Shoreline Bimini Extension?

[Nick55]

Anybody bought from this company or used one of their extensions? I’ve been looking for a Bimini extension for my Illusion X tower on our 23LSV and my wife saw a post on one of the Malibu owners Facebook pages for Shoreline.  This tower doesn’t have a straight crossover tube nor Bimini tubes that run at a right angle to the tower either.  They are about $600 which isn’t cheap but isn’t really expensive when you look at what boat canvas and tops go for either.  I reached out through their “contact me button”  and Kevin responded really quickly so I may try them out because they have a couple fitment options.  They have some Malibu and Axis boats in their gallery, so figured I’d ask if anybody has one and if they like it.  Heck I’d be willing to inquire about a group buy too if there’s any interest here. 
 

https://www.shorelinebrands.com/s/shop

Edited February 17 by Nick55

[NorCalSurfer]

I could be interested in a group buy. This looks nice and easy. 

[Nick55]

Per the T&Cs of TMC, I reached out to the admin staff here to ask about a potential group buy. Don’t wanna cause problems here. 

[DRB10SEVEN]

I have the Illusion XS tower on my boat, and have been wanting some sort of bimini extension for a while. I will be curious what you get figured out, I may be interested in one as well!

[Nick55]

1 hour ago, DRB10SEVEN said:

I have the Illusion XS tower on my boat, and have been wanting some sort of bimini extension for a while. I will be curious what you get figured out, I may be interested in one as well!

Can you measure your cross tube and see if it’s round and what the diameter is?  If it’s like my Bimini, the tower mount looks like it will be the best fit, but I need to make sure mine is a round cross tube as well. 

[DRB10SEVEN]

2 hours ago, Nick55 said:

Can you measure your cross tube and see if it’s round and what the diameter is?  If it’s like my Bimini, the tower mount looks like it will be the best fit, but I need to make sure mine is a round cross tube as well. 

I will do this after work and let you know. I also have been looking at the Wakeshade. Similar, but more of a whole enclosed system that stays mounted to the tower. Not sure which I would prefer or the potential problems of either.

[Nick55]

I measured my tower, the Illusion X has a 2” cross tube.  I think I’ll go with the tower mount instead of the Bimini mount.  Also, Admin is reaching out to coordinate a group buy.  I’ll update when he irons it out.  

[DRB10SEVEN]

12 hours ago, Nick55 said:

I measured my tower, the Illusion X has a 2” cross tube.  I think I’ll go with the tower mount instead of the Bimini mount.  Also, Admin is reaching out to coordinate a group buy.  I’ll update when he irons it out.  

I measured mine with a digital caliper last night. It is also a 2" tube. Since it is bent to make the rear hoop though, the top to bottom measurement is 2.1" and the front to back measurement is 2". Not sure if this would cause any issues or not.

[Nick55]

Their clamps fit that 1.875”-2.5”.  
 

Admin here is working on the group buy today.  I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a crewmember only deal though. 

[Ronnie]

37 minutes ago, Nick55 said:

Their clamps fit that 1.875”-2.5”.  
 

Admin here is working on the group buy today.  I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a crewmember only deal though. 

I have contacted the vendor. I will follow up on this thread if it looks like we can get a buy going. This will be a Supporter only Group Buy.

[Ronnie]

OK, the vendor has responded and is very interested. He is offering a VERY generous discount. I'll get all the details setup and approved and posted in the Supporter discount forum ASAP. I'll come back here to give you guys a head's up.

[DRB10SEVEN]

Well guess who just became a supporter haha. Not just for this, I have been meaning to become one for a while. Looking forward to possibly getting more shade in the back of the 247!

[Nick55]

I’ve been meaning to as well, I did it last night.  Not just for this…. I really do appreciate the resource that is this forum.  I may not be a boat expert but I can sure help guide people on the trailers!

[Ronnie]

 

[Ronnie]

Group Buy is now Live. Check it out in the Supporter Discounts and Group Buys Forum. This is one of the better discounts we been offered to our membership. 

