Just had a weekend of lightwind weather on my new 133 z series and what a difference it has made to my riding!

The wind was 15knots on the first day and about 10-12knots on the second. It was super quick to get up on the plane even in 10 knots and it felt really smooth under foot due to the stepped flex tips. It was quite choppy on the first day but i never realised how much difference a board could make to riding comfort in these conditions.

What really surprised me was how much easier it was to spot a take off point for trying tricks and jumps. Because the board is so steady through the chop i was able to cue up a trick on patches of chop that i would never have considered on my Underground flx or Litewave Tsunami...as a result after an hour or so i was nailing the tricks that i was doing in kenya last summer for the first time in a year! In the choppy conditions that we get up north having the confidence to take off wherever you want makes for far more productive and rewarding sessions!

The other real stand out feature of the boards is the footpads, the first bonus point for them is that the foot strap and pad are combined and they only require 2 screws to put them in place. The board took me about 5 mins to put together...with no fiddling trying to line up the holes etc. Over and above the ease of set up, they are seriously comfortable! Much more so than anything i have tried so far. They stick to your feet seriously well and just feel really solid and confidence inspiring.

The overall finish of the board is top notch and the word on the street is that they are made in the same factory as Nobile Boards and that is no surprise as the construction techniques and stepped flex tip design looks very similar.

I was always one of the people that thought that new kites are what really made the difference to kitesurfing year on year, but having upgraded from an 06 board to an 08 board i can really appreciate the advances in board technology and how much more fun and exciting they make kiting. So if you're still riding a board that's a few years old, chuck it on eBay (now is the time of year to sell!) and treat yourself, it's worth it.

Detailed review Roly.....good stuff. Sounds like your loving the new board.

Big highlights for me are the comfortable ride in chop, the lovely pads (sounds wet but they are so comfy) but most of all for me is the pop. The Crazy Fly Raptor I've got is a really cruisy board which I've got on well with for quite a while now but no where near the pop level of x and z series.

Found a couple of short videos of the x-series in action.

http://www.youtube.com/v/AH4QYH4aex4

http://www.youtube.com/v/TBgparJb18Y

Are you out anywhere with demo's this weekend James?

Hi Adam, I'm away for a couple of weeks around the west coast of Scotland, Hebrides etc but on my return my wrist will hopefully be mending nicely and I'll be out as much as possible so we can arrange for you to try them. This applies to anyone else as well who might be interested.

One of the board review sites lists the Z and X series as suitable for advanced to pro riders. What do you guys who use them think? Should an advanced beginner/new intermediate stay clear until a bit more capable?

Hello mate,

The x-series is very stiff and aimed more at freestyle but the Z-series is a very good allrounder and it what I have gone for.

Fletch on this forum has just learnt (2 days with me and then a trip to Dominican) and he opted for the Z-series which he is pretty happy with so hopefully he can comment.

I can go where I want, but not doing any tricks yet, is that intermediate? I had to buy a board so on the back of good reviews and rather than buy a begineers board and then have to upgrade I went for the Z-Series.

I've ridden it twice and it has performed brilliantly, I'm not much into technical descriptions but it did everything I wanted easily and previously I was struggling in my turns but found it much easier on the z-series. Only caveat is I can only compare it to the Best rental boards I learnt on.

Fletch
PS Still think I may have missed out not getting a Dixon Pro Wood

Cheers Fletch,

A few words like you have written is more useful to me than a description of rocker design and flex characteristics. Like you though what I thought was going to be a fairly simple desicion on a new board has now been thrown into confusion due to the radical new designs coming out of the North East.