THE ULTIMATE FOIL BOARD : Armstrong Mid-Length Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 พ.ค. 2024
- The new Armstrong Mid-Length Foil Board is here. We wanted to give this new board an in-depth review, so we loaded the van and headed for Omaha Beach, Auckland, NZ, with some of our top customers, Tony & Shawn, plus Aidan from Armstrong and Nick from Underground Surf & Foil in Orewa Beach.
Watch as we break down this board and give non-pro-riders feedback about how it went for us.
We welcome your comments and questions. Boards will be available in-store from 20 May, and preorders are open now.
View more on our website:
www.undergroundsurf.co.nz/pro...
Underground Surf & Foil are NZ's leading Armstrong Specialist Dealer. We carry a high range of Armstrong demo gear and offer private coaching and guided demo sessions.
Contact Nick to book at +64212891660 nick@undergroundsurf.co.nz
Visit our store: search.app.goo.gl/NksGVtv
Video of our store: • Armstrong Foil Store b...
WEBSITE: www.undergroundsurf.co.nz/
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Hi great review. Would love to see a video on just the pop up for winging, prone and F Drive. All three boards 70kg 85kg riders. Light wind snd small waves. This is what everyone wants to know about this board. Cheers
Thanks for the video. I am a intermediate rider, with solid jibes and 50% on toe side tacks, currently riding the 70l FG. At 83 kgs light winds mean going to my 121l DW board but really looking for something to fill in the 10-12 knots without using the DW board. So 75L or 85L, comments?
I’ll never understand reviews that don’t show people popping up.
I’ve been curious about it as a step-up prone board and possible wing board. Just seems too small as a wing board. And seems too big as a prone board.
At the price, it almost seems more worth it to get the dedicated downwind board.
Great to see some NZ content! keep it up.
Thanks Craig
What size would you recommend for an 70kg rider intermediate level? For wingfoiling?
Epic! Great to see you guys having the stoke. 🙂 I'm waiting for my 55 and 75. Greetings from Finland! 👍🏼
Thanks for the comment. Awesome you will love it! If you make it to NZ pop in and say hi.
Thanks is for the clip. I would love to see pop up on the wing in flat water as well.
Hi great to see you all so stoked. I'm 61 and 75 kilos, I wing with an FG 58 liter. trying to decide between I guess a ML 55 or 65, what your thoughts as im getting into prone as well. cheers
Hi, if you keep the 58, then I would go for the 55L for prone and winging. I'm 87kg and use the 58 if the wind is above 12 knots. For me, a light wind wingboard will be a 75L ML. A 55L would be a great travel-prone wingboard for you but unlikely to get you winging in under 9 knots. I've only used the 55L once, and it was patchy in light wind. I'm looking forward to spending more time on it. Feedback has been strong on the 55L from guys in the low, mid 70kg range as they perfected the size for a cross-over board.
Hi guys i am from Germany most of the time riding light wind with my HA 1180 i am on 95kg i would like to have a ML board for being earlier on the water should i take a 85 or should i wait for the 100? Thanks
Massive Tony and Nick. I'm 90kgs like TC , and was hard to get my head around how narrow the 55L looks but seeing it in action and listening to comments is really reassuring 👌If you went up to the 65L would you lose much performance, save battery on the FD max .What size ML would you recommend with the HA980 + FD Max( same weight rider, similar skill getting 45min on 1 battery in current set up. Thanks
Hey Byron, (This relates to using with FD Max) The width has only really been an issue when it was super choppy in a down winder. Water was bouncing off the rocks in low period wind vs tide swell. In saying that it was only a few mins and I was away. 65L is defiantly going to be easier and glide better and could cross into a wing board option better for you but you loose a little but of pump to connect waves. If you motor between waves then it's not going to be an issue. The only reason the 65 could become an issue would be if you have to duck dive or riding in more critical part of the wave its a bit longer in the pocket. If its just catching the swells and the above dosen't come into effect and if you want to use to DW and want a bit more security should you have a motor/ battery issue the 65 is a good option. Like everything pros and cons in a perfect world you would have all sizes :)
Specifically for winging in lighter winds, I was wondering if the 65 L at 19" wide would allow me to knee start like usual on my regular 80 L board ? I'm 5'8 and 70 kg usually with a 5m sail in 13 kts.
