eazyrider1600949555

This is a new board for 07 and replaces the Comp 6. Specs: Price £245 (haggle I got mine for £225) Cam lock F3 bindings T3 tyres (red) Rockstar hubs (white) Stainless steel fittings Vector channel trucks Weight 5.9kg Axle-to-axle length 88cm I have owned this board for just over four months now. Due to its short size this board is not really for beginners or for general cruising, the shortness can make it a little twitchy underfoot (a longer board around 100cm provides a more stable platform for learning and cruising). But its short length makes it ideal for progressing into freestyle trickery. The deck has a lovely pop to it, which is great for getting that extra bit of height to nail a grab and also really softens those big heavy landings if you don't quite nail the redirection. I weigh over 11st and so far have never had the deck bottom out on me i.e. where the deck flex's so much on landing that it hits the floor! The Vector trucks which are a hybrid of skate and channel trucks. They're lighter than most channel trucks and more stable than skate trucks. They come with orange pivot bushings as standard and I found these a little to stiff for my liking and have changed them for the softer white coloured ones. Carving is a joy on this board with white rubbers, I can carve 180deg within a 4ft radius! Heelside to toeside downloop transitions feel firm and solid on this deck even if the lines go slack halfway round. The shortness of the deck and the lightness of the Vector trucks means most tricks just flow instead of being forced! Heelside to toeside slides and snaps are so easy its almost funny and rotations in the air are easier due to the low spin weight of the board. Grabs are also easier as there is less swing weight on the board its much easier to get the board up to your hands. I still cant get board off's so I cant comment on them but Im sure they would be easy with this deck LOL. The T3 tyres offer hoooge amounts of grip on sand but its easy to snap the deck round to toeside. A friend I ride with has the same board and he uses the less grippy T1 tyres if he's riding on grass as he feels the T3's offer too much grip. Pro's and con's: Pro's: read above! Con's: I dislike the cam lock F3 bindings. OK so they wont tighten them selves up when you kick it off mid jump but there's times it feels like I've broken a finger trying to undo the cam lock. I like to change my bindings for varying weather and beach conditions, and this is a chore with the 'cam locks' I managed to egg a wheel with in the first few hours of owning the board, and also managed to mangle one of the trucks on a big landing. But after sending pic's to MBS I had a replacement sent to me within the week, with an email saying they had never seen one that bent and that they are now changing the design and casting of the trucks. They also sent me the softer white rubbers for free! So that's one that should sorta go in the pro's section above. Conclusion: The MBS Comp 90 is a great freestyle board and unless you regularly jump over 10ft and do 1240's in the air and going pro this board would suite most beginner, intermediate freestyle riders. It holds down loads of power thanks to the T3's carves wonderfully thanks to the Vector trucks and has great pop and flex in the deck with out it being to soft for the bigger landings. I have come down hard from jumps of 10-15ft and kicked it off from the same heights to and apart from the truck the decks held up great, apart from a bit of paint flaking of from the side rails. The biggest person I've seen bouncing on one of these was around 15st and the deck looked fine, but there isn't many 15st freestylers out there. I would say if you under 11st use the white rubbers for ease of carving and over 11st I would stick with the standared orange rubbers for a more stable ride.The cam lock thing is just personal (I like ratchet bindings) and the bent truck is just me as I have broke every board I own. But all in all I would highly recommend this board to any rider looking to get into freestyle boarding! By : eazyrider

Hi this is my review of the 5m Beamer II. This was my second kite, the first was a 2.5m Beamer and I would warn anyone who is getting in to this sport that, personally I would get a smaller kite first. Even though the beamers are low lift kites, in the right (or wrong) winds this kite can lift me a good 6 foot plus and I’m 11 stone. The whole package I can imagine that every one and their granny knows about the BIG zipper on the HQ bag, but it’s like Marmite you either love it or hate it. The one thing that does impress me about the Beamer range is that every thing is in the bag to get you flying as quickly as possible, Kite, lines, handles, kite killers, and ground stake. You also get a good manual explaining the basics and how to set the kite up and about tuning the brake bridle. Now the main problem with HQ is that the handles aren’t all that comfy to hold, but they are good enough to start with BUT the kite killers do leave a bit to be desired as there have been many a report that they have snapped when used. Not good. There has been word that the KK’s prob has been sorted, but a set of Flexifoil handles with KK’s is about £10-15 and feel much nicer. The flying experience The first flight with the 5m Beamer was in about 10mph winds down the beach, after only flying the 2.5m Beamer the power this kite has is a real eye opener it pulled like a train. As I was accustomed to setting the kite up by now, this was no problem for me and soon had the kite ready for take off, a gentle pull on the handles was all that was needed and it went straight up to the zenith and sat there waiting for me to do something so I did and brought it down the side of the window and swung it though the power zone and scudded through soft sand like never before. This kite does prefer clean wind but as the beamer’s are a stable kite inland flying is not to bad. The kite only lifts you if you work it or do something silly with it, at my weight I could fly the kite in winds up to 20mph before it really started to lift me at the zenith and in winds above 15mph it has to much power to static fly comfortably but this is the perfect speed to board in (my opinion).This kite has enabled me to master boarding techniques like power slides, broard slides, 180 to toe side and a few more besides. I have been down the beach before a few times and had seen people with 4.9 blades not doing much, and me and my mate will be screaming up and down the beach this kite, it installs confidence Summary A great cheap second kite if your not into brand names, but the same as with anything cheap you do get what you pay for. The kite is very well made and fly’s very well, you need at least an 8mph wind to get moving in and it is the first to come down when it starts to rain. With static flying it gives a great work out and if you do a figure of eight you will just scud non stop down wind. In anything over 10mph a harness is a must if you want to fly for more than 10-15 minuets, I don’t own this kite any more but I would recommend it to any one who wants a medium sized budget kite, in fact I do miss the 5m meter Beamer. Six months of owning and flying this kite had given me the confidence and skill to move on to a more powerful kite. Down the beach one day and a couple approach me and start to chat, it turns out he had a 4.9m BladeIII and had owned it for about a year and had a Silver reef board which he got at the same time. I had been boarding for about 4-5 months, after a while of me and him going up and down the beach, both him and his wife said I looked a lot more relaxed and rode better than him. I know own a 4.9m BladeIII. If your one of them people who wants to get into boarding but don’t to spend money on a kite to learn with and then another when you get good, then your daft I know about light winds first then progress but from what I’ve seen this doesn’t work that well. A 5m kite of any make will generate a lot of power the Beamer lets you discover this with out wanting to kill you. Author : eazyrider