The Monk.. feral performance..
Let me start by quoting kiteworld's test from issue 50, which is quite simply stunning.
here is a quote from the test that sums it up.
This is a dream board. Intermediates jumping on this wont understand just how good it is and how lucky they are to have one, but anyone who has owned a few twinnies will do. Boards often get better and better the flatter the water. This is just good at everything all the time.Shinn Monk – kiteworld test issue 50.
The hype;
This is a freestyle board for the mere mortals among us. The monk offers untamed sailing without the limitations normally associated with this kind of riding. Hyperflex tips (created using shins new FS mould) and a new constant curve work together to create the easiest to access (yet limitless) ride ever seen. A Backdoor into the high performance world of kiteboarding or simply reality personified? You decide.
Test team notes;
First thoughts of the test team was that the Monk was going to be quite an average board for intermediate riders. Really robust, it looked and felt really big in the hands and had a huge gorillas face on the bottom. The looks on the faces of every one of them when they came in from their first run told a different story though. They just could not believe the performance they were getting from it. Starting with the pads and straps which are all new from Shinn, the pad itself is enormous, luxurious and very thick, slightly thicker in the heel than the toe, with an indent for grip. The pad is also thick and very easy to adjust with two velcro straps underneath the main top Velcro covering. Fitting the average mans foot very well, if you have small feet you can get grip but have to push your feet a little further in. (Please note that on the next delivery all boards are available with smaller straps if required) Super comfortable though and without any pinching on the sides of your feet either and the top strap offers huge coverage for virtually the whole of your foot.
The 135 gets up and going incredibly smartly, rides fast and soaks up any choppy lumps and bumps without a second thought. If you look at the outline of the board, its actually very wide in the middle, unlike a lot of modern square freestyle boards. This massively benefits the Monk in its carving ability. Combined with the flex pattern in the middle of the board, that wide section and more narrow tips means that you can really gouge a turn without catching the tips and the flex holds right the way through the turn, only pushing back seemingly when you are ready for it to do so when you have completed your carve, rather than spitting you out of your turn too early. There’s grip right through the turn, which perhaps doesn’t make for sliding from heel-to-toe as simple as on other boards but in every other aspect it’s hugely beneficial.
The Monk charges upwind like noting we’ve seen. With such good fluid and grippy carving abilities you also wouldn’t expect the monk to pop so well, but it really does. The relationship between the rocker, flex and stiffness in the tips provide a beautiful mix of newschool and freeride. Super fast but controlled to ride, when you load it up you get a fantastic punch off the water and then absorption on landing. Out of interest we got a few other riders on this and every one of them loved it, from our intermediate girlfriends, just learning to jump and carve, to seasoned freestylers visiting Capetown. No one had a bad word to say.
Summary
Shinny says this year instead of making mall incremental improvements he thought he’s experiment and start off at the extremes. He hasn’t given us any more information, but whatever he’s done it works. This is a dream board. Intermediates jumping on this wont understand just how good it is and how lucky they are to have one, but anyone who has owned a few twinnies will do. Boards often get better and better the flatter the water. This is just good at everything all the time.
KW liked; The subtle blend of new school pop with freeride comfort and agility
KW disliked; The Plastic spacers between the board and the head of the screw are quite weak. (these have since been replaced with bespoke shinn finwashers)
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top end Freeride / Freestyle crossover rrp £499
For me, this was a landmark for Master Shinn... A board suitable for all aggressive riders; those who like to charge around with their hair on fire. It's a board that is very easy to ride fast and hard in the worst conditions imaginable. If you are aggressive with your riding you will find nothing that gives as much performance, ease and comfort in the worst chop, soup and surf you can find, with NO spray in the face, NO back leg burn and NO knee pounding. You can sell it to anyone, it's so easy and comfortable to ride but encourages the rider to kite faster, carve harder, and you can ride like this for hours longer than a normal board... Suitable for both freestyle and freeride styles.
Shinn's official promo text;This is a freestyle board for the mere mortals among us. The Monk offers untamed sailing without the limitations normally associated with this style of riding. Hyperflex tips (created using our new FS mould) and our new constant curve work together to create the easiest to access (yet limitless) ride ever seen. A back door into the high performance world of kiteboarding or simply reality personified….. you decide.
RockerConstant Radius – this rocker uses a constant radius curve through out it's length. Some years ago this rocker would have been considered to be slow to plane and poor upwind but advances in flex control, concave hull shapes and of course kites now mean it can be used to provide un-paralleled control, limitless grip and completely spray free riding in all conditions. The outline of your board works in conjunction with the rocker to define the way it will perform. Freestyle - This outline style features more curve radius between the feet leading into straighter, larger diameter curves in the tip and tail. On the water this translates into strong edge grip, aggressive POP and fast turning when applying pressure equally through both feet.
CoreWhat's inside your board will make a huge difference to how it performs and in keeping with every aspect of your Shinn board we use only the best on the inside, and that means wood – mostly!
