MBS Sol 16

The MBS Sol 16 is a discontinued model that went out of production around 4 years ago. Now don't let this put you off because it's actually a bit of a bargain and thats why I'm writing this review.

I got my Sol 16 on E-bay for £55, new about 6 months ago. I took a gamble as I knew nothing about kite boarding and it paid off as this mountain board absolutely does the buisness at 1/3 of the price of a new MBS board now.

The biggest advantage of the Sol 16 over cheap Scrub, MBS (Core 😎 or Kheo boards is that they have sprung matrix trucks rather than basic skateboards trucks.

The biggest difference between a Sol 16 and the more expensive Core 16 is the board itself. It's just not as flexible and is slightly (a couple of cm) shorter.

The other main difference is that the matrix trucks have a slightly different mounting system on the board and don't have on-the-fly adjustment using an allen key. This doesn't mean that you can't control the damping as the Sol 16 uses the modern range of egg shocks just as the Core 16 does.
 

Having used both boards mainly for kiting and a little downhill it's my opinion that whilst the Core 16 does ride better downhill there is little to choose when kiteboarding on the ground. The bounce in the Core 16's deck does make a difference if you are getting air and bouncing around but as a begginers/stay-on-the-ground board it is as stable and manouverable as a Core 16.

Additional advantages are that it uses the same basic binding system as the Core 16 so it can still be repaired/upgraded, it has slick tyres for grass and beach speed and best of all it comes in a retro stylish varnished wood finish which is most chic!

Whilst you would struggle to find a new one they go on e-bay for about £50 and are well worth a look if you want a cheap way into kite boarding!

By : monkeyherbet