Author Topic: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review  (Read 29145 times)

yugi

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #45 on: October 15, 2016, 12:21:29 AM »
Yep. Both are devilishly stable, light, fast on flats. Really outstanding on those 3 counts: fast, stable , light. Agreeable in chop. Good in sidewinds.

Upwind  in heavy seas both poke a lot. They are very low rocker. The Maliko does so elegantly (water quickly flow off) and while it’s not all that great to have water over your board it doesn’t seem to slow you. The Sidewinder, however, gets it's brakes slammed on whenever that big round nose hits a wave front on.

They are more race boards than downwind boards. They are stable enough and fast enough to plane, of course. One needs to move quick and be really really good to not let those low noses hit a wave in front of you. Funnily, for short sharp or mixed up wave downwinds neither are as fast as one expects. They are so straight they work better when waves get stretched out. It’s doable, and if you paddle hard you can railroad the bumps, but it really takes skills. And, of course, develops skills.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2016, 12:26:47 AM by yugi »

warmuth

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #46 on: October 15, 2016, 02:04:48 AM »
  Thanks guys. Seems like they're probably close enough to consider price as a factor. Being there are a lot of M shaped courses it's going to be headwind, sidewind, crosswind etc all in the same race, with accompanying ocean swell. Volume wise it's not a big deal to me, I'm 165-170 throughout the year. Ability to handle quarter to side chop and mixed up conditions is probably the prime concern I have. I hear you about the low rocker and short period stuff downwind wise but the trade off to be faster in every other situation is probably a good one. Right now I'm covered for flat water with the V3 but 10mph plus and it stops working for me as the giant nose gets pushed around far too easily and almost has to be oriented upwind or down.

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #47 on: October 15, 2016, 02:08:23 AM »
That's really good info Yugi, thanks. So the Maliko isn't noticeably better than the Sidewinder in short period messy stuff?

Have you tried the Bark Vapor in small short period stuff? It's great. It too is fairły flat rocker and a prone paddleboard nose. But it's pretty easy to avoid poking the nose and although it's more probably technical to downwind than an All Star, it also feels much "surfier" and is a good compromise if you want the surfy feel of something like a M14 but the ease of getting into bumps, and average speed, of a flatter rockered board. It is surprising how what seem like small differences in design can make a big difference downwind. I was expecting the Vapor and the Sidewinder to be fairly similar since they both have wide tails, similar widths, flattish rocker and prone paddleboard type noses. But the Sidewinder is noticeably faster in flat water and the Vapor is noticeably faster and more fun downwind.

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #48 on: October 15, 2016, 02:28:05 AM »
  Thanks guys. Seems like they're probably close enough to consider price as a factor. Being there are a lot of M shaped courses it's going to be headwind, sidewind, crosswind etc all in the same race, with accompanying ocean swell. Volume wise it's not a big deal to me, I'm 165-170 throughout the year. Ability to handle quarter to side chop and mixed up conditions is probably the prime concern I have. I hear you about the low rocker and short period stuff downwind wise but the trade off to be faster in every other situation is probably a good one. Right now I'm covered for flat water with the V3 but 10mph plus and it stops working for me as the giant nose gets pushed around far too easily and almost has to be oriented upwind or down.
I can't speak for the Maliko but the Sidewinder is certainly pretty good in those conditions. The 14x25 is stable enough for a wobbly old guy like me, but it can tip quite fast when it does go. There is also a 14x27 which I imagine would be as stable as a rock but still plenty fast - maybe actually faster in real messy conditions where stability = speed (as Larry Cain pointed out). So if balance is an issue that might be the one to go for. But at your weight and if you are at least a semi-serious racer, then I'd have thought the Sidewinder would be great for choppy crap. Yugi is right that if you slam the nose into a big incoming wave it does slow you down. But what he didn't say is that you soon learn not to do that. Step back a bit and let the nose ride up and over. Upwind in small chop the Sidewinder goes very well, and has some of the advantages that a boof-nosed board would have in just riding over the ripples.

