Sportsgear Solutions' Rotatable Footstrap

Rider: 80kg, Intermediate
Style: Freeriding, Surf
Build Quality: 9/10
Satisfaction: 8/10
Disclosure: No association


First up let me assert that I have no association with the manufacturer of this product, other than having been provided with a sample for trial. I would also like to clarify that, while I have been in the sport for about 10 years, I am a confident rider but by no means overly advanced. I ride for the fun and pleasure of it, I have no ambitions to enter any contests and have nothing to prove. I spend all of my riding time in the beach break and river mouth sandbars. I don't have an "Old Guys Rule!" sticker, but if 50 is the trigger I'd qualify.

While we're at it, this is not a discussion on who is the coolest - strapped vs. unstrapped. Ride the way you want to! There's no need to be evangelical about it. You don't have to convert the rest or mankind either way. We can all choose for ourselves. Please take those comments to a more relevant forum; this is simply a product review. The question I'm trying to answer is, if you ride strapped, should you buy one of these?

I have a twin tip but hardly use it, since I bought my Spleene Zone. This is a slightly unusual board, in that it's built like a twin tip (snowboard style), but shaped like a short (1.72m) surfboard and rides similar to one. I love it but each to our own, and this write up is not about my board but the rotating footstrap.

THE PROBLEM
Unlike windsurfers, most kiteboards are too narrow to arrange the footstraps in the traditional 'Y' shape. This leaves you to decide if you want to fully commit to always riding toeside and never switch, in which case you can simply mount the front strap on an angle you like. But if you want to be able to switch, your only choice is to set them up in-line. This is a compromise for both directions and is far from ideal; you can end up with knee problems (old guys might think they rule but we get damn sore!). And it's just plain uncomfortable. Making the front footstrap loose is not ideal either.

THE SOLUTION
To my knowledge Sportsgear Solutions' Rotating Footstrap is the only one of its kind on the market. And it addresses the problem very elegantly.

DESIGN
The product is well designed; there are no obvious flaws one can pick. In fact, my footstrap now actually sits better than it did before, due to the extra little bits of hardware you get with the kit. I understand the plastic used is polycarbonate, one of the strongest engineering resins available. The product doesn't function until it's mounted, so you can't play with it to get the feel until it's on your board.

If you check out http://www.sportsgear-solutions.com/ you'll find that the design has advanced a bit further since the version I received.

MANUFACTURE
The whole package arrives in a professional kit. All pieces look well-made. I did not weigh the gear but its mass seems negligible.

INSTALLATION
While all the parts that the manufacturer supplies are in the kit and the instructions seemed to work well for me, the problem I had was the interface to the board. As my board's plug setup did not match the plate, I had to make an interface plate. After a wild goose chase around town trying to find something that was round, right-sized, strong and light I gave up on that and simply used some clear polycarb I had lying around the house. It's about 6mm thick and I used this as the excuse to buy an electric jigsaw I had been wanting for a long time :) Once I had the tool and the material it took about an hour to make the plate, give or take.

This is the missing link in the invention. While it wasn't hard to make this plate, Sportsgear should provide a solution which fits most boards.
Once I had this plate installed the rest just fell into place. Oh, and you don't need to make any mods to your board. This means if you didn't like the product, you can take it off and your board is no different than before. If you want to you can cut and peel off your existing pad in the shape of the plate which lowers it down a little, and while I have not done this yet, I may do so in the future.



OPERATION
In a nutshell, this solution does exactly what it's meant to do. It provides a rotating base to mount your existing footstrap to pivot on. It even has an elastic shock cord, which rotates the strap back into neutral, and to be honest, this usually works. Not 10 out of 10 times, but probably 7. When it fails to fully neutralize it's no big deal, you just do it with your foot. Plus after a while you tend to do it automatically before you take your front foot out of the strap, you pre-rotate it. I think if I would re-tighten the bungee cord it would probably solve the issue, but it's not a big deal so I keep forgetting about it.

I was concerned that the plate might make it feel wobbly, that you had a sensation of it rotating when you don't want it to. This is absolutely not the case. Once you have your foot in the strap it feels just like it would normally.

I live and ride on a beach with gritty, squeaky sand (quartz-based, I think) at Buddina (between Caloundra and Mooloolaba, Queensland). I was expecting to have to mollycoddle the plate, try to keep the sand out of it or having to actually flush it out. But I've been positively surprised that while the sand does get under the plate (I thought that's the end of that), once on the water, it flushes right out and you don't even have to think about it.

I like the fact that I can ride any which way I want, natural, goofy, toeside, and I'm always comfy.

MAINTENANCE
What can I say? Apart from replacing the bungee cord at some point in the future, there is nothing to maintain.

CONCLUSION
I like this solution a lot. I know a thing or two about injection moulding, and there is no doubt that the investment behind this product would scare most of us. I'm glad someone has done this for us. I'll definitely buy the next gen when I need to upgrade.

Unfortunately the 'step' it's exacerbated by the adaptor play I had to make.

It took a couple of goes to get used to the little 'step'. I didn't want to mess up my board until I was sure it was a winner. I will do that though as soon as I get a chance.

Totally agree!