Dane’s Review: Naish Sol 128
Kiteboard Tested: 2008 Naish Sol 128
Kites Used: 2008 Switchblade 3 6m, 8m and 10m
Dates: Spring 2008
Location: Columbia River Gorge
Conditions: Mellow 10-18 mph, moderate 16-24 mph, and intense 22-34 mph
Rider: Dane
Gender: Male
Height: 5′5″
Weight: 135 lbs
Skill Level: Advanced Kiteboarder
Even though it’s still quite cold out there, I’ve already been riding the 2008 Naish Sol 128 kiteboard quite a bit this season. I’ve hinted at my love of the Sol before, but I haven’t had a chance yet to compile my thoughts into a single review.
Bottom Line: The 2008 Naish Sol is an extremely fun twin tip board that is designed with freeride carving in mind. It edges upwind effortlessly, and it delivers an incredible ride for intermediate to expert riders who love slashing in flatwater and swell.
Mister Slashy McSlasherton
The key to the Sol is its aggressively rounded nose and tail, which give the board its loose, almost buttery feel. The looseness comes into play when you slash back and forth from heelside to toeside, as the shape of the board makes it completely natural to execute this transition. I come from a snowboarding background and I feel right at home on the Sol, linking my turns as though I’m carving down the mountain. This board is about as close as you can get to the feel of a directional kiteboard while still riding a twin tip.
I love all this carving, but it goes without saying that every time you go toeside you’re bound to lose some ground against the wind. Fortunately, even for how loose the board can be handled, it still holds an edge like a dream, and it is one of the most upwind-mobile twin tips I have ridden. In a single reach, you can easily recover all the ground you had lost through multiple reaches of riding and slashing in the swell.
The Sol will jump with the best of them, but it is a medium flex board and isn’t specifically designed for loading up and popping. If air is your thing, and not carving, you’d do well to look at a stiffer freestyle-oriented board, like the Naish Thorn or the North Jaime Pro.
Sizing the Sol
The 2007 Sol boards were fairly narrow, and because of their unique shape they all rode a bit smaller than their lengths suggested. Naish has adjusted the shape for 2008 by reducing the length and adding more width, so now the boards ride more true-to-size. Indeed, last year’s Sol 130 rode more like my North Jaime Pro 128 (in size, not feel, because the boards ride very differently), while this year’s Sol 128 feels pretty spot-on for a board in the 128 cm size.
As far as sizing goes, the Sol 128 is a pretty good size for a rider of my weight and skill level, and I believe it would also work well for a larger rider who enjoys riding powered-up. I spent a lot of time on a 125 cm North Jaime Pro last year, which was fun but always required a lot of power to get up and going. Perhaps a 128 is a bit big for me, but for one it’s the smallest size Sol that Naish makes, and for another I don’t particularly enjoy using a big kite to compensate for a smaller board.
Related Posts:
Unpacking the Naish Sol
Dane’s Comparison: Sol vs. Jaime Pro
Related Sites:
Naish Sol Product Page at Naish’s Website
