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Has anyone looked at the new breed(s) of board out of China and Thailand or whereva. Brands like SunnySUP, ATX , Suplove, blah blah. There are probably 6 or 7 new brands advertising on EBAY as well as the other more established brands, or should I say the other more established Chinese and Thai brands. Which of the major brands will fail first or retreat back to windsurfing? This next year will be interesting. Surely the SUP market is oversupplied and the entrance of the new players has already seen the prices drop. Interesting to see a bamboo/ epoxy little ripper from "sandreef at 800 bucks.
Good thread log man, will be interested to see the respones.
The question I have being a newbie unless you go to a local shaper how in the hell do you know if the SUP was made in some factory in Asia? Do I assume they all are? I guess if true then it comes down to quality v price and from what I see on ebay and this forum you get what you pay for.
guys we are seeing the chinese boards arrive with a few punters here in Bali & unfortunately the old story screams loud , you get what you pay for..
Have had a shop begin selling them here saying they are mexican shaped boards but in any case unfortunately paddlers are coming in very dejected after saving a few hundred bucks to then have to buy the quality second time around as the cheap boards simply fell apart..
It is a shame for the new punters that retailers are prepared to sell rubbish to unknowing people , is there a way to protect punters or does it all come back to the mighty dollar dictating peoples decision..
As an awesome community that is SUP riders lets try to inform the new comers & keep the stoke ..
SUP PETE ( http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=545338827 )
Look at the computer industry, I think there is only 4 or 5 factories in the world that produce computer parts. All the companies then buy and brand them accordingly, yet if you go to buy a laptop or pc how many different brands are there?
What seperates SUP companies is the amount or lack of R&D they put into their shapes. At the end of the day it doesn't matter where it is made if the shape is good then it is going to perform and it's not like the people working in the factories call up Naish and tell them what Starboard are doing or vice versa.
You also have to look at the raw materials being used , in my industry everyone thinks the products are all the same also , with comments like they all come from china anyway.Im sure its no different with epoxy , resin or fiberglass or carbon fibre their will be different qualities and or grades.Cheap manufactuars will use cheap raw materials and take short cuts to create a cheap product.Also big brand names may get their boards manufactured in china or wherever but they will insist on quality control , and quality materials , which costs more simple as that.The guys selling cheap boards paddles ect are making more money on each board than a guy selling quality shapes at a higher price.
Hasnt this topic been done to death a few times already.
sick photo Pete 
yeah agree Teatrea the cheap boards brands would be using cheaper resin and glass etc and likely only pay one bowl of brown rice instead of two bowls of rice plus noodle.
I think people keep coming back to this topic as the new brands keep rolling in just cant believe how many sups must land in OZ over the last 6 months? god i would love to no actually how many people ride a sup in OZ compared to the number of boards there are?
Those guys you mention i doubt where price gouging , yes competetion can be good.What it aslo can do is force other companies to lower prices so they can compete with lower quality products , then things like warranties service and sometimes quality is then reduced also. Not to mention the money these price gouges as you put it , probably spend on advancing the sport.The money i spent with one of the price gouges has been well worth it , not a mark on the board or paddle.Also had experience with cheaper boards and paddles , didnt last.I doubt very much big events like battle of the paddle , supworld tour ect would go ahead if it wasnt for the price gouges.
Very funny i find when people demand the lowest prices and then when they find the product doesent last or perform , their the loudest to cry foul.Buy cheap you get cheap mate simple as that.
