You know... Any time someone says anything with even the slightest whisper of a negative disposition towards a BOB hull, the you guys gang together like a lynch mob carrying pitch forks and torches. If you guys love this hull sooo much, then who gives a FLYING FORNICATION what anyone else thinks about it!!!
Custom/Hybrid Why are BOB's so heavy???
- Thread starter Sanoman
- Start date
You know... Any time someone says anything with even the slightest whisper of a negative disposition towards a BOB hull, the you guys gang together like a lynch mob carrying pitch forks and torches. If you guys love this hull sooo much, then who gives a FLYING FORNICATION what anyone else thinks about it!!!
raytherace
Canadian Brapp Dealer
- Location
- St-Ray Beach, QC
BTW Zack was not saying anything about BOB. Matt was speaking in comparasion and not me. I was just talking for talking, dont be upset with that, its was just my opinion.
1. Price - BOB is probably the cheapest reputable hull on the market, LW is probably the most expensive.
2. Quality, fit & finish - LW is by far the absolute best quality, fit & finish I have ever seen (I've seen a number of their hulls up close). Way better than OEM, perfect attention to detail, and consistent from hull to hull. BOB hulls are surprisingly good in the fit & finish, especially when I compare it against my ow SF. :lmao:
3. Durability - Sickerling's first LW hull withstood over seven years of pro-level surf abuse without a single crack. It has been lawndarted multiple times. Another LW hull destroyed a SJ in a collision during a competition last year. Not a single crack on the LW. Zack has been flogging the hell out of his LW for over a year now. Not a single crack. You should have seen what his surf layup Rickter looked like after a year. I won't say too much about how the multiple BOB's I've seen did in that department, only because it's not quite fair to single them out - pretty much every hull out there (with some expensive exceptions) is going to look a bit worn after a year or two of west coast surf abuse, and the BOB's I've seen were no exception.
Look, I hate to tell you guys the obvious - but you really do get what you pay for and it should come as no surprise that a hull costing twice as much built by THAT guy is going to outshine the competition.
One more time: I am not dogging on the BOB hull. It's excellent for what it is. But it ain't in the same league as the LW, for reasons pointed out above.
I was addressing your comment that you can get strong, cheap, light. I think that the "strong" isn't in the same league. (Not just saying that about the BOB, btw - that goes for lots of a/m hulls. Maybe I should have made that clear.)
Nothing to get upset over.
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wydopen
onthepipe
- Location
- Goleta the Goodland
the real question is why people dont understand that extra weight for everything other than competition style flatwater freestyle is a good thing??
- Location
- Cruising Around
Where are the heavy and broken Wammer, Bullet and Trinity GP layup hulls that are $4500? Never seem to get any comparison to like priced hulls here. Everyone wants to act like the BOB is the only game in town and like Stunts said in his earlier post. Matrix GP 115lbs. $4499. WDK ROK $4000. I dont get it.
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raytherace
Canadian Brapp Dealer
- Location
- St-Ray Beach, QC
Agree on the *strong* is not the in same league maybe, but its probably close to....and no I will not provocate a collision to test the durability of my BOB !!
That comment was not for you..loll
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- Location
- Edmonton, AB
I understand a BOB is a lower end hull and the price dictates that. However I'm still quite impressed with finish of my g3 for the price I paid.
I hate the saying you get what you pay for because that's not always the case.
I've never understood how the freak can be priced so high and the fit and finish be so crappy. If the ski clinic produced a hull looking like that, you guys would run them off the site
I hate the saying you get what you pay for because that's not always the case.
I've never understood how the freak can be priced so high and the fit and finish be so crappy. If the ski clinic produced a hull looking like that, you guys would run them off the site
raytherace
Canadian Brapp Dealer
- Location
- St-Ray Beach, QC
Its probably the only reason why the LW is 10k
- Location
- Grand Rapids
My bob gen 1 is 60lbs with hood. just sayinn......
