exactly my point. . my money goes into stuff to help my riding... i havent havent heard any hard facts that convince my to get a roundie
Riding style and how well a ski handles is subjective, so you will never get any 'Hard Facts' to convince you... You need to have ridden them both, with comparable setups in order to make the decision for yourself.
I have them both, I like them both, but the riding styles are completely different, even tho I have tried to make the SN as close to the RN as possible.
what makes the rn better for flatwater?
Although the rear bottom of the SN is the same, the front is not. The SN is slightly broader in the nose which makes it grab a bit more than the RN when railing... It's almost like the RN is a happy medium between a SN and an SXI in handling (yes, I have owned an SXI also)...
This is good in the surf, not so much on flatwater... IMO
The pole mounting area of the SN is heavily angled towards the rear of the ski, and the RN is angled slightly forward of the ski. This gives me more 'torque' (4 lack of better word) on the front of the ski when try any maneuvers.
The bondrail on the SN is 'stepped' when you take off the cap, and the RN is square. The RN is easier to 'widen' and keep a good square footing for hood tricks if that is your 'cup-o-tea'...
The 1"x1" lump in the front of the SN tray reduces the amount of weight that I am able to get onto the nose. Yes you can step on this to partially compensate, but with a RN your foot is solid in the tray and an easier platform to get the weight forward when riding aggressively.
The top of my SN hood is 18" above the bottom of the bondrail, where my WCF hood is 16" above the bottom of the bondrail. This puts the center of gravity higher on the SN and makes it slightly more 'tippy' in the turns.
Note: there are only two aftermarket hood available for the SN that I know of, which is why I compare an after market RN hood to a modified SN hood, and only Blowsion's version was available when I modded my SN.
Add to that the availability of aftermarket hull/pole products for the RN that are just not available for the SN, to me it makes more sense in putting your money into a platform that you are able to more readily change as your riding style changes.
People can argue whether the RN or SN is a better riding ski, and everyone will have their own opinion, but the bottom line is that I have never heard anyone regret moving from a SN to a RN, and usually when these discussions happen, the savings of $$$ is the biggest reason to stay with a SN.
Buy what you want, ride what your comfortable riding...
:kiss: