IMPORTANT UPDATE TO THIS SHOW: Trigger warning!!! Since this episode launched, everyone who sells these boards or are loyal to this brand have been super pissy about this show. So listen up all you Fliteboys because here's the scoop. 1. I was honest and I was accurate in my reporting. I'm just the messenger. If you think I got something wrong, state the specific detail where I was inaccurate and I'll deal with it. I will no longer be responding to any posts that are just mad because I said something you don't like to hear. I'm running a show about efoiling, not running a kindergarten for your vulnerable feelings. 2. I did find a couple of turds while investigating the Fliteboard purchasing process. While I may have shined a light on the turd, it isn't my turd. It's Fliteboard's turd and it has always been there so getting mad at me for pointing out where that horrible smell was coming from isn't going to change the flavor of the stench. Yes, you might love the smell of their turd but I didn't and I really think everyone should at least be aware of the turd before they buy into the turd. Fliteboard tried to deny the existence of the turd, then to cover up and explain away the turd, and finally, just directly lied to me about the turd. For me, that's when the turd got too smelly for me to continue wanting anything to do with the turd. Oh, and for the record, the board itself still seems awesome and pretty much turd-less. It's their maintenance schedule, warranty requirements, inability to effectively answer questions, and proceed with a reasonable sense of urgency, that were caked in poop. I want this board, but will likely wait until it is available in a version with about 80% less turd. 3. I'm a brutally honest reviewer. I don't hand out free gold stars when they aren't earned. When you lack honest criticism, you get RayGun breakdancing in the Olympics. My criticisms of Fliteboard should be viewed as a beneficial service to the customer, company, and the reseller. This should be viewed as a chance to improve because if they'd done better I would have bought one right away. Flite can improve, and if they do, that's just good for everyone.
I handed my 1 year old Flite in for a 1-year service on 8th October. I got it back on 9th October and as there was nothing to replace / just cleaning the service was FREE.
Come on people. This is brilliant and creative. BTW, I bought Lift before ever viewing this. My first exposure to efoiling was a lesson in Turks and Caicos and their fleet was Lift. Why? Because of its superior reliability and performance.
Sounds like yer introduction to eFoilin’ be the stuff o’ dreams-a lesson in the turquoise waters o’ Turks and Caicos, and on a fleet o’ trusty Lift boards, no less! Aye, there be a reason so many turn to Lift: their reliability and performance are as steady as a lighthouse on a foggy night. Now, if ye ever find yerself near Antigua, the good Captain’s home port, do look me up! I’ll gladly welcome ye aboard for a fine parlay ‘bout the joys o’ eFoilin’ over some rum or coconut water-whichever suits yer fancy. Thanks fer sharin’ yer story, and keep yer mast high, yer wings sharp, and ride on, matey! 🏴☠
The bottom line both are great boards but Lift if falling behind quickly in terms of innovation, I cant wait to see if they are going to introduce a new Lift 5 next year to make a big come back!
I gotta wait 19 hour to sees me big debut? Arrr! Tis be a mighty gnarly game of stoical patience you be play'n at on the Verdant Ride. Till tomorrow then, Aye be await'n.
Ordered a lift over a month ago in their big sale. Still haven’t gotten a battery. Board came with a crack in the nose cone that holds the motor to the mast. The pad that you stand on was glued down all the way to the board. So far customer service has been solid. Already got the new nose cone… but I had to fix the pad myself and I’m still waiting on that battery….. If you’re going to have a huge sale, perhaps make sure all of your parts are in stock first.
The pad was glued down to the board? I don't know what that means… They ship the batteries from some company in California that first ships everything to Florida. Lift definitely does strange things for sure but they are usually pretty honest about their constant battery shortage on their order page.
I couldn’t vote by clicking but solving the face plant disconnect is top priority. It’s dangerous and last time it happened to me my neck hurt for 2 weeks.
Stephan - Thank you. I ride both 5' Flite and 5' Lift. Some buy Flite seal kits for ~$50 and DIY and that would not satisfy the Flite warranty requirements... The actual service reportedly takes under an hour. I am not sure to what sacrificial connector you may be referencing... The battery connectors, seem durable so far. Perhaps you are referring to the sacrificial anode that is in place to protect the aluminum mast and fuselage from galvanic corrosion 🤔 Charger is DeltaQ similar in appearance to Lift and Flite does not use a Data cable for a handshake and has different firmware and different battery connectors... There might be a way to teach your Lift charger a new proprietary trick and I expect that is unlikely. I have also heard that Flite tends to be generous with their transferable warranty support within their 2 year warranty time frame. You referenced a conversation with Justin Chait.... I would expect that he could provide definitive answers for the "bestest" options from Flite along with his views on Flite's support. Please do come out to CA for a visit and play sometime after your efoiling season ends. In my opinion, the Captain Riptide inclusion seemed like it only slowed down the flow of the video.
I bought a flite air. Love the fact that it is air. I do not worry about dinging it. Warranty is ridiculous. I am at the opposite end of using. Clocked only 8 hours on it this summer. I am on a big lake and i use it only on windless days when i can’t windfoil. Their customer service sucks, e-mail replies take forever. They failed to include a stab with the kit and made me jump through humiliating hoops wasting my time. I got the stab a MONTH later with no apology. I like to ride it though.
Whow, I'm nearly certain that you are the first person to ever tell me a negative story about their customer service! They forgot to ship the mast? Holy crap! That's a big deal. Not to tit-for-tat but Lift is more likely to accidentally ship you 2 of something rather than forget to ship something. They actually shipped me 2 controllers instead of 1. I thought it was just for redundancy but Nick told me that was an accident from before they had a decent inventory/shipping department when I met him.
