Author Topic: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race  (Read 259440 times)

atlanticsup

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #45 on: February 05, 2018, 03:15:34 AM »
Agree on all of the above photofr and double emphasis on BAN ON STYROFOAM. I have struggled on the concept of loving the sea, seeing how plastic pollution every time I paddle in amazing pristine conditions, and then knowing that my collection of SUP's will in 5 years be breaking up and adding to that collection even if it ends in a landfill.

My Think Evo (surfski) was close to 10 years (I think) when I got rid of it. Still perfect to use for another 10 years with less scratches than my two year SUP's, and only made fibreglass. Hopefully SUP industry learns as I think you can come up with some amazing designs which are very tough. To me surfski's seem so much better value that smaller SUP's.

Hopefully more to follow from other manufacturers as industry matures and becomes more responsible to the environment
naish glide (2011) 14', sic bullet 17'4" (currently use), naish maliko 14', coreban dart pro 14' (currently use)

Coreban Longboard style SUP 9'6" custom, Signature 3D custom 7'8

think evo I, Fenn Swordfish S (currently use)

yugi

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #46 on: February 06, 2018, 11:32:03 AM »
Eagle, My Starby race is the same nervous twitchy board that it was when I bought it.

...

Couldn't agree more. You could get used to it but it still would suck.

photofr

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #47 on: February 13, 2018, 12:58:23 AM »
I just placed an order from France.

Since the Nelo board is made in Europe, it will have have my custom colors (all blue with two white stripes) and will be built from scratch.

Built Time: currently about 4 weeks wait
Shipping: about 3 days
Total wait: about 5 weeks

I was told that just like surfskis, paddlers can customise colors and design. However, just like surfskis, you gotta watch out for weight. Colours like Red, Orange, Dark Blue, Black (and pretty much all dark gelcoat) will add more weight. In my experience, light blue is VERY LIGHT.

Anyway, pretty exciting stuff.
Nelo SUP - 14' x 23"
Nelo Surfski 560M - 18'4" x 17"

Area 10

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #48 on: February 15, 2018, 01:59:28 AM »
Nice. How much more is the custom Nelo costing you than a carbon Starboard Sprint, in your own country?

photofr

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #49 on: February 15, 2018, 02:22:18 AM »
Including shipping to my front steps, I am saving:
- about 600 euros
- about 3 months waiting

MODIFICATIONS (to emphasise a few things)
Comparing the two boards based on prices along is a bit like comparing apples and oranges.
- I do not like the 2018 Sprint - not matching my needs
- Finding a 2017 Sprint wasn't so easy
- I want to get away from as much Styrofoam as possible - not possible with a board filled with the stuff
- If Starboard would have been 800 euros less, I still would have gone with the Nelo (because of my personal priorities)
- A 2017 board would have been sitting for nearly a year before I purchased it - and that's not so inviting to me
« Last Edit: February 15, 2018, 02:36:02 AM by photofr »
Nelo SUP - 14' x 23"
Nelo Surfski 560M - 18'4" x 17"

Area 10

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #50 on: February 15, 2018, 05:36:17 PM »
Wow - when you can get a locally-made custom far cheaper and quicker than a board from a factory in Asia, you really know that globalisation isn’t always working for you!

I hope that local custom shapers start to eat into the SUP global market because I think that the big brands (and the factory) are essentially colluding to keep SUP prices as high as people will go and still buy the board.

warmuth

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #51 on: February 15, 2018, 07:01:52 PM »
  Here in Florida just about everyone is switching to a local brand, Flying Fish. Cheaper than pretty much all production boards, well made (my 23 is 19.5 pounds minus fin) and the shape works incredibly well for just about every condition. It’s pretty amazing how quickly they’ve caught on and have taken a large chunk out of the brand name raceboard sales in this area.

Luc Benac

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #52 on: February 15, 2018, 07:09:21 PM »
  Here in Florida just about everyone is switching to a local brand, Flying Fish. Cheaper than pretty much all production boards, well made (my 23 is 19.5 pounds minus fin) and the shape works incredibly well for just about every condition. It’s pretty amazing how quickly they’ve caught on and have taken a large chunk out of the brand name raceboard sales in this area.

