ocean rodeo mako wide - anyone bought one yet?

[eag]

Bfay,

You'll love it on the chop at 3rd, i've ridden my mako there a bunch of times and it holds such a good edge.

[EvanOR]

Can't wait to try one....

Evan...when are you going to be at 3rd?

Tomorrow.....see you there!

12m Rise and Mako Wide at Crissy yesterday.


Cheers,

Evan

Ocean Rodeo

Choose Performance over Hype

[gobigkahuna]

I just received my Mako Wide yesterday and got to say that so far I've got mixed feelings about it. I took it out in semi-powered conditions today with small to moderate chop and very small waves for about an hour. I've been riding a CrazyFly all around 145x49 for the past year and before that a custom 155x45 and a Litewave 145. I weigh 245 and have been kiting for 8 years. I'm just your average point A to point B kiter, I prefer open ocean swells and waves, nothing fancy. This is by no means my final evaluation of the board, just my first reactions:

What I liked:
Construction of the board from what I could see is very good and the design has, what my wife describes as, a surfboard look to it. Although the board's design is unconventional, I think it's pretty nice looking over all. The rails are fairly thick and semi-rounded which makes transitions super easy/smooth. Although the pads are stick ons and not contoured or very thick, I usually prefer this type because I tend to move my feet/heels while switching stance and riding waves.

I had no problems making progress upwind, but after kiting in Hawaii for 8 years going upwind is second nature on just about any board. From the beach my wife said I looked like I was moving pretty quickly, and although it's hard to judge from one session, it did seem that I was moving a bit faster than I would normally.

What I didn't like:
The straps are an absolute pain in the a** to install, took me an hour to get the last screw in... argh. The installation is further complicated by the fact that the inserts are brass and the screws are stainless steel. Cross thread an insert and you're screwed (literally ). The straps also seemed pretty long, oversized in fact, possibly because most of OR's customers wear booties. I found the straps to be too tall for my size 12 feet (no booties) and adjusting them to a smaller size would be real difficult because of how hard it is to reinstall the screws. At the end of an hour on the water I had bruises on both insteps from the straps hitting my feet wrong. Maybe I've got weird feet, but I haven't run into this problem before.

The jury's still out:
I found the board to be a pretty rough, skippy ride compared to my CrazyFly. Although the Mako has flex, it did seem that each time my back foot landed from a small bit of chop it was a harder, sharper landing than what I'm used to. Plus it seemed that my back foot slid out a fair bit more than I'm used to. I was expecting, based on what I read here, for this board to "eat chop" and I didn't seem to experience any of that today.

Although there weren't any real waves today, I did try to carve on some small faces and the board does have a different feel to it, not sure if I'd call it "surfboard like" but definitely different from the few twin tips I've ridden recently.

Hard to form any definite opinions on a board after one session, hopefully I'll get another go later this weekend. I just hope my feet can take the punishment...

[EvanOR]

I just received my Mako Wide yesterday and got to say that so far I've got mixed feelings about it. I took it out in semi-powered conditions today with small to moderate chop and very small waves for about an hour. I've been riding a CrazyFly all around 145x49 for the past year and before that a custom 155x45 and a Litewave 145. I weigh 245 and have been kiting for 8 years. I'm just your average point A to point B kiter, I prefer open ocean swells and waves, nothing fancy. This is by no means my final evaluation of the board, just my first reactions:

What I liked:
Construction of the board from what I could see is very good and the design has, what my wife describes as, a surfboard look to it. Although the board's design is unconventional, I think it's pretty nice looking over all. The rails are fairly thick and semi-rounded which makes transitions super easy/smooth. Although the pads are stick ons and not contoured or very thick, I usually prefer this type because I tend to move my feet/heels while switching stance and riding waves.

I had no problems making progress upwind, but after kiting in Hawaii for 8 years going upwind is second nature on just about any board. From the beach my wife said I looked like I was moving pretty quickly, and although it's hard to judge from one session, it did seem that I was moving a bit faster than I would normally.

What I didn't like:
The straps are an absolute pain in the a** to install, took me an hour to get the last screw in... argh. The installation is further complicated by the fact that the inserts are brass and the screws are stainless steel. Cross thread an insert and you're screwed (literally ). The straps also seemed pretty long, oversized in fact, possibly because most of OR's customers wear booties. I found the straps to be too tall for my size 12 feet (no booties) and adjusting them to a smaller size would be real difficult because of how hard it is to reinstall the screws. At the end of an hour on the water I had bruises on both insteps from the straps hitting my feet wrong. Maybe I've got weird feet, but I haven't run into this problem before.

The jury's still out:
I found the board to be a pretty rough, skippy ride compared to my CrazyFly. Although the Mako has flex, it did seem that each time my back foot landed from a small bit of chop it was a harder, sharper landing than what I'm used to. Plus it seemed that my back foot slid out a fair bit more than I'm used to. I was expecting, based on what I read here, for this board to "eat chop" and I didn't seem to experience any of that today.