My dear Verdant, I took the time to watch your video about Fliteboard, and I must admit I was somewhat astonished. Like you, I am not affiliated with any brands, and I love efoiling; however, unlike you, I chose Fliteboard. I live in Florida, specifically Fort Lauderdale, and I am fortunate to spend most of my time on the water, foiling almost every day. I own four boards: Pro Carbon, Ultra, and Flite Pro Air, along with the performance mast and the 80 cm black aluminum mast, as well as several batteries. Not only have I never had any issues with my equipment, but the customer service in California has always responded to my various questions and has been both present and very professional. To give you some background, my first experience was with Lift Foil, which delivered a damaged carbon board during transport. That same board and the rest of the equipment were lost during delivery, and no one assisted me in tracking it down. Ultimately, after I went to the freight forwarder myself to retrieve my equipment, no one at Lift helped me. When I contacted Lift to ask for a goodwill gesture given all these issues, their response was entirely negative, offering only to take back the equipment by sending a representative to my boat to avoid returning it, which I did.
Sounds to me like you got the same customer service from Flite I've heard from most of their customers. Just as I had reported on the show. I'm glad to hear I'm as accurate in my reporting as I thought I was. Lift sent a rep to handle your return personally? Damn, that seems like amazing customer support given that it was all just for a return. AND they had to find you on your boat? Like out in the middle of the ocean? Dang! Most companies would have made you ship it in and wait for it to be received before honoring a refund. Sounds to me like you encountered some rare unluckiness with your shipping and Lift came and took care of it for you. Sounds like both leading brands do a decent job of taking care of their customers.
I don't know what is going on but it would seem that a bunch of audience members are getting their posts deleted from this particular show. I'm going to try to re-add all of them that was collected by my email when you post. I assure you I AM NOT DELETING THEM!!!!
These were all deleted from my wall but I've brought them back… @jnergo8406 Ok, « you are that guy » able to compare Lift & Flite, and you’ve never owned or tested a Flite ? 🤣 I own a Flite, my friends own a Lift. Flite is super reliable (Lift is relatively reliable), their customer service is super responsive and commercial in a good way, maintenance is super cheap. Really, buying, owning and maintaining a Flite is a dream. I am a phd, no financial interest in any brand. @jnergo8406 Where do you read I am bragging about being a phd (hate those guys) ? Just making a point I am not working for Flite. But as you ask me, I am an engineer in mechanics, and now a physician (family practice). My only legitimacy here is 4 years of Efoil practice with different brands @erickorchia7613 My dear Verdant, I took the time to watch your video about Fliteboard, and I must admit I was somewhat astonished. Like you, I am not affiliated with any brands, and I love efoiling; however, unlike you, I chose Fliteboard. I live in Florida, specifically Fort Lauderdale, and I am fortunate to spend most of my time on the water, foiling almost every day. I own four boards: Pro Carbon, Ultra, and Flite Pro Air, along with the performance mast and the 80 cm black aluminum mast, as well as several batteries. Not only have I never had any issues with my equipment, but the customer service in California has always responded to my various questions and has been both present and very professional.
I think comparing the standard Fliteboard Ultra with the aluminum mast, and maybe even the Explorer battery (though not possible for the new Ultra boards), would be a fairer and more interesting comparison to Lift. To me, Fliteboard’s dominance in the top segment seems too obvious and expected, especially considering the price range. Fliteboard is very reliable, and it's possible to service it yourself without much trouble. The biggest downside is their prices and the software; I often hear about someone experiencing a problem with a bug in the latest version.
P.S. You are right about the warranty situation it is a little sketchy. Honestly, it's most likely that if something breaks, it won't be covered anyway . Based on my experience and what I’ve seen, they are very reliable, and the warranty is for a limited period anyway. I also think you're too focused on trying to find something sketchy. What we all care about most is the ride experience, performance, and overall reliability, you also have the option to go on a vacation and rent a Flitebord.
@@KV-lj6el For a standard rider, there's one service, and then the warranty is over. Maybe 2 for someone who really rides a lot. My local guy quoted me at $200, but he also said that in the future I could just buy the kit and do it myself so that the $200 wasn't a yearly cost... rather the $50 that you mentioned. For most, this video was a bit overkill. Agree with the Cpt. slowing it down, I think this could have been a 30 minute video. That being said, I think that it's important for people to know.
Sorry but this review doesn’t make any sense , specially on the maintenance part. Specially if you own a Lift which I’m seeing on your channel. Have you ever stood on a FliteBoard. Your Maintenance schedule is incorrect as it will need to on a nearly basis or every 100 Hours. I guess you hope Lift will see your “ objective” review and give you a new board for free😂
I can't be responsible or your ability to understand things, but I assure you, all the statements are in a language understood by most of my audience.. Yes, the maintenance was CLEARLY shown in the video as it appeared on their website at the time of recording and the time of this posting. support.fliteboard.com/hc/en-us/articles/11634398221079-2024-Range-Series-3-Warranty-1-year-or-100-Hour-Service "The initial 1 year/100 hour and ongoing 1 year/100 hour (whichever comes first) service requires that your eFoil (mast), Flite Controller and True Glide Prop (if purchased) be serviced by an authorised service partner or Fliteboard HQ." I hope you realize that you came in here, said I was wrong about the service schedule, then stated (roughly) the same service schedule I stated in the show which exactly matches what is on their website. I need to ask, do you recall any doctors ever referring to you as an FLK or did you ride a shorter than normal yellow school bus to school? As I stated in my video, I am not sponsored by any efoil company or being paid (including free gear) by any efoil company. Actually, I'm not being paid at all for doing this by anyone. I'm getting a super raw deal. It was an objective review. Any attempt to claim that it wasn't is a lie and in this show I provided a ton of evidence to that you can actually verify for yourself simply by visiting their website and reading it, assuming have the ability to comprehend wordy-words, which I'm beginning to doubt that you do not.. So you've come in there. Stated a bunch of crap that isn't true and is super easy to check, called me a shill and a liar with no evidence to support your claim. You are trying to besmirch my both my name and my character and I think we should be asking ourselves why you are doing this? What's your role in this? Why has this show got you all tweaked out enough to come in here all huff'n and puff'n and calling names? You're look'n for a villain when all that's here is a guy who investigated a thing and then reported on what he learned. You have no integrity, and I have no time more time for you. Good day…
Why did Verdant delete my comment? It's surprising that you can post your critiques while claiming to be open to feedback, but when those comments don't suit you or simply challenge your viewpoint, you delete them. With this attitude, I understand better now; your video is not only false but incredibly inconsistent. Stick to making foil videos-you're much more convincing at that.
