I guess it really boils down to your height, weight, and fitness/skill level, but if you like the 5'2 Evo, the 5'4 Cymatic is a good compliment to that board. Me at 5'7 and 150, the 5'4 Cymatic feels good, and is more versatile than the 5'3. I only surfed the 5'3 a couple of times, but on a particularly decent day at my local spot during the summer, I missed a hand full of waves and some decent sections. Had some good ones too, but I wish I brought the 5'4 with me that day. The Cymatic feels like it has a large sweet spot too, especially if you compare it to something like the SKX. Again, I wouldn't call either of these boards grovelers...I mean, I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world to have one in knee high surf, if it's got some shape, but I prefer something with a wide tail for the absolute crap.
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Tomo MPH
- Thread starter VaB
- Start date
are you guys talking stock firewires?
The slater shapes seem to state a volume that is actually less than the stated volumes on the Tomo shapes . I have the Nano/Vader, both at 25 something liters and my 26.7 Cymatic is about the same, maybe even smaller. My Evo at 27 felt like a boat by comparison.
I'm talking LFT Firewire, except for the helium 5'2 Evo that I wish was LFT. Evo was a hard one to nail the size on, and I feel it has to be pretty much perfect. Don't know whats up with the volume on the Evo, could be all the surface area making it feel more buoyant. I would like to try a 5'1 some day, but I never rode a board that low in volume....next one will be in XTR for sure.
Cymatic may be more forgiving if you mis-size it. The 5'4 at 26.7 from what I recall ,feels about the same literage as my other HPSB's at that volume
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I think the weight of the helium boards make them more buoyant. My Hydroshort is 24.1L and i've never loved a board so much that has that low of volume. Usually im around 24.5 to 25.5. I've had discussions with Noel about this too. The more light weight a surfboard is... the more buoyant it feels.
IMHO, most oversize their Evo and complain it's corky- it should be ridden as short as you can paddle into waves. The rectangular shape hides the volume and planing hull design make it float well for its size. Then with XTR buoyancy, you could go down another 0.5-1L in volume from your size in LFT. I started with 5'7" 34L LFT, then 5'6", and my 3rd one was 5'5" 30L XTR SL. It's perfectly sized and I replaced it same dims from XTR last year.
Cymatic is a more HP design with much more foiled rails. Either of the the two stock sizes would've worked, but I'm glad I went with the larger one for paddling. Still surfed very surgical and precise. Made me feel like I was rippin! lol
I agree @oeste858. I bought an Evo from @jkb and it was lowest volume i'd ever surfed (22.8L dims were 5'0 x 17 3/4 x 2 1/8). The length was perfect, but could have been a touch wider and a touch thicker. I was very surprised I was able to paddle around and get waves the way i was. It goes to show that volume isnt always the controlling factor and design and outline play a bigger role.
Yeah, most people equate more volume to better wave-catching. But a too-big Evo, will really almost sit on top of the water like a cork, and can make it even harder to get into waves. The rectangular design may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, but is really efficient... let it do the work.
You don't like the helium ?
Beaten up stock LFT too, which is the only thing you can find in Oz really... and even then only when searching for a while.
If you're really lucky sometimes there's a few of Stu's custom LFT in circulation but that's it.
Helium is to too light, and corky. This is only my opinion, but the LFT to me seems the closest to PU. It has the right amount of weight to it, and feels like it drives through some of the texture a bit better. Even in glass conditions, I prefer the LFT. I replaced a FST Spitfire with Helium...not thrilled, and have ridden the EVO and Baked Potato in both constructions... the LFT feels better. I swear the Seaside would be a better board in LFT. The Helium Chum Lee I briefly had, I did not get along with. LFT is pretty strong too, at least the ones I have. The 5'8 SKX, LFT, I picked up on sale, is probably the fastest board I have ever ridden. Ever notice the Helium Gamma's are on sale all over the place for $499, but the LFT ones are hard to come by it seems?
Don't get me wrong, I have had some really fun days on the Helium boards, but I prefer LFT.
Edit: I wanted to mention though, I have seen some people surfing very well on Helium constructed boards, so to each his/her own. LFT is just my preference, when it comes to Firewire anyway.
How hard is it for you to get a custom Tomo Board?
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Harder on the wallet than it is in effort ordering it!
That's kind of what I expected
Are you in the US? The exchange rate is in your favour... seems fairly reasonable when converted to USD at around 785 converted. Unsure how much shipping would be.
Yeah, that is reasonable, but shipping would probably kill the deal. Would probably do XTR route instead if I wanted a custom Tomo. Was mainly curious if they were easier/cheaper to come by in AU, as an alternative to buying a Firewire
Don't buy Firewire. XTR construction stomps all over it.
We'll find out soon enough. I got mine October 2019. 5 more months and we'll see.
The Helium Hydroshort looked much more lively than the XTR in the Noel/Tomo review.
Yeah, you're looking at 900AUD for a firewire evo on most websites - hard to come by in LFT though.
around 700-800 on sale in a shop if you were to come by the size you chase - and unless you're a big dude you're kinda doomed.
Around 1200 for a custom tomo... you start seeing very few of the new revo but really expensive too.
So I'll keep to second hands until I get more settled