The Maliko sounds really good too. I can't imagine its much faster (or maybe not even as fast) in flat water. There's not actually much difference between the Sidewindwr and the U-Boat in flat water, at least for a weekend warrior. So, I think you are right, maybe price and construction might be a factor in your decision.

ukgm

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #49 on: October 15, 2016, 02:46:16 AM »
I was preparing to drive for 5 hours to demo the Maliko today. But unfortunately the world had other plans. Shame. Thank heavens for DJ and the few other contributors here who can give us information. It's a shame that the video reviews by retailers that are available at present don't show the board on the water or back to back with each other. I was watching the riders on Malikos keenly at the PPG and it does seem to sit in the water nicely.

But the Malikos are so expensive, and carbon board depreciation so high, that it feels like a demo is mandatory.

I'm not able to give you a completely objective opinion on this but I do agree. It needs trying. Having had a few piercing bow boards in a row, I found the new Maliko nose a bit disconcerting at first. However, its such an easy board to get on with. It's robustness is considerably more improved from the 2016 version and it's certainly at least as good as the sidewinder for that (but having held both, I personally thinks its better). However it costs more and residuals might be an issue for some.


viatormundi

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #50 on: October 19, 2016, 12:54:38 PM »
At the end I have decided to order a 2017 Sidewinder 14X25 in white color. Delivery is estimated to be end of February.

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #51 on: October 20, 2016, 01:58:49 AM »
Great. Let us know how you get on with it.

viatormundi

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #52 on: October 21, 2016, 01:08:33 PM »
Great. Let us know how you get on with it.

Sure, I will give an update. Let's hope that it comes in one piece.  ;D

The version in white looks like this.


baddog

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #53 on: October 23, 2016, 09:20:38 AM »
The white looks way "cooler" then the gray, and I mean that literally.  I like the looks as well :)

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #54 on: October 23, 2016, 10:47:27 AM »
Yeah I like the white too. However the light grey pad might well show every little piece of dirt and be hard to keep clean. I hope the present trend for single colour, light colour pads passes soon. The old Naish white ones were a nightmare to keep looking anything but tatty. Camo pads seem to work best for hiding dirt.

viatormundi

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #55 on: October 23, 2016, 12:48:16 PM »
Yeah I like the white too. However the light grey pad might well show every little piece of dirt and be hard to keep clean. I hope the present trend for single colour, light colour pads passes soon. The old Naish white ones were a nightmare to keep looking anything but tatty. Camo pads seem to work best for hiding dirt.

I wouldn't be surprised when we see some future boards without pads but with rspro type hexatraction pads. Weigh less and work quiet good indeed.

burchas

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #56 on: October 23, 2016, 01:13:49 PM »
Yeah I like the white too. However the light grey pad might well show every little piece of dirt and be hard to keep clean. I hope the present trend for single colour, light colour pads passes soon. The old Naish white ones were a nightmare to keep looking anything but tatty. Camo pads seem to work best for hiding dirt.

I wouldn't be surprised when we see some future boards without pads but with rspro type hexatraction pads. Weigh less and work quiet good indeed.

The EVA pad has big advantage over the Hexatraction in cushioning especially for the long distance runs.

That said, on my new upcoming board I've requested a Cutout EVA pad on the standing and kickpad areas, everything in between is Hexatraction.
in progress...

viatormundi

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #57 on: October 25, 2016, 01:42:28 PM »
Yeah I like the white too. However the light grey pad might well show every little piece of dirt and be hard to keep clean. I hope the present trend for single colour, light colour pads passes soon. The old Naish white ones were a nightmare to keep looking anything but tatty. Camo pads seem to work best for hiding dirt.

I wouldn't be surprised when we see some future boards without pads but with rspro type hexatraction pads. Weigh less and work quiet good indeed.

The EVA pad has big advantage over the Hexatraction in cushioning especially for the long distance runs.

That said, on my new upcoming board I've requested a Cutout EVA pad on the standing and kickpad areas, everything in between is Hexatraction.

For long distance races we use shoes with special foot soles lately.

burchas

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #58 on: October 25, 2016, 02:22:09 PM »
I use water shoes regardless, but I'd like a link to that special foot sole if you please, would like to check it out.

Very pretty board BTW, looks like an awesome ride!
« Last Edit: October 25, 2016, 02:24:35 PM by burchas »
in progress...

yugi

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Re: Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder Review
« Reply #59 on: October 25, 2016, 02:51:32 PM »
what does the foot sole do?

 


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