Konrad SUP GLIDR Foil Review
Today we're taking a look at the GLIDR SUP Foil from Konrad, SUP foiling is taking off and there are a huge range of boards to choose from with shapes and designs developing rapidly, but we have to say Konrad seem to have nailed it with this one.
The one we tested was the 6'4" model. 6'4" x 28' 1/8" x 115.3L. There are two other sizes, a smaller and a larger one (6'0" & 6'8")
On The Beach
First up, the build quality looks great. It feels sturdy and while we haven't beat it around too much yet so far it's held up well! The weight is really good, very light weight under your arm so great if you need to trek it a good distance to the right waves! Finish is excellent too, it's a nice matt finish which looks very nice in the brush carbon style, and seems like it would hold up pretty well in the long term.
Design wise it's very much in line with what a lot of popular models are doing at the moment, short and stubby with good volume, and the bevelled/cutaway rails & tail. It's got footstrap inserts for those who want them, and a very flat top deck with the raised strip down the middle of the deckpad, running right to the tail.
A nifty little feature is the foil box, which includes a whole bunch of little markings and measures you can use to really tweak your setup and ensure you're consistently able to get the same performance out of your foil and board combo. This is a simple concept but very effective, I think we'll be seeing a lot more of it.
On The Water
When it comes to getting on the water, the SUP GLIDR performs great. Surprisingly stable for it's small size, took a bit of getting used to a smaller board but it was quite manageable. Lifting off from the water was very clean and easy, those bevels really do wonders to remove that "sticky" feeling a lot of conventional SUP shapes tend to have. Same when you have a little touchdown or two, you can bounce back off the water effortlessly.
The small platform was very controllable when up on the foil, we had it out with the Fanatic Aero foil and the placement seemed just perfect. The footstrap inserts and deck pad were all laid out in a way that just worked, it was almost hard to get it wrong!
Overall, an excellent little foil SUP and they're great value too, with the current model coming it at $1750 which is an excellent price for a carbon board like this. The 6'4" would definitely be a challenging board for a more novice paddler, but it handled quite well really so anyone with a good bit of SUP experience who's getting into foiling could start out on this, or likely be a little better off with the larger model.
Check out our video review here below, and if you've got any questions at all as always feel free to get in touch! Click here to view the SUP GLIDR on the store.