Maybe I'm just a cynical old focker but the Idea that you "get what you pay for" is sometimes true and often not. In the last few years it has been proven time and again that Aust. manufacturers and retailers have price gouged, and good on em, its up to consumers to scrutinize prices and quality. I buy most stuff these days on line and if the quality is there then the price is usually much better than the old retail shop. So the surf industry,( the industry that employs more people in China than it does in Australia) reaps the reward and good on em again, but to cry foul when consumers buy direct , and even worse when good old Aussie companies use mock patriotism to make us feel bad about our Chinese purchase, well that just drives me mad(er). East coast SUP, you said the good brands are the brands that support athletes, isn't this a market strategy, some brands feel they can penetrate the market by supplying the local hot shot surfer with a board or two but it's just business , isn't it?. It happens all the time on this site , but that's OK as long as we don't think that the surf industry is a philanthropic industry. Oh yeah R+D.......how long did it take the high profile companies to recognise they were putting they're hand holes in the wrong place so the arse of the board dragged along the sand?, peeling deck grips?, snapped boards?, plastic fins on $1800 boards? heel dents? cracking and lifting wood veneer?, chips?, etc etc . This isn't the fly by night brand or the shonky 2 dollar shop stuff here, its the big brands, the guys wearing the white hats. What I'm saying is, are these good quality products? and is that good R+D?
mate this is the new 7'4 x 29.5 POD with 2011 deck colors, i just returned from xmas with my daughter & family & had the same board with black camo deck & scored sick waves in newy & it was unreal , put a few of those pics up on my facebook page along with some others.. It was great to ride the short SUP down in OZ with some juice.. Im heading back down in Feb hope to score again .. Pete
Logman .. all points valid & respected from your perspective however it really pays to be understanding of R&D as it really is .. this does not refer to slapping a few ideas together on rail lines & taking it for a dig.. it refers to the tiny bits that mean stronger paint , more durable yet lighter materials , solid warranty programs & on & on.. unfortunately what many do not see is what matters so much .. the cheaper options tend to jump on to what has been found & milk that research & then fail to reinvest to assist all , so this again confirms that ideally supporting a knowledgable local retailer will save you bucks by buying from them & using their knowledge to buy the correct equipment for your intended use & then also the ability to if need claim a warranty etc ...
Online shopping has its place but it doesn't do much for your kids or others needing a job in the town, so I rekon it is a great thing to have information from a retailer that knows their stuff to sell product that is correct for you as a consumer & if this retailer makes a bit then hey hats off as that is what makes the world go round & also who knows he may turn out to be a good paddle buddy nice time out in the lineup , try doing that with the computer contact for your cheap online purchase..
Having moved to Hong Kong several months ago and having met a number of people in the industry here and mainland China, I'd like to clarify a few things. I recently met a guy who co-owns the factory where a number of manufacturers have their boards made-about an hour from Hong Kong. In fact, the board which was recently stolen and subsequently found i Melbourne was most likely from this factory ;-).
Furthermore, I was recently looking at some pictures of paddles these guys make and mentioned how it looked like a paddle that I knew was made out of Hawaii (definitely not a Kialoa by the way). In fact it was! The factory is also designing a 12'6 and 14' for the same guy, which will be on the streets soon. Well, well, well.........
The guy who owns this factory is a former glasser for Ben Aipa. When I was living in Hawaii in the late 80s, Aipa shut down his manufacturing because he couldnt get quality glassing done. The guy I know here was the one who started glassing again for Aipa. Just giving you this background so you don't think I am just talking about some guy who showed up and opened up a factory to make SUPs. The guys been around surfboard manufacturing for a while.
Materials: These guys import their glass and resin to ensure the quality, so I don't think anyone can really question this. I can't say this about all manufacturers, but at least some Asian manufacturers are using quality materials. They do still shape the boards by hand using templates. One VERY large SUP brand will not use them until they get a CNC machine---which is on the way!
Craftsmanship: I've seen/paddled a few of these boards, but didn't exactly take a micrometer to them. I found them to be quality builds. This particular guy employs 50 people on a full time basis, so I'm sure they have people who have proficiencies in different aspects of the manufacturing process.
It's also worth noting that my mate pointed out to me that the SUP industry was the only thing that kept many overseas manufacturers running when the financial fiasco hit. They didnt take ANY surfboard orders for nearly 18 months, which was down from 100's of boards a month! So yeah, I can understand yet more pressure for some labels to try and get in on the SUP gig.
If anyone wants any more detail, just PM me. If anyone wants to have a brand of SUP named after them.........PM me ;-).
Cheers,
Ronnie
