Been lusting over the idea of ordering a Coil. Ran into a guy at Satellite (Fla) that had one with the golfball like dimples on the bottom. He told me he rides new stuff for the shaper and then gives feedback. I have seen a lot of really good feedback re: Coil in general. Anyone have any critique about these boards that I should be wary of? What did you experience in the ordering process,delivery etc.?
I think they are some of the best shaped, best made boards on earth. That said, a couple people I know have had some problems with a few boards in the past and of course now you have to deal with the fact they are only using the new fcs plugs now (if you are going fcs, they also use future bases) and there have been some reports of quality issues with the screw holes cracking. Biggest problem with Coil: wait time.... but that's a pretty big problem with a lot of popular shapers (a buddy's been waiting on a custom Tomo for over 6 months now). I think Coil is running at up to 4 months--it's kept me from ordering a new Blur model.... but I have a line on a barely used one almost identical to what I want to order that I'll probably buy in the next week or three. My suggestion would be to find a used one close to what you want to try it out first and see what you think. Their "factory" is in the New Smyrna area, so you could probably pay them a visit in person (I think I remember you live in Fl) For your reading pleasure: http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1527400&nt=65&page=1Coil Review Thread http://www.swaylocks.com/forums/coil-ride-reportsCoil Ride Reports
Thanks Erock. That was the kind of feedback I was hoping to get. In the New Smyrna area often. Gonna pay a visit.
Mike Daniel mentioned on Sway's that they have expanded their production capabilities now. Hopefully the turnaround time will be decreased significantly as they claim.
Mushdoc, not sure if we met or not, i have one of those boards you're referring to and I frequent that area you were surfing. I would tell you that it's the best board I currently own and I can't see ever getting rid of it or it ever getting snapped or anything crazy. It's been to PR and back, been surfed in 8-10 (maybe 12ft) heavy surf and there isn't a scratch on it. I have one problem though and that's my traction pad just started to peel up on the center piece so i'm going to replace that, but that's normal wear and tear and has nothing to do with the board it's self. I'm pretty sure it was from a pretty big day at Tables or Satellite when my leash was getting wrapped around it in after a wipe out or something. Back to the question at hand. Dealing with Mike Daniel was an easy convenient process. Like Erock said though, there is that wait time, but man is it worth it. You won't be disappointed if you go brand new, I did it based on the reviews of the hundreds of others on swaylocks that have owned one or in many cases entire quivers full of nothing but Coils. I found very little negative comments, and most of them weren't even all that negative. Of course, the board doesn't make the surfer, but i'm not sh*tting you when I say I became a better surfer because of the board I got from MD. I won't beat a dead horse so i'll leave it at that, but if you want more discussion feel free to PM me.
In my opinion they are excellent boards! I purchased one from a shop in 2010; liked the feel of it so much that I had another made in 2011. The feel coming off a bottom turn is amazing on one of these things..it bends, and then fires. Extremely durable. I've had them in very questionable situations and have been surprised on multiple occasions to come up to see nothing wrong or broken. Also...everyday "accident" transit dings like taking it in out of a car/truck or the wind blowing it down onto a hard surface do not exist. These things are the best!
Dealing with Mike was super easy. We went back and forth for a one off design. He'd email me CAD outlines and we'd tweak it and so on. I assume he still has that level of customer service despite the increase in popularity. Current Coil quiver: 5-8 Bloop, 5-8 Megamind, 6-0 M80, 6-2 Widerboard, 5-11 Flashback Fish... so yeah, I think theyre the tits.
Exit98Surf, I believe you're one of the guys that I read reviews from on the Swaylock's thread, thanks for the advice if so. I was one of the first to get one with "kick" and posted a ride report too. Best decision I ever made, can't wait to get myself a few more. Definitely need to get a Megamind at some point, and then something more like a Qualifier or something along those lines, i'm definitely open to a one off design too.
You're not lying Gaff, although I've said nothing but great things about him / them, I too had some of the same issues with communication, but like you I got a sick board anyways so I let that stuff slide and didn't mention it till now. I would have liked to have had a little more personal service. BUT, I guess it's not so easy keeping up with the demand when you make such a great product. Kirk would probably be the one in charge of getting someone handling customer service, Mike should probably stick to shaping. Both great dudes, very talented, but being in sales / customer service myself I know where you're coming from. BTW, I got the same traction pad on mine HAHA
Really nice boards. If you have it dialed the board will last longer than almost any other. I'm in the northeast, and I asked to pick the board up so I could use it while on vacation in FL. They insisted on shipping instead of holding it for a week. After waiting 18 weeks for a custom all of a sudden it was a rush. I was a little put off by that. I ended up with a great board so I guess that's all that matters.
