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The Silent Sports crew were down in Cuba last week seeking sunny windy and warm. The week delivered 5 pretty good days ranging from 14m down to 8m, 1 cross off shit show and a light wind day that required a skimboard or SS Space Pickle powered by a Cabrinha Xbox 18 LW. The main boards used were the Shinn's, Dundee(135x44),Speedball(18W) and Supershinn (136x42)
The Supershinn has it all. Pop,Speed and Control is what comes to mind when riding this board. It can be used by pro riders right down to a beginner. In fact,our newest female rider was going upwind on the Supershinn on her 3rd day on the water.
I wanted a travel board that can cover a wide range of wind. That board would be the Dundee. I rode it with 14m in LW to wound up 8m. Granted it is pretty flat water at this spot, but this size for my weight(203 lbs) its perfect. Solid upwind performance and good off the wind speed. I found better pop and a more lively feel with pads on the wider setting. The Dundee is really manoeuvrable. This is a great freeride board,nice smooth ride,easy on my old knees.
From the moment I saw the Speedball I just had to take it for a ride. It was the 18W. Thats 132x47! This is a board I would recommend you try . It has a very skatey feel to it. This surprised me considering the Freeride finns are pretty large. Its really hard to nail this board down with a description because it is really different that any TT that I have ridden. I would not call it great in LW(the Dundee for me was better) but it planes pretty quick due to the width all over. The short rail length inhibits its LW upwind performance a bit compared to a little longer board but really, no issues going upwind. The Speedball is just so much fun! No problem riding toeside with width. Great wide platform when landing jumps. One of our lighter riders felt he needed the foot straps nearer the heel edge but his lighter weight he would be more suited to the 16W Speedball. This might sound vague, but I can't really nail this board down into a basic description. If you can try it, ride it for awhile( i spent 3hrs on it one day) and you'll get good idea if its for you.
We had the 3 versions of the Shinn foot pads. I have never had any issues with the older straps digging into my feet. The older model for me is the most cushy. The Straps of the Sneaker X(new version) are the same. The traction surface is different on the newest pad. Very easy to adjust, not only the strap,but if you want to ride more duck,no problem. All are super light.
Thats it, we had a great time,lots of kiting, lots of drinking, many shit shows(Kite on one side of the pier in water,rider on other) and lots of fun! The Shinn boards where very nice( we had the Red also but I did not ride it and those who did were to drunk to tell me about it),lol

You didn't bring the Monk Forever! How would you compare the Supershinn vs the Monk?

MCMario wrote:You didn't bring the Monk Forever! How would you compare the Supershinn vs the Monk?

Yes unfortunately we did not bring a Monk Forever. I have never rode the MF but I have used the previous version. It is very smooth through chop,like butter smooth. The low end was just ok but I've been told that has been improved on the MF. The Supershinn IMO has better pop and a slightly firmer ride ride. It would be a tough choice to pick between the two. You would not be disappointed with either. If your doing more Wake/Freestyle,then The SS is the one.

Have you or anyone else on the trip ridden a Mako 140 before to compare it to the speedball?

I've seen a lot of people saying that they loved the Mako 140 until they tried the Shinn boards. I've tried the Shinn boards (Monk and Street) a few times, but after 4 years of riding it, I haven't tried anything I like nearly as much as the Mako.

What are the dimensions of the 16w? Is it also 132 long, but 16" wide instead of 18?

davesails7 wrote:Have you or anyone else on the trip ridden a Mako 140 before to compare it to the speedball?

I've seen a lot of people saying that they loved the Mako 140 until they tried the Shinn boards. I've tried the Shinn boards (Monk and Street) a few times, but after 4 years of riding it, I haven't tried anything I like nearly as much as the Mako.

What are the dimensions of the 16w? Is it also 132 long, but 16" wide instead of 18?

I rode the Mako 140 for a full season around 2007/8. From what I remember, the speed and control was better than the TT's at the time. I moved on to Nobile and Shinn boards after the Mako. It really was very unique and still is. The Shinn Speedball is just as unique compared to the current TT's. Like I said, it felt very skatey, which to me, gave it a very lively feel. I don't remember the Mako as loose as that( it has been awhile). The Speedball is just fun. I'm thinking about the 16W as my med/high wind TT. The 18W worked very well in very powered up 12m, never feeling like I was riding to big of a board. The windiest day, I rode the 44 Dundee on an 2013 Slingshot Rally 8m. I never felt overboarded but the water is very flat in this spot.
You should definatly demo one if you get the chance. The 18W that I used is actually 18.5" wide which is 47cm. I will measure the 16W we have this week.

bigwave,
you are the first to be able to give feedback on the speedball....would love to know more compared to the monk. board speed, chop handling, carving, pop, boost.....how is it different? similar?

Coleman

coleman wrote:bigwave,
you are the first to be able to give feedback on the speedball....would love to know more compared to the monk. board speed, chop handling, carving, pop, boost.....how is it different? similar?

Coleman

Like I have said,Speedball is very different from any of the Shinn boards. The spot where we were has very flat water and small chop.For me, the Monk just seems to slice through chop ,butter smooth, better than the SB. The Speedball had a very loose feel when carving. The Monk and the Dundee carve with a more locked in feel from the tail. Boosting,no problems,easy to set the edge nice wide platform for landing which is nice. It has comparable speed to the Monk, with better low end due to the width.Upwind is good. One of our lighter smaller riders felt he would have liked to foot straps set more toward the heel edge. Toe side was pretty good considering the width. The 18W measures 18.5" and the 16W is 17.5". I think it has better pop than a Monk but we are not talking Supershinn here.
I hope I covered you questions. My best piece of advice is, ride the Speedball. Then you will know if its what your looking for . Thats one of our riders on the18W on a Cabrinha SB 14m.