Author Topic: Speeed 9-5 review ..probably not what Sunnova wanted to hear.  (Read 4430 times)

Wetstuff

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..but I've had it for a month and missed the two opportunities to paddle in some useable surf.  I have decided to not even waste time when the sideshore chop is as large as the onshore ..or the swell has no angle.  The recent hurricane did nothing but tear up the beach ..rough, ugly and fast is the best way to describe 7 or more days of it.  So this review is what a great flatwater board the 9-5 makes.






It has all the things I think I want for my forever board: a Tomo/Vanguard outline .. a new modern nose .. a great Woodie look .. plenty of nose kick for our short period swells .. a performance tail I hope to place a foot near ..someday.  ..and after lugging some serious logs - light weight.

I need width; 31.5" is enough.  I embarrassed the Chit out of myself on a 27" Gulliver V-Box having bought into the line: 'Tomo shapes are inherently stable'.  (I failed to read the small print: 'Your results may vary - Igor')  At 180lbs/82kg, 160 liters are just fine. (and sit better than the 160 of the 9-2 Allwave I had..?)

What's interesting is, the board is 'twitchy' ..but not the least bit unstable or likely to put you on your ass if you get distracted.  I have gone thru two Allwaves .. Creek's old 9-6 ..then traded it to a bigger guy for a 9-2.  They seemed less stable as I always felt like I was wearing platform shoes?!  A board I half regret selling was a Naish Nalu 10-6.5 but if memory serves, it was also a tick less stable than this 9-5 Speeed. 

Light weight make a big difference. It's cool - you don't wait around for lagging inertia. It's 'Plant Paddle/Move Now'.  I doubt it has the glide of my 12-6 but if I keep the cadence up ..it moves out.

I gather the one possible Achilles heal is the thin bottom, so I'll have to be careful about plunking it down on the ground.  No matter, this board incorporates more of the things I want in one package than any so far.   

Jim











Atlantis Mistress .. Blue Planet MultiTasker ..   Atlantis Venom

SlatchJim

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Re: Speeed 9-5 review ..probably not what Sunnova wanted to hear.
« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2015, 04:36:27 PM »
That was pretty glowing.  Why wouldn't they want to hear that?

lopezwill

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Re: Speeed 9-5 review ..probably not what Sunnova wanted to hear.
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2015, 10:54:28 AM »


Thanks for the review.  Interesting that you find it as stable 10.6 Nalu.   I like that!

  Come on back and add to the review once you have had some good surfs on it. ;)

  Love the nose rocker…looks like it would be hard to pearl (catch the nose at the bottom of a suck out wave) on even a large wave??

Wetstuff

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Re: Speeed 9-5 review ..probably not what Sunnova wanted to hear.
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2015, 12:08:10 PM »
SJ,  Those Aussies always seem to be able to fill a podium ..like 6 weeks after their first paddleout. They don't appear to have an OZ word for Flatwater. "That's not what that's for Mate!?"  ..but it works.

Ya Will... I suspect I will be saved from some embarrassing pearls.  In Shifty Peaks Land your takeoff was at <50deg. with a traditional longboard shape or you'd eat it. 

After the first paddle, I noticed this twitch/roll, so I recorded it. I can keep the paddle-side rail buried if I pay attention ..which I suspect will be helpful, along with the bottom transition, in holding an edge 'down the line'. 




Jim
Atlantis Mistress .. Blue Planet MultiTasker ..   Atlantis Venom

Wetstuff

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Re: Speeed 9-5 review ..probably not what Sunnova wanted to hear.
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2015, 06:46:18 AM »
On Oct 14th - I caught my best waves of the Summer.  The 9-5 Speeed did exactly what I had hoped...  You don't take a straight takeoff and bottom turn at my break or you eat it.  You start with a top turn and pray you're close to a shoulder. Typical time-on-wave seems to vary from 10-20 seconds ..if they're decent. 

Unlike some of the thick, soft rail boards I have had, the Speeed hooked in and stayed at the top of the wave!  On the second decent wave, I was able to actually move up/dn the face..  This without having the time to get my feet out of a stagger stance.  I have not had enough waves to practice getting my foot near the back of the pad. 

In contrast to flatwater, I spent a fair amount of time doing recovery drills. I blame it on a checkerboard swell ..primary S ..secondary E  ..and an oddly spaced N that came thru like a boat wake on lake?  On the 16th that small knee/waist of the day before went flat, so I am left with a one day result. 

My conclusion is easy however, this is clearly the best board I have ridden.  An expert with many years of practice may have a different opinion but I have bought/sold a bunch of boards to find one that could actually help improve my limited skills.  This is the first board that suits my conditions I found that actually felt like a surfboard rather than a pointy sponge. (I marginally surfed a performance longboard about 18yrs ago, so I had a memory of the feeling.)

Jim


... the weight, wet is 22lb/10kg  I failed to mention it earlier.

Atlantis Mistress .. Blue Planet MultiTasker ..   Atlantis Venom

 


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