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KITEWORLD SUMMARY:
As close to a wave-riding twin-tip as you can get. A very accomplished shape, making for a comfortable ride, excellent grip and even drive in the bottom-turns. Good power-control in gusts, quick to get going at the bottom-end and good flex and pop for tricks. Superb finish, too.
MANUFACTURER'S HYPE:
Although originally conceived to be a dedicated wave-riding twin-tip, the Hammer also proved to be a huge stand-out in very choppy conditions. Tucked surf rails through the centre of the board allow a positive driving bottom turn. A hard edge through the last quarter maintains speed and bite when coming off-the-top, and the narrow tail combined with reduced thickness and increased flex provide maximum snap. The double V concave into Spiral V bottom shape was developed with two outcomes in mind, firstly to enhance the directional stability of the board without the need for massive fins and also to give a positive drive when rolling the board over from the heel-edge to the toe-edge when initiating a turn. A full top and bottom rail wrap allows for a soft, hand-shaped rail ensuring the board is more forgiving and stable to ride.
TEST TEAM NOTES:
NEAL: It’s a Colin McCulloch classic. He was making twin-tips of this quality four years ago. Nicely hipped-in shape and good rails.
GEORGE: You could get that as your one board. At 137 you can use it for light winds, waves, freestyle and in high-winds. It’s got plenty of flex too, which I really like in a twin-tip.
NEAL: It dealt with everything; the flex and kick in the tips make it release well, and it almost has a complete bottom-turn! Fantastic fittings. I really enjoyed that as soon as I got on it.
GEORGE: The rails were interesting. They were bevelled the wrong way - sharp at the top and more rounded in shape at the bottom for that surfing roll. The concave in the bottom allowed it to rock nicely from rail to rail.
JAKE: It’s a convex concave so it comes below the rails, which I was very surprised about. Makes it rocky, but I was surprised it still had grip. Must be the sharpness of the rails at the top.
NEAL: I guess if you had to pick anything it wouldn’t be great at landing the full power moves because those narrow tips will trip and catch as opposed to a big fat stubby twin-tip that the pros are using. But that’s nit-picking, and besides, I’ve seen shots of Felix Pivec doing everything on one.
SIZES:
137 x 38.5cm
 
www.airush.com
This test is in issue #21
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