Rider: 95kgs advanced rider
Style: sketchy wakestyle
Weather: 12-35 knots
Build Quality: 11/10
Satisfaction: 9.5/10
Disclosure: Team rider for Eastos Extreme Kites(Whyalla, Port lincon)

My Comments: I have now had the 140cm 50 fifty for a thew weeks and have had a chance to test it in various conditions from 13kts right up to 35kts in mainly flat watter but have been out in some larger swell and nasty chop and have ridden with the pro pads and bindings.

The first thing you notice on this board is the way it is built the board is verry light and has heaps of rocker and the chanels that run through the board look weird, but the finish on the board is second to none.
The Pro foot pads are a vast improvement over the hard pads nobile have been using for the last 3-4 years, they are soft and easy to adjust They come in two collors Black or Yellow. I went yellow stands out really well.
The fins are nice and small and bright yellow also, i was glad they were a lot smaller as the ones that came on my 09 666 seemed a bit to big.
The board doesnt have a grab handle which is not a bad thing as they have used the extra inserts fo mountings for bindings.

It really doesnt take to long to bolt this board togetherr all the pads are pre asembled screws and all all you need to do is line them up and screw them down, i have put a lot of boards together and can say this was probably the easyest ever.

So i had the pads on and was a little scepticle about how it would ride beind 140cm i thought it may only be good for boots but as i allready had the pads on it i thought i would give it a go.

I was instantly comfortable on the board, the extra rocker made it feel like a much smaller board, and it tracked upwind like it was on rails even when the wind picked up the board didnt feel to big and handled well. There was no spray in the face and it seemed to handle the short chop better than my 666 and i seemed to be ridding a lot faster. The board almost felt like it was glued to the water but with a bit of a push in the right direction you could get it to skate around easily making turns verry easy.

The pop is amazing! Without doubt this board with all the extra rocker just flys when loaded up way better than any lunacy or 666 i have ever ridden. Landings were smooth and the soft pads soaked up the shock well the board never felt skaty on landings it had just enougth give so you didnt get yanked off the board. It even handled those out of controll over rotated landings when you think your in the drink and you manage to snag one corner of the board and your off ridding again i think the tips have just enougth flex for this. The board like last years 666 still rides and lands toeside efortlessly.

After the first couple of weeks on the board with the pads i was verry impressed i thought i would ride it all season as it was and get rid of the 666. but i really wanted to give the boots a go so draged out a set of sling shot PB Floyds and bolted them strait on easy as heaps of room to mave them around and set your stance.

I have had two rides on the boots so far 17-22kts on a 13m Bandit 3 and 20-25kts on the same kite and you wouldnt believe the difference, the board just becomes mental the pop is out of controll and takes a bit to get used to the ride is steel smooth and fast you can hold down so much more power and go in to turns as hard and fast as you like where a normal board just skips out this thing just threw bucketloads of roost and tracked arount the turn no problems at all.

Ive allways had a problem with getting good pop when unhooking on a really powered kite thats sitting low its normally hard to load up properly so you end up pulling on a heap of depower, but with this board you can just leave the power where you have it set bear off un hook think you have no chnce of loading and popping but give it a go and the board just tracks back up wind untill you release it and the result is way out of controll the extra weight of the board and boots just sends your legs strait up in to massive railys and rolls and had me wondering if i was going to come back down. You do land verry hot but after hooking back in quickly the board will grab a verry hard edge and drive back up wind. It absolutly blew me away.

Conclusion: If your a wake style rider i strongly recomend giving this board a go as it is amazing, dont be put of by the size, try it with or without boots you wont be disapointed either way, I wish i had two of them now one with boots and one without, but for now it will be just one lucky it doesnt take long to switch to pads.

Bad Points:With no grab handle(its a good thing it doesnt need one), the board is a slippery little sucker which has you grabbing the straps or boots to carry it which isnt allways easy, i think the board just needs some little gripps on the side in the middle like last years 666 to make it easyer to hold. just some little ribs or a 3d molding like the skim. If Nobile come to grips with this it will be 10/10 next year.

Hi
Waxi... Thanks for the review!
We'll take good notice of the rippled grip idea for the 139 & 140 as the 141 comes complete with a bright yellow handle. Nobile produces all year round, modifications could be made from one week to the next.

James, we should get one demo back from QLD today or tomorrow. Or we'll just put a new one together... You are welcome to take it to the river as the wind forecast looks pretty average.

Ciao
B

hydra said...

waxman, do you think the 50 fifty would suit wakeboarding behind a boat, im looking for a kite board with enough rocker to pop off a wake, and to still use as a kite board with boots.
prior to the 50 fifty release i was looking at cab custom or even a ronix viva. im keen to demo one of these bitches for sure.
cheers
james

In short James the answer is No. Very few boards can make the transition between kiting and being used behind a boat or at cable. One of the few production boards that quite a few testify to is the Slingshot Response.

