I’ve asked Kyle about a special Foil Drive plate with pre drilled holes for mounting the unit, since the standard’s edge is awkward for that. Throw in a beefier collar and I’d say there’s a winner of an upgrade.
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I would agree, behind the curve. Cutting edge for universal, but behind the curve for peak performance. It’s intermediate modulus carbon which, while stronger against breaks, isn’t regarded as stiffer by anyone I know of.
Real reviews are hard to come by. People don’t like posting negative content and I’ve been asked directly in various circumstances by Cedrus multiple times to take down my review and/or comments. There are others who have had issues but what they told me was that they didn’t want to speak up publicly. Some were worried it would ruin their opportunity to get customer service, others said they didn’t want to deal with the fallout. Unfortunate, but it is what it is.
I wouldn’t place too much weight on all of our DIY deflection tests. I did the same with 2 AFS masts but I hung the weight from the wingtip. The Cedrus clearly had the most deflection in that static scenario. However, no matter how anyone measures that with weights in their garage, it, in my opinion, has almost no relevance to the dynamic forces introduced by a 175lbs rider pumping around or cranking a turn with their heels 10"? off center and ahead of the mast plate with a 41" wingspan below them. Our static deflection tests with weights that are 17% of your body weight cannot tell the full story when our activity is multiplying our body weight in various ways.
As far as price savings goes… if you want the best and you want it today then you simply pay the premium price tag. I wanted to do the Cedrus thing to save money but when I realized it was sacrificing performance and definitively hindered numerous foils, there was no real savings to me. One life to live and if this is a serious hobby for you and you want to ride the best then get it! You never regret the expense when the money is gone and you’re blissed out at the beach. Every session that ends bummed out about gear is a day you can’t get back. I had the added negative of wing damage and repetitive head and neck slams from the ventilation ending my sessions that further outweighed any “savings” of having a universal mast. If you want the best but don’t want to pay top dollar, just wait a few months and masts always show up for sale and you can simply get one used.
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Did your test include the base? If so that would argue for a plate upgrade at least for any flex issue.
Yes, base included. I was surprised the evolution didn’t have the m10 pins at the base too. I never liked relying on the titanium connection.
Well said and I’d agree on everything you said. I wish the marketing and the reviews that are available presented it as the “best universal” mast while keeping things more realistic, I likely still would’ve bought one but would’ve been saved from a bit of disappointment. At the end of the day it sounds like these masts aren’t going to be in the same game as any of the top masts from major brands. Just curious with your experience on ventalation and other riders as well. Are you guys experiencing ventalation on these prone surfing and down wind? Or is it just the wing guys? Mast ventalation in surf and dw scenarios would be a real bummer, it’s not something I’ve experienced much if ever in the surf.
Yeah, best universal would have been better. The term “industry leading” is used over and over again in their marketing in so many different scenarios and I just want to know, who determines “industry leading”?
As for the ventilation, I always ventilated on hard heelside tacks, carves, 360s at about 14-15mph. I commonly breach tips and have the board laid over with the rail just off the water in those maneuvers. So, if you can re-create that scenario in DW or prone then be aware.
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I’ve never had ventilation issues.
I’ve wondered the same thing re pins. Looking back at the foil shop review video that collar does look bigger than mine too. Now I recall him saying in an email that he got complaints about drag from it.
A little bit of a drag while you’re so low on the mast that the boards probably in the water seems like a good trade off is the the new baseplates are causing weakness
I agree, seems like all the new masts have very thick transitions into the plate anyway
Just get rid of the baseplate altogether. Make it a single piece of carbon. Get off the intermediate modulus carbon so it doesn’t have to be 19mm thick and then you don’t have to think about the baseplate connection and how draggy it is.
