North Kiteboarding Gambler 139 x 42cm 2018
Reviews / Twin Tips
12,673
At A Glance
North Kiteboarding have been around since the early days providing quality equipment for a wide range of riding styles. From the day dot kiters were hitting rails. However, park riding (hitting kickers and sliders) has developed over recent years with events like the Triple S, Hood Jam, Rhosneigr Park Jam and many more, really pushing riders to up their game in the park.
Equipment for park / wakestyle riding is far more reinforced than most regular kitesurfing kit. Today we are taking a look at the North Gambler and North Boot. North Kiteboarding’s specialised wakestyle and park riding twintip.
The North Gambler is a stepped double concave, deep-channelled board enabling not only finless riding but shed loads of grip when needed. The board has a hard flex pattern, absorption flex tips and torsion flex between the edges. These design features are aimed at enabling aggressive pop, a fast ride and butter smooth landings. The Gambler comes with an in-line track connection system which now has narrower stance options. The track systems are highly re-enforced. The winning feature of this board for park riding is the North Slick Base; this heavy-duty base means the board is going to withstand plenty of obstacle hits.
The Gambler comes in a variety of sizes with S-bend WK 2.0 Carbon 30 fins and is best paired with the North Boot binding system.
Sizes: 131 x 41, 135 x 41.5, 139 x 42, 143 x 42.5cm
“The Gambler has tons of grip and explosive pop.”
On the Water
Setting up the Gambler was a breeze, the track system is effortless to use and combined with the North Boot, it has a fantastic range of adjustment to suit the rider. The whole set up is not too heavy either a big plus.
The North Boot itself is super comfortable, with plenty of foam underfoot. The boot is a medium flexibility boot; it feels very supportive while remaining flexible. With a dual lace and Velcro tightening system, the North Boot again has a variety of adjustments available to the rider, for myself being able to have a slightly looser top lace, with the velcro support was ideal. Top marks for the North Boot and its instantaneous worn in like feel.
The Gambler rips, its very fast underfoot for something of this design and build. It’s smooth through chop and very progressive in its ride. Older wakestyle boards used to have a slow, hard ride for which you needed to put in loads of input to get the functionality from. The Gambler, however, is simple to ride, boasting performance that is easy to attain.
The board has tons of grip and dishes out an explosive pop. The board likes a progressive edge into takeoff to maximise this pop. Landings are smooth, super smooth. The board soaks up impacts very well and gives you the confidence to push harder, knowing your knees are safe. Flex in the tips of this board is plentiful.
The slick base has long been proven to be very effective and while we aren’t blessed with a kite park to put it through its paces a few laps at the cable left hardly any wear or markings at all.
Overall
The Gambler should be on your radar if you’re wanting to push forward into the park / wakestyle disciplines with the bonus of it suiting as a cable crossover too. The board is incredibly well made, its built to last. It’s simple to ride, boasts a massive amount of grip and flex, soaks up landings and pairs with one of the comfiest boots I’ve used to date.
Videos
This review was in Issue 69 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit North KiteboardingRelated
By Robin and Sukie
With years of kite sport experience combined, you can be sure you’ll be receiving the highest quality of knowledge on the best equipment the industry has to offer.
