Hey I'm an intermediate rider and currently ride 2010 north Jamie pro 132cm board. I'm 80ish kg And 180cm tall and just wondering what sizes most guys ride. (flat water as I surf in the surf) I have been using a 135cm a bit lately (2011 Jamie pro) but feels quiet a bit bigger. Is there much advantage going bigger or smaller? The 132 seems to move much better (though I have been riding this board for ages. And if I keep the 135 it is an upgrade!! Cheers. (also straps not bindings)
im exactly the same weight, height as you dude.
and i ride the exact same board.
A bigger board will make sloppy over rotated landings better.
174cm. 84kg. - Nobile NHP 131. ( but will go back to a 128 on my next board)
I have no idea why people ride 140cm even 135cm boards (depending on size ) IMO they are too big.... At my weight on a 132cm I can get going in 15-16knots on a switchy 8m
Smaller boards also allow to to hold down more power in higher winds = massive boosts
My very first board was a 138cm. My second a 132 cm and the third a 126cm cardboards (which to this day was my favourite board RIP) now back to 131cm
i weight about 57-60 kg and i ride a 2007 128 flx underground board and i got going yesterday in like 12 knots on my cabrinha switchblade
.. length for height, width for weight! Then plus or minus abit for the wind extremes.
For my height (6'4") and weight (120 kg) I regularly use a 144x 46cm, but we have the bottom end of the wind scale and I must admitt I had to get used to a bigger board and once I got used to it, I'm really happy and don't know any different.
Depends on what kites you like to use too, and how hard you like to drive them. For me I like to be as powered as possible using as big as possible, and use my edge to control the power of the kite, where as the missus likes to cruise along with the kite being just right. If you use a bigger board you can afford to use a smaller kite, or, if your like me, and wanna feel well powered all the time, use a bigger board and hang on.
Anyway, just one more opinion thrown in the hat!
cheers,
Robbie 
I'm 174, 64 kg but ride a Cabrinha Prodigy 148... xD Since I'm still learning I wanted something that floated well (and actually I'm quite comfortable with it)
Im 65KG on a 132x41
Most new school boards are quite wide and allow the rider to ride a smaller length.
Bigger will be harder to rotate but will give a larger platform to land on.
Smaller will give easier rotations and movement, but you then lose the stability of a bigger board.
yes the 135 is much wider (i think 1 cm wider) which makes a massive difference. im riding north vegas with the twinnie and i have a decent quiver of kites to not worry about lightwind board. so is the slower rotations worth easier landings on the big board? or just keep the smaller one? (and not upgrade to 2011!!!) (i own both btw!)
I use a 2011 135 cab Rival i am 70kg's use it with 7m,11m and 16m in light winds goes really well on all three kites.
Im 185cm and 75-80kgs and rode a 132x40 for a number of years, then switched to a 134x42 board with more rocker and love it. So much more forgiving being a lanky fella.
The problem on the 132 (north jamie) was that I felt my stance was never wide enough. So now on the 134 i find the stance is pretty much spot on, if im on super flat water i usually adjust the foot pads out further for greater pop. (better leverage, but less forgiving etc)
78kg, 184cm, I have a Wainman Joke 138 which has quite a wide stance and is just a real go-to board... does everything really... wake bindings, freestyle, freeriding but is plenty fun to play about in waves (though I admit you really should get on a surfboard for such). Best board I've ridden by some distance.
Freestyle twin tip board design was for a while getting smaller and smaller however some of the more modern boards in the last few years have borrowed bits of snowboard tech and they've levelled out or even upp'ed a bit in sizing.
My previous board was a 135 Cab Calibre, I was contemplating getting a 133 next but then tried the larger Joke and dispelled the small board myth.
I wish board manufacturers would put TSA (total surface area) as well at the dimensions on their boards. 1cm wider adds 5cm to the length, a generalisation. Windsurfers use volume for float and state a boards dimensions. We dont have float we get to a plane. Surface area gets you up quickly disregarding other variables such as rocker and flex. TSA would be an easier for many people to understand. Boards havent necessarily got bigger, but have gone a lot wider due to the depower in todays kites. Back in the pre 2007 C-kite days at 85kgs, 37 cm wide with narrower tips was the go to prevent you not holding an edge, especially in gusts, as these kites also had little wind range.
Shannon Best Pro Series 124x38.5, in waves, chop, flat water, any coditions really. 180cm and 80KG too.
IMHO width and rocker are more important than length, but your local conditions will play a big part in that as well. We typically ride in 13 to 20 (generally around 15) knots so an earlier planning board is far more important to us so a wide board through to the tips (parallel rails) plus a flattish rocker suits. In high winds this board is a pig to ride and a board with more rocker and narrower in the tips (curved outline) will handle better.
Here is my theory.
At first boards were long, stances were small and boards felt sluggish and big.
So boards were made shorter and shorter, but stances remained small.
As riding styles changed from oldschool to newschool, a bigger stance was required. So now boards are getting bigger again to accomodate this wider stance.
120-130cm board range is from the early days of kiteboarding. Today with the wider stances boards can easily be 135-140cm or bigger without sacrificing the snappy feel.
Obviously there is no need for having the efficiency of a 140 board. So here comes the beauty of all of this: simply add rocker!!
Youre now riding a 140 with the efficiency of a smaller board. So you wont get overpowerd.
Besides the enormous advantages of rocker, your bigger board will also land a lot easier because of the greater surface area. Landings are essential for newschool riding you know.
To confirm my theory: there were a few guys understanding this principle a few years ago. Nowadays I see more and more companies going bigger, adding rocker etc.
There is no point in riding a small board. Except if you are riding oldschool only.
I used to wakeboard on a liquid force squirt, all of 123cm. Water was always butter flat, I rode a 135 tempo the other day with bindings and it felt too short. Chop makes a massive difference. I'll be buying around 140 for my boot board and 135 is my cruiser, I weigh 85 and 177 tall.
Hi Jonopark
Im 180cm and about 80kg also, and ride a 135 tempo with bindings, I wouldn't want to go any smaller.
Cheers guys I forced myself to ride the 135 all day today and by the end of it was having heaps of fun on flat water. I'm glad most people suggested to go the bigger board as it is also newer!
195cm - 96kg Riding a Shinn Luigi 134 x 44 with continuous rocker... small enough to boost, but still plenty of surface area for bigger guy like me to get on the plane and land on. A lot of my height is in my legs, but set on the widest setting, the stance on this is perfect.
