The hyperlite relapse is awesome

[rossrips7]

Just a heads up if anyone is looking for a new wakeboard you should definitely give the hyperlite relapse a go. Coming from a Murray and a marek before this board.


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[swatguy]

Just bought this same board this year. I haven't been a fan of anything from Hyperlite recently board wise. Way too much going on on their bases. Boards just have been blah....... They seem to just want to focus on pro boards for huge huge wakes with a very narrow performance spectrum. Continuous rockers galore and nothing for us big pop guys. Long time Ronix rider. One then the dean smith mana to the code 22. Really like the late kick booting rockers and the smooth bases. Love the Hyperlite System Pros so been wanting to just switch it up.


I am am loving the Relapse. Graphics are sick. Pop is huge, speed is good and landings are soft as you can possibly get . Quite honestly the best board I have been on in years. That's riding just about everything in the Hyperlite , Ronix and slingshot lines. My only small small gripe is its bit heavy by today's standards, but I'll take a bit of weight as a trade off for everything this board gives


nice touch on the two tone systems btw.

[rossrips7]

Glad you like it as much as me swat guy! And thanks for the comment on the two tone systems. My base plate broke on my first pair and they sent me the blue ones but I wanted to keep the teal going with the relapse so I pieced together the old and new to get these! Happy shredding!


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[Evening Shade]

Just bought this same board this year. I haven't been a fan of anything from Hyperlite recently board wise. Way too much going on on their bases. Boards just have been blah....... They seem to just want to focus on pro boards for huge huge wakes with a very narrow performance spectrum. Continuous rockers galore and nothing for us big pop guys. Long time Ronix rider. One then the dean smith mana to the code 22. Really like the late kick booting rockers and the smooth bases. Love the Hyperlite System Pros so been wanting to just switch it up.


I am am loving the Relapse. Graphics are sick. Pop is huge, speed is good and landings are soft as you can possibly get . Quite honestly the best board I have been on in years. That's riding just about everything in the Hyperlite , Ronix and slingshot lines. My only small small gripe is its bit heavy by today's standards, but I'll take a bit of weight as a trade off for everything this board gives


nice touch on the two tone systems btw.

Its nice to see that Hyperlite is producing a board with a lot of pop again. I'm still riding a Ronix Ibex that's probably 6 or 7 years old and I still love it. It has an aggressive 3 stage rocker with a ton of pop, it breaks loose easily when flat, and digs in hard when on edge. I haven't seen a Hyperlite with similar characteristics in years.

Swatguy, It seems like you have had the same sentiments. What made you decide to try the Relapse?

[swatguy]

I was just looking to change things up. Partly because I was just bored w Ronix , and partly because my local shops seem to carry less and less each season. The Hyoerlite shop is fully stocked and their prices are unbeatable for gear. Still one of the old school shops that offer demos in just about everything. Saw the release of the Relapse, saw the base , graphics and rocker said this looks great. Was coming off a knee surgery and demoed it and fell in love. I swapped to the system bindings in 2014 so I guess the matching boot, binding, board sold me too.

thd ibex is another shape that is hard to compete with. The pop and consistency on that thing was awesome. I will say if all the boards the relapse has the softest landings outside a true flex profile like Slingshot.

[Evening Shade]

I was just looking to change things up. Partly because I was just bored w Ronix , and partly because my local shops seem to carry less and less each season. The Hyoerlite shop is fully stocked and their prices are unbeatable for gear. Still one of the old school shops that offer demos in just about everything. Saw the release of the Relapse, saw the base , graphics and rocker said this looks great. Was coming off a knee surgery and demoed it and fell in love. I swapped to the system bindings in 2014 so I guess the matching boot, binding, board sold me too.

thd ibex is another shape that is hard to compete with. The pop and consistency on that thing was awesome. I will say if all the boards the relapse has the softest landings outside a true flex profile like Slingshot.

Swat,

How much softer is the landing with the Relapse, say compared to my Ibex? I'm not a great rider, but I still like to get some air and I like the Ibex because I don't have to work too hard or carry too much speed to get some good air. The problem is, I'm getting older and hard landings tend to hurt my knees. I don't have any local shops, much less ones that have demos.

I probably need to just move to surfing and leave wakeboarding to the young guys, but I can get into to surf craze because I cant seem to get good wave with plenty of push for it to be fun.

[rossrips7]

Evening shade,

As far as the relapse being like the ibex in edging I would say it is. Loose off edge and locked in on edge. Pop reminds me of the only ronix board I've rode which was the first year of the one. I would say the relapse is more consistent though!


