2010 Slingshot Recoil: My review and my concerns

[TheHebrewHammer]

Hey y'all, yesterday I demoed a 2010 Slingshot Recoil. It had been sitting around at my local board shop forever and I had been eyeing it for months. Since I'm in the market for a cable-friendly flex board, I figured I should finally take it for a shred!

Because this was a demo, I was only allowed to ride it behind the boat. "You slide it, you buy it!" I assumed that it wouldn't be as good off the wake as my trusty, super stiff 2011 Harley or the hybrid flex 2012 O'brien Paradigm because it was a full flex board. It was so soft that it actually seemed to bend in the wind when it was up on the rack.

Damn, was I wrong! The pop from this board was like nothing I've ever experienced! I was soon taking about 5-10 feet less cut than I was used to on my tricks and still making 'em with time to spare. I actually had to slow down my crow because I kept overrotating. I was used to having a lot less hang time to bring it around, but now I could see everything happening in slow motion. It made me wanna try a crow mobe!

I still haven't quite figured out the balance of the ollie pop, but even so, it ollies HIGH. It's super easy and fun to press. You can lock it in on the tail and just ride around like that forever. I'm sure it would be awesome fun at the cable park.

I think the most surprising thing was how good it felt slayshing and buttering the wake. It's one of my favorite things to do, and other boards I tried with featureless bottoms like this one always felt a little dead and unresponsive. But the Slingshot rips! I was throwing up walls of water in no time.

As for the landings, there was another surprise in that department. I expected that the flex would absorb a lot of the impact, but to be honest, landing in the flats on the Slingy didn't really feel any better than it felt on my Harley. My knee was sore from landing back foot on a big method 180.

Besides that, my only complaint was that it felt a little slow cutting out into the flats. It's 3-stage, so maybe the hybrid-rocker Reflex or the continuous Response would have been faster. However, I was still able to generate plenty of heat into the wake, so I think it's a small price to pay for all that snappy pop.

Off the water, this board is just plain cool. The graphics are extremely badass (http://tinyurl.com/6gjdxne) and you can see the construction of the board because some spots are left blank. I think it's the best looking board I've ever seen. The tips are super thin, and it's awesome fun to balance, press, and hop around on the board on the floor. You can bonk it up onto its tail like a snowboard and find a sweet balance point. It's also super light!

Long story short, I'm sold on this "Future Response Technology." If you've never tried a Slingshot, try one! I can only imagine that the 2011 and 2012 Slingies are even better than this 2-year-old board. I'm no expert, especially when it comes to flex boards, so feel free to question my opinions and take them with a grain of salt. I hope this review is helpful or at least interesting. If it makes you want a 2010 Recoil, now's a great time to snap one up because they're cheap as hell!

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Now, I wanna buy this board, but I have some concerns. I get a one-year warranty from date of purchase even though it's an old board, which is awesome. However, I've heard that the warranty is void if I don't use Slingshot's 4-bolt boots. My shop doesn't have any in my size right now and I've heard plenty of bad reviews on the RAD boots.

I like my 2-bolt Harley boots and I want to use them on the Slingshot, but I'm worried that they might rip out of the mountings and ruin the board. Bonking the board puts a crazy load on the mounting holes, and I imagine catching a hard toeside edge would as well.

Has anyone had any experience with this? How likely is it that the board will break? Is it true that Slingshot won't help me if I break it using 2-bolts? Should I pony up for some RADs just in case? Will my warranty be void if/when I hit sliders with this thing at the cable park?

Thanks!

[GnarShredd]

TheHebrewHammer, Generally warranties are void once you use sliders. I know slingshot was lenient for a while about that but not sure of where they sit with it today.

In any case, while you're going to be adding a little more punishment than just boat riding, I wouldn't worry. The inserts have just as much a risk of being ripped out of a slingshot as they do any other board. As a company, they're only responsible for their product, not other people's, hence why they say they won't cover potential damage from any boots but their own. In short, any boot will be fine.


Hopefully you're getting a good deal. If they haven't sold it since 2009-10 then they better be wanting to move it...

[Wakebrad]

Awesome man. I had a similar experience on my '09 Recoil. Gave a friend's a try and loved it. The thing with the landings, if you put the tail down first it is the softest landing board I've ever ridden. If you land on the center, it's featureless and are just as hard as any other board. Try setting that tail down first, it's like butter, even off a D-up.

I ride LF Shanes on it, but will probably get some Ronix One's soon enough. Just make sure the bolts are the right length (not too long, not too short) and you should be good.

[TheHebrewHammer]

[Wakeboarder3780]

Welcome to the slingshot world man - they rip! Recoil is the only one I haven't tried yet I'll have to buy one next year to give it a go.

[TheHebrewHammer]