Author Topic: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?  (Read 6628 times)

Wetstuff

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What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« on: May 12, 2016, 05:43:06 AM »
Looking around there's a remarkable variance in the quality of online representation.  Some seem to avoid mentioning weight.. Some are simply confusing with unattached naming and cross claims.  I certainly have not seen them all, but after skimming FOCUS, I thought they were worth a mention as one of the better presentations I have seen - without having seen any of their boards.

http://focussup.com


Jim
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PonoBill

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2016, 06:52:37 AM »
Looks like they spent quite a bit of time or money. They have every recent whizbang widget. Some might work against them, like the dealer locator that defaults to Denver, showing three shops in Colorado. Makes for a very lonely looking national map and gives the impression that they don't have dealers. Content is well thought out and the information is presented with some animation that seems reasonably relevant. Yeah, I'd give it a five. Downgraded for too many steps to get to the meat, though everything is a tradeoff. People always use the term "inviting" along with "Clean" but it's useful to get core information right away.

Most of the industry sites get -1. Bill Foote's site looks like the dawn of the internet, but at least there's some useful information. It's all a matter of whether or not a company thinks their online presence is going to bring business. Mostly the result is invisible, so it's hard to justify tossing money at it. A pretty and useful site doesn't guarantee visitors--somebody has to work their ass off to get those, or spend a lot of money, or be very smart.
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Dkyachtphoto

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2016, 07:15:03 AM »
https://www.boteboard.com

They obviously spend a fortune on marketing and advertising.

Dave

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2016, 08:14:41 AM »
I like the videos that the bigger brands produce to explain their boards.  Starboard, Naish, JP, Fanatic all do it - the old Naish vids where Robby stood there and talked about each board were really cool.   

The new Focus site is looking pretty good, w/ more videos and photos of boards in action I'd say it'd be looking even better.

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robon

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #4 on: May 12, 2016, 08:19:19 AM »
Tahoe sup is a pretty decent website.

http://tahoesup.com

lucabrasi

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2016, 09:16:46 AM »
....that's all I needed...to know about a Focus 14' Marlin.....

Bean

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #6 on: May 12, 2016, 10:06:27 AM »
The Imagine web site has some really good stuff including some DK vids
http://www.imaginesurf.com/

The Infinity crew is always adding new content
http://www.infinitysurf.com/

And what about Kings, and L41...




Wetstuff

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #7 on: May 12, 2016, 10:14:39 AM »
Wa'zat mean Luca?  ...repellent or attractant?   I looked at BOTE (thanks for the pointer Dave) ..the 'Gambler' 10-2 was interesting; I liked the outline, but it weighs as much as the Focus Marlin 14?! 

Agree with FCR ..it's nice to see real people stand behind their product.  As much as I respect Robbie, I would have been happier if his shaper was next to him.  I liked the Fanatic shaper, Sebastian Wenzel's videos when I was interested in the Allwave.  ..and you gotta love 'active mind/active hands' Bert Burger from Sunnova - a total treat. 

Robon.. Tahoe's site is another than goes; "Ummmmm.." when it comes to weight.  An early model 12' Rubicon is my 'dog sled'  ..and not all that heavy. 

Bill: "It's all a matter of whether or not a company thinks their online presence is going to bring business. Mostly the result is invisible, so it's hard to justify tossing money at it."    Bill, I first made product in '77 in marine and aviation.  Back then it took a min. of 90days before your ad was seen in a trade paper.  20yrs ago I had to write a stoopid little newsletter defaming QUIK and the Surf industry to get attention for my little rash guard business. 

Aviation has gone to hell since '99 ..but I can attest that not only do I no longer need an 800# ..I could almost disconnect the damn phone for the little inbound trade I do from it.  I've never had a dry week in 38yrs ..but even in the current depression within private aviation, I am surprisingly busy, even in parts of the world I normally do little business.  It's all internet ...feedback on these kinds of forums, free ads on Ebay worldwide ..Google keeping me on pg. 1 searches.  I make a simple site and don't pay for ads, no Facebook or other 'social networking' ..but the internet, generally, is perhaps the only reason (..a little skill in making product) I still book work. 