You got to remember that the rocker is completely different between wakeboards and kiteboards. Wakeboards have continuous and much more than a kiteboard. The same rocker in a kiteboard would see you struggle to stay upwind. Doable maybe, but enjoyable, probably not.

fozzy said...

hydra said...

waxman, do you think the 50 fifty would suit wakeboarding behind a boat, im looking for a kite board with enough rocker to pop off a wake, and to still use as a kite board with boots.
prior to the 50 fifty release i was looking at cab custom or even a ronix viva. im keen to demo one of these bitches for sure.
cheers
james

In short James the answer is No. Very few boards can make the transition between kiting and being used behind a boat or at cable. One of the few production boards that quite a few testify to is the Slingshot Response.

You got to remember that the rocker is completely different between wakeboards and kiteboards. Wakeboards have continuous and much more than a kiteboard. The same rocker in a kiteboard would see you struggle to stay upwind. Doable maybe, but enjoyable, probably not.

i think ud find most wakeboards have 3 stage orblended rockers now a days though there are a some that have continous..

for cable and kite continuous is best as its fastest over the water.

boards that work well behind both would be the slingshot response or better yet the reflex, reflex works best behind a kite out of the 3 slingshot wakeboards.

yer agreed, your never going to find a one board fits all fix.. get a wake specific for the boat get a kite specific for the kite.. but the reflex and response does work pretty well on both ends of the scale just means u gona have to re learn how to edge up wind as its a bit different.

am i right iin seeing that there is only one stance setting for bindings? just two outer holes for 6 and 8 inch spreads? if so thats disappointing..

wana just give me one so i can tell u how good it is with actual bindings on?

how many other boards have you tried with boots?

Charl dv said...

28knots 9m bandit... did the bandits lose a ton of grunt? or do you weigh in over the 100 range? cos thats a toss load of wind for a 9 bandit.

Check his first post... all details are there... Advanced rider... 95kg's

stamp said...

how many other boards have you tried with boots?

This is the 4th board i have had boots on and it is miles ahead of the rest Plus you can put normal straps on and it still rides great.

Charl dv said...

who would actually want to put "normal straps" on haha 140 is massive for fruit loops! sounds like a pretty solid board though might have to try it just out of curiosity

Did you check out the vid posted above? Most of the guys in it are ridding the 50fifty with straps, they only come in 3 sizes 139,140,141 all big boards. It actually does ride great with straps. You do need to give one a go for yourself if you cant read any of the above posts. I think you will be quit supprised at how good it is

yer i dun see the point riding straps on a 'wakestyle' board. but anyway yer i always like trying new stuff so long as who i demo from doesnt mind me mounting some boots on it

Waxman you seem to know the Nobile Boards well, I need some advice. Can't choose between the NHP or 50 fifty and the size for that matter. I'm 68kgs- 5'9, just started riding powered C kites (best move I've made), have basic unhooked tricks down and just started handle passes. Local beach can get pretty choppy at times. Current board LF recoil 08 132. Any advice would be appreciated. Cheers

Its a shame that you dont like your new board, being a new concept shape it may take a bit to get used to. I really dont know if you will benefit from getting the 50 fifty as the ridding technique is going to be fairly similar to the NHP it just has a lot more rocker, that does give you a lot of pop but you do need to use a progressive edge to get the most out of it its not really a stomp type board. It does get up and plain easily due to the extre length but with straps will seem a like you are putting in a bit more efort to edge when the wind gets up but saying that i have never lost the edge it just grips and goes.

It does sound a bit like your not letting the board get enougth speed, these boards like being ridden a little faster, once you have the extra speed you may find it is a lot easyer to pop with, bring the kite a litle lower to get a good solid edge.

It is a shame you couldnt get a demo maby just keep an eye out down the beach you may find someone ridding the 50 fifty that will let you take it fore a spin, or try the next size up nhp you do need a board that is comfortable to ride for you so kitting remains fun.

With the eye problem you are allways going to get watter in them and if this is a problem try wearing some kite specific sunglasses they really do help

Didyou say the fifty 50 has more rocker than nhp? Isn't it stiffer and flatter? Does it feel more like the 09 nhp or not and have you actually ridden this years nhp?

Had the 555 before buying a 666. The 666 was a great improvment over the 555 and progressed alot faster on due to it having more grip and in my mind more controlable.

Looks like you have tried a lot of boards in the past. I think that all you can do is keep trying them untill you have found the one you are looking fore but you should know that all boards are different and it is almost imposible for a company to make a board have the best of every feature there allways has to be a compromise to maximise the features you are really after whether it be early planning, less spray more grip, more flex, more pop, light wind ability, good for chop good for surf etc. Once you know what you want from the board it will be a lot easyer to pick one but unfortunatly you cant have it all in one package, as a ridder you may find you need a few different boards to cover your ridding. I have a lot of boards for this reason, 129 lunacy, 134 666NHP, 140 fifty fifty w boots and pads, 137 555, nobile skim, 5'10 fish. I do get a lot of use from all of these boards regularly. If one isnt right for the conditions or style of ridding i have the right one to grab in the back of the ute ready to go.