Baffled by the video. The 12'6" shown has a very narrow tail. Is the wide tail only on the 14'?

Bowerboy, thanks for posting the comparison with your previous v2. I am wondering if you could make any comparison of the 2020 Bullet 14 with the SIC F16. It seems like the new Bullet would be closer to the F16 in terms of stability, bump catching, and speed. I would love to hear any thoughts or comparisons.
Thanks.

The F16 I was talking about is the last production version, which I think was v2.

Useful vid:

Bowerboy said..
Took the new bullet to training with my regulars. I have been to training on my 26 RS many times so it was easy to do a comparison. I have also been to training on the bullet v2 before.

The conditions were pretty rough with backwash off headlands. We were doing out and backs around a pole. The first thing I noticed was that the bullet is much looser than the RS. I attribute this to the rounded rails running up to the back of the board, and the rounded sides. The RS has very straight rails and straight sides. This coupled with the wide tail and the 8 inch fin supplied makes the RS track. The bullet with the 7 inch fin, the rocker, pin tail and rounded rails was definitely looser, and had more side to side roll.

Upwind the bullet was very nice. When I have paddled the v2 in similar conditions I have really felt the board push against the chop, slowing me down and requiring quite an effort to keep momentum. The new bullet has a much more skaty feel, gliding up over the chop and easier to keep moving. Relative to my buddies I was not slower than when I am on my RS. This surprised me.

We did some flatwater wolf pack, congo line stuff to finish training. The new bullet was comfortable washriding and I could comfortably reach the front when it was my turn to sprint. Again relative to my buddies the new bullet on the flat had nice glide and kept up easily.

I was expecting the new bullet to be great downwind and it is. I have been surprised at how it performs in chop and on the flat. I have only had one training session on it but it felt comfortable and has a nice gliding sensation. It definitely seems to glide more over the surface whereas the older v2 seemed to push the water.

Bowerboy, a few months on, how do you feel about the Bullet now? How does it surf? How often do you use it vs. your RS?

Thanks for any more info.

Thanks very much for the update. But whaaaat? The Kinetic-made Bullet is soft and fragile, and scratches easily? It's supposed to be basically the same full PVC sandwich construction as the Jimmy Lewis or Infinity boards, isnt in? Those brands are remarkably bombproof. Furthermore, I have a Cobra-built RS 26 (2018?) and a Kinetic-built RS 24.5 and there's no doubt that the Kinetic one feels more solid, although there are some areas that aren't quite as good (the handle is less comfortable and it is very slightly heavier). But in general I'd far rather have a full PVC board than single layer carbon plus innegra on the rails, and it was a factor in me buying the new model.

Have you been able to inspect any other Bullet 2020s?

I have no use for a soft or easily damaged downwind board. Downwinding almost inevitably means falls and bumps, knocks, and paddle clattering on decks, rails, and pretty much anywhere. Not to mention stacks of boards tied down firmly on roofracks in 40 knot winds... fragile boards don't last long. I love my V1 Bullet but the fragility of it is a constant source of trouble.

My Hypr Hawaii 14ft gun is double-carbon full PVC sandwich with extra reinforcement, and you could knock a house down with it. And my custom 16x26 DW board is 2x6oz carbon and glass with no PVC but is also super-durable and puncture-proof. So I cannot see why an expensive full PVC sandwich board made in one of the best factories in the world should be fragile or soft.

Wow - have you guys received a bad batch? My 2020 RS is solid and although I haven't paddled it much the fit and finish seem fine and it feels stiff.

It has got a STUPID light grey deck pad that shows every little thing though, and that marks crazily easily. It looks like a lavatory mat too. SiC, if you are reading this, fer chrissakes STOP IT! Deck pads need to be grippy, but they also need to be able to be walked upon without having to be scrubbed for 20 mins after each use. NOT practical - even worse than the Cobra made boards in that respect.

Darn. So much for having a JL construction with a Naish design. I wish we could mix and match design and construction to create each one favorite. I would dig a Naish Maliko design with a JL PVC sandwich construction. Just cannot win on both side so far.

Area10 said..
Maybe I'll try a JL Rail instead.