I think the guy I'd like to see come out from behind the curtain is Blaine Chambers. 

Jim
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PDLSFR

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #8 on: May 12, 2016, 10:16:20 AM »
Dave Daum has a great website for King's, when ordering a custom board he even shares his desktop so you can watch as he designs the board on the shape software and provides real time hands on tweaks and recommendations. I had a blast designing my custom laser online with him.

http://www.kingspaddlesports.com/

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SUP Sports ®

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #9 on: May 12, 2016, 10:36:49 AM »
Most of the industry sites get -1. Bill Foote's site looks like the dawn of the internet, but at least there's some useful information. It's all a matter of whether or not a company thinks their online presence is going to bring business. Mostly the result is invisible, so it's hard to justify tossing money at it. A pretty and useful site doesn't guarantee visitors--somebody has to work their ass off to get those, or spend a lot of money, or be very smart.

LOL...my SurfingSports site goes back 17 years...we hand coded it in ASP...state of the art at the time...it's do for a makeover...but, I don't really want to mess with the organic SEO that it's gathered...after millions of views, I think I prolly got my money/effort's worth...;-)

The heart of that site is the associated blog, with over 1000 blog posts, utilizing a custom WP theme with a number of the latest plug-ins...content is what keeps it fresh...plus, there are tens of thousands of high quality images along with almost 100 video clips...

http://blog.surfingsports.com

http://surfingsports.com

Zooming forward 17 years, my SUP Sports site also utilizes a state of the art custom WP theme with a bunch of the latest widgets and plug-ins, that also integrates nicely with the blog.... full cross-platform, cross-browser responsive design, that is entirely natively scalable...it should last awhile, too...;-)

http://supsports.com


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lucabrasi

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2016, 06:16:36 AM »
Wa'zat mean Luca?  ...repellent or attractant? 
oh yeah...attractant for sure. It is a good site and I think it is a shame when board weights and liters are not listed. I feel liters is more accurate and helpful than capacity. I know they go hand in hand in many ways but one can jack up the capacity where liters tells more of the real story but that's just what I think.

Night Wing

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #11 on: May 13, 2016, 08:23:38 AM »
This might be a little off topic so please bear with me.

I'm a newbie in the world of SUP. Started to SUP in the summer of 2015. I'm now in the process of selling my Ocean Kayak "Scupper Pro TW" sot kayak (14' 9"x26"x 55 pounds) to make room in my garage for a second standup paddle board which will be used for both flat water paddling and playing around in the mushy waves here on the upper Texas coast.

I've already started my search and I've been searching on the SUP Sports, Starboard, the SUPAtx site, BIC, F-One, Naisch and other sites. In my opinion and speaking only for myself, the best site info wise is WarDog's SUP Sports site. I have never seen so much info on a site. Jillions of photos, videos, different production sup models giving the length, width and liters, construction design, the ability to make a custom sup, testimonials, fins, testimonials and blogs. Of the sup boards I've been looking on WarDog's site, I've been salivating on the Hammer series. The 8'11"x31" and the 9'5"x31" are two that I think would do me well strictly for flat water paddling and catching a few small waves just for the sheer fun of it.

But since I'm a small framed guy, 5'8" tall, weigh 145 pounds and I'm 66 years old, I want to know what these two Hammer models weigh. I cannot find that. In other words, in a SUPer Lite Two Tone Carbon Fiber production SUP, I "need" to know what these two SUP's physically weigh.

Right now, my Hobie ATR-2, 12'2"x32" is a board which weighs 29 pounds and I use it to put camping and fishing gear on it so I can paddle to a nice place and camp/fish over night. But since the board weighs 29 pounds, I park my vehicle close to the water from my launching point as I can because this is a board you don't want to haul under your arms for 100 yards or more and go through a saltwater marsh where seldom anyone goes if I just want to do some flat water paddling without gear.

So in closing, when I'm visiting a SUP site, one of the most important pieces of info I'm looking for is of the board itself which boils on down to the "SUP boards construction material wise, design, length, width, liters and the SUP boards weight". The SUP board's weight doesn't have to be exact. A ball park figure is good enough for me, but I think a SUP's physical weight should always be listed.

Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #12 on: May 13, 2016, 09:30:05 AM »
Aloha Night Wing...
Thanks for the props...an unbelievable amount of time, energy, & money goes into the site...

Re: board weights...for exact weights on an exact board that you are considering...you can always call us toll free or email...or, PM me from this forum...but, the info is all over the site...in fact, my latest blog post references 19# for the two 9'5" x 31" double sided bamboo veneer Hammers that we just finished, is in the 2nd sentence...

Gorgeous bamboo wood top and bottom California built custom Hammer SUP models for Jamie and Saloa…‪both 9’5″ x 31″ @ 160 liters…

These lightweight (19#) and strong Made in USA custom ECOboard SUPs are made with sustainable bio-based resin, recycled foam core, bamboo veneer…with Ballis-Tech (ballistic) cloth…

http://blog.surfingsports.com/2016/05/wood-hammers-2.html

We have a variety of Hammer constructions...from the highest quality soft tops on the market for $999 weighing in the low 20# range...to our new high quality value priced painted epoxy models at $1099...to our production carbons...to customs with either S-glass...carbon hybrid...full carbon...single sided wood veneer...or, double sided wood veneer...with a variety of reinforcement options depending on rider weight...so, no two boards weigh the same...

We have a high quality digital scale right on the showroom floor for our clients to use, or have us verify the weight on a particular board...

The Thor's Hammer project we just finished...11'6" x 40" x 5.25" @ 301# came in at just under 30#...that info is right there at the top of the blog post...

http://blog.surfingsports.com/2016/04/thors-hammer.html

FYI...our 8'11" carbon and carbon hybrids are in the 17# - 18# range...again, depending on construction...etc...but, we can make them lighter or heavier dependent on rider specs...

Here's a customer testimonial about the 8'11" Hammer that we received yesterday from a guy in Daytona Beach, FL...

5/12/16
Subject: 8’11” Hammer SUP

Hi, I saw one of the 8’11” Hammers for sale at my local board shop (Sandy Point Progressive Sports).
I have read the posts online about its performance, so I bought it. No Demo!
It seems to have been made very well.
Took it out this am in waist high glassy conditions.
I’m impressed! Catches waves like a 10′ board, but turns like a short board.
I had reservations about the huge tail, but somehow it works! I guess it keeps you from bogging down during cutbacks.
I rode it as a tri with cheap plastic fins. I’ll have to change that soon!
I can’t wait to get back out and try to find this SUP’s limits.

Thank you,
Marty D**** (Daytona Beach, FL.)



http://supsports.com/customer-testimonials

http://supsports.com/stoked/stoked-life-clients
« Last Edit: May 13, 2016, 09:45:06 AM by SUPsports »
Mahalos...{:~)

WARDOG ®
Owner/CEO  StandUp Paddle Sports®  &   SurfingSports®.com, Inc.

(805)962-SUPS (7877) store
(888)805-9978 toll free

Retail Store:
Standup Paddle Sports, LLC
121 Santa Barbara St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Night Wing

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Re: What's your best/favorite online SUP manufacturer site?
« Reply #13 on: May 13, 2016, 01:59:22 PM »
@SUPsports (WarDog),

Thanks for your comments. They're are appreciated. I'm going to need your advice, but I do not want to hijack this thread. Instead of a PM, I think I'm going to pick your brain in a new public topic in the "Gear Talk" forum. The reason being is because I found this Standup Zone site last November of 2015 and read everything I could find in all of the forums here before I became a member. Then on April 24th, I quit lurking and decided to register and become a member on this site. I figure if I lurked on here for 6 months gleaning as much info as possible during that time, there might be other lurkers like me out there who are trying to find as much info as they can.

When I create the topic, I'll tell you what I want to do and I'll also put a web cam site link to the places where I go on our upper Texas coast which is 90 miles from my home to the Gulf of Mexico. There you will be able to actually see the places I want to standup paddle at and also try to learn to do a little paddle surfing on the Gulf of Mexico side of the Bolivar Peninsula. My topic will be created early Saturday morning (May 14th). This will help you and me as well as any lurkers on this site.
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

 


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