Although there weren't any real waves today, I did try to carve on some small faces and the board does have a different feel to it, not sure if I'd call it "surfboard like" but definitely different from the few twin tips I've ridden recently.

Hard to form any definite opinions on a board after one session, hopefully I'll get another go later this weekend. I just hope my feet can take the punishment...

A quick question - are you sure you have the straps installed correctly? It may seem like a dumb question but I've seen a number of people (experienced riders) install them backwards.....I have very flat, size 9 feet and never ride in booties and once they are cinched down they are nice and snug. It's also important that you select the correct hole placement in the footstraps as this has a huge impact on the width and shape of the straps. The logos should be facing away from you.

Cheers,

Evan

Ocean Rodeo

Choose Performance over Hype

[gobigkahuna]

Yup, I've installed the straps almost exactly as in your photo, and yes, the straps are oriented so the "Ocean Rodeo" logos are facing away from the rider. I've attached an illustration showing the hole options I'm using (top is straps, bottom is deck). The problem is that installing the straps for the smaller setting is virtually impossible. The cause is twofold: first, when using the "inside" holes in the straps the strap is just a bit thicker so the screw protrudes that much less from the bottom of the strap, and second, the pads are not contoured so you have to compress them with force (a lot of force) to get the screws deep enough so they even touch the tops of the threaded insert. Like I said, it's a real PITA. I may be just "lucky" to have gotten a set of straps that are just slightly thicker than the norm. I highly recommend you guys rethink this part of your board's design.

[Rbgar]

I just got my wide the otherday, still waiting for wind, go figure.. But I must agree with big kahuna on the bindings, I worked the straps a bit and was still lucky not to cross thread when installing, it was a PITA- OR should look at this as it would suck to screw up a nice new board being in a hurry or setting up in the parking lot all fired up to go out.. I used the same holes as kahuna but went wide/wide on the strap hole as we are still into booties for some time here. I also have LF Lux bindings sitting around so if the OR ones aren't comfy I'll replace with the LF. I haven't tried the board yet, hopefully sea breeze fills enough to check it out.

[EvanOR]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I guess I've put so many of them together that I'm always suprised when people say that it takes a long time....but admittdely there are several " tricks " I use that allow me to put the whole board together in about 15 minutes. All of this will be unnecessary in the near future as we have an entirely different pad/strap set up in the works that has received rave reviews from everyone who has tested it - stay tuned!

For now, install tips:

1) Open up the strap completely so it is more flexible.

2) There is a small fabric " flap " that the screw is supposed to pass through before you put in the board. In my experience this serves no function so I just fold it back and tuck it inside the strap. With this flap out of the way, it is very easy to get the screw started in the thread with even very little downward pressure.

3) Once I have one side screwed down I work the other side into shape (still with it open) before screwing it down.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Evan

Ocean Rodeo

Choose Performance over Hype

[gobigkahuna]

Thanks Evan, I appreciate your reply. FWIW:

1) Open up the strap completely so it is more flexible.

Yup, did that.

2) There is a small fabric " flap " that the screw is supposed to pass through before you put in the board. In my experience this serves no function so I just fold it back and tuck it inside the strap. With this flap out of the way, it is very easy to get the screw started in the thread with even very little downward pressure.

I didn't do that the other day, but I tried that today and still wasn't able to move the inside-side screws to the desired location (see illustration).

3) Once I have one side screwed down I work the other side into shape (still with it open) before screwing it down.

Yes, I did that also.

I'm not saying that yours is the only board that is difficult to install the straps. I recently installed straps on my wife's new North Jaime Pro, that was difficult also. But adjusting your straps to the smaller setting seems almost impossible without somehow modifying the pads.

[AGK]

I have a Mako wide on order and I HATE crappy pad/strap combos. I hated my UG 06 pads and straps. I really liked the Spleene 07s- they are really easy to install, uninstall, and travel with.

So my question is: will any standard pads and straps like DaKine or NSI work with the Mako wide, or is there something about the spacing of the inserts that means it is difficult to use alternatives to the OR ones (if they turn out to be as much of a PITA as I expect they will from this discussion).

Thanks for any help and experience!

Andy

[TomW]

Big K,

I ride a Mako 150x34. so my comments really refer to this board.

You need to ride this board with almost even foot pressure. At times more pressure on the front foot.
Ride it off the middle of the rail. It sounds like you are using the normal TT riding style of about 70 % of your pressure on the back foot- that will make a Mako slide out.

Once you adjust your style- you have 8 years of habit- you´ll find these boards are very forgiving. If you have ever snowboarded or ride skateboard, youll find the style similar.

I always thought the need to stand on my back foot on a TT was not right, tiring and indicated something was wrong with the design.

Give it some time, then you will not be able to ride a TT again.