I'm looking for a new board that is not too stiff as it needs to handle the chop from the Northeast of Brazil, but also hold well it's edge in 35 plus knots.

For the last 10 years I have been riding Underground. Mainly the FLX. more recently the Crypt. Unfortunately it seems UG is dropping the ball on innovation.

Any comments on the above boards are welcome. Especially also about the quality and feel of the foot straps.

P

PS: I'm an advance rider. Been doing it for almost 15 years

I ride the 2011 Cab Calibre 136cm, love it, it is smooth in the chop and it has a ton of pop, and it is reasonable in lighter winds. Having said that the guys in the shop I deal with keep telling me to try the NHP because it's even better, but I haven't ridden it. I would say that if you can get a decent deal on the Cab, it is a great ride. The NHP will definitely set you back a bit more, and the edges sure look a whole lot more fragile on the NHP. Hope this helps.


K

I have had both boards and both boards are fun to ride. The Caliber is very easy to ride in typical northeast conditions. The Nobile NHP has less nose rocker and therefore you have to be a little bit more concentrated to avoid a nose dive. If you are used to give more pressure on the back foot you'll have no problem at all. Both boards are very different. The Caliber is a well rockered board with small fins and the NHP works with more a more sophisticated flex and bigger fins.
The NHP goes better upwind.
You should consider the 50Fifty too. It is a board in between and very fast and fun to ride in northeast brazil conditions.
The Super Shinn is like a combination of the NHP and 50Fifty and offers other sizes.
Hope that helps.

was riding a Caliber 133 X 41 for 2 years before I traded it for an NPH 131 X 40. Tried the 134 X 42 at 165 pounds and it was too big to bw ridden in strong wind.

Really different boards;I was hesitating between the Traxx which I like very much and the NHP. Finally the smoother ride of the NHP in the chop won me over.

Tracks very good upwind. For a board that has has much rocker it plans really fast. It is by far the most comfy board in the big chop that I've tried. It can feel a bit loose under your feet at first but as soon as you get the hang of it it will never loose its edge. It shifts really easily to toeside if you realease your edge. It has a nice pop for cranking big air even though I think that the traxx is a bit better. NHP jumps better than the caliber though. Try it you cant go wrong. Cabrinha was also a good board but the NHP is a major upgrade in my opinion.

PS: was riding in 30-35 knots yesterday and I was keeping my edge no problem but as for the footstraps;
2010 : total garbage, the would loosen while riding, traded them for 3do mystic straps
2011 : tried it and they were nice
2012 : havent tried them yet ...
Jules

Thank you guys. This is very helpful. The footstraps question is a good one. In recent times I have struggled to find good ones. In particular for the use in the Northeast of Brazil where all my riding is downwinders.

In downwinders I'm constantly carving from heel to toe side, so the foot moves a lot inside the footstraps. In some footstraps the neoprene doesn't go all the way down and the side of the foot starts rubbing against the plastic which becomes very painful when you stay 5 or more hours carving downwind.

Any good footstrap suggestions are welcome.

P