- Location
- Bakersfield
Bobs are heavy because you get what you pay for
if you ask them to build you an extra strength surf hull then you are going to sacrifice some weight. If you ask them to build you a lighter than normal freestyle ski you are going to sacrifice some strength
you can't have everything for 4k, that's why you see the lw hulls at 10k
lets stop the bashing
if you ask them to build you an extra strength surf hull then you are going to sacrifice some weight. If you ask them to build you a lighter than normal freestyle ski you are going to sacrifice some strength
you can't have everything for 4k, that's why you see the lw hulls at 10k
lets stop the bashing
raytherace
Canadian Brapp Dealer
- Location
- St-Ray Beach, QC
oh that mean 55lbs SF hull are not strong ??? If other builder can make light and strong, why not BOB ?? I dont understand your point ???
BTW im not bashing on nothing, once again im just talking for talking. If i was rich I can tell you for sure that i would deal every brand of hull !!
The reason it's so expensive is because it's hand-made by a composites expert with decades of experience who can make a lot more money applying his skills where he usually does (auto racing parts of the highest quality).
The jetski thing is just a hobby for him. He's not looking for numbers, he just wants to turn out quality hulls that he never has to worry about fixing.
He told me once that the same material (carbon, epoxy, etc) that he turns into a $12,000 jetski could also be turned into $60,000 of racing parts.
The finish on the Freak is a bit below a BOB hull, no arguments there. The fit is about the same. I've put my own together and had a couple small issues and a local guy just put a BOB together and had similar issues.
The Freak really shines in the ride department (great all around boat, does everything really well) and it's light & strong. That's exactly what I was looking for.
The obvious downsides are price and finish.
THE PRICE IS RELEVANT TO ANY COMPARISON BEING MADE ! and im just trying to talk about claims being made not forming a lynch mob just reppin a good product.let me put it to you like this ,if i can get the same performance from my acura that i can from my porsche why would someone take a shot at demeaning an endeavor and make a comparison to something on the other end of the price spectrum? thats all i'm saying .i think its a bumber that we don't embrace the fact that now we have choices to make on which hull we would like and how much we would like to spend.some of its just silly.a few years back i couldn't even begin to think about a competitive ski and now a lot of people can afford them ,is that not a good thing?
"Get what you pay for" really gets thrown around a lot, by me included. You got to be careful, though. There are a variety of factors to "What you get", and a lot of them are personal preference and not so easy to quantify.
1. Hull construction technique (wet layup? pre-preg? infusion? auto-clave?) and resulting weight, strength, reliability, and durability.
2. Hull versatility. Is it a very purpose driven boat that has a steep learning curve or is it an all around boat that anyone can step on?
3. Fit & finish. Just how much time does the builder spend on that? Do you care?
4. Brand recognition. Yup, once a hull is solidly established, the maker can charge more. Not everyone does. Not everyone cares.
So the Freak does really well in 1, 2, and probably 4.
BOB does great in 3 and 4 for what you pay
Rickter is all about 2, 3, 4.
LW has all four points.
- Location
- Bakersfield
Bob can make strong and light hulls too don't get me wrong but that's why the carbon and g3 cost more
i havent heard of anyone bobs breaking or anything else, the only complaint I've heard is about the finish
im sure that a 55lb sf is strong but I bet a 75lb one would be stronger
the 140lb bob described in this thread isn't a hull that someone ordered and was expecting it to be super light, it was built custom to whoever ordered it
from what I've heard about the ski clinic they can build one just about any way you want
i havent heard of anyone bobs breaking or anything else, the only complaint I've heard is about the finish
im sure that a 55lb sf is strong but I bet a 75lb one would be stronger
the 140lb bob described in this thread isn't a hull that someone ordered and was expecting it to be super light, it was built custom to whoever ordered it
from what I've heard about the ski clinic they can build one just about any way you want
I hear you, but you're not getting the same performance (strength, quality, durability, fit, finish) from your $4,500 BOB that you would from from a $10,000-$12,000 LW.
It should be obvious and isn't a jab at BOB hulls.
(Ride quality performance is personal preference)
I think it's great how affordable BOB hulls are and how well they perform. I know I can't afford a LW.
You're happy with all aspects of your hull, great. But don't fool yourself into thinking that it's qualitatively (not ride quality) in the same league. It isn't.
This thread isn't a beating on bob hulls like you might think it is. (NOt by me, anyways)
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- Location
- Bakersfield
I think they put out a great product too. I talked to quite a few people about them before because they were my first ski choice. I really like the way the g3 looks and with how fast the company is advancing and making better changes they could be the next big brand