I didn't delete anything! I did notice that someone had a comment that I had responded to, because I try to respond to everyone who makes a post. Were you that guy who had the PhD statement? If so, I responded to it but I didn't delete it but I did notice that it wasn't here this morning. I'm about as pro-free-speech as you can get. I'm not saying there isn't a case I'd remove something posted here but it would need to be so unrelated to the subject matter and so offensive that I'm having a hard time imagining what that might be. I assure you, nobody has posted anything on this board that I've seen any reason to delete it. I just checked my AI Log and no, it wasn't yours, it was this that was missing. @jnergo8406 "1 minute ago Ok, « you are that guy » able to compare Lift & Flite, and you’ve never owned or tested a Flite ? 🤣 I own a Flite, my friends own a Lift. Flite is super reliable (Lift is relatively reliable), their customer service is super responsive and commercial in a good way, maintenance is super cheap. Really, buying, owning and maintaining a Flite is a dream. I am a phd, no financial interest in any brand." So I don't know what is going on but it seems as though 2 people's posts got deleted. I swear I didn't do it.
I found your post in my email. I DID NOT DELETE IT! @erickorchia7613 My dear Verdant, I took the time to watch your video about Fliteboard, and I must admit I was somewhat astonished. Like you, I am not affiliated with any brands, and I love efoiling; however, unlike you, I chose Fliteboard. I live in Florida, specifically Fort Lauderdale, and I am fortunate to spend most of my time on the water, foiling almost every day. I own four boards: Pro Carbon, Ultra, and Flite Pro Air, along with the performance mast and the 80 cm black aluminum mast, as well as several batteries. Not only have I never had any issues with my equipment, but the customer service in California has always responded to my various questions and has been both present and very professional.
Cool. Don't see how any of your experience has even a remote correlation to what I discovered in the buying process. Everything I reported on happened and I was honest about it. If you don't like it, your beef is with Flite, not me. I didn't make the turd, I just shined a bit of light on it for all of us to fully realize the turd existed.
@@VerdantRideI think you have a bias to Lift. Looking at the cliff notes/chapters it’s already in there. I would respect this channel more if you invested in Fliteboard and gave real advice between the two on YOUR real experience. Not a person that bought one. I like what you do with Lift and this channel. Calling out lift for their pros and cons from real world riding brings authenticity to this channel . If you purchased a L2 then this would be fun to watch the journey between the two given your experience. 🤙
@@ck7846 I can't have an opinion about anything till I have the experience to form one and I've been VERY careful to only express opinions on things with which I have had direct experience with. Feel free and judge my reporting once you've given me a chance to premiere my report. Till then, how about I get the assumption of possibly doing a reasonable job of being an impartial reporter of the facts as I have experienced them firsthand?
Je te trouve très sévère dans tes commentaires dans ta vidéo. Je ne comprends pas comment tu peux critiquer FliteBoard alors que tu surfes avec une autre marque. Tu n’es pas du tout crédible et cela frôle le ridicule. Tes fans seront surpris et déçus par une telle attitude (j’aimais bien ce que tu faisais), surtout pour un surfeur de ton âge. En ce qui me concerne, je surfe sur FliteBoard (moi aussi, tous les jours, et bien mieux que toi…). Je n’ai jamais eu de problème, bien au contraire : que du plaisir ! L’esthétique, la finition, la légèreté, la puissance, les différentes couleurs, les différentes ailes ou hélices me correspondent parfaitement. Nathan, qui s’occupe de moi en Californie, a su répondre à mes questions et a toujours été présent quand j’en avais besoin. Il représente au mieux FliteBoard. Nous formons aujourd'hui une petite communauté de foilers. Nous avons la chance de pratiquer un nouveau surf ; tu ne devrais pas perdre ton temps à exprimer ta colère dans une vidéo, mais plutôt à te faire plaisir sur l’eau. Une dernière chose : tu vas perdre énormément de fans en publiant cette vidéo. Tous ceux qui aiment FliteBoard vont se désabonner, car tu critiques la marque, mais tu critiques aussi ceux qui l’ont achetée, et ça, il ne faut surtout pas le faire. En ce qui me concerne, je ne te regarderai plus.
