CARDBOARDS
In 2010-2011 season, AKS has elected to find another board range to give our customers a better choice. We wanted to find a range of boards with a great reputation, awesome build and good warranty, a top ride and fresh designs. To this end we have ticked all the prerequisites we were looking for and also just happens to be owned, designed, built and tested in Australia. Home grown sticks!
I met Dan Veale, owner of Cardboards, back in 2002/2003 in our travels around Australia. Way back then, Dan had a vision of great boards, made in Australia for Australian riders. Finally our paths cross again and we are proud to be supporting a great product into WA through AKS. We now marry the knowledge and customer service of AKS with the top boards of Cardboards.
Welcome Cardboards!
TYRO - Beginners-Intermediates
Cardboards Tyro
The Tyro is designed and priced for the beginners to intermediates in the sport looking for an easy, fun board to ride that won't break the bank. At under $800, why wouldn't you? The Tyro has a double concave hull for taking the slap out of rough water and a softer flex to make big chop effortless. This allows you to learn riding with the kite more quickly, without having to concentrate too hard on the board side of things.
Construction of the Tyro is Paulownia timber core with triaxial laminate. All boards come with adjustable footstraps and pads as well as Cardboards own 50mm fins. The Tyro has a 12 month warranty against breakage.
To the shop please!
133cm x 40cm
138cm x 41.5cm
144cm x 43cm
Cardboards Tyro - Rider Review
The Tyro is obviously aimed at the beginner entering the sport, it is cheap to buy, but built with the same attention to detail as the other Cardboards range, is easy to ride and a fun board. The first thing you notice, is how smooth the ride is, even in the roughest of water. It feels like it floats on a cushion of air and carves a nice upwind track with little effort. The fins are large which assures a nice grip on the water. Carving is easy and the board flexes nicely to produce a clean fast turn. Although the board lacks in any real pop for freestyle, it is hardly a negetive as this board is targetted squarely at beginners. For this it scores a 10 out of 10, A top board and great value for money.
FREERIDE (FR) - Beginner to Advanced
Cardboard FR
The Freeride, or FR, is a board designed as a great all rounder for riders from Intermediate to advanced skill level. The FR is able to deliver a fast and comfortable ride whilst maintaining control in a very wide range of conditions. The "quattro" concave gives control in harsh conditions and the flex allows the rider to absob some of the bumps.
Construction is Paulownia wood core with Triaxial laminates and unidirectional carbon for precise flex control. This is the board for all riders in everyday conditions.
The Freeride comes with an outstanding 3 year warranty against breakage!!!!
To the shop please!
128cm x 38cm
131cm x 40cm
136cm x 41cm
141cm x 42cm
Cardboards FR - Rider Review
I always figured that the FR was going to be a board which would be similar to the North X-Ride in rider appeal as they are both touted as a freeride fun board for average rider and average conditions.
I have been riding the red 136cm FR in a variety of conditions from butter flatness, to rough Pinnaroo chop and the FR just eats it up in spades. The quad concave gives a very smooth and precise ride through rough water with no spray to the face which is always good. Carving is effortless and smooth and the board holds good speed making loading up in tough conditions fairly easy. It has a nice amount of flex and is a little stiffer than the X-Ride by North which places it sort of between the North Jaime and X-Ride in it's performance category. Absolutely ideal as an intermediate performance free ride board with good freestyle capability. The Cardboards are marginally heavier than their North counterparts which could account for the better warranty.
The FR has great freestyle potential wihtin it's layup. The wide tips really throw you up in the air at first hint of stomping the tail and the landings are dead easy. Easily one of my favourite boards.
TEMPO - Progressive Wake Style
Cardboards Tempo
The board for those who like to push their wake style riding. The Tempo is quite the beast for those following the wake style movement. Leave it with straps or just add boots to handle even more power and control. The Tempo has a broad and powerful outline with incredible pop and control. The hull shape takes on a high rocker line similar to wake boards and with 5 x concaves and D tip channels.
Board construction is Paulownia wood core wrapped in a carbon fibre reinforced, triaxial laminate, with Nomex honeycomb sections for precise flex and massive pop. This board also comes with an amazing 3 years warranty against breakage. Don't let your board hold you back!
Quickly, to the shop!
127cm x 39cm
130cm x 40cm
135cm x 41cm
140cm x 42cm
Cardboards Tempo - Rider Review
The Tempo is a board I didn't give too much thought to as I guessed it was mainly angled at the Freestyle boots wearing Nu-Schoolers. Interesting how you can be lead astray by a name and hype.
