Leap of Faith - SIC FX 14????

[burchas]

I am handing off my X Pro tomorrow, depositing the check and placing my order.

Good for you Congrats!

[Area 10]

I think I'll probably make the same leap of faith. No chance of a demo in the UK.

[Rideordie]

I think you have talked yourself into it Area10!!  I ordered mine today!! Should arrive late January, early February. Something to look forward to. Guess I will get reacquainted with my X14 and V2 Glide until then. 

[Muskoka SUP]

Nice choice... Nothing quite like the stoke of pulling the trigger... Life's too short to hum and ha about things that make you happy.. Also good to see you've hung onto your V2 Glide...  .    Anyways, keep us posted as soon as you get it..

[Rideordie]

Thanks Muskoka!!  I am stoked and it feels good!!  I don't think I will ever sell my Glide v2. That board has a soul. 

[Rideordie]

Tick-tock, tick-tock....counting down time until my board ships out on the container ship in the next week or so.  I have been riding the 28.5 inch wide x 14 SCC, since I sold my x 14 Pro two months ago.  Feels like a barge.  My pace is off and I am struggling a bit to to keep up with my training partners.  Grrr....   Having race board withdrawl.  On the upside, I have a new Speed Coach 2.  Go Pro suction mount for it is on order.  Got a new leash and a new set of side zip booties.  I wonder how long it will take to ship from the Cobra factory to container delivery in the US?  Two weeks or so?  I am hoping for a mid-January  or early February delivery.  My birthday is Feb 5th.  I am hoping for an early present!!                       

[Rakky]

Any more info out there for the SIC FX 14? 
I saw one in the store, FX 14, 26'' wide and 266L. 
Seems like the production boards coming out next month are 25'' wide and 290L. 
I am ready to get one - need some Zoner input.  The 26'' looks great.  Apart from this, is there a significant difference between the boards, and why the volume difference?   
There is an interesting discussion on Seabreeze.  Wondering if any of you had updates on 26'' or 25'', and reviews. 

[UKRiverSurfers]

I think I'll probably make the same leap of faith. No chance of a demo in the UK.

Do it..

[yugi]

I think I'll probably make the same leap of faith. No chance of a demo in the UK.

Call SIC EU in germany and get them to organise you one. They must be interested in the UK market. Just convince them that no-try = no-buy. It's hardly far!

[Area 10]

I think I'll probably make the same leap of faith. No chance of a demo in the UK.

Call SIC EU in germany and get them to organise you one. They must be interested in the UK market. Just convince them that no-try = no-buy. It's hardly far!

I wish that was a practical solution. But it would probably cost them more money to send one from Germany to the UK and back than they'd make profit on the board. Flow Sports (the SIC EU distributors) don't really have a strategy for the UK. The UK is very much in the grip of the windsurf brands with their superior distribution chains, and the volume of sales of upper-end SUPs doesn't make it an attractive option for someone to sign and exclusive deal to represent SIC in the UK market.

The impact of the fantastically high cost of these boards in the EU is possibly not fully understood if you live in e.g. the US. A SIC FX in the UK is going to cost around FOUR THOUSAND dollars US. A 17-4 Bullet will cost over 5000 US dollars. There are relatively few people in the UK who can or will spend that much on a SUP, which will be out of date in one season, and which you are very unlikely to be able to demo.

So the overwhelming number of sales in the UK are inflatables. They outnumber hard board sales about 10 to 1. A typical top-of-the-range all-round inflatable SUP might cost around 1200 US dollars, but you wouldn't lose too much of that if you sold it on, and it is indestructible and easy to store and transport, and safer for the kinds to play on.

So, with (a) the high cost of elite SUPs in the UK, plus (b) high transport costs (we are an island, whereas most of the rest of Europe is connected), and (c) a lack of a distribution network, plus (d) stiff competition from the windsurf brands, and (e) 4-6 months of the year that are cold, wet and windy (so few people want to be on the water), this means that a specialist SUP brand like SIC have an uphill battle in trying to establish a foothold in the UK. There are a couple of independent internet-type retailers here who will source a board for you, but no-one who is gong to be stocking a range of them and doing demos etc. You can buy direct yourself from Flow Sports, but you will pay full RRP (i.e. more than you would probably from a retailer) and if the board arrives after its travels across the water bust up (which is very likely) then you've got a problem on your hands.

