Lots of good reviews on the Cedrus evolution surf out there all claiming to be the best in one way or another, I want to hear about other riders experiences with this Mast. I just received a 77.5cm evo surf, waited around a month to get it and initial impression, “this things awesome”. After a few sessions I will say this mast is definitely more efficient than anything I’ve foiled on before but that comes at a cost. This mast is not as stiff as all the reviews I’ve seen are claiming it to be. My unifoil 750 katana mast is more stiff than the Cedrus, underwhelming to say the least. I’m really curious what other riders are experiencing and liking about this mast. I know mine comes in a 2.5cm longer than the 75cm most are reviewing, but claims that it’s “as stiff if not stiffer than the unifoil progression mast” are just not true. And for anyone claiming “stiffest mast I’ve ever ridden”, let us know what masts have you ridden before this one?
To be clear my goal here is not to bash Cedrus in anyway, I’m going to surf and dw on it for at least a few more sessions before I decide weather or not it has its place in my quiver. But for the price of these masts, I expected more, you can feel it bend when you’re surfing on it and if you grab your foil and twist / bend on it you can really see and feel how flexy it is. It definitely slips through the water with excellent efficiency and you can really feel that extra pivot which gives you a much more surfy feel than some other masts. That part I do like very much, but with the current climate of everyone chasing down the stiffest, hi mod masts, where is this masts place? For lighter riders this won’t effect them as much, but I’m 175lbs dry and half the year surfing with an extra 10+lbs of wetsuit, boots and gloves, that’s enough weight to push on my equipment a little bit.
At a $1,700 price tag + $150 for your adapter and then if you want a case for it, which you should that’s another $150. I expected more. Mine also came with a “blemish” that looks quite a bit more like a repair. Although these things may not effect performance, for an $1,850 mast with blemishes on both sides, it could’ve at least been sent with a case.
To be fair, like I said im going to continue surfing and get some dw runs with it and see how it feels. Shy of the blemishes the finish on its super high quality. Generally my gear gets used and abused so personally blemishes don’t bother me, but there is a point on that. The connections on the adapters actually fit tighter than they did on both my Katana and progression masts. And that efficiency through the water, yeah that speaks for itself, 10/10 on that aspect of it. Let’s hear some other unaffiliated riders experiences, this is definitely not a bad mast, and it’s fun to surf on, it’s just not a stiff one that gives that direct feel we’re all chasing.
I actually switched back to a Katana for a session a few weeks because I was curious about this also. I immediately wanted to be back on the Cedrus from the draggy slow heaviness of the Katana which felt horrible pumping back out.
I personally don’t notice change in stiffness between the 2, but I also only use 900M span and below and weigh 170 dry, so its possible its just not a problem for me regardless. Or maybe I just dont really know what to feel for. But i dont feel flex when I turn or anything.
I also agree with you about the blemishes some of these masts have, for the price, they should not be there. Luckily mine aesthetically looks perfect. Ive seen 3-4 with different shades of black around the adapter areas.
I actually think a full carbon Cedrus Evolution would be pretty amazing. I have wondered if, without rubber, it would be possible to make a stiffer, cheaper, and thinner chord/thickness version.
I can totally see that. side by side the Cedrus is way faster through the water and pumps considerably better than the katana, I’m excited to see how that translates to DW. I’ve ridden it with the evo155 and 175 so far, you can really feel it with the 175 which was expected and surprisingly with the 155 more than I thought. I wouldn’t say the flex is as bad as I would say I expected better than the katana at least. IMO they’re about on par with each other. After spending about a year on the progression mast you can feel flex in just about anything, although way slower than the katana, prog mast is built like a tank
Thanks for sharing. I was disappointed in mine and many of my thoughts on it are documented in my review. The blemishes on yours look like filler that I have seen used on foils that come out of the mold with defects. If you look at the abnormalities/asymmetry issues on my mast and where they are located, it looks as though your mast could have had the same, and then filler was used to smooth it out.
As far as stiffness issues go: I’m 190lbs plus gear and I noticed small issues starting at foils over 800mm span. When span exceeded 900mm I started getting the ventilation/flow separation issues across various brands in hard turns and when the span exceeded 1000mm I considered the foil unusable.
Just a clarification question: is your cedrus 2.5 cm longer than your katana, or 2.5 plus plate and adapter? In other words, putting them assembled on the floor how much longer is cedrus?
I say this because I have a 72 and it’s really a 77 assembled, so that’s a big difference. Maybe try my test which accounts for length difference. I yarded on a katana once on the beach and my impression was similar to my takuma hd masts at the time. Cedrus was a bit stiffer according to my test. Feel free to had what you get for katana if you do it.
I wish I had seen this before purchasing mine, I found it difficult to find real reviews but honestly should’ve taken the fact that none of the top riders are on them as a sign. At this point in time most brands have or are putting out hi mods masts that are outclassing this, seems behind the curve now that I have it in my hands.