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[swatguy]

I would echo everything Ross stated.


I think you will loose the slight bucking feeling you get from loading the ibex when it comes to pop. It's just a different feel on the relapse but the huge pop is there. The take offs are more predictable on the Relapse and don't load you knees as much . The landings definitely don't feel like you're landing on concrete when you get to the flats as there is an ever so slight spine on the base that breaks the water. It's slight enough to not enemies notice it unlike the Marek where the board feels wobbly heel to toe when you want to ride it flat. Personally I do not like the pop characteristics of flex boards but love the landings they offer , the relapse is about as good as a non flex can get. I am two knee recon surgeries in with few scopes in there as well.( mostly non wake related ) ,37 and have been riding pretty consistent since 98-99 ......by far easiest board on my knees with the pop and speed I need to have. It's forgiving when your not on the gas and much smother edge to edge.

Honestly. It took me forever to find an "upgrade" to those older Ronix rockers and shapes. This was as close to those as you can get riding and feel wise with performance enhancements to make riding more enjoyable as I creep up there in age. I dropped my speed from 24.5 to 23, took in the rope 5ft and started to cutback on the weight a bit and yet still getting great air with this board


fist post surgery 360. Little late and popped the handle but was a go fit the mental block of re injury.

[TRIP]

I probably need to just move to surfing and leave wakeboarding to the young guys, but I can get into to surf craze because I cant seem to get good wave with plenty of push for it to be fun.

No, you don't. Even if wakeboarding really isn't possible because of effed up knees or whatever, then get a hydrofoil/air chair. Not hard on the knees, about 10000000 times more fun than surfing, and you go about just as many times bigger as with surfing.

[rossrips7]

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[core-rider]

Everything mentioned about the Relapse seems to be on par with the people I've talked with riding it as well. I was looking at it for this season along with the Murray, Vagabond, and Byerly BP. I eventually went with the Vagabond because it was closer to the shapes I've been riding for the past 16 years. I like 3-stage abrupt rocker lines and loose feeling boards. The Vagabond is a bit more locked in than I prefer and even tried it finless, but I've adjusted to it and my riding has improved I feel. I've thought about shaving down the fins just a bit to make it more loose but haven't yet. It's super soft landing and it even rides really smooth in choppy water. I'm riding with the System low backs and AJ boots. The boots were more stiff than I prefer, but have gotten better the more I ride and break them in.

I've read and heard really good things about Murray's new shape as well. It was a hard choice between it and the Vagabond because of rocker line and featureless bottom. I think I'd like it too, but the width worried me a bit as it is similar to the Byerly Buck I tried last season and found the extra width a bit off-putting.

For reference I've been riding 3-stage 2.6+ rocker boards since around 2000 when I started riding the WakeTech Byerly Blunt. I've followed that basic shape through the Bad *** Pod, Gator Militant, and Wakeology Stoke over the years. Riding sacked OG210 wakes I really prefer the straight up boot that type of board offers. Smaller rocker lines just end up popping weird and spraying me in the face. The Vagabond is the first Hyperlite board I've ridden since 1998 when the Murray had the smiling Sun on it. My Hyperlite rep was very happy to finally convert me back over! Riding sacked OG210 wakes I really prefer the straight up boot that type of board offers. Smaller rocker lines just end up popping weird and spraying me in the face.

[Evening Shade]

No, you don't. Even if wakeboarding really isn't possible because of effed up knees or whatever, then get a hydrofoil/air chair. Not hard on the knees, about 10000000 times more fun than surfing, and you go about just as many times bigger as with surfing.

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but just a little sidetrack...

Trip,

Hydrofoils are intriguing to me, but I've never tried one. In fact, I've never seen anyone at my lake with one so I've never had an opportunity to try it. I know foils are a little expensive to buy to just try it out. I've also heard of some bad injuries on foils when I was on The Malibu Crew. There were several foilers on that forum. Do you have any suggestions on getting into hydrofoiling or just giving it a try?

[TRIP]

Gotta say I am by no means an expert on the subject, I've only tried it a few times myself. But those times have BY FAR been the most fun I've had on the water in a long time. More fun than wakesurfing, but also than flyboarding and jetsurfing, which I also did around the same time. It's not super easy (hence the satisfaction when you have that thing well under control!), so if possible find someone who's experienced with it and who can teach you well.
There's a foil forum out there so if I were you I'd try to find someone on there in your area who can teach you.