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Axis A20


Nipper

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Has anyone had much to do with the Axis A20. I know it is a peel off company from Malibu. Are they worth looking at??

I've been all over a few of them and am still trying to make a deal on getting rid of my Vride for one. I'm loving the thing and hope this deal works out so I'll own one this season. I've got a great price on my Vride if your interested. It's actually a little cheaper than the A20 and bigger.

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I've been all over a few of them and am still trying to make a deal on getting rid of my Vride for one. I'm loving the thing and hope this deal works out so I'll own one this season. I've got a great price on my Vride if your interested. It's actually a little cheaper than the A20 and bigger.

What in the a20 draws you away from a 2010 vRide?

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I've been all over a few of them and am still trying to make a deal on getting rid of my Vride for one. I'm loving the thing and hope this deal works out so I'll own one this season. I've got a great price on my Vride if your interested. It's actually a little cheaper than the A20 and bigger.

Thanks for the quick response. What have you got on vRide? I would need to ship it to Kansas. What is the wake like for social slalom?

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Been in and behind the A-20 and A-22. Lot of them clustered here because we are so close to the Loudon plant. I would not buy one over my V-Ride necessarily, because I really like the "water Ferrari" feel of the Malibu, and my wife hates picklefork hulls. But they are having excellent results with them. I was just talking to the plant manager Saturday at the boat show. Unless you are on a length restriction or a towing weight issue, I'd go to the A22. It will not feel as luxurious as the 'bu, the cruise control isn't as slick, you WILL dip the bow, and the surf wake is more difficult to tune because of the way the swim platform is designed. Otherwise, it's hard to justify blowing a wad on say a Mastercraft with this boat out there.

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Thanks for the quick response. What have you got on vRide? I would need to ship it to Kansas. What is the wake like for social slalom?

I have the same hull with the diamond option. You will want the Diamond if you will be skiing. I think it's great but I was coming from a '69 outboard.

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Been in and behind the A-20 and A-22. Lot of them clustered here because we are so close to the Loudon plant. I would not buy one over my V-Ride necessarily, because I really like the "water Ferrari" feel of the Malibu, and my wife hates picklefork hulls. But they are having excellent results with them. I was just talking to the plant manager Saturday at the boat show. Unless you are on a length restriction or a towing weight issue, I'd go to the A22. It will not feel as luxurious as the 'bu, the cruise control isn't as slick, you WILL dip the bow, and the surf wake is more difficult to tune because of the way the swim platform is designed. Otherwise, it's hard to justify blowing a wad on say a Mastercraft with this boat out there.

Haha, my wife hates the pickle-fork too!! Thanks for the info. I think I will still keep looking, maybe i'll work something out with 98buphon and we will all be happy.

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There are probably not a whole of A20 owners at there quite yet but I can give some feed back on A22. The boat is very well built, it handles excellent weighted and in chop, it throws an excellent wake board wake. The hull is similar to an LSV minus one tracking fin and a couple other mods. The interior does not have fancy stitching but is still very comfortable. I haven't dipped my bow once and we run a lot of weight in front. The extra space the pickle-fork bow gives is nice - three adults can ride comfortably in the bow of our boat. I have no feedback as far surf or ski wakes since I haven't tried either behind our boat.

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Haha, my wife hates the pickle-fork too!! Thanks for the info. I think I will still keep looking, maybe i'll work something out with 98buphon and we will all be happy.

It must be a wife thing, cause my wife hates the picklefork as well.

I can tell you that 98BUphon's Vride has been WELL taken care of. We wakeboarded, surfed and even slalomed behind it this summer and had a blast with it all! It's an awesome boat, I don't think you could go wrong with it.

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One quick note - my most recent customer on a A20 said the same thing -"hates the picklefork"- in the showroom. Put the boat in the water and it's a completely different look. I highly recommend test driving one before brushing it off. It really does look so much better in the water.

Peter

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Adam McCall was at our boat show & told us that the A20 is like 80% of the VTX hull.... I guess they modified a few things to make it put out a better wakeboard wake. But he said the slalom wake didn't suffer much at all. Might be worth a look for you if thats what your into. :rockon:

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I was actually the first person to ever ride behind an a20. We pulled the proto from the factory, plumbed in the plug n play, threw on a high altitude prop and dunked the boat. I loved the wake! We ran factory ballast, plug n play front arrow sac and rear sacs and added another 1000lb sac in the front. With the wedge down, the wake was money. Clean at 70-80 ft at 23mph, no wash, no porpoising, no problem getting out of the hole, never even came close to dipping the bow. The wake is slightly wider than the A22 wake, but it retains much of the great characteristics of the A22 wake. The interior of the A20 is much bigger and roomier than any other 20 footer I've ever been in. I love everything about the A20. It fits in most garages, is nimble and drives amazing, it has plenty of room.

I don't understand the comment about surfing behind the 20 and 22. We had absolutely no problem getting a great surf wave behind either boat.

As for the pickle fork design, it's not for everyone. I love the function of it. I came from owning a vlx and 3 230s, and I've always thought the bows of those boats were somewhat cramped.

In light of what you get for the money, the axis boats are hard to beat. It's why I switched. Everybody's different, but when you actually do the numbers, and then actually demo an axis, you'll see what I mean.

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Adam McCall was at our boat show & told us that the A20 is like 80% of the VTX hull.... I guess they modified a few things to make it put out a better wakeboard wake. But he said the slalom wake didn't suffer much at all. Might be worth a look for you if thats what your into. :rockon:

Does the Axis come with a ski pylon now? The one i sat in at the boat show last year did not,it was an a22 so maybe the a20 has one?

