Need help picking a X-mas wakeboard for a 17 year old girl (and a fat old guy)

[EricU]

Don't know if this is the correct sub-forum but as the title says,

I need help picking out a Christmas present for my buddy's daughter who is like a daughter to me.

She will be 17 in February and about 110 lbs. and rides pretty well, crosses the wakes no problem and is just starting to get a little air.

She is actually pretty aggressive - which just started this last season and was awesome to watch the change in her attitude.

She loves Dallas Friday, so if we can find a board with her name on it that would be awesome, but I don’t really know as I still ride the same two boards I picked up when I bought my ’03 Natique.

How do I pick a good board for her?
How do I size a board?



Which leads to my next question, if my boards are ten years old, is there any reason for me to get new boards? I don’t know if the last ten years have advanced wakeboard design as much as when I changed my snowboard (which was about 13 years old)


Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving

Eric.

[jfox8807]

well dallas rides a skyla by obrien but thats a pro model idk how much u want to spend. With her weighing so little she could use the smallest of sizes but the bigger the board the softer the landing but when it comes to tricks like grabs and spinns the bigger board weighs more so it makes it little harder. id say go with tha little bigger tho 135.

as for u id say got with a ronix viva or parks but im buyest cause thats what i like. im 225 5'10'' and i now ride a parks 144 and love it but thats just me. ive also ridin a 09' model viva by ronix (my previous board for early summer) and a 12' viva by ronix and a 12' model One by ronix. love them all but i like the parks board the best. the parks is super fast. does a great job in chopy water and the pop is amazing. when i got the parks i rode my viva first. did a couple pulls. then got on the parks. it was way faster i started dion fast s turns in the middel of the wake super sharp quick from egde to edge i even got a little air from where my boat has a little roster tail. when i went out of the wake into the flats the board just jumped off the wake and when i started cuting back and forth across the wakes not trying to get air i still did any way and the first time i hit the wake it was crazy how much pop the board had. i guess im tryin to say its a super easy board to ride and fun!!!!

they have made amazing changes in 10yr. the difference fro the 2009 viva to the 2012 viva was amazing as well as the difference for the 09 viva to the 2012 Parks. if you can befor u buy try to borrow a friends board. also alot of good pro shops will usual have a loan program where you can pay so much down and try different boards till u get the one u want. then finish payine the rest. might be worth lookin into.

anyways hope my rambling helps some. good luck in your search. happy thanksgiving

[EricU]

[QUOTE=jfox8807;200071...they have made amazing changes in 10yr. the difference fro the 2009 viva to the 2012 viva was amazing as well as the difference for the 09 viva to the 2012 Parks. if you can befor u buy try to borrow a friends board. also alot of good pro shops will usual have a loan program where you can pay so much down and try different boards till u get the one u want. then finish payine the rest. might be worth lookin into.

anyways hope my rambling helps some. good luck in your search. happy thanksgiving[/QUOTE]


It does help, and I am 5'-10" and have dropped down to 210 lbs. and am trying to get down to 200 lbs. (more light beer???). Anyway both my current boards are 143s. I can’t do a flip yet, but that is my goal for this summer.

Our local boat/ski/board dealer closed a few years ago, when the old man got cancer. Now all we have is a couple of little skateboard shops that will carry very little selection.

I might try to hit up Sacramento as it is about an hour and a half away.

Anyone know any shops in the Sac area that they would suggest?

I also want to get my kids some helmets and have them fitted as they are all different sizes. Got everything from a little guy about the size of an eight year old to my 6'-2" 14 year old (where'd that come from??) and his older brother along with my buddy's daughter who weighs just over a buck soaking wet!

Thanks for the tips; BTW it was the Bonifays old VHS tape that got me into boarding after my orthopedic surgeon told me to "Stay off the SKIES!!!" So I didn’t bother asking about boarding!!

Happy Thanksgiving, Eric.

[jfox8807]

this is my current board Ronix Parks 144 With Liquid Force Harley bindings i know it looks little stupid but i got a heck of a deal on the Harley bindings 160$ only used 3 times
16615
the fit and finish on the borad is amazing. and it rides AS good as it looks love it!!!
16616
this is the 09 viva i got it with the boots its a good board to fast on the water ok pop little loose somtimes tho and i didnt care for it in chopy water
16613
viva with the harley bindings during the summer gettin ready to do work i still found some of this model new never used for sell and at a pretty good price online might be an option too dosent have to be current year
16612
this is a hyperlite that i got when i got the boat it well kinda terrible lol its like ur rinding a plow heavy thick cumbersome and has molded fin and the bindings where worse than the board completely fell apart in no time but it was only 300 or so all together so u get what u pay for but it was ok to see if i liked the sport and of course i did now im hooked. so i guess it served it purpose
16614

well good luck on the filps there ruff on the learning curve crashes lol and light beer is a must to help keep are figure in check and they also help the head after crashes
hopefully the other guys will chime in with some other brand recommendations cause i know there alot more good boards out there if the harley board is as good as his bindings are it must be pretty awesome too good luck on ur search heck i might even get another board be for this is over

[chadjitsu1]

I just got a Slingshot Hooke last year and its an amazing board. The ballistic line of slingshot boards are really good in my opinion. I have ridden the super ridged foam core boards for a long time and now that I have switched to a wood core flexy type board I personally think it has softer landings and very quick on the edges. The hooke I got is a 146 and is super wide. I got the hooke because its a 3 stage rocker, the kine and others in that line have other rocker patterns.

