Messages

16

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 22, 2019, 07:51:44 AM »

Some thoughts about the price of a Signature/Nelo... I know nobody who paid the full price of 3600 EUR. Almost every Signature Owner is a racer and got the special price from Lightcorp. Just ask for it.
I sold my half year old Signature 1.0 for 1400 EUR because I didn’t found a buyer who was willing to pay more.

Couple of things to take under consideration...
The Nelo Signature 14x24.75 and 14x23 were the first boards to make it to France.
1. I know of 3 people who have personally bought a 14x24.75 - all at full price (3450 at the time - in euros).
2. I bought my 14x23 at FULL price, but expedited the shipping because I wanted it in 2 days (so my board was just a hair under 4000 euros when it was all said and done).
3. Unsure where you posted your board FOR SALE, but at 1400 euros, I would have bought it in a hurry (even though it was a 14x24.75).
4. Not a single of the the 4 owners of a Signature race in France or anywhere else.

In other words, unsure about where you get your facts from.

17

SUP General / Re: SUP racing growing ? Uhm.....

« on: March 21, 2019, 11:44:07 PM »

Here in France, I am seeing a crazy number of racer dropouts as well.

On the other hand, and super excited to see this: there is a staggering number of people getting into Surfskis.

18

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 21, 2019, 09:39:05 AM »

Let's not forget that as young "guns", we use our muscles, but as we age, we will start using our brains more and more... like getting a UL, or using better & more efficient technique (instead of just powering ourselves through).

Aging is actually "interesting".

19

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 21, 2019, 07:27:44 AM »

Hysterical, but it's pointless:
I heard that same line when I was 20 (wait until you are in your 30's), when I was 30 (wait 'til you turn 40), and when I was 50 (just wait...). Well, guess what: I am still waiting. Surely, and there's no doubt in my mind, that EVENTUALLY, "they" will be right.

It's getting harder to stay in shape, but it isn't that hard.

20

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 21, 2019, 05:28:47 AM »

Ahahahahah... he said "you flat water guys".

Let's compare what's comparable then:
Go ahead and compare the same wake between the Nelo Signature 2.0 and the Sprint (both in 14x23). I know, because I have - we have a boat wake that's anything but mellow, and I assure you that the Signature 2.0 is just so much easier (and fun). The difference is so great that it would be like comparing the Signature 2.0 with the Ace 14x25 (another board that I had).

Pff... "you flat water guys" - too funny.

21

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 21, 2019, 03:42:51 AM »

Can Bruno win it all, because the Nelo Signature board is just SUPER FAST?
I believe that the answer to that question is so complex that I would deem it impossible to quantify.

I do believe that there's something to be said about Germans though. Simply put:
- They weren't winning in 2016 or 2017 (using NON-NELO).
- They are winning in 2018 (using NELO)

KEEP IN MIND
Current level of the Signature 2.0's introduction in the World: Infantry

MORE IMPORTANT
Not too many people expected the Nelo Signature 2.0 to be so versatile 12 months ago - not even me (as I was just discovering its limitations). I am baffled though, because in tiny, small or even medium bumps, the Nelo Signature 2.0 will outperform the well-known 14x23 board that has won so many titles.

22

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 21, 2019, 01:09:53 AM »

Watch this space though. A week Saturday is our national sprint championships in the UK. Two of us will be paddling Lightboardcorp's gear. I'm going to be using the GT for the last time before I hand it back and another paddler is using the Signature 1.0. I'm still injured so I'm just hoping to be able to complete the event and maybe, if I'm lucky, get on the age group podium. The other paddler though has a serious chance of being top 3 overall. He'll be up against domestic team paddlers from all of the main brands using all of the expected products (21.5 sprints, etc).

Pretty cool old man.
I see the Signature boards are serious contenders in the race scene.
Germany has certainly proved that point by having plenty of Nelo boards on its podiums.
Bruno is going to show it off on races all over the World.
Great Britain is now introducing the board on its race scene.

It's a far cry from Starboard paying 100's of riders to be part of "their team" all over the World, but this is grass root marketing for Nelo - placing what I consider a very good all around board in the production line.
 

23

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 21, 2019, 01:03:16 AM »

If you don't believe it, ask photofr who's now pretty much giving his board away at 1900 euros.