[NorCalSurfer]

Awesome! I am in!

[DRB10SEVEN]

I just placed my order. I will post pictures of it installed as soon as I receive it!

[DRB10SEVEN]

Not to overwhelm this thread, but I hope to keep anyone that is interested updated in case they are on the fence and maybe are waiting to see if others have good luck with this Bimini Extension/Wakesurf Shade. I just received shipping confirmation, so I am expecting to have this in my hands sometime mid next week. When I initially sent my order through, I quickly got an email from Kevin confirming he had received my order. He also added:

"Let me know if you have any questions or trouble with fitment. We are designing a few new mounting styles that will soon become available. One of these is an option that will mount directly to the side of the Illusion tower. If our standard kit does not work for you for some reason we will happily swap components once these are available. Thanks"

I really appreciated his communication, and thought it was cool to hear that this product is continuing to be developed with more applications and mounting options. I think the universal tower setup will work and fit well on my boat, but greatly appreciate the peace of mind that he will work through any issues I may run into. I am excited to play around with the shade and find the best way to set it up once I have it!

[butter71]

Looks like a cool product!  I'm interested, but wondering if anyone can comment about how much it interferes with the rope (wakeboard, or surf) coming off the tower?

Thanks!

[DRB10SEVEN]

20 minutes ago, butter71 said:

Looks like a cool product!  I'm interested, but wondering if anyone can comment about how much it interferes with the rope (wakeboard, or surf) coming off the tower?

Thanks!

I will give you more feedback on this when I get mine installed. My initial impression would be that using the tower as a tow point when this shade is up would cause interference. It is rated to be used up to 15mph, so surf speeds. I do not think it is recommended to be used when wakeboarding since the speeds are over 20mph. We use the rear pylon as our tow point when surfing, so that will not be an issue for us to not be able to use the tower, but you can judge for yourself when I post pictures of it installed on my boat.

[DRB10SEVEN]

Okay, so I got this installed on my boat last night and both my wife and I are super happy with the way it turned out. Setup is going to be more time consuming the more particular you are with how nice you want the extension to look when it is up. My first try, the extension worked and really didn't look too bad, but I wanted it to look as nice as I could possibly manage so it took me another try to get it much closer to what I considered ideal, and a third time of slightly adjusting both sides slightly lower to get the look I wanted. Once that initial setup is done, putting it up and taking it down on the water is going to be very easy! Finally some shade in the back of the 247 for the crazy hot summer days.

I am super happy with how the universal tower clamp setup worked on my Illusion XS. I won't hit my head on the mounted brackets or anything, and they don't sit in front of the Rev 10's or anything weird like that.

As for the product itself, the carbon fiber extendable poles seem really nice. Super lightweight obviously, and they look nice, and adjust easy. They even have little red marks on them where you know they are at the fully extended position. The fabric used for the shade seems high quality and nice and stretchy. The mounts have lots of adjustment, so I had no problem getting the right angle for my application.

Here are pictures of mine installed. I chose to actually connect the shade over the top of my factory bimini because it made the extension flow really nice off the back. Let me know if anyone has any questions! Also, please forgive the disaster area of our shop. It is winter so everything is torn apart in there. I will have to take prettier pictures of the boat and shade sometime this boating season!

 

[Ronnie]

Heads up guys, this Supporter Only Group Buy changes from a $125 discount to 15% on April 15th, 2024. Get you order in if you are thinking about one and getting the full discount.

[NorCalSurfer]

Just got mine! I plan to test out next week. 

[Nick55]

I ordered mine today.  I’ve been dragging only because I can’t get the boat out of the barn yet anyways because it’s too cold to splash.  I got the same one @DRB10SEVEN did after seeing his install and talking with Kevin.  I’m in no rush, I’m at least a month from splashing.

[Nick55]

Installed mine today.  I’ll probably make a few adjustments to it once we use it but overall, I’m impressed.  Once I get it just the way I like it, I’ll add some paint marker stripes to the telescopic poles to mark the setup for easy deployment.  Pics to come.

 

Edited April 6 by Nick55