Paddle questions

[Esteroali]

Wow that's all great info guys exactly what I was looking for. So here is an idea, I live on a beautiful tidal river in warm sunny SW Florida. How about if I have a Paddle Party and you guys can bring all 40 paddles that you own and let me demo them. Free mango jam and coconut key lime liquor, the best damn legal stuff in a jar ever, to all participants. Do any of these companies demo paddles by mail? If not they should.
One additional question, what is the difference between the two levels of paddles on the ZRE site. Is it worth it to go with the higher option? The flex shaft option iisnt listed there, is that because it's heavier?? Which shaft option is best for me? Does the blemished option make a difference? And WHY do they put all of those goofy stickers on the paddles?

[yugi]

Excuse me, but what’s with the “higher cadence” objective, and why do you expect a smaller blade do that?

OK, a smaller blade is exquisitely flickable, which reduces your recovery time. However the idea is to set the blade really well and pull yourself on it to propel your craft.

Not saying don’t go smaller blade. Do, but realize you can get a good long power pull in the water with a small blade. The combo of small and powerful is the best of both worlds IMO.

[Area 10]

Good idea with the "paddle party". I'd bring 22 (my current paddle quiver) but I live across the Atlantic.

The ZRE graphics are shamefully bad IMO. They need a serious re-think.

Many of the brands make paddles with graphics aimed to appeal to women. Kialoa and Quickblade in particular. My wife actually doesn't like ones with girly graphics, saying that she doesn't need to advertise her gender. But other women I paddle with take a very different view. Most of the top female athletes however seem fine with paddling plain carbon ones (albeit with sponsor stickers all over them), and I don't think anyone is likely to mistake someone like Candice for a man But maybe this is a topic I should be staying well clear of since it's the sort of thing that evokes strong opinions no matter what you say...

It would be interesting to know which model/size/blade angle ZRE Annabel Anderson uses. Of course, although she is a nano-person in physical size, she still generates more power at the blade than 99% of men, mind you. So her choices might be the choices of an outlier.

[Area 10]

Excuse me, but what’s with the “higher cadence” objective, and why do you expect a smaller blade do that?

OK, a smaller blade is exquisitely flickable, which reduces your recovery time. However the idea is to set the blade really well and pull yourself on it to propel your craft.

Not saying don’t go smaller blade. Do, but realize you can get a good long power pull in the water with a small blade. The combo of small and powerful is the best of both worlds IMO.

Yes, quite. A small paddle will only increase your cadence if it slips or you do something different with it. Increased cadence can also mean less time spent pulling and more time in recovery so you need to make sure the quality of your strokes is very good and you are working within the optimum power range. Otherwise you are just spinning your wheels: it may look dramatic but it ain't fast. Danny Ching etc have a famously low cadence and are some of the fastest paddlers on the planet. Annabel Anderson's cadence is slower than Candice Appleby's but I think we'll all agree that in a straight line in flat water Annabel is the fastest in the world.

[yugi]

^ important stuff to think about when selecting next paddle IMO

just sayin'

[burchas]

One additional question, what is the difference between the two levels of paddles on the ZRE site. Is it worth it to go with the higher option? The flex shaft option iisnt listed there, is that because it's heavier??

Their cheaper option paddle is offered with a flex shaft which is a little heavier due to Carbon and fiberglass combo.

The higher end flex is their lightest due to thinner shaft wall. This is the model I have and it is so light you can barely feel the paddle in your hand (super strong though). My new ZRE is about 30% lighter than my Trifecta.

If you're going with the factory seconds option, you might as well go with their lower end paddle, there will be a small difference.

I agree about the stickers, they are bad, everyone says so. Good thing they can be easily removed Unlike the QB. I usually remove them within a week or two. I would just ask ZRE not to include the blade sticker, maybe this will sink in that they need to update.

It would be interesting to know which model/size/blade angle ZRE Annabel Anderson uses.

Annabel latest paddle is the same my new one (the lightning custom), with a platinum blade and the super light shaft. At PPG it looks like she was using either the 80 or 85 with the 18inch blade (based on the shape).

[yugi]

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My new ZRE is about 30% lighter than my Trifecta.
...

Hello! Now I'm listening...

[Area 10]

...
My new ZRE is about 30% lighter than my Trifecta.
...

Hello! Now I'm listening...

Doesn't lighter mean less material. And less material generally mean less durable?