Or Ludovic might be keeping his favorite board and we can expect a new trend of videos where he down-wind with Zoltan. Kind of British-French "entente cordiale" event, unless Brexit prevents it and the border closes :-). SO expect to see the "Nelo run" soon on your screens. As a photographer, I am sure that Ludovic will go the extra mile to provide impeccable imagery.

Funny thing...
Actually, if you look on Bruno's page RIGHT NOW, you will see how the board (21" Signature mind you) handles a boat wake. Just go to FaceBook... and look for Bruno's page. I have even posted on my page: ludovic bacquet

I saw that but frankly he's got a freakish level of skills and he weighs the same as my left buttock.

He does... he's also young... but look at how the board is handling (you can't have that much ease with the Sprint 14x23).

As a side note... I do need to correct something: He's on the 22" Signature (not 21")

24

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 21, 2019, 01:00:53 AM »

If you don't believe it, ask photofr who's now pretty much giving his board away at 1900 euros.

I don't think that's the fault of the board. In my experience, pretty much no secondhand board from any brand of any age gets more than 1700-1800 euros. It's just the victim of a perpetually weak secondhand market.

No doubt. Especially for sub 24" wide boards (which I experienced my self). With that in mind, one should think long and hard before spending 3600 euros on a board, any board.

Regrets - probably part of the Relativity Theory

Couple of boards come to mind, all of which have cost me in excess of 3000 euros, and all of which I absolutely do not regret for a second. Interestingly enough, the following 3 boards didn't just cost me more than 3000 euros each, but they are part of the family of SUP boards that I have had the most of amount of fun on:
- Starboard UL 17'6"x23" (also racked the most amount of miles EVER on that bad boy).
- Starboard 14x23" Sprint
- Nelo Signature 2.0 (14x23")

25

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 21, 2019, 12:55:26 AM »

If you don't believe it, ask photofr who's now pretty much giving his board away at 1900 euros.

Or Ludovic might be keeping his favorite board and we can expect a new trend of videos where he down-wind with Zoltan. Kind of British-French "entente cordiale" event, unless Brexit prevents it and the border closes :-). SO expect to see the "Nelo run" soon on your screens. As a photographer, I am sure that Ludovic will go the extra mile to provide impeccable imagery.

Funny thing...
Actually, if you look on Bruno's page RIGHT NOW, you will see how the board (21" Signature mind you) handles a boat wake. Just go to FaceBook... and look for Bruno's page. I have even posted on my page: ludovic bacquet

26

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 21, 2019, 12:53:02 AM »

If you don't believe it, ask photofr who's now pretty much giving his board away at 1900 euros.

I don't think that's the fault of the board. In my experience, pretty much no secondhand board from any brand of any age gets more than 1700-1800 euros. It's just the victim of a perpetually weak secondhand market.

To clarify a few points...

Like most of you, I have also owned quite a few boards, but I have actually sold nearly all of them. Most of the time, I actually got what I would consider a very fair price, where most of my boards have left at the 2000 euro mark. With this in mind, I can say the following (in order of importance):
- Trying to sell a board in Europe during the months of Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan or Feb will pretty much guarantee you a sale under 2000 euros. I believe that's because people aren't yet motivated to getting back in the water until Mars / April. The sun sells!!!!
- 4 years ago, trying to sell a sub 25" board pretty meant that your audience was reduced to "nothing". By today's standards, the same thing might be true for boards in the sub 23". Heck, people are riding 21 and 20" boards nowadays.
- People are not yet super familiar with Nelo or even hollow boards for that matter. That's not exactly helping me sell my board.
- Me selling my Signature 2.0 for 1900 euros doesn't necessarily reflects the current market price for that board used. I am looking for a quick sale, and motivated buyers.
- To be fair, it's working! I have couple of interested parties pondering on the purchase - and it only takes one to hit the trigger.

Even though I would rather have money in my pocket right now, there's no denying that I would probably be keeping my Nelo boards if it were a 22 or 21" board - for I find this one having too much volume for my weight, and far too stable to get the leg workout I am usually looking for at my age (51 next month - time flies).

27

Classifieds / Re: FOR SALE - SUP Nelo Lightcorp Signature 2.0 - 2018 Carbon – 14 x 23

« on: March 19, 2019, 08:40:25 AM »

Alright boys & girls:
- Last price drop.
- 1900 euros.
- No reasons to hold back now - nope, none what so ever
- Shipping available for many countries.

