Anyone know anything about the bic 7'6" river air

[photosettle]

I have an ocean background and I've been paddle surfing  for probably 10 years.  We have a local Hala dealer and I have been demoing their boards.  The Hala Gram is a blast in the wave but I'm looking for some  something I can start doing some maybe class two and three rapids with also.  That board is a bit too small.   I was pretty excited about the Hala Atcha and they have a 9'6" but it feels too big. Was thinking of buying the 8'6" blind and then saw the bic.  I cannot seem to find hardly any reviews on that board or videos of it in action.  To me,  The rocker looks a little flat.

I'm 190 lbs by the way.

Thanks for any thoughts.


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[fredi]

No previous experience in white water, no lightweight, I would not buy a very short board with no rocker for a first one.
It doesn't mean that a short board cannot fit your needs. A friend of mine has a 7'8, he weight 75kg (NRS Whip) and he can do class III with no issue (but it's too slow and too much row effect in long flat sections). But the difference with the bic is the rocker: the NRS has a big tail and nose rocker. Note that the finish is not very high standard in the NRS, the bic will probably be better for this.
Here is a video:

Don't you have a way to try a very short ww board before buying?

[robon]

The 7'6" river air looks like it would be very squirrely on class II,III with only 155L, and you are over the recommended weight range on the website. It's only 31" wide too, and that's quite narrow for running whitewater on an inflatable. I imagine it would do well on river waves as it has the dimensions of a surfboard, but for running whitewater, it would probably be quite hard to track and unstable at your weight.

The BIC 9'2" (on paper) is a better trade off for running whitewater and playing on waves.

River running ends up being like the other disciplines of SUP, and the more time you spend on the rivers, the more boards you will likely want. Touring, running whitewater, and surfing. I got an 11 footer to split the difference between touring and whitewater, but if you really favour any one discipline over the other, having more than one more board definitely helps.

[wilder]

Havent tried the 7' bic, or any of the bics for that matter, but I can say that I think 8"-9' 6" is a great length for a downriver board. I don't do much surfing so the extra length doesn't bother me, and 9 foot still seems plenty small when you get in class 3+ rapids.   I've tried the Hala 8 and 9 atcha's, both awesome but personally I'd go for the 9 for what I mainly do (mostly downriver, not a lot of surfing). I put a lot of hours on the Airhead SUP Rapidz 938 and I really like it for bigger rapidz and for people just learning whitewater as its super stable. Not very fast but really fun for playing around on and navigating technical boulder gardens.

[2Rivers]

The Hala Gram is a blast in the wave but I'm looking for some  something I can start doing some maybe class two and three rapids with also.

+1 on what Robon said. It really depends on the rapids and wave types to dictate which board will work best for you and likely you'll want more than one.
Where I'm at, I've found that boards focused for RUNNING rapids (9'6-11') are not as ideal for SURFING rapids due to their length (won't fit into the pocket without purling). Shorter boards (<9') that are better for surfing tend to be more unstable for running rapids (tendency to turn, spin, or flip).

I've not had a chance to try (nor see) the BIC, but at 7'6, I'd consider it a dedicated river surfing board. BIC's 9'2 River Air would be a better choice imo, but like the Hala Atcha 9'6, it's 36" wide, which I feel is a bit much. Out of what I've tried, I like 34" wide boards better, but the board I currently use is 35". If you were to go smaller than 9' for better surf'ability, the Hala Atcha 8'6 at 34" wide is a pretty good length to width ratio, but will probably be "squirrelly" down some rapids (to use Robon words).

For slightly narrower river running boards than the Hala and BIC, check out the Boardworks Shubu 9'6x34", Hala Radito 10'x34", C4 BK Pro 9'10x33.25, JP RivAir 9'6x35", Glide Lochsa O2 9'x35", and Red Paddle Co's Flow 9'6x34". I really Hala's Radito due to it's flip-up fin design (same as on the Atcha). The Shubu also has a flip-up fin, but I don't like that it's placed so far back. Hala's fin sits more underfoot where it provides better control. My Soul Firestorm also has a flip-up fin which I've found to come in handy when you come over a shallow section or submerged rocks and logs unexpectedly.
Some others to consider: Mistral's Colorado 9'4x34", but I don't believe it's available in the US. ULI's Zettian 9x34", but it's 4" thick which I feel is too thin for whitewater purposes.YMMV

[2Rivers]

I was looking around to see if I overlooked any other 34" wide options and I saw NRS's new line of whitewater boards and they look really nice. I like the shape of the Whip 9'2x34". Their similar shaped Quiver 8'8x34" could be a good alternative to the Atcha 8'6.

Badfish's Rivershred 8'6x33" and their MCIT 9'x33" and Rogue's Eddy 10'x33" could also be some other options for narrower river boards. And if you want to go even narrower, SOL's Solrebel 10'x32" could work for ya.

Rogue's Class5 9'6x35" is another option I forgot to add. In 2016 Laird SUP had a board called the Air River that was 9'x34". You can still find them. The rocker looks really flat compared to other river boards including the BIC, but the wide nose may plow over rapids better. I wish I could have tried one.

As you can see, you have plenty of options. Good luck!

[2Rivers]

The Shubu also has a flip-up fin, but I don't like that it's placed so far back.

Correction! It's the Imagine Surf Rapidfire, not the Boardworks Shubu, that also has a flip-up fin. My bad.

[photosettle]

Thanks for all the advice. Pulled the trigger on Hala Atcha 8’6”. Hopefully a good decision.


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[wilder]

Awesome, your gonna love it! Come join me sometime on the Snoqualmie. The powerhouse section below Snoqualmie falls is an excellent training ground!

Check out River SUP Northwest group on Facebook.