So getting SIC EU to magic a board over for me to demo is just a wild fantasy, I'm afraid.

I think I'm going to have to give up on this quest for a FX, unfortunately. It's just too hard and too expensive to source one, and it is too risky for me to spend that much money on something that might prove not suited to me. I could get a Bark Vapour in the next couple of weeks (Surftech have a UK distributor), and it should be around 1500 US dollars cheaper. It won't be as light as the FX, and probably not quite as fast in the flats, but it should be more stable, and it looks like the kind of hybrid shape that might work in our windy choppy coastal conditions when it's fairly mild, and not be too tragically slow on pure flat water either if I decide to do a race or too this year (purely for fun). I think that if I was paying US prices for a FX then I might take a punt. But at 4000 dollars and no demo it seems just too risky to me. And it is possible that the Bark is a better board for me anyway, at 26" wide, 271 litres, and a more lowered deck for stability. 25" wide and 290L like the FX is apparently going to be sounds like it could be too much like "balancing on a log" for my feeble balance skills in the kinds of hell choppy conditions we get here.

[TN_SUP]

So the FX is closer to the Vapor than the Bark Downwinder? I'm on the fence between the FX and All-star, but as you said, the Barks are cheaper.
Edit: Ahh, Vapor is 26" vs 28" for downwinder, more for racing

[Area 10]

So the FX is closer to the Vapor than the Bark Downwinder? I'm on the fence between the FX and All-star, but as you said, the Barks are cheaper.
Edit: Ahh, Vapor is 26" vs 28" for downwinder, more for racing

I'll tell you when I get a Vapour, but there doesn't seem to be pretty much anything in common between the Bark Vapour and the Bark Downwinder, excepting length and some superficial graphics family resemblance. The Vapour and the FX are both aimed at the same people who might want an All Star, I think. A head-to-head between these three boards in a variety of conditions would be a fascinating comparison. Although I don't think SIC make a cheap construction FX (?) so comparing boards that are 1500 dollars apart might not be very fair. But maybe the hybrid construction All Star vs. the Bark Vapour would be a fairer comparison.

Here's a video review of the Bark Vapour so you can compare it with the FX. Unfortunately they only show it in flat water so it doesn't help a lot with knowing how it will be in the conditions most people would buy this board for. But you should be able to get the concept anyway - and the similarity to the FX in terms of being a hybrid raceboard.

[Luc Benac]

So the FX is closer to the Vapor than the Bark Downwinder? I'm on the fence between the FX and All-star, but as you said, the Barks are cheaper.
Edit: Ahh, Vapor is 26" vs 28" for downwinder, more for racing

I'll tell you when I get a Vapour, but there doesn't seem to be pretty much anything in common between the Bark Vapour and the Bark Downwinder, excepting length and some superficial graphics family resemblance. The Vapour and the FX are both aimed at the same people who might want an All Star, I think. A head-to-head between these three boards in a variety of conditions would be a fascinating comparison. Although I don't think SIC make a cheap construction FX (?) so comparing boards that are 1500 dollars apart might not be very fair. But maybe the hybrid construction All Star vs. the Bark Vapour would be a fairer comparison.

Area10 do not do that. Last time you reviewed a board I bought it (no regrets there)......except that now in Canada the Vapor is $1,000 more than the Downwinder was. I have not seen pricing for the Allstar Hybrid construction yet.

[TN_SUP]

I had the Fanatic Flatwater Falcon 14x24, 287 liters and hated it, think I was too light for it, hope these new high volume designs are big improvement.

[Area 10]

Wow Luc - 1000 dollars more? Why? Prices here in the UK seem to have gone up no more than 10% this year. Is this a currency exchange thing? Our Australian friends are really suffering this year with the weak Aussie dollar.