PhilippeBour, How can I criticize Fliteboard when I surf another brand? Well, I guess I don't understand why riding one brand or another precludes me from criticizing anything but I guess I'll explain to you why I chose to be critical of their maintenance schedule and lack of clarity on their maintenance schedule. 1. Their maintenance schedule is unsustainable for how much I ride. 2. They first denied the maintenance schedule is what is clearly stated, and then blamed it on being old information, then mistranslated, then just flat out told me I wouldn't need to bring it in every 100 hours for service even though it clearly says that I would on their website's required service schedule. I will criticize anyone who I find is conducting what I find to be less than 100% honest sales practices and I don't care if anyone disagrees with me on this point. I despise dishonesty and I have no hesitation in calling it out when I'm shown irrefutable proof that a company is being sketchy. I'm not credible? Good luck with that BS. Everything I said on this show is exactly what I happened as I reported it. It isn't my fault that Flite is denying their own documentation on their maintenance schedule and it would be irresponsible for me not to report on it exactly how it is written and how it was described to me. You can blame the messenger all you want, but it is Flite that has behaved in a way that makes them look bad, I'm just telling you all what happened when I tried to buy a board. My fans will be disappointed and surprised? Well I was the one surprised by this discovery more than anyone. My fans will expect me to be consistently honest because that is all I've ever promised to be. I never said I was a show for people who get easily offended or who don't want to hear harsh truths about their favorite brands. I'm gonna call it like I see it and if I'm ever wrong, I'll be fast to report my error and make a correction. Can you tell me exactly what I got wrong in this show that needs correcting? I'm glad you've had a good experience but that has nothing to do with me thinking that bringing my board in for maintenance and spending $220 every 33.3 days is ridiculous and them covering that up is dishonest. Please keep in mind, I was unable to actually get a board so I hope you will notice, I said nothing about the performance of the board because until I ride it for myself, I don't know and cannot form an opinion. I said that in the show, at least a couple of times. I even said that it is possible the Ultra L2 is 200% better than the Lift4 Pro and if it is, it might be worth all the maintenance hassle. A surfer of my age? I honestly have no idea what my age has to do with this or if you are saying I'm a young surfer or an old surfer? What the hell point are you trying to make? You surf on a Fliteboard and are better at surfing than me? I'm sure I don't care what you surf, how well you surf, or that you are better at surfing than me, because I'm not eleven, and paralyzed with insecurity. I shouldn't waste my time reviewing boards and brand but instead just have fun on the water? Dude! What show do you freak'n think you've been watching? I published the "Brutally Honest Review of the Lift3 Pro" and I was 100% honest about all of the good and all of the bad and it helped my audience make better decisions. All I do is review stuff, ride stuff, and try to show people how much fun you can have on an efoil. I can't avoid the negative when I discover negative things. That isn't how honest reporting works and that doesn't help anyone. I'll lose a lot of fans? If I lose fans by being honest, then I'd rather have no fans and keep my integrity than be dishonest with all the fans in the world. It might feel good for everyone to ignore the bad and hand out free gold stars to everyone, but that's exactly how you get RayGun breakdancing in the Olympics. I'm actually doing more right now to help both Fliteboard and their customers by being honest than all you smug fan-boys who think that pretending a company with a really crappy maintenance schedule isn't a real thing and that it is okay for them to lie to new customers about it in the presale. What a strange insecure world you exist in to think that I have even the slightest fear of people unsubscribing or not liking me. I'm not making this show to make everyone like me. I make this show to help people discover the fun of this sport and to help them get the most out of it. If my audience can't trust me to be critical of things that deserves criticism they certainly won't get any value out of this show and might just waste their money on crap that won't bring them any joy. If that is what they want, then they gotta find another show. I'm not that guy and cannot be that guy, and even if I could, I wouldn't choose to be that guy. Again, it is better to be an honest asshole than a dishonest wallflower. This is what I believe and these are my values, and I'm fine with you criticizing me for it. Likely nothing could be better for my channel than having people out in the world telling me how much I suck for being honest. I say bring it on!
Ahoy there, @trischristian6809! Ye’ve left us a curious bit o’ text sayin’, “Dumb way to do this tbh. Shame.” Now, before we start swingin’ cutlasses o’ wit, let’s try to fathom what ye mean by that. Be ye callin’ the core concept-makin’ a show about tryin’ to buy a Fliteboard-a “dumb idea” that should’ve been scuttled in the drydock phase? Or maybe ye think, once we uncovered that Fliteboards need more fiddlin’ and fussin’ than a ship’s riggin’ in a hurricane, it was “dumb” not to keep quiet ‘bout it? Look, matey, we be elated to engage in intelligent parlay, but we ain’t mind readers. Assum'n we can divine yer intentions from a vague heap o’ words retards the flow of the conversation, and it is addlepated to think otherwise. That said, let’s clear the fog o’ misunderstanding: there be nothin’ low-intellect about the course we charted. Stephan set sail to to add a Fliteboard to his fleet and decided it would be helpful to the audience to ride along for the purchasing experience. It ain't his fault that it went down the way it did. We took a fair, thorough, and honest approach, and brought valuable insight to the eFoilin’ community and that seems at least smart enough to rub elbows with the rest of the content on TH-cam. Now, if ye’ve got a better way this tale could’ve been told, we’re all ears-seriously. But please, for the love o’ language and coherent thought, share yer ideas in a way that can be understood. Elsewise, we might start thinkin’ it’s ye who’s snackin’ on the crayons and expectin’ applause for the art ye’re creatin’. So, what say ye, @trischristian6809? Be there a point beneath yer cryptic critique, or shall we toss this one overboard and sail on?
IMPORTANT UPDATE TO THIS SHOW: Trigger warning!!! Since this episode launched, everyone who sells these boards or are loyal to this brand have been super pissy about this show. So listen up all you Fliteboys because here's the scoop.
1. I was honest and I was accurate in my reporting. I'm just the messenger. If you think I got something wrong, state the specific detail where I was inaccurate and I'll deal with it. I will no longer be responding to any posts that are just mad because I said something you don't like to hear. I'm running a show about efoiling, not running a kindergarten for your vulnerable feelings.
