Hi everyone. Been reading quite a lot of threads on this forum, and I’m still lost. I currently have gong fluid L, and I’m not loving it( its slow). Today a tried a friends f one sk8 750 and 950. Really liked it! Couldn’t connect waves with the 750, but could with the 950. The thing is the 950 is not that fast. Logic will say that the 850 would be the right choice. What do you think? Does it pump much better than 750? Is the pump very different from the 950?
I’m also thinking about getting Afs silk/ enduro or duotone crest.
given the types of waves I have at my spot, its important for me to have a foil that can pump out of he back with some ease.
Any help would be much appreciated as I’m quite lost, and really don’t want to make an error and get the wrong foil again, as the gong although is a great foil, is much slower than I aspected and not really what I’m looking for right now.
Don’t know about the sk8 ones, but what gen of gong do you have? I assume you have the V2 non H version? Maybe if you want to stick to Gong, you can try a V3 one if you can find it.
I’m really surprised then, I’ve heard good things about them and the fluid is kind of an all arounder. I can’t help you with the selection of the sk8 but in case of doubt, I’d say go with the more pumpable one, going fast is nice, but connecting several waves is better
I also suggest going towards a foil that is easy to pump over something that “shreds”. In most cases the mid aspects excel when your in the pocket or bashing foam which I don’t think is your goal at the moment. You can surf the higher aspect foils in that fashion too. You just have to figure out the timing. I have found the maintenance pump even going down the line on the mid aspects to be kinda annoying. I would rather glide to my next wave than gas out when approaching.
my problem is that i want a foil that i can also wingfoil in the stronger days and in the waves. thats why im leaning more towards the 850, but im also open to other options besides f-one
you can wing foil a higher aspect wing. I personally have been liking the new Cabrinha system. They are super surfy, even pivot style turns but have good glide and less pump maintenance. AFS Enduros are really good too. If you want to stick with F-One I rode the x series for a bit. note tough to turn but very easy to pump and connect tons of waves.
You mention the Duotone Crest, I demo’d the 800 Dlab and immediately ordered the 800 and 675 due to the turning capabilities combined with a little more glide over some dedicated surf wings, it’s so good for prone, assist and winging. it’s not super easy to pump if you are not exiting at some sort of speed, so if you are in very small waves without power you may need to size up. The 675 still pumps if you exit the wave fast.
i recently surfed with a guy who had a crest, and it looked really nice. Usually I surf bumpy beachbrakes with quite some size. i live in atlantic Portugal if that gives any idea of the type of waves.
Also riding the crest, but 925 and absolutely love it. Best surf wing I have ridden. Have previously owned Unifoil progression 140/170 and evolution 155, code 850S.
I’m 88kg and ride the 850sk8.. I’ve been through a lot of foils and hyped up brands.. Fone sk8 is gold standard dude.. For real! I bought a bunch of other foils with higher aspect and great reviews and the Sk8 is the money. If I named the foils that I think it out performs you would be shocked. The 850 sk8 is so good!! I have the 950 but do prefer the 850.. But yeah if your goal is to be up forever then probably going with something else sure. If you want to connect a couple waves but rip the shit out of turns… sk8 all day long
the crest look awesome. do you think the 800 would do for someone with 80kg? its a shame that there are hardly any crests in the second hand market. will have to wait a bit.
Unfortunately, I do not have experience with the 800. I am 65kg and ride the 925. With my weight to surface area ratio, I can pump it all day long, but still get great turning benefits. I thought about the 800 initially but wanted to maximize time on foil in small conditions.
Surprised to not see the KT Nomad in the conversation. Love my 980 and 830. Really surfy with excellent roll. Great pump as well. I know atleast one local rider that switched from the SK8 850 to the Nomad 830 and has not looked back.
What’s up dude!! Yep you’re not wrong the nomad is an awesome foil. I had the 980 and loved it the 830 would definitely tick off the boxes and most likely pump really well, I never rode that size tho. There are other foils I had and didn’t like but the nomad was in the excellent foil category.
It does seem like the consensus is the SK8 is the gold standard for surf feels. But it may depend on your conditions.
Here in Florida we are often hanging out in the low end zone of the foil. So the Nomad is a big step up for usability. Sounds like the SK8 has a sudden drop out if you get close to its stall speed. Guessing that profile would be fine in faster conditions though and it should have a higher top end.
The Nomad, like the Armstrong v2 HAs, are not fast foils for their size. But they are both surfy and punch above their weight for pump ability.
Of course Ryan is here in Florida too so….its good to have options. Not many bad foils out there any more.
I’m 70kgs and with not Portuguese waves, more like Florida low power swell and ride mostly the nomad 700 no issue in waist up to head high waves. Parawinging / proning and even downwinding it.
So for @yann at 80kg a nomad 830 would be a really nice setup, would consider getting the 700 too for the punchy good days, range for the nomads are crazy, it’s real the hype that you can go a size down and still make it. Also not as expensive as other brands to have 2 front wings.
About them being slow, yes they are a bit slower and have even seen reviews mentioning a grainy/draggy feeling, the grainy feelings have felt it only a few times on the atlas 145 stab, with the Crisp 130 flex I’ve got better speeds and cleaner feeling also better rolling for carving.
Using atlas 570 for the bigger faster waves and atlas 790 for downwind and smaller waves days, lately it’s been replacing my 830 nomad as with the smaller stuff I prioritize glide and speed and carve it’s not that is less, it’s just a bit more technical on pitch control and I can compensate that with technique.
