Ranting…
With so many Foilfluencers the level of “new and improved” overhype is getting annoying IMHO.
The YT “review” video titles are running out of provocative and enthusiasthic phrases.
“New brando Parawing gets everything right”
“Can a beginner foil rip big Waimea?,we find out!”
“The XXX mast will improve your golf swing,here’s why…”
“CarbonSnot board construction will change your foiling forever!”
I recently bought a pair of parawings from a model that was getting (and still gets) rave reviews from many foilfluencers that i considered trustworthy.
I hated the darned things from day one, suffered them on trip to a dreamy DW destination and had a terrible time.Of course i thought it was me…until i rented a worn F-one Frigate and had an absolute blast.
Less work,better low end, reliable jibes, wind range,upwind…everything was there without the swearing,frustration and tangles.
I sold them as soon as i got back, lost quite a bit of money but what a relief to see them go!.
My point is: do not trust any review.See what people ride and how they perform.on the water,talk to them.if possible.Test or rent if you can.
All these guys are selling you a product or views or both.The algorhitm favours hype and new content so everything becomes a gamechanger.
Some new stuff is very cool ,of course,but to me it feels like the market is running superhot, with new stuff being thrown out there too early,too untested and way overpriced.
It is largely our fault , the temptation to buy talent is great…i will try to be more wary in the future and hang on to my money.
Let others be the guinea pigs.
Rant over
Great rant! If only there was a reviewer at every skill level for every piece of kit, that would probably help too. Expert riders can have a good time on most anything, or at least make it look good.
Every wing review starts by saying how crisp and tight the canopy is compared to their old wing when an identical replacement would be just as big of a performance upgrade.
when your a poor person decidinf between last years budget models with tightness you gotta scour old promo videos for a 2 second clip of the thing actually flagged out for that data point
My only solution to all this is to buy and sell a lot of gear. Usually at a loss, but surprisingly less loss than one might think when I cycle through quickly while the the brand/gear is still hot. This has been the only reliable way for me to find out what works for ME and MY OWN interests and skill.
For the last decade, I’ve almost always had two generations of gear in my possession at all times. I get new stuff that I think is going to be great. If it is, then I keep it and sell my old system. If it isn’t then I sell it and go find the next new proposed hotness.
The trouble is that often the reviewers are highly skilled and can make a lot of stuff look/feel good so it’s hard for them to review it from an ease of use standpoint.
That is what i used to do…but the cost is sometimes embarrasing.
The used market is also getting saturated by unsold quality ,1 season old, gear that would have been fought over a couple years ago.
Buying second hand is becoming the best option for me, testing and renting is very rarely available.
Of course somebody made a very good point about stuff that goes to used market too quickly…there is a reason
Can you mention the parawing that you didn’t like? I think that opinions on forums like these from nobodies like us are the most trutworthy source, given that the accounts are not newly created to advertise a brand or new model.
Should have seen this coming, sorry but i did not mean this post as a negative review ,just as a warning against the temptations of marketing.And venting out frustration from my own folly.
I try not to bash brands unless they clearly misbehave in warranty claims etc…not the case here.No bad faith at all from the manufacturer so i prefer not to name it.
Besides, many people seem to love that parawing so maybe it is just that it did not fit my skill or conditions.
What would you like to see? Is it just the clickbait title or are the whole reviews a bit of a bust for you? I’m pretty picky with what content I consume so I don’t look at many reviews myself.
shops will want to push products so any review coming out from a shop while very informative should be taken with a pinch of salt : it is marketing after all. I’ve learnt a lot from Gwen le Tutour’s videos which I think are excellent but of course he embeds the products and his shop into his videos ( I ride AFS lol so goes to show good marketing will reel you in)
Sponsored riders can make a lot of gear look great, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to greatness for the average rider.
Brands naturally need to sell to survive - they are not charities so fair enough they need to sell. But as it is a free market hopefully the market (us, the consumers) will decide what is rubbish and what is good - over time.. unless the pool of naive people entering the sport keeps growing and the bad brands can get away with selling rubbish
IMO the safest bet is to ride gear that is 1-2 seasons old and has an established and loyal following/fan base and enough documentation that the foil or wing or parawing is decent.
Choosing to be a consumer at the cutting edge of the sport and jumping on the latest gear will always be a bit risky. It’s like deciding to buy a brand’s first electric car model - it’s bound to show up problems which get ironed out over time.
I have had my fair share of disappointments with gear but finally settling on stuff I like and for the type of foiling which suits my local conditions and interests best.
That’s frustrating when gear sets you back. Sometimes sticking with it is worth it… but sometimes you are on a 80liter armstrong v1 and its the hardest thing to balance on and you are on vacation in Puerto Rico and the piece of sh%t won’t get on foil unless you fly your 7meter wing. And there you are dropping into bombs and flagging out a goliath and all the struggle has been worth it.
Then you try to learn to prone and its hell. Then you think sup will be easier and its not, but you tell yourself you will learn to downwind… Then a year later you figure you ought to try this parawing thing, and then your board is too big, and your foils too small or not glidey enough.
I’m trying to remember that foiling is a comedy, not a tragedy.
Titles are becoming plainly ridiculous in an obvious grab for views and the content is lacking when it comes to pointing out negatives or saying it’s the “same old thingy in new colors”.But this is happening with just about any product,cars,phones, guitars ,foils…
And just wait for AI to get into our foil thing and start pumping out “reviews” like crazy.
I have used reviews with great results for skiing, paragliding,surf and sk8 gear.For foil too but i think lately the system has learned, the competition amongst reviewers is fierce and the usefulness of specialized reviews has become questionable.
Nothing new here, we have GAS and they have fuel
I think the clickbait titles are the worst thing. Can we go back to the time when video titles already made clear what the content would be and I would not have to waste 5 minutes watching or scrolling through the video if it is actually something I want to see?
Worst offenders: game changer, here is what nobody told you, this is the reason that, almost everyone does this wrong, …