When you think about it. Local knowledge of the local conditions, no freight, direct interaction during the process....it makes so much sense. Maybe shapers should share the market and relocate each one in a region to open a market.
Sunova Allwater 14'x25.5" 303L Viento 520
Sunova Torpedo 14'x27" 286L Salish 500
Naish Nalu 11'4" x 30" 180L Andaman 520
Sunova Steeze 10' x 31" 150L
Blackfish Paddles

photofr

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #53 on: February 15, 2018, 09:29:19 PM »
The great news is that the local population is catching on, and so are local shapers all over the World. Here in France, we have 3-Bay, and he's expanded rather well with a nice little network - including a 7-hour drive radius all over France. Incidentally, he was the shaper for BIC for many years, so he knows a thing or two about shapes too.

Other interesting facts:
We've killed the buzz in cycling - at least a little - when pretty much everyone started manufacturing their bikes in China. Take Cannondale ; "just devastating" and prices were driven high and hard.

Now, take Nelo... and here's some great news:
A 11.5 kilo surfski (still about 3 pounds lighter than most boards out of China) has a starting price of about 2300 euros in Portugal. The same board is about 2800 in France. A quality surfski out of China is currently about 2800 euros, but weights about 16 kilos. If the Made in China surfski is going to weigh 11 or 12 kilos, expect to pay as much as 3600 euros for that surfski.

Now, keep in mind, surfski use much more material than SUP.
Surfskis also use a rudder, a rudder shaft, rudder bar, lines, fittings, and of course a hard plate as well as two pedals. It adds up very quickly. The 14' Nelo SUP isn't fitted with all of this, but still costs about 3300 euros (depending on where you buy it from).

If you removed the middle man from Germany (Lightboard) we should see the exact same board with the exact same construction, made in Europe, ultra light, and ultra durable - for about 1800 (perhaps even 2200 if someone was a little greedy).

Why is this great news?
Because I really think that people are going to be more conscious and buy more locally. I also think that prices are going to drop when SUP builders realise that more people are buying boards.

Anyway, perhaps there's HOPE - because sending the work overseas may not always be the answer, especially when (for the most part) people overseas do not care at all about harming the environment/or not harming it. 
Nelo SUP - 14' x 23"
Nelo Surfski 560M - 18'4" x 17"

ukgm

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #54 on: February 18, 2018, 10:46:44 AM »
I hope that local custom shapers start to eat into the SUP global market because I think that the big brands (and the factory) are essentially colluding to keep SUP prices as high as people will go and still buy the board.

I agree although I suspect its more likely that Starboard and Naish are intentionally stretching the elastic which then allows the slightly smaller firms the justification to do likewise. I doubt its actual collusion. I only know of some limited sales info but I do wonder if the brands can see they are pricing the raceboard market out. Its a small proportion of some brands sales (who can afford it to be) but a much bigger one of others.

supuk

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #55 on: February 18, 2018, 02:05:36 PM »
I can tell you if you think the price of race boards is going to come down massively over time you are very sadly wrong. prices will continue to rise in general us as the cost of composites and materials increase or they will just continue to cut corners and use cheaper less skilled labour giving you even poorer quality product under the same coat of paint. It is possible to get more for your money with various different manufacturing techniques but this can only happen when designs are not changed every 12mths and high quality molds can be used for longer production runs. If people really want to see progress in sport more people need to support the small company's that have more respect for there workforce and the product they produce but also expect to pay more but in tern get a lot more for the money in forms of quality, construction techniques and more ethical forms of labour.


Unfortunately there are very few surfers people in the sport that will ever see or understand the difference between  something that has been skilfully constructed with huge amounts of attention paid to every step of the process and a cheap old nasty board that comes out of cobra or similar factory

 people seam happy to through thousand away at a boards every year, perhaps getting a 20% mates rate/team rider/brand ambassador  discount from there local shop on the big brand names for it to fall apart in a year or two with a huge fanatical loos and a massive penalty on the environment from the waste in materials and transportation that the boards go through to get to you.

