I've been looking to get a custom board made ... one that will stand out .. check this out. I can't wait to get it.
Contacted Mike Hew and asked about his boards. Turns out he's got as much passion about building his boards as I have building buggies. Great guy to
talk to. We are helping each other out with ideas. Check out his website.
I will be talking to him soon about a carbon fiber buggy .. muahahhaha....
I asked him to take some pictures of my board being built. It's done and in the mail. Can't wait to get it.
stetson05 - 11-6-2012 at 05:07 PM
looks good! I keep thinking he will make my next board too. Now, just what do I have him put on it?? Oh yeah, and where will the money come from?
Drewculous - 11-6-2012 at 06:26 PM
Made me one already lol, ups trashed it tho.... Awesome boards, cant wait for my replacemet to get herevan - 11-6-2012 at 06:37 PM
You can sell your kidneys .. haha .. Seriously .. give him a call. He's got special pricing right now. It will be going up soon. It's a lot
cheaper than you think for a custom board.
He sent it via USPS priority so hope they don't destroy my board !! Man.. I would be piss. :shocked2:shehatesmyhobbies - 12-6-2012 at 01:52 PM
He really does a great Job! He already did Rians ECKS board, mine will be on order next!
Sharp looking ride Van!mthboards - 12-6-2012 at 02:54 PM
Hey thanks you guys for keeping me going,
Should have yours done soon Drewculous.silvereaglekiter - 12-6-2012 at 04:47 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by mthboards
Hey thanks you guys for keeping me going,
Should have yours done soon Drewculous.
Beautiful work and welcome to the forumKamikuza - 12-6-2012 at 05:43 PM
Oh sweet mother have mercy :ticking::megan:Kober - 12-6-2012 at 07:58 PM
I was about to order 2 sizes of those ....... and then ..... ABoards happen ....
Van ....Love the look .... Its so cool that you can add you own tattoo/graphics .... I found few options for mine ... with Kober mixed in ...
Congrats ......
Rians board its a beauty too ... with carbon/wood two tone design
MTH .... stay with PKF family and I am sure you will get way more orders from that group .... lol... Nice work ....van - 13-6-2012 at 09:33 PM
My board came today in one piece. To make sure it was protected, Mike sandwich the board between two layers of 1" foam, then tape the crap out of it
.. solid way to ship.
I wasn't sure what fins or foot strap to use so haven't purchase a set for the board yet. I went ahead and took the fins and foot strap from my
Latitude board to try it out. I will be in Rockport this weekend so will try to take the board for a ride.
Top side has mirror finished carbon fiber. Bottom side is layered with wood and foam. Logo is printed on rice paper and layered on the wood and
foam. A nice clear layer protects it all.
Here's the board (134cm x 42cm) next to my 159cm Spleene Door
Chad - 14-6-2012 at 05:21 AM
WOW now that is sweet! tell me how it rides so I can decide which one I want! :evil:van - 8-7-2012 at 09:58 PM
I finally got a chance to try out my new board this week. I did one July 4th session and then another one today. I wanted a board to replace my
Latitude Topaz board since it had more rocker than I really wanted. The Topaz was a 135 x 41. This custom board is 134x42 so is pretty much the
same size except it had no rocker. The wind is real light in Texas during the summer so I went do to Rockport / Corpus Christi where the wind is
usually 15-20 mph. It was about 15-18 mph on the 4th. Lots of people on the beach so I was limited to the flat waters of the ski basin. Stupid me,
I forgot my pump so couldn't use my LEIs. I only brought a 15m Phantom but I figure, why not?? I would usually ride my spleene door on the 15m
phantom in this kind of wind. The MTH board actually wasn't bad. It plane as well as my door. Had to go down wind a bit to get going at first but
did fine once you get going. I love the smaller size since it was much more menueverable than the larger door.
The session today, the wind was only around 12mph - 14mph, so I started out with the door. I was also stuck with my 15m phantom. I was offered a
loaner pump from a fellow kitesurfer but was too lazy to pump today. I knew it was plenty of wind for the door and phantom. After a while, I got
board of just cruising back and forth on the door so tried the MTH board. I had to work the kite a bit to get planing but once I got going, it was a
blast. I was out on the beach side this time so the one foot chop was fun to slice through. The board was the perfect size to also go over the
chops without feeling like you were trying to lift a full sheet of plywood!! .. haha...