Hi, The 65 is not as stable as the 80L to knee start on especially if it's rough short period conditions but you are likely to be fine if it is flat and windy and you have good wing control while on your knees. If you want to replace the 80 and wing then the 75 would be a good option for lite wind. The 65 to the 75 is only 5 inches and it's like a DW board so you ride forward making the nose feel only a couple of inches longer. If you can comfortably wing a 58/60L normal FG board then 65L ML would be fine. If not I would recommend the 75. But at 70kg you would be fine on a 60L board if past the learner stage. The ML get going faster once to the water surface but harder to get to the surface due to the width so good wing control is key.
@@UndergroundSkateSurf Thanks for the detailed response, makes perfect sense. Great content 💯
Learn the Stinkbug start. There are many videos and it’s easier on these narrow boards because you can start off comfortably in the straddle position.
I’m in the same quandary. I have 400 days on the water and ride the 75FG and the 60FG. I was looking for light wind replacement for the 75FG without going to the downwind board lengths. Your comment makes me think I could ride the 60ML but do I really want to work that hard in light wind? Is the 75ML as close to as stable as the 75FG? On the FG I can maintain buoyancy and balance in 5kts waiting for that gust. But, the FG might need 12kt gust that lasts a few seconds. I’m hoping the ML means I only need a 9 gust for less time. Would that be case?
I can't understand why the average Jo wants to get the smallest board ever, maybe if you're a pro but for the majority of guys they will go for a one board that does all. When you say a 20" board or smaller is stable, does that not depend on what front wing you have under the board keeping it stable? Many thanks for the video.
HI it really depends on your ability and what you want to do. My advice would be the ML is only for foilers your are in a decent intermediate stage and don't fall that often and have good wing skills. If you ride a smaller / narrower board you can ride smaller foils as the swing weight of the board is less. I certainly fall less when I rider a smaller board vs a bigger board as it's much easier once you are foiling. If you only fall every half hour max then a small board is much better. If falling is frequent then 100% make sure you have a board around your body weight and a wider easy foil to get you going again. There nothing worse than getting stuck.
Thanks for your feedback and reply, stay safe, cheers
Hi Kris. All valid questions and good point re pop up. This video shows getting to foil in light wind and Aidan pops up prone on the board in the video. It’s a board that works for both. th-cam.com/video/7m8wC3IKU0g/w-d-xo.htmlsi=PdzMfsyVNzJIAPj7
industry keep reinventing whats the best. these mid lenghts are what boards were 5 years ago, before the industry decided boards needed to be 4ft then 3ft then 7ft then 8ft then
I wondered the same thing, but then I heard the Progression Project podcast, episode 127, where Erik and Mike Pedigo are discussing their version of the midlength, called the Portal Enigma. They start discussing the topic from timestamp 12:40, and here's a snippet from around the 21 minute mark:
Erik: "Boards started off bigger, but we didn't understand swing weight, we didn't understand box placement, we didn't understand touch points. And now that the downwind has taught us that, you make the mid-length, and it's no longer a 5'6, like it would have been three years ago, now it's a 5'6, that's surfing like a 4'5."
Mike: "Yeah, I was thinking about that. If we had, you know, four or five years ago, when we were all starting to surf foil, if you got on a 5'6, it would feel giant, and it would feel super heavy in swing weight."
Erik: "It's like a downwind board."
Mike: "But the problem was, we hadn't really, we were still kind of designing and placing boxes similar to... with too much of a surf influence. You know, so like we were, back then you would have had a 5'6, and you'd be standing close to the tail, and you'd have a mile of board in front of you, and it would feel heavy, and you'd get on a 4 foot board and go, oh, this feels, mountains better. Well, it felt mountains better because the swing weight is more balanced. The board's more balanced. But now, you know, whereas then we weren't, we didn't quite have that grasp yet of placement and swing weight balance, and now, like you're saying, like with the downwinds teaching us, we're positioning our boxes on these mid lengths where you're really not, there's not much negative on swing weight that you're feeling. So you're getting the benefits of the volume without many negatives on the swing weight. It's minute, I would say. I mean, it's there. I can feel the difference... But the payoffs have been so well worth it.”
From The Progression Project: 127 - Mike Pedigo, 6 Feb 2024