People really need to learn this does not have to be the way and follow in the footsteps of photofr and the few others sadly this will probably never happen in a big way and people will continue to be fobbed off with a load of junk.
 

Area 10

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #56 on: February 18, 2018, 03:18:39 PM »
Well I wish that the few manufacturers that there are who can build things a better way would stop making stupidly elite boards that are virtually unuseable by most people in the real world. Then we would buy them.

And sadly many local shapers can’t afford to put in the R&D that is needed to really perfect a design, especially raceboard designs. We often hear of big brands saying that they have tried eg. 20 different prototypes before a raceboard they got a design they were happy with. Now, no doubt a lot of this is marketing flannel. But if they tried even half that number of prototypes that would be out of the pocket of the local shaper to do. Building 10 prototype boards to just throw away would be a ruinously expensive thing for a local shaper to do.

So there’s the problem. The people with the skills and inclination to build a board that weighs much less but is much more durable than today’s Cobra factory offerings mostly don’t have sufficient financial backing to pay for the R&D necessary to create a distinctive but good design. And they don’t have the retailer network to drum up orders for them and give rider feedback from the public.

So it’s not just the customers’ fault. There are few genuinely good options out there from local shapers. If there were good options we’d buy them.

Luc Benac

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #57 on: February 18, 2018, 04:06:48 PM »
After all these dire words, I am buying another used Vapor to stockpile :-)
Sunova Allwater 14'x25.5" 303L Viento 520
Sunova Torpedo 14'x27" 286L Salish 500
Naish Nalu 11'4" x 30" 180L Andaman 520
Sunova Steeze 10' x 31" 150L
Blackfish Paddles

burchas

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #58 on: February 18, 2018, 04:15:37 PM »
I can tell you if you think the price of race boards is going to come down massively over time you are very sadly wrong. prices will continue to rise in general us as the cost of composites and materials increase or they will just continue to cut corners and use cheaper less skilled labour giving you even poorer quality product under the same coat of paint. It is possible to get more for your money with various different manufacturing techniques but this can only happen when designs are not changed every 12mths and high quality molds can be used for longer production runs. If people really want to see progress in sport more people need to support the small company's that have more respect for there workforce and the product they produce but also expect to pay more but in tern get a lot more for the money in forms of quality, construction techniques and more ethical forms of labour.


Unfortunately there are very few surfers people in the sport that will ever see or understand the difference between  something that has been skilfully constructed with huge amounts of attention paid to every step of the process and a cheap old nasty board that comes out of cobra or similar factory

 people seam happy to through thousand away at a boards every year, perhaps getting a 20% mates rate/team rider/brand ambassador  discount from there local shop on the big brand names for it to fall apart in a year or two with a huge fanatical loos and a massive penalty on the environment from the waste in materials and transportation that the boards go through to get to you.

People really need to learn this does not have to be the way and follow in the footsteps of photofr and the few others sadly this will probably never happen in a big way and people will continue to be fobbed off with a load of junk.
 

So sad but very true!

I still amazes me people spending $3000+ on a "China" made board when they could spend the same amount on a beautiful custom, tailored made for them and have control of every aspect of
the board. One also learns a lot about board design and construction during the process. After 4 custom boards I still believe that.

It's very unfortunate you're not on my side of the pond supuk, I would have loved to have a custom one from you as well. If you'll find a way to make a
a one-off hollow molded comparable to a foam core price wise, I would pull the trigger on that even with the pain involved in shipping it over here.
in progress...

burchas

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #59 on: February 18, 2018, 04:24:31 PM »
We often hear of big brands saying that they have tried eg. 20 different prototypes before a raceboard they got a design they were happy with. Now, no doubt a lot of this is marketing flannel.

I think they actually do (see Starboard for example) to only thing they forgot to mention is that each year they release one of those prototypes and market it as a new model, good strategy.
In 5 years, after testing 10 different prototypes, and having the public fund it for them they'll actually come out with the really finished product.
in progress...

 


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