NOTE: I'll be keeping the board if it doesn't sell - so price is now FIRM - 1900 euros.

28

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 19, 2019, 08:37:22 AM »

The point isn’t speed, ukgm, it’s the pleasure of paddling. Unlimiteds are much nicer to use. Kinder on the body too. There are some folk like you who are driven by wanting to beat others. But 95% of paddlers just want to enjoy paddling. And an UL will give a lot more pleasure than a 12-6 in most circumstances, for a variety of reasons. That we all now use 14s is just a historical aberration to do (largely) with a marketing battle between brands in the early days of SUP. The standard size should probably be 16ft instead. It very easily could have been.

But if your main sport is a sitting-down one, I can see why you are attracted to another sitting-down sport (surfski).

We're brits. We're good at all sports that involve sitting down (sailing, cycling, rowing.......)

WARS have been started with less.
Love the statement though

29

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 19, 2019, 12:19:04 AM »

Anything that encourages the use of Unlimited class boards is a good thing IMO.

ukgm has always taken a position of no hope for himself in regard to board classes. A big unit like him would be far less disadvantaged if all races had UL classes, yet he was unwilling to race them. So now he’s not racing at all. I’m sure it makes sense to him

UL is the way to go for the long term future of SUP racing IMO. 12-6 and 14 are compromise sizes that wee chosen for no good reason, in the early days before racing had established itself. Now is the time to have a re-think.

It could probably start in Europe with UL inflatables. Once inflatables exist that are faster and more fun to paddle than the (14ft) hard boards on sale, things will change rapidly. And inflatables present none of the storage and transport problems of UL boards in high-density population areas. I’ve got a 16ft inflatable and it’s great. A slimmed down version with technical innovation to give greater rigidity would really fly in flat water.

If I was Naish or Starboard I’d promote a one-design series of races using an UL inflatable rather than the Naish 12-6. A 12-6 is always going to be behind the hard boards. But a good UL inflatable could take line honours at every race. And then everyone would want one.

For once, I will agree with most of the above statements.

I think it's very important to add a list of reminders of how Unlimited boards with a rudder may soon excel in the World of non-racers:
Let's start by keeping in mind that : Non racers make up the majority of paddlers.

1- Very versatile: they can be the jack of all trades in a variety of conditions ranging from dead flat to great downwind.
2- You can replace a 14-footer flat water board with a DW Unlimited board (and still get similar speed) - but you can't replace a DW UL board with a 14' flat water board.
3- The same UL board you used on flat water long distance paddling can be used for touring or family fun. Try putting a family member on your 14x24, or try touring with a 12'6x23.5.
4- Humans seek improvements. UL can often time bring instant gratification (or at least speed increase without trying).
5- We know that heavier paddlers will usually do better on UL boards (average-speed-wise).
6- After extensive testing, we also know that lighter paddlers will be faster on FLAT WATER with a wide, "slow and sluggish" downwind UL board than on a flat water race board. It's a mouthful, but read it again, because in essence, you could replace two of your 14' boards with a single UL board.

30

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 18, 2019, 11:49:45 PM »

I would not mind a performance/fast light touring board. A kind of Glide Light or Javelin de-tuned. Pretty much a SIC RS with a tad less volume but without the race moniker to it, so it becomes available on the second hand market :-)
And that is something that could work well with the hollow construction of Nelo. They just have to go wider and make some nicer, cleaner lines. Simple is best.

Pure physics limitations will make it extremely difficult to create a hollow board that's: light, strong - but also LOW VOLUME.

That's a pile of rubbish. They've been selling those for years. Hollow, light, low volume & very strong

Congratulations: you have found one SUP manufacturer who will do supposedly build light, and strong low volume boards. The shape has a lot of very well thought out ideas... but:
- Have you ever paddled one?
- Have you ever even seen one?
- How do you know that it's strong?
- OK... it looks super light, but what are we talking about?

People will probably push the envelope as far as getting Hollow, light, low volume, and very strong... it's not impossible, but there's nothing easy about that combination - especially at a practical price range that will not exceed 4000 euros (at least based on today's euro value).

So while we'll both agree that yes, it's do-able:
- it may not be that feasible at a reasonable price
- there's nothing simple about such a construction
- yes, 3D stringers will help... but bing: there goes your cost.