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New board dilemma for next year: Shroom 8.3 or Hypernut 7.10?

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Created by Linkus > 9 months ago, 5 Dec 2018
Linkus
52 posts
5 Dec 2018 8:39PM
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I have an amazing Shroom 8.7 from april. In these months I had an umbelievable lot of fun and my wave riding skills has increased so I need a smaller board. Probably this board will be my winter board when the overall weight increase not only for the wetsuit. I prefear the short boards for a lot of reasons not the least for the short place in wich I store the board.
My usual conditions in Italy are choppy messy waves not very big. The bigger ones rarely are easy and funny to ride and when happens I'm at work.
The medium average waves often are closer each other, fast, curly and difficult to manage with a long board.
In the late summer have also bought to my young son an Hypernut carbon 7.8 115lt, very useful for me in flat water for legs workout but too difficult and tiring for wave riding. In some small waves I liked it very very much: stable for the dimensions, flat deck, incredibly light, quite fast and straigh paddling, easy on the waves.
I'm 49's x 192 cm x 90kg (6,3ft x 200lbs) and I hate drop too much in the water so an easy and stable board is better for me. The Shroom 8.7 is large and "stable as a rock" but in the bigger waves probably it suffers a lack of acceleration and I feel it a little bit huge. The great and wise SupTheCreek said it to me...
So my dilemma in a new short board is about Shroom 8.3 and the new Hypernut 7.10x130lt, the 8.0ft shorted version of last year. I deeply love the Sunova construction, the fabolous duoble concave shape of the Shroom, the iperconfortable concave deck, the amazing look but the Hypernut probably is a little bit more versatile but also very expensive (circa 1.000? more of the carbon version). It's useless to say that I cant try before buy anything and the used market in Italy is very disadvantageous... Could you give to me some good advices?
Thank you!
Carlo

FRP
491 posts
5 Dec 2018 9:45PM
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Carlo

Another thought would be a Gong board. They make several short high volume performance boards that are made for those kind of waves. You have a winter board now the Shroom, and it sounds like you are progressing fast enough that it won't be long until you are comfortable on your son's Nut. Finally France is not that far away......yes you could go up and demo some boards.......Colas is close to your dimensions has a lot of experience with Gong boards and hopefully he can chime in? Just a thought.

Cheers

Bob

Linkus
52 posts
6 Dec 2018 12:02AM
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My son's first board was a yellow Gong 7.6x31 MOB x 120 lt woodkfusion. The Gong's has a very good price and nice look and very suitable for the short and messy mediterranean conditions. Unfortunately the construction of that board hasn't a very good quality and after only 4 months I sold it. Probably Gong had some trouble with this series and has changed all the production with new materials after this summer.
The best wave riders of my sup friends have Gong board for years (especially carbon version). In general, I see that Gong boards are developed for more skilled suppers. In fact, The Hyper Nut carbon 2018 7.8x30 x 115 lt, despite the 5 lt less, it's more stable and easyer to use than the Gong MOB that has a doomed deck, an high central volume and a thinner, rail, tail and nose.
The last Gong MOB board (FSP) relased few months ago seems also more difficult than the previuos but really more stronger (see the video!). Probably if I could try an 8.3 MOB x 140lt I can change idea but nowadays Gong is not at the top of my preferences. I'm searching an easy board for most conditions.

colas
4986 posts
6 Dec 2018 4:03PM
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Linkus said..
My son's first board was a yellow Gong 7.6x31 MOB x 120 lt woodkfusion....




The construction:
Hi, for the woodkfusion I did not hear of specific quality issues. What were your problems?

Gong had some quality issues (pinholes) with some boards of the Portugal factory recently (but they would find a solution if you contacted them about it), this is the reason they have switched back to Chinese factories. But I have heard of these issues only on the Pro, not the woodkfusion one.The FSP construction is a full vacuum-build PVC sandwich that really wraps on the rails, even with the very thin rails of boards such as the Mob, see details: www.facebook.com/gong.sup/posts/1070404606462639Chinese factories did not have the expertise for this kind of technology that has been used for years elsewhere (Cobra, JL, ...), this is why it is only available now.

The FSP Mob is exactly the shame shape as the pro ones.

The shape:
As you have seen, Gong shapes have always tried to mix performance and a true surf feeling with ease of use: migrating the volume away from the rails, especially at nose and tail is what gives them the character a lot of us get hooked on when they try a Gong shape (especially on Mediterranean waves, as you could see with your Italian friends - do you know Filipo? www.gong-galaxy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=127566 ), but with a comfortable width to stay easy to handle. This is for instance why the Mob does not have the cumbersome feeling on the water compared to full-on square nosed board with more volume in the rails, that are better adapted for beginner SUPers. In the Gong line, we advise the NFA or Cloud if you do not have yet the technique to use a Mob or Fatal board.On the Mob, the sweet spot for the feet in paddling position will be smaller, but on the other hand, the board will be more responsive to feet movements for turning...

Do not hesitate to mail or phone the Gong team, or post questions in the Gong forum to get advice on finding which Gong board is more suited to your level and expectations. Gong has a lot of board models, with various characters. From what you say, I guess a NFA or Karmen (which replaces the Cloud) will be adapted to your needs.

For instance, In 2018, the Mob shape has been tweaked for better performance, the Cloud and NFA being more advised for beginner SUPers.
www.gongsup.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=127006#p127006

Linkus
52 posts
7 Dec 2018 9:41PM
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Hi Colas,
before the MOB i bought another used Gong, a pro model carbon made, used for some years: a light and indestructible. Unfortunately that model was too much demanding for a novice like my son (7.8x28x105lt). So I bought a brand new MOB. My son has loved his MOB and in a couple of month, has became a very good wave rider. I really appreciate the efforts and authentic passion of Gong staff to do a good product at a very good price but not always the sight is correct especially in new product. Also the board aren't all the same but my board had some problems. When I see the Gong video with the hammer I thought that the bearded chief of Gongs, changing completely technology, has correct all the problems that I found. I don't know Filipo but my good friend is Mariano Billet a strong Gong addicted like others friends of mine, very high level suppers. Unfortunately my skills are quite lower and my age higher and so I need something "easy&short". By the way, Mariano always says that my Sunova Shroom isn't a board but the door of my house! I like something similar but a little bit smaller. A thinner board is more responsive but for me is tiring and more difficult to ride. For me the priority is catch and ride the bigger number of waves in a easy way. There are several months before next summer and a lot of thoughts about my next board.

colas
4986 posts
7 Dec 2018 10:04PM
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Select to expand quote
Linkus said..
A thinner board is more responsive but for me is tiring and more difficult to ride. For me the priority is catch and ride the bigger number of waves in a easy way. There are several months before next summer and a lot of thoughts about my next board.


By reading you, I think you should try to keep some length in a board, and not try to get too short a board. The Mob is a very stable shape for its size, if you have problems with it, it was most probably due to the short length.

Short boards are performing great on the short Mediterranean waves, but they require more commitment, in placement for the takeoff, paddling technique, and explosive paddling power. I think you are looking the wrong way when you say "my skills are quite lower and my age higher and so I need something "easy&short"". You seem to need something easy and nimble, not necessarily short. There is no shame in not wanting to invest the time to master a short board and prefer having more immediate fun.
In the Gong line, that would be the NFA, or something similar in other brands, that is a modern performance longboard shape: longboard outline, but with some rocker, performance rails with medium volume, strong and light construction, and not too narrow.



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"New board dilemma for next year: Shroom 8.3 or Hypernut 7.10?" started by Linkus