Shinn Ronson

Rider: Weight 95kg ,Level (advanced)
Style: Freeriding, Freestyle
Weather: 20-28 knots
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 10/10
Disclosure: (The most biased shop owner in kiting )

My Comments:

Hi Peeps,

When we placed our order of Shinn boards for the start of this season, we picked all the usual best sellers and what we thought people/we would like. When Mark (Shinn) received the order, he came back and said "You guys didn't order any Ronsons". We weren't sure if this board would suit our conditions which are usually pretty choppy, but with some gentle suggestions and some mad frothing, I felt we had to trust him and so ordered a few of the Ronsons to give 'em a go. Mark was so excited about the Ronson, we just had to try them.

So we had the boards in store for a while whilst waiting for the season to start proper. I finally had an afternoon after work with no kid or family commitments and some strong wind and so grabbed a Core 9m FREE and the 135 Ronson and hit the beach late in the afternoon. I kited Pinnaroo Point which can be very choppy, especially when the wind gets quite strong. Wind was quite gusty but provided plenty of power in the lulls to very powered in the gusts.

Immediately on take off the board felt really comfortable (which I expected) as most of the Shinn range of boards has that signature "soft flex". The grip of the Ronson was a little disconcerting when I came in to slide to switch to carve a fast turn. The board was really comfortable through the chop and had a good solid grip which allowed me to ride fast the way I like to. It doesn't have the absolute holding at maximum speed like the Monk, but it does have Pop! Yep, this board will freestyle. Sticking hard fast landings was so easy it felt like I was cheating. The carve turns are excellent and keep the speed well with good hold as the board flexes into the turn.

The Ronson has one of the most unusual bottom shapes I have seen on any board. Heavily Channeled tips give excellent control on landings and the big fins bite in hard. This translates to you sticking more landings. The rails are stepped to give a thin knife edge which is good for holding a nice straight course. Upwind was super easy and the "split double concave" as Mark refers to it, what I call a trapezoid shaped raised section along the spine of the board. It spreads and disperses the water on landing and connection with chop.

2017 see's new footstraps for the Shinn boards with a small ratchet. When I first went out, my back foot came out of the straps every jump, but after a bit of adjustment, I had it sorted and didn't come out of the straps again. They are quite comfy to ride in and I noticed no discomfort at all.

For me personally, I have a hard time letting go of my freestyle background, so I like stiff freestyle boards in flat water for the performance needed for freestyling. Problem has been that the waters I ride tend to be very choppy which beats the hell out of my knees and makes control at speed difficult to say the least. And so I have had the issue of riding the Monk for control in powered conditions for boosting old school and conceding that there would just be no pop for freestyle, or riding a North Jaime Textreme for freestyle and just dealing with the rough water and control in flying heelside carve turns.

The Ronson is a freestyle board that works beautifully in heavy chop. I'm a pretty big fan and will give it another go but I reckon I've found my silver bullet. If you are into a bit more than just mowing the lawn in chop and thinkyou'd like to start freestyle trickery, then I recommend a demo ride if you are looking for a freestyler that works in more than butter flat water. This is a really fun board which actually "does it all" Stoked!

DM

Sorry mate, never ridden the ADHD.

Only willing to review what I've ridden. We need someone who owns or has ridden an ADHD to demo the new Ronson. Takers?????

DM

Hey dm, I know it's off topic but I'm interested in what you think of the bronq heritage?have you had a blast on it yet? Cheers

Hi Guys,

The Bronq and Monk share very little in common with the Ronson. As Cauncy has mentioned, the Bronq is a little power hungry due to its heavy rocker. It has more in common with the Monk than the Ronson. The Ronson is stiffer and a bit wiser and a completely different bottom shape. There are very few similarities, they mostly being that the Bronq and Monk are no good at all with providing pop off the water due to the super flex throughout the board. Ronson has stiffer tips and much more pop. Again I haven't had a chance to ride any of the latest Shinns apart from the Ronson but will get back to you when I get a chance.

The above review is just on the Ronson and I hope to inspire people looking for a comfortable freestyle board for choppy waters to maybe give it a demo. I don't recommend buying any board without having first demo ridden it, unless you are a complete noob.

DM

So the Ronson would have better upwind and earlier planing, and more pop than the Bronq?

I have the first gen Bronq and think it has plenty of pop (maybe feels that way due to its light weight), but then again have never tried a real freestyle board...

Anyways would also like to see a back-to-back comparison between the Ronson and the Bronq!

Just upgraded from original bronq to a ronson. Love the board, much more suited to my style of riding (more freestyle then freeride) and the conditions where I ride. Really nice to motor upwind still in sub optimal conditions where Id probably be walking up the beach with the bronq.

Find it rides so much better toeside too. Tried it without fins for a quick session. I reckon the bronq had more grip without fins which is unexpected (maybe the flex in the bronq provided the grip).

Love the ronson. Only concern is im getting a bit of spray from chop. Weird as mark advertises it as completely spray free. Anyone else notice this? Bronq was 100% spray free for me.

Im on the widest stance setting. I did have a feeling it was technique as like the monk the bronq is so dry no matter what I do.

I'm sure in a couple more sessions ill have it dialed in.

I still want to play around a bit with foot positions didnt feel 100% as i like yet. Maybe this will help too.

Thanks for the detailed feedback - sounds like a nice board for those conditions which are similar to mine - will have to give it a try. I know what you mean about the Bronq too: when lit/OPed in stormy water, the Bronq just dominates so hard with so much control. Too bad wind is often too light to unleash its true potential!