I did a couple of years ago, and I will stick with the Maliko.

I just don't like a narrow pointy nose. It is not the board itself which is fine. I like the nose of the Maliko that is wide and oblong goind underwater sometime without loosing speed. I also find that in our less than perfect conditions with lull and gust, the Maliko style helps the general paddling.

First teh Maliko has some volume in the nose but not "plenty of volume" so I find it very manageable but you have to be anticipating and fast on your feet. It is not a clog with a huge nose volume. That said on big stuff it is when I would prefer more rocker obviously but on small stuff it is when I prefer not to....can't have it both way :-)
The 2020 with a touch more rocker might just be the perfect balance.
Now the single layer construction freaks me out a bit on a board that I want to downwind....I am just crossing fingers and might take the balsa sandwich Allround if things gets too big in the winter.

I had the exact same feeling on the Rail. The "toothpick" feeling. Not so much that the board is too narrow but that it is too thick under the feet.

Yeah, the SIC PVC sandwich should be solid. My 2020 RS seems to be, so far. As I've said, the deck pad is LUDICROUS in thst it attracts and shows a dirty mark every time you stand on it. But so far I have no signs of the softness or paint chipping reported here for the 2020 Bullets. Different paint job on the RS though - they don't have the dark red layer on the nose that is being reported as soft on the Bullets.

I can't explain why a carbon full PVC sandwich should feel soft and puncture easily though. That makes no sense to me, and as I say, so far my 2020 RS has not been like that.

The Maliko 2020 is a poor construction IMO, in comparison, and is more like the Bullet V1 construction that means I have to baby my V1. The Maliko 2020 isn't a sandwich at all. There isn't even any innegra on the rails like the previous year's models had on the SIC SCC+ construction. It doesn't look nice either IMO: the graphics and colour scheme look like someone spent 5 minutes on it and then gave up.

It sounds like the 2020 Bullet might have a good potential construction that is poorly executed. Let's hope that the Naish's poor potential construction is well executed.

I've had enough of this crappy construction nonsense with so many of these so-called premium brands. I have a couple of Gomg boards that were dirt cheap yet one is full wood and carbon kevlar sandwich and the other is full PVC sandwich. They are heavy, but strong and durable and cost me less than a third of what I paid for my RS. That is an INSANE construction-price differential.

My Hypr semi-custom double carbon full PVC sandwich bombproof construction also cost about the same as a single carbon no-sandwich Maliko. So poor value for money from Naish.

paul.j said..
Just because some brands are made in the same factory does not mean they all use the same construction. We make our ONE boards in the kinetic factory have our own constructions and as long as long as you pay the money it is exactly what you would expect. These guys are the best in the business and make amazing boards but each company determines their own construction.

Yeah, of course. But how can we explain why the guys here are reporting that their 2020 Bullets are soft and chip easily when they are (a) full PVC sandwich, and (b)the 2020 RS I have in supposedly the same construction seems solid and reasonably chip-resistant? It sounds to me more like something has gone wrong with the execution of the specified construction rather than the specification of it by the brand-?

Area10 said..

paul.j said..
Just because some brands are made in the same factory does not mean they all use the same construction. We make our ONE boards in the kinetic factory have our own constructions and as long as long as you pay the money it is exactly what you would expect. These guys are the best in the business and make amazing boards but each company determines their own construction.

Yeah, of course. But how can we explain why the guys here are reporting that their 2020 Bullets are soft and chip easily when they are (a) full PVC sandwich, and (b)the 2020 RS I have in supposedly the same construction seems solid and reasonably chip-resistant? It sounds to me more like something has gone wrong with the execution of the specified construction rather than the specification of it by the brand-?

One can assume (or hope rather) that this was a one-off production mishap. I've seen it happens to most brands. I know the SIC production guy, he's sharp and on the ball, but I'm not sure what's their quality control protocol. I should send him a link to this thread.

I'm inclined to believe your RS is a standard representation of their construction, otherwise, I think we would hear about it on the forums.
Hopefully we'll get one of those Bullets in stock here soon so I can have hands on.

Something tells me that I will start saving for a Driftwood or possibly a Hypr Gun for next year....