On another note Adam is a great guy sat in an a22 for over an hour chatting about the a22 and random stuff even listened to a lil Johnny Cash :thumbup:

He imo is one of the best things Axis has going for it. They are definately growing on me I just cant get rid of my vlx for one.......yet :)

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Adam and Bishop are indeed great guys. They are both advanced wakeboarder and are truly interested in building boats for those whose priorities are a great wake and wave. I agree that Axis wouldn't be the same without them. Not many brands have the same type of people in decision making positions who know what the customer wants, can identify with the customer, and are approachable by the customer.

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It must be a wife thing, cause my wife hates the picklefork as well.

I can tell you that 98BUphon's Vride has been WELL taken care of. We wakeboarded, surfed and even slalomed behind it this summer and had a blast with it all! It's an awesome boat, I don't think you could go wrong with it.

That is an awesome boat. We had a blast behind it at the 2010 WOW. Rockon.gif It is super clean.

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I do like the pickle fork, both for form and function. It effectively doubles the useable bow space and it give a GREAT dead center rear facing place to sit while doing watersports for someone in the front like you see on the MCs. However, my wife hated the pickle fork look, which is why we have the Malibu, else we would likely have a Tige Rz4 or Mastercraft Xstar/X25/35/45.

I have spent some time on the A22-- understand that boat is a pricepoint boat specifically targeted at the Mastercraft Xstar, and they do a GREAT job in the boat/price range vs 80-90L Xstar. Yep made by Malibu, and the word Malibu is on the Axis in several places as the use many common parts. PLUS you can get the wedge, unlike mastercraft and tige. Love the towers, and especially like that V or Vandal edition with the big engine.

I have 2 citiques on the A22/A20. I didnt like the way the seat wraps around into the aisle into the bow--like the Supras, and Centurions. I am not a fan of that. And the second issue, which many others might disagree is the vinyl seating material. I understand this is a pricepoint boat, but the vinyl was not impressive for a 50-60K boat range. I think that is the one place, in addition to the engine, where you want to go and spend for the quality. But still for the price, you can have it redone in 5yrs and still be way ahead pricewise.

One other consideration to look at how fast they depreciate, and that might be another indication of what folks think of them I donno. You can find 2009/10 A22s in the low 50s and high 40s still with low hours. While Malibu/MC really retain their value first 2-3yrs.

Edited by nyryan2001
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I have the same hull with the diamond option. You will want the Diamond if you will be skiing. I think it's great but I was coming from a '69 outboard.

I didn't know they offered the VLX in a diamond hull. This summer when we are out on the chain i would be interested to see if we can feel the difference. The new to me 05 has the wake hull.

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I have found that the resale values of the a22s I've seen are excellent. You have to remember that there are more options offered on the 2011 boats that were not present in the earlier models therefore they are somewhat more expensive. Also, you can't compare msrp to resale or all boats look like they tank quick. No one pays msrp.

Those a22s you see in the low 40s that are a year or two old were likely purchased in the mid 40s. I disagree that the axis boats depreciate quicker than the Malibus do. Both hold their values well.

As for the vinyl, it's no thinner on the 10/11 boats than on other boats produced by cc/mc. I agree that the design of the interior is simplistic, and there's not a top of piping everywhere, but that's one of the things I like a lot. I had seats rip in my vlx and sante 230s. Every time I had a tear it was at a seam where the piping met up with two pieces of vinyl and were bundled together. IMO, the more complex your interior, the more likely you are to have an issue.

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Honestly I dont think the difference between Malibu (vride) and axis is going to come down to performance or quality. Except for a few buyers. Most are going to make a choice between edgy styling vs classy styling. Im SURE that they perform very well. But I can't remember a single post where someone complained about the quality of the wake behind a vride.

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Honestly I dont think the difference between Malibu (vride) and axis is going to come down to performance or quality. Except for a few buyers. Most are going to make a choice between edgy styling vs classy styling. Im SURE that they perform very well. But I can't remember a single post where someone complained about the quality of the wake behind a vride.

totally agree.................

I have to admit I did not like the windshield on the axis, but once I read the comments on being able to talk to a down rider without standing up I get the rational...and now think it is smart. i like the "classic" look of the malibu, not crazy about the Axis, however functionality is number one in my mind............

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<<<<Does the Axis come with a ski pylon now? The one i sat in at the boat show last year did not,it was an a22 so maybe the a20 has one?>>>>

The ski pylon is an option, can be added to any A20/A22.

Peter

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I've ridden behind two Axis A22 boats, one is a 2009 and the other was a 2010. Great wakeboard wake, kind of an inconsitant surf wake due to the swim platform, tons of room. The big negative I have noticed is the vinyl. On the 09 a wakeboard fin cut it, and on the 2010 a toe nail cut a hole in it. Make sure you get the plug n play ballast.

Edited by CJAY
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I just spent three days with Adam at the Calgary boat show. First off he is a great guy, and is very passionate about Axis, and boating in general. He went over every part of the boat with the customers. The first thing he explained was how they wanted to create a new boat that kept the Malibu performance and handling. I have been on the A22 and was very impressed with the handling and the room.

Great ideas, are not always agreed upon by everyone. I actually like the Chillax seating in the boat. I would also love the see the plug and play ballast in the Malibu line up as well.

Edited by Malibuzer
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:lol: Did you have a dragon on the boat!? :lol:

No, normal toe nail. The vinyl on the axis is super thin. I've heard they upgraded it some on 2011 some, but they said that about 2010. We were all pretty shocked when it happened. I think they should put some money into that part of the boat. My VTX is 3 years older and no cuts in the vinyl, it's also about twice as thick.

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