But if you are someone who wants the very lightest paddles, I don't think Quickblade is particularly the place to go. There is a local brand near me whose all-carbon paddles are about half the price of the Quickblade ones and they are much lighter. Good performance too. But I still use my Quickblades more than anything else: beyond a certain point I'm really not sure that reducing weight makes much difference. However, I'm certainly glad that the 25-30 oz paddles of old have bitten the dust though

I'd like to try one of those ZRE paddles. It would be crazy expensive for me to import one from the UK though, and the new designs aren't available here I don't think. I did buy a ZRE a while back, but when it turned up it was so badly finished (the blade wasn't even close to being symmetrical and the whole thing looked generally shabby) that I sent it back. The shaft was very big too, and the handle. But maybe things have changed lately. It has always seemed to me that ZRE has the potential to be market leaders in SUP paddles.

[burchas]

...
My new ZRE is about 30% lighter than my Trifecta.
...

Hello! Now I'm listening...

Doesn't lighter mean less material. And less material generally mean less durable?

To a certain degree for sure, but not for its intended usage though.
I would probably not use that one when some surf is involved, or if
I'm 200+ LBR. But other than that why would I not use it.

 I guess I'm more lucky on that regard since I have a smaller frame thus more options.

If you are doing a lot of upwind paddling, this paddle does make a big difference, you get almost no resistance but you do have to be careful, it is so light an the wind will take it very easily if you let it.

It is also great for downwind as it is so easy to go 90spm in bursts due to its weight and profile

[Bean]

Lighter does not always mean less durable...different engineering, production methods, cloths, resins, etc.

[hbsteve]

On some videos posted in a different section of the Zone recently, John Puakea said it's about time in the water, not stroke rate.

[Area 10]

Lighter does not always mean less durable...different engineering, production methods, cloths, resins, etc.

No, of course not. But the question is whether it does in this particular case. I'd have thought that if there was a way to make his paddles lighter and at the same time more durable, whilst maintaining cost and performance, someone like Jim Terrell (or Ke Nalu for that matter, since they are not extraordinarily light either) would be all over it. Paddle technology is pretty basic, it's not as if there will be a patent or trade secret that will be preventing manufacturers from using the best method.

Is this ZRE paddle shaft stiff? The one I tried was very stiff. That might be another reason for different layups, perhaps - if you wanted to have different flex characteristics.

[burchas]

Is this ZRE paddle shaft stiff? The one I tried was very stiff. That might be another reason for different layups, perhaps - if you wanted to have different flex characteristics.

The ZRE lightweight shaft has nice flex to it. His stiff shaft, which I had on my first one was too much for me. This one is very different. It's slightly more stiff then their carbon-fiberglass combo shaft.

If I compare it to my Trifecta with the oval shaft, it is more flexible as well

The thing with ZRE is that they make custom paddles right in their US factory and it's not imported production shafts as I believe its the case of QB so they can accommodate as they did in our group order for the NYC members.

If you want a 75sqi blade with more flex in your shaft, they'll do it like they did in mine, he just told me not to go surf ocean waves with it, which was never my intent. If I would, I have a better suited shaft for that, more stiff and super strong.

The fact is, when you go custom, you have more options, still, the price is lower than the QB either way.

[Eagle]

Cadence increases with a smaller blade because you can get a fast flick recovery - especially noticeable when paddling upwind in around 15 kts.  And when power sprinting it pays to have slippage with a faster cadence.  That is really noticeable if you sprint yourself or watch the Lost Mills video.

But always best to just time yourself over 5 miles or over sprints - to find out what works best for you when.  7.2 mph while sprinting is fast enough for a crappy average joe paddler like me.  But these guys show how it really should be done.  Would like to see their GPS track and max speed graphs as well.

[Quickbeam]

Wow that's all great info guys exactly what I was looking for. So here is an idea, I live on a beautiful tidal river in warm sunny SW Florida. How about if I have a Paddle Party and you guys can bring all 40 paddles that you own and let me demo them. Free mango jam and coconut key lime liquor, the best damn legal stuff in a jar ever, to all participants. Do any of these companies demo paddles by mail? If not they should.
One additional question, what is the difference between the two levels of paddles on the ZRE site. Is it worth it to go with the higher option? The flex shaft option iisnt listed there, is that because it's heavier?? Which shaft option is best for me? Does the blemished option make a difference? And WHY do they put all of those goofy stickers on the paddles?

Esteroali,

If you are interested in ZRE, you might want to give them a call. They are very helpful and will answer any questions you might have.