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KITEWORLD SUMMARY:
In spite of some inventive fin design, the North Converter seemed a bit lost in the wave test we placed it in. Although it was a very capable twin-tip, it just didn’t have enough wave characteristics to keep the team happy within the parameters we set. As a regular twin-tip it is good with plenty of pop, width for quick planing and upwind riding, and the big tips help steady your landings. It is also bullet proof.
MANUFACTURER'S HYPE:
North have gone for full snowboard construction for all their twin-tips this year, providing probably the most stable construction available in very light, yet extremely durable boards. The Converter is two boards in one: by changing the fins at one end to lift up the tips, the board transforms from a freestyle shape into a wave-riding directional. Expert riders will appreciate the excellent carving and upwind performance.
TEST TEAM NOTES:
GEORGE: I think it’s a bit of an evil trick to sell this board as an any-sort-of-wave board. It’s a freestyle twin tip with funky fins.
NEAL: The idea is that you have a different set of fins to choose from that flick up the tips more or less at one end.
GEORGE: Yeah, but they don’t help it ride waves. And you can’t ride those straps either way, so if you have different fins in one end, you can still only ride it one way.
NEAL: It would be quicker to put the wave fins at whichever end is right for the day rather than moving the straps. You can’t get away from this whole big square tip thing by just giving it a bit of a kick at one end. The nice thing about this board is that it was really gusty today and it just tracked through the gusts a lot better than it would have done with narrow tips. But you can’t bottom turn a board of this shape with sharp rails like that. If you want to buy a twin-tip that can do lots of things reasonably well, it’s not a bad one. It’ll certainly get you out through the white water a bit better than a flat square board and the stance is quite narrow, but they’re the only lean it’s got towards waves.
GEORGE: It’s a really nice twin-tip, but I just disagree it’s a wave board.
NEAL: As a twin-tip it had a reasonable amount of pop, but I thought the flicked-up tips hampered the planing and upwind ability. I recommend it would be better with the normal fins on and used as a regular twin-tip.
GEORGE: Handled power and gusts well for sure, but this board is way more biased to the freestyle twin-tip side of things rather than powered carves.
SIZES:
130x38
136x40cm
www.northkites.com
This test is in issue #21
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