I can't wait to try this out in higher winds. I've never been able to ride in winds above 20mph with the door. This will fill that gap nicely.
The only thing I need now is a better set of foot straps. The board does not come with foot strap so you will need to get your own.
You all know that I am still a newbie at water so hope this review was helpful. Btw .. I did lose my board during the july 4th session but it was
recover by one of the boaters. It was easy to prove it was my board since it had my logo right on it!! That's the cool thing about have a custom
board.PHREERIDER - 9-7-2012 at 06:59 AM
very nice , nice set for sure. gives a lot of low wind rides for sure.
stiff and fast is what i see in the board the smaller is a great shape 139X43(44) i think would best of both!.
nicejirin1a - 26-7-2012 at 08:34 AM
I also bought a custom board from Mike at MTH. Here's my experience:
I needed a light-wind board similar to a Door 59. My options were meager: either buy that thing new for about $800+, or wait for month until i see an
ad with a used one. That's really not a good idea in the middle of a summer, a: few will sell their light wind gear, b: even old boards like 2006 seem
priced well above $400. So I took advantage of MTH adveritising custom boards for about $400. It is a risky option because the outcome is
unpredictable (who is MTH?) and also you end up with a custom board that might be less easy to sell in the future. But I went for it.
* He (Mike from MTH) promised a board in two weeks and I had the board shipped in time.
* I was receiving regular updates with pics - that was really nice to watch
* I could send my own design. There are some details about how the design will eventually look that I think he might explain more clearly to ignorants
like me - basically some parts are completely transparent, some other parts are semi-transparent. retrospectively, I would have made the design
slightly differently. not a big deal though.
* The board is a mix of wood and foam that makes it very light. i mean really light! (6lbs 6oz w/o straps). In fact the MTH board (159x45cm) with
North straps and MTH fins mounted on it is lighter than North Xride 139x41cm with straps/fins.
* The board came with 6 fins and extra mounting hardware . You have control over where you want the footstraps inserts, of course. comes without
straps and handle.
* the board seems to have plenty of flex and quite a bit of rocker (3/4"-1"). The inserts are positioned a little off-center to aid edging. All these
settings made me worried a little as they make the board better behaved at the top end, but increase the low end of the wind range
* I rode the board several times now. It's really good! Seems to cut through chop like as if it wasn't there. No face spray at all. Because it is so
light, jumps are effortless, even freestyle tricks work, although the concave edges have their limits - at some point the tips do catch water. The low
end is pretty good, probably the same as Door 59 though I haven't had a fair comparison in same conditions. The top end is pretty amazing, I guess due
to the flex of the material. One just doesn't feel the board becoming too big. (I am around 175lbs btw). The edges, the shape, finish - everything
looks made really professionally. The only thing I am still curious about is robustness - the board seems so light that one intuitively thinks it's
gonna break easily. Mike says the lamination process, the fiber glass and the carbon being layered 90 degrees to each other make the board robust. I
trust.
* Communicating with Mike (the M in MTH) was really a smooth experience. very relaxed person who knows how to make hellava good boards for a good
price and delivers in time (not unimportant!)
* if you consider making one, I recommend you think thoroughly what dimensions and design you want and communicate precisely. My board ended up 0.5cm
smaller in both dimensions due to sanding, but also because I wasn't clearly defining the dimensions.
* I paid $400 + shipping. This may not mean he will make another board for same price in the future. The price might go up as MTH becomes more known.
I hope he won't go much higher though - there's still the issue regarding resale value of custom boards that you won't have with, say, classic Door.
Overall, very happy. Definitely a keeper!
I hope you find this opinion helpful, if you're in the same situation and doubts I was about 1 month ago.
Enjoy your summer!van - 26-7-2012 at 09:02 AM
Sweet!! I think I saw your board when he post it on facebook. I was wondering how it performed since I have a Door 159. The smaller board he made
for me is super light also. I am curious about durability too but so far it has handle all my bad jumps and landing. I didn't know much about board
shape or design so couldn't really tell him what I wanted. I only told him the approximately dimensions and told him I wanted something for smooth
water with slight chops.jirin1a - 26-7-2012 at 09:10 AM
Ah yes, it is on his FB page. This is the board: rocfighter - 26-7-2012 at 09:12 AM
Van that looks Awesome, Congrats on a sweet personal board.