Only negative I have seen with these boards is the price tag. I think mine was 450 new for the board so you can make up your mind based on that if you like.

I also have the Liquid Force Vantage Closed Toe bindings on this, I HIGHLY recommend those. I got them for like 150 new, and I would have paid 350 for them if I had to buy them all over again. I love the 3 velcro straps, I cant tell you how many days on the lake have been ruined because of a broken shoe string, I hate strings. I generally wear them a little loose but I like to have the ejection option if I eat it, which happens more often than I would like.

So thats my setup hope this info helps. I am 6'1" and weigh about 220 so the 146 is the right amount of surface area for that weight. http://ride.slingshotsports.com/2013-Hooke?sc=46&category=41773

[EricU]

this is my current board Ronix Parks 144

Just found a Ronix Parks ATR Edition Wakeboard 2012 for $282




well good luck on the filps there ruff on the learning curve crashes lol and light beer is a must to help keep are figure in check and they also help the head after crashes

Already got the crashes and the pain down!! Just need to land a flip, the guys doing em sure make them look easy!

Eric.

[EricU]

...I also have the Liquid Force Vantage Closed Toe bindings on this, I HIGHLY recommend those....


Why the closed toe boots?

Eric

[jfox8807]

Just found a Ronix Parks ATR Edition Wakeboard 2012 for $282





Already got the crashes and the pain down!! Just need to land a flip, the guys doing em sure make them look easy!

Eric.

you cant go wrong with that ronix man. some of the best riders in the world work with them Parks, Danny, Chad all those guys. 282 is a great price to thats bout what i paid for mine i think i got mine form evo.com. and i loved closed toe bindings gives u beeter fill and a little more protection and they keep ur foot warmer when u ride earlier or later in the season imo. if you got a really big foot open toe may be the only way togo but i wear a 13-14 depending on brand of shoe and the largest size still fits me well. As far as strings go with the harley boots i havent had and problems yet and everybody that rides on my boat uses my board so they get put thru the ringer and they arent even showing wear but they only got half a seaon on them but its half a season with 5 or so people useing them. i also have a buddy that has a pair of older one bindings from ronix and they still going strong only thing that dosent work good now are the little magnet things that are used to help hold the slack laces witch dosent hurt the performance any at all. now the hyperlite bindings i have had velcro and it was terrieble always come loose and just feel apart in no time but they were just and entry level pair, the borde and bindings only cost like 300. so that might have alot to do with it.

hope it helps Fox

[chadjitsu1]

I like the closed toe boots for sure over the open toes. It fits your foot a lot better and gives you a snowboard binding feel more so than an open toe. If its going to be your board and not a lot of different people are a going to be riding it the. I would go with the closed toes. I also found some Company Vandal bindings on eBay for cheap a little while ago. They are also Velcro straps and supposed to be really good.

[EricU]

you cant go wrong with that ronix man. some of the best riders in the world work with them Parks, Danny, Chad all those guys. 282 is a great price to thats bout what i paid for mine i think i got mine form evo.com. and i loved closed toe bindings gives u beeter fill and a little more protection and they keep ur foot warmer when u ride earlier or later in the season imo...

Just picked up the '12 Ronix board and a pair of new closed toe bindings. Wow! I can't believe the difference between the new bindings and my 10 yr old ones!! No more liquid soap???

Now it's raining up here in NorCal and have to wait until April or May '13 (or move to Florida or Austin TX for the winter!!!) Lucky we have Squaw Valley not too far away

Thanks guys for the tips, now I gotta go back and pick up a surfboard as last year we were trying to surf using a wakeskate and had the boat evenly ballasted.

Eric.

[jfox8807]

eric which one did u get? did you go with the parks board and bindings?

[EricU]

... did you go with the parks board and bindings?

Yeah, picked up the '12 Ronix Parks ATR (what is ATR? still havent figured that one out) and a pair of Ronix bindings.

I am already stoked with the difference in the bindings!! I was going to pick up another pair of bindings for my old boards, but I will probably just pick up another board and bindings and use the excuse "it's for my boys"

Actually they probably could use a new board also, they have been on my 10 year old 144s but they only weigh about a buck sixty to 170. The way they progressed last year, I am sure by the end of next May they will be better than me anyway.

I love buying last year's models, espcially when the new ones are only a color change, I used to do that with my snow skies and snow boards - buy the last year's leftovers and then paint them with black primer so no one would want to steal them.

Eric.

[jfox8807]

if im not mistaken atr in a diff bonding procees they use. makes the board firmer and wont felx as much and give u more pop and feed back it also has the krpto cable which run around the edge of the board to help it maintain shape.
ahh how bout this!!!
16636

i love there bindings i orderd some for my board as well gonna put the harleys back on the old viva.

yes might as well get them a newer board sized to fit them it would be a night and day comparison. youll be amazed at how different the board rides than your old one. it will also help your riding progress and let you beable to ride longer because you arent have to work as hard

i also always buy last years model saves you a ton of money but this may be the first yr i pay full retail because the new Ronix One Time Bomb addition board and bindings are amazing i love the new color up and they all so did some work on the channel and fin setup. its just a jam up board flat out and has the looks to go with it and they know it cause they matched the price with it too. you should check it out EVO.com has them

[EricU]

...yes might as well get them a newer board sized to fit them it would be a night and day comparison...

Yeah, I probably will, plus it gives me a chance to pick out a surfboard!!

Gettin hit by rains out here, at least it will be good for our lakes --- Come on April!!!!

Eric.