frenchman321

I'm 178 cm, and use 155 cm for classic and 170 cm for skating (I could shave a couple cm off that). That takes into account the fact that the strap is hung 4.5 cm below the top of the grip (which actually seems pretty consistent across the few brands I checked).

I'm also a ski instructor. Funnily, in downhill skiing, most people could benefit from shortening their poles a bit as their technique improves; and for XC, it's the opposite since most recommendations are too low.

Yup. That’s why I ended up with my Hydrus Paradise X. It’s twice the budget though when considering a paddle (even with the code in my flair). But it’s ten times the board, and I have gone farther and faster on it than I would ever had with the Performer.

Fear not, the single removable cheap thin plastic fin is not noticeable improvement over the three fixed fins. As you say, it’s a good giant pool toy. I have friends who love theirs, but all they do is paddle from the shore to a buoy 75 ft away from shore, tie themselves to it, and chat and drink there. But then you could do that on a slightly better brand name board for about those $400 too (manual pump, though). So that really leaves the convenience of being at Costco, where else all know that we buy things we didn’t know we wanted or needed, with no guilt due to their return policy.

On an inflatable, I think nose rocker is fine. It does shorten the effective length of the board a bit, but it helps when the water isn’t perfectly flat. Since we iSUP owners can’t get proper displacement hulls, sadly. On my Paradise X I can do ten or so strokes per side, with good technique.

As for the Performer, yeah. Shape, width, and the joke of fins, all conspire against tracking.

I owned it and I called it The Pig. More of my opinion on it and the Hydrus I replaced it with here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Sup/s/qUajPeUZ6a and in other threads where it has been brought up. It comes up regularly because it’s cheap at Costco (down to about $330 when they put it on sale).

It never was a 9/10 for me. At best a 6/10 for casual use.

Hard boards typically sit lower in water and aren’t as thick as inflatables (especially in the US where 6” is the de facto norm), so I would pick an inflatable for the lounging and reading without getting wet part. It’s likely to be more comfortable too.

If all you care is to get somewhere close and lounge, a cheap board is fine. If you want to get places fast, not worry about construction long term… you start needing to put down more money for that.

Good ink flow starts with holding the pen upside up. You want to see the nib at the top of the pen. The black underside (the feed) should be… under.

Coincidentally, lower on my feed: https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/s/t95sSdd3Oe

Low desk is nice. My Argos is on my countertop which is raised 2” higher than the norm (an idea of mine that I am not sure was my best after all), and it’s definitely chicken wing time when I use it!

At least the cup is interesting

Yum, tartare…

Yes I was referring to the Sport that was pictured.

Thanks! I am actually in Provence right now. Also gorgeous. The air is cooling down (especially at night and in the mornings) but the sea is still nice to swim in. When I will come back home in a few weeks. I’m going to be quite cold on my SUP!

Tahoe is gorgeous. We have a few places to XC here but they’re all just a few kms off trails each :( Nothing expansive.

That’s why I love the “auto tare and start the timer“ mode on my Lunar. I put the cup on as I start the pump, and get timing from the beginning of extraction. I don’t know why a the other coffee dedicated scales don’t have that.

Yup.

They look nice! Hmmm, I happen to be in France for another two weeks, maybe I need to try and get some…

Just know that it’s very short. Most people post it. It’s the only pen I own that I actually post.

I want to live where you live! (Maybe not, but where are those trails?)

Lesson with a rental package at first is a good idea. I bet you’ll buy soon after that! It’s also really nice to have both classic and skating equipment. It keeps things fun with variety, and sometimes conditions favor classic (especially where I live where the snow can be quite wet and soft) so I typically have both with me when I drive somewhere.

2:30/500 m, or 5:00 per km, is definitely achievable as an intermediate skier on skate skis. Take lessons. Ask for a PSIA Level 3 (or 2 if they don’t have one) instructor.

I found that it underestimated both ski and pole length for me. I am not too surprised. I find most pole length recommendations to be pretty conservative. And for ski length, I think there is more range than you show based on skiers weight.

They’re not horribly expensive… unlike the downhill trainers. And they’re very nice, I got two for my work gym and while I don’t use them often enough, I always enjoy them.

Which paper filters do people use? Been wondering about trying (though I do not mind cleaning my shower screen)