2. I did find a couple of turds while investigating the Fliteboard purchasing process. While I may have shined a light on the turd, it isn't my turd. It's Fliteboard's turd and it has always been there so getting mad at me for pointing out where that horrible smell was coming from isn't going to change the flavor of the stench. Yes, you might love the smell of their turd but I didn't and I really think everyone should at least be aware of the turd before they buy into the turd. Fliteboard tried to deny the existence of the turd, then to cover up and explain away the turd, and finally, just directly lied to me about the turd. For me, that's when the turd got too smelly for me to continue wanting anything to do with the turd. Oh, and for the record, the board itself still seems awesome and pretty much turd-less. It's their maintenance schedule, warranty requirements, inability to effectively answer questions, and proceed with a reasonable sense of urgency, that were caked in poop. I want this board, but will likely wait until it is available in a version with about 80% less turd.
3. I'm a brutally honest reviewer. I don't hand out free gold stars when they aren't earned. When you lack honest criticism, you get RayGun breakdancing in the Olympics. My criticisms of Fliteboard should be viewed as a beneficial service to the customer, company, and the reseller. This should be viewed as a chance to improve because if they'd done better I would have bought one right away. Flite can improve, and if they do, that's just good for everyone.
I handed my 1 year old Flite in for a 1-year service on 8th October. I got it back on 9th October and as there was nothing to replace / just cleaning the service was FREE.
Thank you, Mr. Ride. As always brilliant information!!
Thank you sir! And you are brilliant as well for recognizing my brilliance.
45:00 -Okay anyone who didn't like pirate must admit this was pretty funny. 😂 "I mean technically. It's a form of English."
Come on people. This is brilliant and creative. BTW, I bought Lift before ever viewing this. My first exposure to efoiling was a lesson in Turks and Caicos and their fleet was Lift. Why? Because of its superior reliability and performance.
Brilliant AND creative? Sir you flatter me,,, :D
Sounds like yer introduction to eFoilin’ be the stuff o’ dreams-a lesson in the turquoise waters o’ Turks and Caicos, and on a fleet o’ trusty Lift boards, no less! Aye, there be a reason so many turn to Lift: their reliability and performance are as steady as a lighthouse on a foggy night.
Now, if ye ever find yerself near Antigua, the good Captain’s home port, do look me up! I’ll gladly welcome ye aboard for a fine parlay ‘bout the joys o’ eFoilin’ over some rum or coconut water-whichever suits yer fancy. Thanks fer sharin’ yer story, and keep yer mast high, yer wings sharp, and ride on, matey! 🏴☠
Thank you for posting and being entertaining!!! Love This channel.
The bottom line both are great boards but Lift if falling behind quickly in terms of innovation, I cant wait to see if they are going to introduce a new Lift 5 next year to make a big come back!
I gotta wait 19 hour to sees me big debut? Arrr! Tis be a mighty gnarly game of stoical patience you be play'n at on the Verdant Ride. Till tomorrow then, Aye be await'n.
Yup!
Ordered a lift over a month ago in their big sale. Still haven’t gotten a battery. Board came with a crack in the nose cone that holds the motor to the mast. The pad that you stand on was glued down all the way to the board.
So far customer service has been solid. Already got the new nose cone… but I had to fix the pad myself and I’m still waiting on that battery…..
If you’re going to have a huge sale, perhaps make sure all of your parts are in stock first.
The pad was glued down to the board? I don't know what that means…
They ship the batteries from some company in California that first ships everything to Florida. Lift definitely does strange things for sure but they are usually pretty honest about their constant battery shortage on their order page.
I'm giving a preemptive thumbs up. It better be good!!! lol
Hope you enjoy
a little long, but otherwise quite enjoyable. ! keep up the good work! and i vote for LFS
LFS solution is coming up next
I couldn’t vote by clicking but solving the face plant disconnect is top priority. It’s dangerous and last time it happened to me my neck hurt for 2 weeks.
I'm on it. I figured that one would win and it already appears to be the clear winner. You'll see it in my next show, the last show of the season.
Stephan - Thank you.
I ride both 5' Flite and 5' Lift.
Some buy Flite seal kits for ~$50 and DIY and that would not satisfy the Flite warranty requirements... The actual service reportedly takes under an hour.
I am not sure to what sacrificial connector you may be referencing... The battery connectors, seem durable so far. Perhaps you are referring to the sacrificial anode that is in place to protect the aluminum mast and fuselage from galvanic corrosion 🤔
Charger is DeltaQ similar in appearance to Lift and Flite does not use a Data cable for a handshake and has different firmware and different battery connectors... There might be a way to teach your Lift charger a new proprietary trick and I expect that is unlikely.
I have also heard that Flite tends to be generous with their transferable warranty support within their 2 year warranty time frame.
You referenced a conversation with Justin Chait.... I would expect that he could provide definitive answers for the "bestest" options from Flite along with his views on Flite's support.
Please do come out to CA for a visit and play sometime after your efoiling season ends.
In my opinion, the Captain Riptide inclusion seemed like it only slowed down the flow of the video.
I bought a flite air. Love the fact that it is air. I do not worry about dinging it. Warranty is ridiculous. I am at the opposite end of using. Clocked only 8 hours on it this summer. I am on a big lake and i use it only on windless days when i can’t windfoil. Their customer service sucks, e-mail replies take forever. They failed to include a stab with the kit and made me jump through humiliating hoops wasting my time. I got the stab a MONTH later with no apology. I like to ride it though.
Whow, I'm nearly certain that you are the first person to ever tell me a negative story about their customer service! They forgot to ship the mast? Holy crap! That's a big deal. Not to tit-for-tat but Lift is more likely to accidentally ship you 2 of something rather than forget to ship something. They actually shipped me 2 controllers instead of 1. I thought it was just for redundancy but Nick told me that was an accident from before they had a decent inventory/shipping department when I met him.
LFS please Stephan.
On it. Coming soon. It will be the final show of the season.
