Archive for Tests
April 2, 2007 at 12:40 pm | Spongercity Boards Tests, Tests News
VS RYAN HARDY – POLYPROCORE – Crescent Tail – One stringer – Size 41.75 – About 389 AUS. Dollars in Oz – 260 Euros in Europe
Dimensions (approx.) : 41.75 x 11.5 x 21 @ 17 x 17.5
Although this Board has been designed and fine-tuned by Todd Quigley from QCD and Ryan Hardy himself, the VS stock boards are made by Mez and his team in Java with some of the best materials you can find, a hi-tech CNC machine and buzz laminator technology. The PP core and PE deck & rails are the perfect combo for a reactive and fast board in cool to warm water. This year the PP felt stiffer than usual.
The shape of the Hardy PP crescent tail model is definitely prone oriented as you can guess, it’s not that good for DK although the shape tolerates a little DK ride once in a while. The board felt really good as soon as i jumped on it, the shape is quite narrow, fast and responsive. The PP+stringer combo feels a little too stiff at the beginning in cool or cold water but once you’ve ridden the board a couple times it gets a little more flexy and feels good. It will be perfect for summer time and warmer water. If you’re looking for a flexy board or cold water weapon go for the PE core, not the PP core i reckon. Anyway, the board was quite easy to ride although its narrow wide-point will not help unexperienced riders. Good riders will love it, it drives and holds well in hollow waves and works good in both small and big surf. The board is very thin and it feels great in your hand.
The design and details were perfect on the board i tested and the quality of the stock boards / craftmanship is super good. The VS Hardy is a great prone board for experienced riders. It’s available in 41.25 or 41.75. I’m 5′11 and quite light and i felt that i could have ridden a smaller board in bigger waves than the 41.75 However i wouldnt recommand using the 41.25 if you’re 5′11 or more it will be too small and too narrow to be confortable. The tail is quite narrow on those boards and and it works better in bigger or real hollow waves. I felt that narrow tails and smaller waves dont mix as well as narrow tails and bigger waves.
Also available from VS: the Rawlins board which pretty much feels like the Hardy one from what i’ve seen and tested so far; and the PLC board which feels really good (tested in 42 the other day) and really polyvalent actually (prone+dk) because it is larger and has more of an “egg” shape. It’s fast and responsive in PP – suits bigger riders in size 42 than the Hardy in size 41.75 comparatively.
June 7, 2006 at 12:38 pm | Spongercity Boards Tests, Tests News
NMD WINNY – POLYPROCORE – Crescent Tail – One stringer – Size 42 – About 368 AUS. Dollars in Oz – 260 Euros in Europe
Dimensions : 42 x 12 x 21,5 @ 18 x 17 7/8
NMD boards are made by Mez and his team in Java with some of the best materials you can find, a hi-tech CNC machine and buzz laminator technology. The PP core and PE deck & rails are the perfect combo for a reactive and fast board in cool to warm water and smaller waves.
The shape of the Winny model is more prone oriented than dk oriented even if Dave Winchester seems to be riding his board pretty well in DK. I found the board weird when riding in DK but it wasnt too bad. Anyway, it’s a fast and easy to surf board for prone, it generates a lot of speed and carves well, and it’s also quite easy to spin and hit lips with that shape. I think i was slightly too light to use the board to it’s full potential. I recommend it for bigger guys. I’m 5′11″ (1,80m) but quite light. The length of the board is good if you’re 5′11″ but the board was slightly thicker than the board i usually use and i think it was floating too much for me. Heavier guys would’ve loved it though.
Definitly a good all terrain board for prone guys who still wanna drop the knee once in a while. Really solid construction and long-lasting board.
June 6, 2006 at 12:35 pm | Spongercity Boards Tests, Tests News
NMD PLAYER – POLYPROCORE – Crescent Tail – One Stringer – Size 41,5 – About 368 AUS. Dollars in Oz – 260 Euros in Europe
Dimensions : 41,5 x 11,75 x 21,25 @ 18 x 17 3/8
NMD boards are made by Mez and his team in Java with some of the best materials you can find, a hi-tech CNC machine and buzz lamainator technology. The PP core and PE deck & rails are the perfect combo for a reactive and fast board in cool to warm water and smaller waves.
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The shape of the Player was perfect for bigger waves and i enjoyed how easy it was to control the board in bigger waves. In smaller waves the board lacked of speed and i guess the shape was more oriented for bigger waves and hollow pits control. Easy to release the rails, easy to spin, easy to get used to it since it’s quite a basic shape. I even tried to DK with it and it wasnt too bad if you place your knee in the right place.
The board was slightly too small for me, i need a longer board to get more speed but i guess all guys under 5′10″ (1,77m) will love the board. Perfect thickness, super nice construction and long-lasting board.
June 5, 2006 at 12:32 pm | Spongercity Boards Tests, Tests News
PRIDE – BRENDON NEWTON Advantis Model – POLYPROCORE – Crescent Tail – One Stringer – Size 42
About [price not available] AUS. Dollars in Oz – 260 Euros in Europe
Dimensions (probably those) : 42 x 12 x 21,5 @ 17,5 x 17,75
PRIDE boards hail from France but are now are made by Mez and his team in Java with some of the best materials you can find, a hi-tech CNC machine and buzz lamainator technology. The PP core and PE deck & rails are the perfect combo for a reactive and fast board in cool to warm water and smaller waves.
The shape of the Newton was really fun to surf, i mostly surfed small waves with it and i loved the speed and control that this board offered. It’s an easy board to surf and it carves easily. Not too bad for DK either even though it’s not really “its thing”. The few bigger waves i surfed with the board were really choppy and i found the board less easy to drive in bigger waves than smaller waves. If you’re a bigger and heavier rider than me then you’ll probably dig this board for bigger waves as well. Right now i use this board in small waves for prone and it’s awesome.
Perfect thickness, nice construction and long-lasting weapon. The Brendo got him self a nice stock board from Pride.
June 15, 2005 at 12:21 pm | Spongercity Boards Tests, Tests News
4PLAY RYAN HARDY – HYPERFORMANCESERIES – POLYPROCORE – One Stringer – Size 42
About 399 AUS. Dollars – 300 Euros in Europe
Dimensions (About) : 42 x 12 x 21 @ 17 x 18
4PLAY boards are now made in Taiwan (no more Australia made) and it seems that we’ve lost a bit of quality and craftmanship but the shapes are still really nice and the boards seem solid.
The Ryan Hardy model i surfed was really thin, with a PE deck and PP core. I loved it, it was realllllly fast and the thickness was freaking cool for cooler and colder water. It’s not thick enough for summer time and warmer water though. The straight shape went as fast as a formula one but wasnt really reactive for turns and carves. Easy to surf, easy to spin, easy to hit the lip and even OK for DK in frontside. DK Backside is another history with those prone board.
The overall shape and dimensions are great on that Hardy board but the details and precision were not that great. One of the thumb grips was bigger than the other one and the nose thicknes wasnt the same on the left side and right side of the nose…
All prone riders who love fast boards and simple shapes wil love this board. If you’re taller than 5′10″ (1,77m) and not too heavy you will love this board. Heavy riders watchout, this board is really thin and might bend too much for you.
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