I have now ridden the Temp 135 in a good variety of conditions and can form a reasonably educated opinion. The first ride I had on the Tempo was in rough water and gusty conditions hanging on to an overly powerful kite at the top of it's wind range. The heavy rocker of the Tempo sure makes for a smooth ride and makes landings easy from tricks, the rocker may soak up a bit of power from the kite but I didn't notice it, it cranked upwind and was so solid through the chop that it felt like it was on rails. You can literally load the hell out of the back foot and all you push is bigger curtains of spray, absolute confidence in it's track.
When you load to pop, the board responds beautifully and the wider tail gives a sure leg up to get you off the water with adequate clearance to land almost any move. It's more in the landings that the board really shines as it grips the water so easily and allows easy recovery. I found my blind riding and control in trickery, both in flat water and chop was elevated to new levels.
This is a really fun ride for intermediate to advanced riders. We've had nothing but good feedback from other riders on this board. Sweet!
PRO - Advanced Freestyle- Is your style Free?
Cardboards Pro
The Pro, as the name suggests, is the board designed without compromise for those wanting a board with the ultimate performance. A wide and powerful outline, coupled with a precisely controlled flex pattern and double concave gives this board amazing pop and speed to throw down your best trick and make it look bigger and better. This is the board for the progressive advanced freestyle rider wanting maximum performance.
Construction is of Paulownia wood core with Nomex honeycomb sections, reinforced with a tri-axial laminate. Double bias carbon and uni carbon sections give precise flex control. The tough construction makes it light and strong enough for a 3 year warranty!!
Quick, I need one!
136cm x 41cm
139cm x 42.5cm
Cardboards PRO - Rider Review
The Pro was a board I thought I was going to really enjoy as I am always keen on more advanced style boards. The Pro for me, was a difficult ride in our usual conditions (chop). I found the speed of the board and the ability to hold a good edge quite nice but on the other side of the coin, the flatness and tail width that give it it's speed and upwind made loading and popping quite a difficult job even in the smoother water. I managed to ride it ok, but found it a more of a struggle as everything had to be very precise to land tricks and ride away. As such this board would really suit heavier riders more into their freestyle in very flat waters. Not a board for anyone less than very advanced skill level IMHO.
I'll be relaying this info back to Dan to see if we can make it a little more accomodating to upper end of performance riders liking. I'll add another review if I get this opportunity in the future.
WAVE - Mutant Wave Board (Thruster)
Cardboards Wave
The Wave is a board designed for all types of surf conditions, from blown out slop in onshorebreeze to perfect down the line side shore. The tail of the board is purely thruster setup utilising G10 80mm surf fins whilst the nose of the board sports a pair of 50mm wake fins in case you need to get out of the way in a big hurry and don't have time to gybe the board.
The Wake is a double concave step back in time to when mutant style boards were the rage, but now with a better shape and the ability of the new kites, the board will bring new life to the older style of big air and surf riding on the same board! The footstrap setup has multiple positions to allow almost any favoured stance.
Board construction is Paulownia wood core with carbon reinforced triaxial laminate. This board also comes with a 3 year warranty against breakage!!!
To the shop please!
148cm x 43cm
Cardboards Wave 148 - Rider Review
This was a board I was eagerly awaiting as I liked the idea of being able to boost big and ride waves and also ride through nastly chop. A real all rounder. First thing I noticed was it was a little on the heavy side which isn't much of a problem as I prefer a little weight in my boards for control in lumpy conditions. The ride is very smooth and the carving is just great, not as much grip as you'd get from a dedicated surfboard (as you would expect with small fins) but good amount of control and forgiveness. It rides really well on the nose and if anything is easier going upwind on the nose than on the tail. This is most probably due to the offset footpads/strap positioning I set up. I'll change it to symmetrical today to see what effect it has.
Off to ride some waves and will update this review later .....
Cardboards Fins, Straps and Pads.
No board is complete without fins straps and pads so Cardboards ship every board with high quality fins of size to suit the board, threy also come with comfortable footpads to fit most feet with comfort and grip. Footstraps are adjustable via velcro and will add to the look for your board whilst keeping your feet snug and in the right spot. Add a handle and the whole setup is complete, ask about our deals and special packages when you come and have a look at our board range!
Straps, pads and handle
Cardboards Fins
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