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Aaaaand, Bwalnut, is back
…even more weird, not a peep out of Kyle 
Just to stay clear My goal is also not to completely bash Cedrus or Kyle with negativity but more so figure out what speaks for itself and what is just excellent marketing. After logging some real hours on the mast I’ll circle back and give my 2 cents on final opinion. I think after getting one, the info people have access to is pretty biased which is a little unfair. My thoughts on blemishes and repairs will likely not change, yeah it’s not a deal breaker but as someone who’s worked full time glassing surfboards, I can say a blemish of this level and the level that it seems others are experiencing would never fly. There’s a huge market for hand made products and universal products, valid points on resale value, efficiency and other reasons to support Cedrus, especially being a small business. It would’ve been nice to see some of this info before spending the money I did on a new mast from them but we’re here now. Had I known these things I’m not really sure how that would’ve affected my decision, but I would’ve known what to expect and been likely a lot happier with my purchase. As of now I think the Cedrus evolution definitely has its place in the market, I’m just not sure that it’s pace is where it is advertised to be. Stiffness is such a major part of what makes a good mast, and although it should be plenty stiff for smaller wings and riders, when you hear about that premium, so you pay that premium you expect to get the best
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Also think it would be nice if foil shop had done a more in depth version of their video as far as showing actual bend and twist on the masts they reviewed, I’ve owned 3 of those masts and so far would have it ranked cedrus 3rd, katana 2nd and progression 1st in that regard. I will say that I can agree with his efficency tests and feels in the surf, cedrus is miles more efficient than the katana and the progression is miles less efficient than the katana. will also give the benefit of the doubt that they were using a much larger prototype collar and patrick is a more experienced foiler than I am, and a more precise pump is going to create much less bending. I’ve had my hands on 2 omen masts which to my knowledge is a No Limitz colab and not a true NL V2, but both of those were garbage IMO, a friend actually broke one of the masts while surfing it… flexy, springy, just not it. very curious to see / feel up a NLV2 in person after that
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I think that sums it up extremely well. No-one is bashing Cedrus in this thread. However, it’s advertised as having no weight limits and no foil limits and being the best at many different things. There’s plenty of people frothing over their Evolution masts and that’s fine. I think it’s quite reasonable for people to share their experiences here so that we can be better informed consumers. The sharing of this information has directly impacted the marketing put forward by Cedrus and that is 100% reasonable in my opinion.
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I’ve got a stab that has blemishes looking like that (warranty claim) and thought it was a faulty coating that water was getting in to. Mine changes intensity and area it is visible over. Do you think that might has been filler used before final coating too?
I’m sure it’s filler and these things happen with hand made products. The finish over it is smooth so I don’t see a problem with it structurally but it’s obviously some kind of repair so to some extent it feels like ordering brand new at full retail and receiving used. Yeah surely it won’t effect how it surfaces but If you order a brand new board in a similar price range you’d be really bummed if it had a big ding that was repaired on 2 sides of it
Also the Manera mast cover is $50 and fits the Cedrus
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I have Cedrus Evolution Surf 80 and ride Uni and AFS. I have the Katana 830 and the UHM AFS 80. All of these masts are excellent and have slightly different feels.
The Cedrus and AFS feel very fast and precise and seem to glide faster and further on bumps and while pumping. I have not speed tested or measured any of this just feelings.
In order of flex from most to least just wiggling the wing while gear is set up in the board.
Katana, Cedrus, AFS UHM80.
I have not noticed any mast ventilation issues with any of these but I primarily surf them and have not had a chance to wing on the Cedrus or the UHMAFS.
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As far as resale goes, that definitely lowers the value since the filler section is so big. Maybe it’s just the picture, but does the adapter sit evenly all the way around or is it a bit off? Maybe some flat spots? The flat spots are what another Cedrus Wind rider told me he thought was causing his ventilation at high speeds. He found his with a straight edge and that’s how I found mine, as well as some indentations. I also looked at it with light bending.
This is my mast and you can see how the light deflects differently over the indentation on the mast in the center of the video:
If this was normal on other masts I wouldn’t think anything of it, but none of my other masts have those flat spots or indents anywhere on them.
This is a spot on your mast that looks a bit flat just from your pictures:
