Looking at getting one of the new "Stumpy" shaped front end booms. Has anyone tried the new one from North in the silver series, or the Naish CT Freeride?
I'm looking at going with a 160-210 in a 28mm diam.
Any advice appreciated.
the new North silver series are great with the new clamp head you can adjust, so stiff and feel strong,the smaller grip diameter at 160-210mm and the lower sizes,are so much better to grip in my opinion.
Bondi - I was doing a bit of research on booms lately. Noticed some riders complaining of bent North iFront booms and warranty issues. Do a search on UK boards forums for North iFront.
I'm not saying they are no good as I always take whats said on forums with a "grain of salt" so to speak but you might find it interesting. They certainly seem well made when looking at them in store.
Actually, I've just found out that the North Silver doesn't come in the "New School" shape in 160-210 model.
So it looks like I'll be getting the Naish. I demo'd it a couple of weeks ago and the 28mm diameter felt great.
It'll be sad, but the trusty Z boom may have to go into retirement - the 32mm is the only downside of it.
I have the 150 -200 new school shape, it took me a while to get used to the new shape as your hand will be at a quite a different angle when your mid tack, especially if you go boom to boom. But I am used to it now, I can't say if its better just it takes a while to get used to it, IMO
I think I prefer the old school shape, especially for free ride and bump n jump sailing. My gybes seem a lot smoother when using our "old school" boom as my front hand slides forward towards the mast easier.
One local boys bent two of these North booms in a few weeks - brand spankin new they were.
Had a Naish CT 180-230, and really liked the new shape a stiffness of this boom, I did manage to break one arm sailing in shallow water and grounded at 30kn. I don't blame the boom for breaking and would buy another anytime. They just weren't in stock when I needed it so got a Prolimit Assault which is also good but I preferred the Naish.
I got the Naish, 160-210. It feels very stiff and the 28 diam feels so easy to hang on to. Very happy with it so far.
The aerons and prolimits in this size were 29 diam or more.
i have a new school north silver 150-200 and it comes into its own when wave riding... if your using it for freeriding then stick to the old school shape
g'day i use the silver series 140-190 AWESOME shape however in the first day i used if the arms had already started to bend so a really big downside is the boom arms are just way too weak to do anything with having said that i have used my boom about 20 times now and it hasnt bent anyfurther, still, i dont trust the boom enough to go out in the waves with that paticular boom 
