail heavy and it won't buck you off the tramp or cause excessive impact to any joints.
You can throw a trick 300 times on a tramp until you have it dialed, rather than wasting gas trying to learn it behind a boat first.
Is it worth the money????....thats for you to decide.
They have done some R&D work because they had 3 or 4 different models there that were different foam densities. So were way too soft like noodles while others were too stiff.

I don't really have an opinion either way on the tramp boards but that is what I heard and saw at the 1st PWT stop.

Czech yourself before you wreck yourself! btw - It's now the Czech Republic.. Word!

$300 is too much for this kid.

From my perspective, when a product like the Guru Tramp Board is developed, the only question I ask myself is "is it going to progress my riding to a higher level?"

I agree that $300 is a lot of money for some. But after researching the Guru, understanding what makes it different from similar products and what the benefits are, I think it's worth the money. That's just my opinion so let me explain.

From a performance standpoint, it's not just about the foam that they use, but also the core material. It utilizes the energy generated from the mat of the trampoline to maximize lift when doing a trick. You might be just fine with using a skate deck on your trampoline, but could you improve your level of tricks by using the Guru? Example, If the Guru gave you more lift off the mat, you could take the 360 to a 540 or a 720 to a 900, depending on your riding ability. Spinning is just an example, it could apply to any trick.

Safer to use: If you use a hard board on a trampoline (skate deck, small wakeboard, etc) and land wrong, you take a HUGE risk in injury because they are less forgiving. You might save some money by using a cheaper product but you could miss a whole season because of an injury. And in the long run, it may cost you more money because the cheaper product led to an expensive surgery and/or multiple physical therapy sessions.

Progression = less frustration: If you had a piece of equipment that elevated your rate of progression, you would be a much happier rider wouldn't you? If a rider could minimize the amount of falls they took on the water by using the Guru on the trampoline, I feel that the money spent on the Guru will eventually pay for itself. The rider will spend more time on their board then in the water, and the level of riding will be higher which makes every rider happy. Even the ones in the boat because you're not stopping the boat a whole lot to pick up a fallen rider.

Now as a person who earns a living in the coaching profession, I'm not saying that using a Guru Board, or any tramp board for that matter, will automatically turn you into a pro. Like many coaches, I view this as a tool to help a rider at every level not only learn new tricks, but to also become a more consistent on the water.

If you're satisfied with your own setup at home, that's perfectly fine. I won't argue with you. Everyone tends to find something that works for them. My point is that $300 really isn't that much when you consider the totality of benefits a product like Guru can do for your level of riding.

My daughter has been using a prototype Guru for about six months now. We live in the midwest and her riding season here is not 12 months like in FL. She has been fortunate enough to be in Florida about every other weekend over the winter to ride and work in the gym on the Guru. With the riding and the gym experience her riding level has doubled since last fall. She also broke her leg last August wakeboarding and was out for almost 3 months. This has helped her get confident on doing rotational tricks again. For what I have seen my daughter do using the Guru I feel $300 is higher than I would have guessed it to be for the final product. However, for what she has learned by practicing on the board I feel she has gained way more than the $300 I spent for the prototype that is not nearly as nice as the finished product. I am not paid by Guru nor is my daughter sponsored by them. In my opinion this is the best and safest way to go for the younger wakeboarders. It is a great safe product we all need to give a try.

Great points and well put Ryan..

in still feel its a lot of money for me but thats a great informative and positive argument..

well done br0...

Thanks Bill