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Kitesurfing, Windsurfing and Sailing: North SHOX XTR
Bonaire Talk: Kitesurfing, Windsurfing and Sailing: Archives: Archive 2010: North SHOX XTR
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Trevor Hibdige, Lac Bay Villa (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #221) on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 - 1:52 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I was lucky enough to be given the New North SHOX XTR to test (Many thanks to Solent Sailboard, UK) and since it is way out of the sensible price bracket I thought some of you might be interested in the results. They do not support the sales hype.....

Test Day was 17 knots of wind and the Naish Slalom 125 and 7m Redline were in use with a 36cm freeride Choco fin in the box.

The SHOX had been tried before but there was no apparent difference. Yesterday defined what it does.

AM
Regular North XTR
Fully powered with the 7.0 the 125 spent most of the time on flattish water at 26 knots on the GPS. Flat out. Sailed for One hour.
SHOX
Same. No apparent difference. Sailed for one hour. No GPS speed difference

PM
Regular North XTR
After lunch the tide had come in more and the chop was hell. 26 knots in heavy short chop and my lunch was fully shaken and I felt like a beginner. I couldn't get comfortable and the board would not pop up on to the plane and it was the session from hell.

I swopped this, adjusted that, moved footstraps, tensioned the downhaul. It was crap.

SHOX
I fitted the SHOX and WOOSAH. All settled down instantly. 26 knots. Over the chop. Everything smilie again !!!!!!!!


CONCLUSION
The SHOX did not make me sail better. It did not make me sail faster. It did not improve my jibes. If you are sailing on the edge maxed out anyway then it does bugger all.

What it does do is make heavy chop useable. It makes impossible uncomfortable sailing possible so you don't miss the session. My stomach hurt yesterday after lunch. I was fed up with being bounced and shaken and having to work so hard on the chop. The SHOX took that hassle away and made me smile again. For that simple reason it is fantastic.

Is it worth it ?

It is fiddly. It is heavy. It is called the XTR but only has one pulley so is misnamed. The base is fiddly to insert and is very prone to sand. Unclipping the base WILL take your fingernail off and is not a good design. But it worx. In certain conditions it makes sailing possible.

Would I buy one ?
Too expensive. But almost worth it............

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vincent Vethaak (BonaireTalker - Post #54) on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 - 6:26 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for the test report. Have you done the testing in England or at Lac bay? I still have to read the review in the german Surf magazin. It is indeed a lot of money 299 euro without the base 69,95.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Trevor Hibdige, Lac Bay Villa (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #224) on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 - 6:56 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Vincent

I have done testing now in Bonaire and recently in England. The UK testing was the same. Good comfort in heavy chop. I have an iSonic 111 in the UK and it is a pig when the chop is sharp but after a day of tuning, the biggest improvement was to make the footstraps bigger !!! I really would like to love the SHOX but its so expensive. Stick with a soft UJ (BOGE type) and a regular North XTR. I stay away from the Tendon UJs - the ones with the single cylinder of hard plastic. The claim is that the harder connection makes for better acceleration and control but all that happens is you shake and rattle more and the Tendon breaks after less than a year. No good if you are off shore !!! BOGE last 3 - 5 years but I change them after 2 years.

 


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