No other core material offers the same blend of consistent flex over extended periods of time, feather like weight and near indestructible durability (not to mention environmental friendliness).
We say mostly because there are some other secret materials in there but we"re not going to give away all of our tricks!
FinsAll Shinn boards are supplied with high-grade G-10 fins.
G-10 is created by laminating multiple layers of glass cloth with Epoxy resin and allowing to cure under extreme conditions of pressure and heat. The resulting laminate is renowned for it"s high shear strength and impact resistance making it the best material for fin production. Hi visibility red pigments are added to the laminate during creation to ensure your board is easy to find in the water. Many suppliers coat the fins after shaping however this finish is susceptible to wearing off through repeated abrasion with sand. Shinn only uses Marine grade M6 INOX bolts for fixing the screws. The transparent deck washer the fin bolts mount through is designed to spread the load from the screw heads and protect your board in case of impact.
Width & lengthChoosing your size.
Whilst many riders still look at the length of the board when choosing their size it's much more relevant to look at the width. The length of the board can be affected by the shaping of the tip and tail - which in reality plays little part in the performance of the board.To clarify the situation further the difference in surface area between a 130 x 40 and a 130 x 42 is approximately 260 cm2 whilst increasing the length of a 130 x 40 to 135 x 40 would give an increase in surface area of less than 200 cm2 – nearly 25% less.
All of our boards are available in multiple widths to allow you to find the perfect size for your weight, riding style and favoured riding conditions.
Summary- The Monk features Constant Curve Rocker Template with dynamic concave
- Shinn FS deck mould with bi-axis tip flex
- Hand polished, high gloss UV resistant deck finish
- Sanded base for high efficiency
- Full range of widths for all size riders
- 53mm hi-visibility G10 fins with transparent deck mounting plates
- The Sneaker 3D adjustable footbed system (see section below)
-Spray free riding in all conditions
- Mostly Alabasia wood core
Sizes126x38
128x39
130x40
132x41
135x42
135x44
Monk feedback;"Super impressed with this board, it was super comfy through the crud, even with the knee. The board speed i was able to maintain felt awesome...
Loading up was effortless, no longer did i have to look for that perfect take off ramp or flat spot for trick initiation, I just pulled the trigger wherever i liked.
Landings felt good, even when I thought i was coming in sketchy. Didn't feel like i had those super hot sketchy bumpy landings where you normally have to go downwind for ages before you finally manage to get back on the edge. Just felt smooth!"
"Only managed to prise it from john for 15 MIns - but I have to say I wasnt enjoying the conditions much as it was neither wavey nor flat. This is the smoothest board ever - also superbly balanced front to back - hard to put your finger on but I reckon the sharp rails just slice thru the chop like its not there. I felt evry ripple on my thorn in comparison.I was seriously going 2x faster on the monk because it has the control - its like active suspension and traction control for a TT!
On a perfect Troon day - its great to see everyone going for their biggest biggest craziest move - this being a choppy nasty one, It was very apparent to me that everyone on the water had turned it down a notch or 2 as the conditions dictated - except John. My other observation would be that its got a nice bit of glide that a lot of boards just dont have. Looking forward to another wee shot in better conditions."
"Out today on my 130x40 Monk in up and down cross shore conditions with bumpy chop and first impressions of this board are it is SUPER SMOOTH. It really tamed the rough condtions and just made my session easier and more enjoyable with this being the main comments of others who tried it also, that and how easy you can dig in and push it just stupidly hard even in the rough.
I think this is why this is definately an intermediate to advanced board because it just asks, no it demands, that you go for it and even though there is loads of control and stability if you don't know what you are doing then you will soon find yourself fairly blazing along.... but if you can handle this then hit the right wave/kicker and it makes for easy huge grin inducing boosting. Landings are great as it all turns on fast with 'easy' smoothness and control and just makes you confident to go go go go so you pop to toeside, dig in lock the rail, downloop the kite and caaaaaaarve hard and it just grips and goes round - you can do this in big long arcs throwing spray or you can keep it tight and change direction in a blink with no dramas."
"I have just been out in another mentalist gusty bumpy session session on the Monk and loved it. As a mate tried it I was on his 133 ***** and I used to like this but everything just feels heavy, slow and unresponsive now – the Monk is awesome."
"Been out on the Monk 130 a bit now. Very, very smooth through chop - yes, it does feel slightly like you are hovering half an inch above the water :D I didnt notice much if any spray off the nose. The nose is hard to stuff into the water even if you get heavy on the front foot on landings. The fins feel quite big & the board tracks very well through the worst chop. There is heaps of grip, you can hold down loads of power to jump - it would take a LOT of wind to get pulled out of shape on this"
"I've been riding 8 years but I have to say I'm not techy and with previous boards I wouldn't have been able to say one board does anything radically better than the other. A few differences but not much. However, when I rode the Monk I was really impressed. Most of the reviews are spot on - it really is very grippy with the stock fins and lets you slash around like an idiot. It remains stable in all wind strengths and no spray, regardless of sea state. I was really impressed."
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