Cassette concave Tim kovacich

[Vance Collins]

[cdnphan]

i really dont care what my board does now aslong as it stays together..it rides so smooth...i love this deck

[kento911]

Im gonna quote grouch here the person who vance was diving on with his comment and nobody came to his rescue,

[eighteenvisions]

so basically youre saying cassette (wood), who have been there since the beginning and come up with some of the sickest ways to improve the wakeskate (concave, 4trac, asym) is just gonna make flat skates......

[kento911]

no there going to take the niche the flat skates currently hold within the market, that position being affordable beginner boards

[kento911]

and I think eventually cassette will be forced by industry pressure to produce a composite, or compression molded skate to maintain market share
BTW: I agree that cassette has made some awesome innovations in the industry, but at somepoint the industry is going to shift to better materials, and I have no doubt that Thomas will take that and push wakeskating in a new direction once again, just because I don't like the materials doesn't mean I don't respect the man and his accomplisments

[eighteenvisions]

im just saying that i dont think the industry is going to force cassette to change any time soon. its not like they are making something different from anyone else, i mean just look at all the companies making exact copies of their boards. i like the feel of wood skates and how they ride. the only improvement i see in the near future is something in the base of the board, or on the outside of the wood to make it more durable.

[kento911]

on one side I agree with you, but in the other side look at the newer companies who are bringing legit product to the market Liberation, Integrity, Butter, Hyperlite(whether you like them or not the gate is an innovation) and Mutiny before Erich left. not really harboring any loyalty to wood construction

[eighteenvisions]

yea but there are still a bunch of wood skates. you probably like composite decks more than wood im guessing. i really want to try out a butter board or integrity board but so far ive been enjoyin all the boards ive had and theyve all been wood. i tried hyperlite and hated it. i think that composite and wood decks are what makes wakeskating so diverse

[electricsnow]

Kento, I only made a comment towards you because you flew off the handle and brought up some irrevelant points--nobody mentioned wakeboards or boats (wakeboard boats, I mean). It was just a comment that pehaps wood isn't as bad as everyone is trying to make it out to be.

And you can't get really mad at grouch because he likes scrambled eggs and men.

I'll be honest: my family has some wooden waterskis. (and some other decent ones. sheesh) One pair is almost as old as I am and the other pair is probably from the 70's. The only problem with the oldest pair is the fact that the finish and paint is coming off. The skis have not split, nor have they warped. I don't know if it has to do with the type of wood that was used, or the materials that were used to "preserve" the ski. And if you want pictures, give me three weeks and I'll send you some.

At any rate, I'm not in any position to say that wood is better than this or that. As you said, it's up to everyone's personal opinion and I do have mine, but I'm not going to push it on somebody. Wakeskating is really young yet and there are more arenas to be explored as far as materials are concerned. Maybe wood will stay, maybe it will be phased out. But since nobody on here really knows what other companies are working on, I don't think they can really say (with certainty) that wood will be a discontinued material. And quite frankly, you can't compare a waterski to a wakeskate because the goals of the "rider"are going to be different. A wakeskate doesn't have to be as technical as a waterski. And if companies really believe in wood as a material, then it's up to them to design a deck that will be durable and resistant to the elements and other such stresses that will be placed on the board. If this isn't done, then you're right, high end wood decks will be phased out. But there will be people pushing, because there are professional riders (and I'm not even talking about the cassette team) that prefer wood over compression molded boards.

And lastly, don't expect cassette to change anytime soon.

Vance, I can't take the credit for that astute observation. But I think it's rad that those kampus ams are killing it on those k-series boards. They're not even concave and they're varial flipping and wake to wake flipping themselves into esquire status. haaaa...

[kento911]

I agree completely, and yes if you check my profile you can see my old cassette in the racks behind me, I really liked the way it rode, but it just fell apart too quik for what I paid for it, now I own a gate and I like it, after I got used to it, I bought it because it was the best composite skate on the market when I bought it, but when I upgrade I'll probably go to a Butter or Integrity, the Butter boards feel a little better that the Hypes, haven't tried Integrity yet

[kento911]

electricsnow, no need for pictures I own a Maharaja and a Connelly hook, both wood waterskis, and a Arbor(wood top sheet wake board), BTW I like grouch just fine, but all I was saying was if your going to jump on my sarcastic comment in all fairness vances comment was just as sarcastic, not that I dislike vance, I don't hate any one really I don't. I don't prefer to talk to endpro, some of you may already know, but I still posted on his thread and shared what I knew about his query.