My dear Verdant, I took the time to watch your video about Fliteboard, and I must admit I was somewhat astonished. Like you, I am not affiliated with any brands, and I love efoiling; however, unlike you, I chose Fliteboard. I live in Florida, specifically Fort Lauderdale, and I am fortunate to spend most of my time on the water, foiling almost every day. I own four boards: Pro Carbon, Ultra, and Flite Pro Air, along with the performance mast and the 80 cm black aluminum mast, as well as several batteries. Not only have I never had any issues with my equipment, but the customer service in California has always responded to my various questions and has been both present and very professional.
To give you some background, my first experience was with Lift Foil, which delivered a damaged carbon board during transport. That same board and the rest of the equipment were lost during delivery, and no one assisted me in tracking it down. Ultimately, after I went to the freight forwarder myself to retrieve my equipment, no one at Lift helped me. When I contacted Lift to ask for a goodwill gesture given all these issues, their response was entirely negative, offering only to take back the equipment by sending a representative to my boat to avoid returning it, which I did.
Sounds to me like you got the same customer service from Flite I've heard from most of their customers. Just as I had reported on the show. I'm glad to hear I'm as accurate in my reporting as I thought I was.
Lift sent a rep to handle your return personally? Damn, that seems like amazing customer support given that it was all just for a return. AND they had to find you on your boat? Like out in the middle of the ocean? Dang! Most companies would have made you ship it in and wait for it to be received before honoring a refund. Sounds to me like you encountered some rare unluckiness with your shipping and Lift came and took care of it for you. Sounds like both leading brands do a decent job of taking care of their customers.
Hi Stephan did you know or try the Competition by Aerofoils before? Thanks
Many thankd indeed also for your video on YT.👍🔝
Not yet! But they seem kinda heavy for my tastes.
LFS please
Working on it.
I don't know what is going on but it would seem that a bunch of audience members are getting their posts deleted from this particular show. I'm going to try to re-add all of them that was collected by my email when you post. I assure you I AM NOT DELETING THEM!!!!
These were all deleted from my wall but I've brought them back…
@jnergo8406
Ok, « you are that guy » able to compare Lift & Flite, and you’ve never owned or tested a Flite ? 🤣 I own a Flite, my friends own a Lift. Flite is super reliable (Lift is relatively reliable), their customer service is super responsive and commercial in a good way, maintenance is super cheap. Really, buying, owning and maintaining a Flite is a dream. I am a phd, no financial interest in any brand.
@jnergo8406
Where do you read I am bragging about being a phd (hate those guys) ? Just making a point I am not working for Flite. But as you ask me, I am an engineer in mechanics, and now a physician (family practice). My only legitimacy here is 4 years of Efoil practice with different brands
@erickorchia7613
My dear Verdant, I took the time to watch your video about Fliteboard, and I must admit I was somewhat astonished. Like you, I am not affiliated with any brands, and I love efoiling; however, unlike you, I chose Fliteboard. I live in Florida, specifically Fort Lauderdale, and I am fortunate to spend most of my time on the water, foiling almost every day. I own four boards: Pro Carbon, Ultra, and Flite Pro Air, along with the performance mast and the 80 cm black aluminum mast, as well as several batteries. Not only have I never had any issues with my equipment, but the customer service in California has always responded to my various questions and has been both present and very professional.
I thought 13k was rough. Lord help me that fliteboard cost lol
Hoping you rode the UltraL2 and not the old L for this ? Plus the carbon mast and new w1000 or 850 foils. Show notes suggest the former sadly.
I think comparing the standard Fliteboard Ultra with the aluminum mast, and maybe even the Explorer battery (though not possible for the new Ultra boards), would be a fairer and more interesting comparison to Lift. To me, Fliteboard’s dominance in the top segment seems too obvious and expected, especially considering the price range. Fliteboard is very reliable, and it's possible to service it yourself without much trouble. The biggest downside is their prices and the software; I often hear about someone experiencing a problem with a bug in the latest version.
P.S. You are right about the warranty situation it is a little sketchy. Honestly, it's most likely that if something breaks, it won't be covered anyway . Based on my experience and what I’ve seen, they are very reliable, and the warranty is for a limited period anyway.
I also think you're too focused on trying to find something sketchy. What we all care about most is the ride experience, performance, and overall reliability, you also have the option to go on a vacation and rent a Flitebord.
@@KV-lj6el For a standard rider, there's one service, and then the warranty is over. Maybe 2 for someone who really rides a lot. My local guy quoted me at $200, but he also said that in the future I could just buy the kit and do it myself so that the $200 wasn't a yearly cost... rather the $50 that you mentioned. For most, this video was a bit overkill. Agree with the Cpt. slowing it down, I think this could have been a 30 minute video. That being said, I think that it's important for people to know.
Sorry but this review doesn’t make any sense , specially on the maintenance part. Specially if you own a Lift which I’m seeing on your channel. Have you ever stood on a FliteBoard. Your Maintenance schedule is incorrect as it will need to on a nearly basis or every 100 Hours. I guess you hope Lift will see your “ objective” review and give you a new board for free😂
I can't be responsible or your ability to understand things, but I assure you, all the statements are in a language understood by most of my audience.. Yes, the maintenance was CLEARLY shown in the video as it appeared on their website at the time of recording and the time of this posting. support.fliteboard.com/hc/en-us/articles/11634398221079-2024-Range-Series-3-Warranty-1-year-or-100-Hour-Service
"The initial 1 year/100 hour and ongoing 1 year/100 hour (whichever comes first) service requires that your eFoil (mast), Flite Controller and True Glide Prop (if purchased) be serviced by an authorised service partner or Fliteboard HQ."
I hope you realize that you came in here, said I was wrong about the service schedule, then stated (roughly) the same service schedule I stated in the show which exactly matches what is on their website. I need to ask, do you recall any doctors ever referring to you as an FLK or did you ride a shorter than normal yellow school bus to school?
