Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Shoping for Wakeboard and Bindings, need help


gonorth

Recommended Posts

I am helping my neighbor pick out a deal on a wakeboard. I have to admit I don't know much about them, my kids are a little into it but I am not up on it all. It is a gift for their son, their budget allows up to around $400 for the package.

Can anyone offer some suggestions, I plan to shop on the discount places listed in the deals section below and on ebay for year old models, possibly even 2005 models. Things to consider:

- The kid has never made it up. I tried to get him out once but he fought it and pulled hard. His feet were too big for our bindings and he had a hard time geteing out so we never tried again. I have a boom now and once we get him up on that he will catch on fast.

- He is 15 and probably has some growing to do and the board needs to be adequate for a few years.

- I don't picture him doing anything too impressive with it. Just plain recreational use.

- He is 6 foot, 175 pounds, size 13.5 - 14 shoe.

Link to comment

Wow, big kid with growing to go....

I got my last board at Grizzly Sports. They use Ebay a lot, but are willing to deal over the phone. They mostly have Hyperlite and LF stuff, but they are pretty helpful. For what it's worth, I bought a Liquid Force Fish 129 for $175.00. My local shop "discounted" it for $300.00. Worth a look. Fast shipping and good prices.

http://www.grizzly-sports.com/

For his size, you'll probably want a board that is no smaller than 140cm, maybe a 143cm. Try to find a continuous rocker for a smoother, more predictable ride. There are other threads about beginner boards and setups on the Crew, but I seem to remember the Hyperlite Motive being one of the favored ones.

Edited by jshap
Link to comment
Wow, big kid with growing to go....

Yes, and a long way to go before he catches up with his dad in the height department.

Edited by GONORTH
Link to comment
Wow, big kid with growing to go....

I got my last board at Grizzly Sports. They use Ebay a lot, but are willing to deal over the phone. They mostly have Hyperlite and LF stuff, but they are pretty helpful. For what it's worth, I bought a Liquid Force Fish 129 for $175.00. My local shop "discounted" it for $300.00. Worth a look. Fast shipping and good prices.

http://www.grizzly-sports.com/

For his size, you'll probably want a board that is no smaller than 140cm, maybe a 143cm. Try to find a continuous rocker for a smoother, more predictable ride. There are other threads about beginner boards and setups on the Crew, but I seem to remember the Hyperlite Motive being one of the favored ones.

That one would do him well for a while. I'd go with the 140ish on size also.

Link to comment

We got him into a pair of Obrien Xeon or Argon in Large this summer but almost didn't get them off. He will for sure need XL, does anyone make an XXL?

I'll check out the mult-size ones that were suggested.

Link to comment

I'm new here, but I would strongly recommend going out with either a pro in your area or someone that is a great teacher that has boards you can try. I would spend as much on bindings as you do a board in my opinion. Those "fit all" bindings are pretty lacking in support most of the time. Get a board and bindings you can grow into. Several are on sale right now at about $400 smacks. I would not go "entry" level, but intermediate/advanced.

Enjoy!

Link to comment

Wakeup, thats kind of what we want to do is go intermedite. I think he his growing too much yet to justify spending money on advnced equipment but with a $400 budget we should be able to get good intermediate at season end prices. We have tried to get him on some boards but nobody has anything with bindings that his size 14 feet would fit into, or more accurately could get them out of. So, thats why we are asking advice and will take a shot at comeing close to what will work well for him for a few years.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks folks, I looked into the Motive some and it is a good beginner board. Words I got were perhaps too good in that beginners quickly get bored with it. Sounded like the State board was also good for beginners but had a subtle 3 stage rocker that would keep a newbie interested for a while longer.

Ended up buying the kid a State 145 with XXL ERA boots from Grizly on ebay for $200 plus $39 shiping. They are new stock, 2005 vintage but from what I could find out the 05/06 are the same except for graphics/color. I had heard that some of the 2006 Hyperlite stuff was made in China and had some quality issues, (my daughters Noise boots) so geting 2005 was maybe even a positive thing. I struggled a little between 140 and 145 but figured the kid is not done growing yet. So, his moms christmas shoping is done early.

Hard to find a package deal with XXL boots and when going with seperate purchases the price seemed to get up in the $450 range. So, this looked like a pretty sweet deal geting it for that price.

Link to comment

I bought a board from Grizzly this spring and they were great to deal with.

I use the ERA boots myself, and I really like them.

Looks like you made a good choice!

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...