It’s hard to get the mast mounted to something solid for that type of test with no play, but just grabbing onto it you can see clear as day Cedrus has miles more twist, it shakes if you tap on it. And just a little bit more bend than the katana. It’s very obvious when you feel it, my mast size is 77.5, with the adapter that puts it at just about the height of the 800 progression.
I simply rig up some foil, put it on a board, and put the board on saw horses or a table, and lightly clamp it so it doesn’t tip over. The laser and ruler are mounted to the mast and various places on the fuse/foil, so it doesn’t matter how secure it is. You could also screw the plate to a piece of plywood large enough to prevent it tipping over from the weights. I’ve been meaning to test afs connections but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
160lbs, winging in waves, used over a year, about 200 sessions of several hours each.
87.5cm Cedrus Evolution wind (92cm total)
92cm Gong V2 team edition
92cm V1.5 Gofoil
85cm Gong 19mm
All about the same to me for foils to 1000cm²/up to 96cm span in term of lateral stiffness, rotational stiffness (with the Gofoil the stiffest by a slight margin in rotation) and feel on water.
There’s also the frequency of the rebound when you let go when under tension, I made a video but too unscientific to post, can’t remember exactly but wasn’t much of a difference.
Only exception is the 19mm Gong is very slow and ventilate (the other thinner Gong does not)
With larger pump foil Gong Sirus XL 136cm 1700cm²
Definitely too soft and unrideable when winging in waves.
Only mast that can withstand is the 19mm Gong.
Gofoil might be ok too as our was fine with the GT2200.
Presumably the old Cedrus Clysdale might also be ok, don’t have one to try.
The stiff price I’m willing to pay for not having the hassle to buy and sell just as expensive masts (and lose 30-50% each time) whenever a new foil comes out. It’s a trade off but like I mentioned, I can’t tell the difference which is incredible for a universal mast.
Just tested the AFS UHM 80, possibly the least complained about mast ATM. I got maybe 1/4mm less flex than Evo but put 8mm for both, so 8mm for Evo, 7.75 for AFS. Much less thickness for afs down low as already discussed. I made this test so others can replicate it, so if anyone wants to compare more or less scientifically they are free to do so.
you have a very good point on the resale, it’s a challenge to get 50% of what you paid for your mast that’s in pristine condition a lot of the time, Cedrus and NL masts tend to pop up on here and only last for a day or two at a much higher than 50% price before disapearing, definitely something worth considering when buying these. I think for someone winging the flex is also going to be felt differently, pumping through flat water while linking waves is generally when I find any mast flex the most noticeable. hard turning when you’re really pushing on the foil coming in after that
Testing cedrus again with same weights and technique on same day, found cedrus to be stiffer than uhm 80 by a hair, and found the short fuse(from foil to mast) to be stiffer too. Seems like inch for inch there’s more flex in the fuse than anywhere else.
One question I have about your tests, are you measuring from wings that have the same span or at least keeping a consistent distance from the bottom of the mast where you place the weights? Obviously more leverage will make a mast bend more, but also something to consider is that wings have flex in them too. Some thinner, some thicker, different chords etc. not just the span. I’d be curious to see results from mounting a mast horizontal on something and hanging a weight directly from the fuse bolts. I don’t have a laser level or 30lb weights to do you test with the katana 750, but I can definitely say that side by side, katana 750 was stiffer in both bend and twist.
That would focus too much on the rigidity of the base of the mast. My test seems to exert an even pressure on the length of the mast, by, to answer your other question, going a fixed distance out the wing. For that and the mast length I went with distances where metric and English match up and are short enough that most masts and wings are big enough. Fit the last two I did today used an enduro 700 and 1100, but I don’t think that matters as the distance is the same, and they all get bent close to horizontal anyway. Anyway there’s instructions in the top cell. You can’t see it but there’s a clamp near the foil tip that marks where to hang the weights.
That makes sense, I do think baseplate is surely something to take in account or at least take note of to some extent. a weak point is a weak point and although a weak baseplate will likely have much less effect overall than a weak mast, it’s still a piece to the puzzle with getting that precise feel. potentially a reason why the test video everyone has seen claims it to be as stiff as the progression. the baseplate collar on that prototype mast they tested was much larger. I would imagine a weak baseplate would give a similar feel to mast bending on pump and turns
just a recommendation to listen to the recent PP podcast with Cliff and Erik if you haven’t yet…they discuss masts later on in that, and as they do with foils, talk about it being a “materials game” currently, and that sourcing carbon is super critical now, along with types of flex, etc.
Def important and so much load there, but my idea was a test anyone can do. So if people use different boards/plywood/etc of different stiffness then it’s hopeless. But getting off topic anyway.