As I stated in my video, I am not sponsored by any efoil company or being paid (including free gear) by any efoil company. Actually, I'm not being paid at all for doing this by anyone. I'm getting a super raw deal.
It was an objective review. Any attempt to claim that it wasn't is a lie and in this show I provided a ton of evidence to that you can actually verify for yourself simply by visiting their website and reading it, assuming have the ability to comprehend wordy-words, which I'm beginning to doubt that you do not..
So you've come in there. Stated a bunch of crap that isn't true and is super easy to check, called me a shill and a liar with no evidence to support your claim.
You are trying to besmirch my both my name and my character and I think we should be asking ourselves why you are doing this? What's your role in this? Why has this show got you all tweaked out enough to come in here all huff'n and puff'n and calling names? You're look'n for a villain when all that's here is a guy who investigated a thing and then reported on what he learned.
You have no integrity, and I have no time more time for you.
Good day…
Why did Verdant delete my comment? It's surprising that you can post your critiques while claiming to be open to feedback, but when those comments don't suit you or simply challenge your viewpoint, you delete them. With this attitude, I understand better now; your video is not only false but incredibly inconsistent. Stick to making foil videos-you're much more convincing at that.
I didn't delete anything! I did notice that someone had a comment that I had responded to, because I try to respond to everyone who makes a post. Were you that guy who had the PhD statement? If so, I responded to it but I didn't delete it but I did notice that it wasn't here this morning. I'm about as pro-free-speech as you can get. I'm not saying there isn't a case I'd remove something posted here but it would need to be so unrelated to the subject matter and so offensive that I'm having a hard time imagining what that might be. I assure you, nobody has posted anything on this board that I've seen any reason to delete it.
I just checked my AI Log and no, it wasn't yours, it was this that was missing.
@jnergo8406
"1 minute ago
Ok, « you are that guy » able to compare Lift & Flite, and you’ve never owned or tested a Flite ? 🤣
I own a Flite, my friends own a Lift. Flite is super reliable (Lift is relatively reliable), their customer service is super responsive and commercial in a good way, maintenance is super cheap. Really, buying, owning and maintaining a Flite is a dream. I am a phd, no financial interest in any brand."
So I don't know what is going on but it seems as though 2 people's posts got deleted. I swear I didn't do it.
I found your post in my email. I DID NOT DELETE IT!
@erickorchia7613
My dear Verdant, I took the time to watch your video about Fliteboard, and I must admit I was somewhat astonished. Like you, I am not affiliated with any brands, and I love efoiling; however, unlike you, I chose Fliteboard. I live in Florida, specifically Fort Lauderdale, and I am fortunate to spend most of my time on the water, foiling almost every day. I own four boards: Pro Carbon, Ultra, and Flite Pro Air, along with the performance mast and the 80 cm black aluminum mast, as well as several batteries. Not only have I never had any issues with my equipment, but the customer service in California has always responded to my various questions and has been both present and very professional.
Cool. Don't see how any of your experience has even a remote correlation to what I discovered in the buying process. Everything I reported on happened and I was honest about it. If you don't like it, your beef is with Flite, not me. I didn't make the turd, I just shined a bit of light on it for all of us to fully realize the turd existed.
if you put a web link in a comment youtube auto deletes it in most cases these days , did your comment have a link?
@@CarkeekW Really? When did that start happening?
You don’t even ride Fliteboard?
I guess if that be true, this probably won't be a very good show, or perhaps it means yer not approach'n this with the most open of minds, aye?
@@VerdantRideI think you have a bias to Lift. Looking at the cliff notes/chapters it’s already in there. I would respect this channel more if you invested in Fliteboard and gave real advice between the two on YOUR real experience. Not a person that bought one. I like what you do with Lift and this channel. Calling out lift for their pros and cons from real world riding brings authenticity to this channel . If you purchased a L2 then this would be fun to watch the journey between the two given your experience. 🤙
@@ck7846 I can't have an opinion about anything till I have the experience to form one and I've been VERY careful to only express opinions on things with which I have had direct experience with. Feel free and judge my reporting once you've given me a chance to premiere my report. Till then, how about I get the assumption of possibly doing a reasonable job of being an impartial reporter of the facts as I have experienced them firsthand?
Je te trouve très sévère dans tes commentaires dans ta vidéo. Je ne comprends pas comment tu peux critiquer FliteBoard alors que tu surfes avec une autre marque. Tu n’es pas du tout crédible et cela frôle le ridicule.
Tes fans seront surpris et déçus par une telle attitude (j’aimais bien ce que tu faisais), surtout pour un surfeur de ton âge.
En ce qui me concerne, je surfe sur FliteBoard (moi aussi, tous les jours, et bien mieux que toi…). Je n’ai jamais eu de problème, bien au contraire : que du plaisir ! L’esthétique, la finition, la légèreté, la puissance, les différentes couleurs, les différentes ailes ou hélices me correspondent parfaitement.
Nathan, qui s’occupe de moi en Californie, a su répondre à mes questions et a toujours été présent quand j’en avais besoin. Il représente au mieux FliteBoard.
Nous formons aujourd'hui une petite communauté de foilers. Nous avons la chance de pratiquer un nouveau surf ; tu ne devrais pas perdre ton temps à exprimer ta colère dans une vidéo, mais plutôt à te faire plaisir sur l’eau.
Une dernière chose : tu vas perdre énormément de fans en publiant cette vidéo. Tous ceux qui aiment FliteBoard vont se désabonner, car tu critiques la marque, mais tu critiques aussi ceux qui l’ont achetée, et ça, il ne faut surtout pas le faire. En ce qui me concerne, je ne te regarderai plus.
PhilippeBour,
How can I criticize Fliteboard when I surf another brand? Well, I guess I don't understand why riding one brand or another precludes me from criticizing anything but I guess I'll explain to you why I chose to be critical of their maintenance schedule and lack of clarity on their maintenance schedule. 1. Their maintenance schedule is unsustainable for how much I ride. 2. They first denied the maintenance schedule is what is clearly stated, and then blamed it on being old information, then mistranslated, then just flat out told me I wouldn't need to bring it in every 100 hours for service even though it clearly says that I would on their website's required service schedule. I will criticize anyone who I find is conducting what I find to be less than 100% honest sales practices and I don't care if anyone disagrees with me on this point. I despise dishonesty and I have no hesitation in calling it out when I'm shown irrefutable proof that a company is being sketchy.
I'm not credible? Good luck with that BS. Everything I said on this show is exactly what I happened as I reported it. It isn't my fault that Flite is denying their own documentation on their maintenance schedule and it would be irresponsible for me not to report on it exactly how it is written and how it was described to me. You can blame the messenger all you want, but it is Flite that has behaved in a way that makes them look bad, I'm just telling you all what happened when I tried to buy a board.
My fans will be disappointed and surprised? Well I was the one surprised by this discovery more than anyone. My fans will expect me to be consistently honest because that is all I've ever promised to be. I never said I was a show for people who get easily offended or who don't want to hear harsh truths about their favorite brands. I'm gonna call it like I see it and if I'm ever wrong, I'll be fast to report my error and make a correction. Can you tell me exactly what I got wrong in this show that needs correcting? I'm glad you've had a good experience but that has nothing to do with me thinking that bringing my board in for maintenance and spending $220 every 33.3 days is ridiculous and them covering that up is dishonest. Please keep in mind, I was unable to actually get a board so I hope you will notice, I said nothing about the performance of the board because until I ride it for myself, I don't know and cannot form an opinion. I said that in the show, at least a couple of times. I even said that it is possible the Ultra L2 is 200% better than the Lift4 Pro and if it is, it might be worth all the maintenance hassle.
A surfer of my age? I honestly have no idea what my age has to do with this or if you are saying I'm a young surfer or an old surfer? What the hell point are you trying to make?
You surf on a Fliteboard and are better at surfing than me? I'm sure I don't care what you surf, how well you surf, or that you are better at surfing than me, because I'm not eleven, and paralyzed with insecurity.
I shouldn't waste my time reviewing boards and brand but instead just have fun on the water? Dude! What show do you freak'n think you've been watching? I published the "Brutally Honest Review of the Lift3 Pro" and I was 100% honest about all of the good and all of the bad and it helped my audience make better decisions. All I do is review stuff, ride stuff, and try to show people how much fun you can have on an efoil. I can't avoid the negative when I discover negative things. That isn't how honest reporting works and that doesn't help anyone.
I'll lose a lot of fans? If I lose fans by being honest, then I'd rather have no fans and keep my integrity than be dishonest with all the fans in the world. It might feel good for everyone to ignore the bad and hand out free gold stars to everyone, but that's exactly how you get RayGun breakdancing in the Olympics. I'm actually doing more right now to help both Fliteboard and their customers by being honest than all you smug fan-boys who think that pretending a company with a really crappy maintenance schedule isn't a real thing and that it is okay for them to lie to new customers about it in the presale.
What a strange insecure world you exist in to think that I have even the slightest fear of people unsubscribing or not liking me. I'm not making this show to make everyone like me. I make this show to help people discover the fun of this sport and to help them get the most out of it. If my audience can't trust me to be critical of things that deserves criticism they certainly won't get any value out of this show and might just waste their money on crap that won't bring them any joy. If that is what they want, then they gotta find another show. I'm not that guy and cannot be that guy, and even if I could, I wouldn't choose to be that guy. Again, it is better to be an honest asshole than a dishonest wallflower.
This is what I believe and these are my values, and I'm fine with you criticizing me for it. Likely nothing could be better for my channel than having people out in the world telling me how much I suck for being honest. I say bring it on!
Dumb way to do this tbh. Shame.
Ahoy there, @trischristian6809! Ye’ve left us a curious bit o’ text sayin’, “Dumb way to do this tbh. Shame.” Now, before we start swingin’ cutlasses o’ wit, let’s try to fathom what ye mean by that. Be ye callin’ the core concept-makin’ a show about tryin’ to buy a Fliteboard-a “dumb idea” that should’ve been scuttled in the drydock phase? Or maybe ye think, once we uncovered that Fliteboards need more fiddlin’ and fussin’ than a ship’s riggin’ in a hurricane, it was “dumb” not to keep quiet ‘bout it?
Look, matey, we be elated to engage in intelligent parlay, but we ain’t mind readers. Assum'n we can divine yer intentions from a vague heap o’ words retards the flow of the conversation, and it is addlepated to think otherwise.
That said, let’s clear the fog o’ misunderstanding: there be nothin’ low-intellect about the course we charted. Stephan set sail to to add a Fliteboard to his fleet and decided it would be helpful to the audience to ride along for the purchasing experience. It ain't his fault that it went down the way it did. We took a fair, thorough, and honest approach, and brought valuable insight to the eFoilin’ community and that seems at least smart enough to rub elbows with the rest of the content on TH-cam.
Now, if ye’ve got a better way this tale could’ve been told, we’re all ears-seriously. But please, for the love o’ language and coherent thought, share yer ideas in a way that can be understood. Elsewise, we might start thinkin’ it’s ye who’s snackin’ on the crayons and expectin’ applause for the art ye’re creatin’.
So, what say ye, @trischristian6809? Be there a point beneath yer cryptic critique, or shall we toss this one overboard and sail on?