Waydoo x Takuma

Looks like Waydoo is finally shipping their 2 efoil models. Flyer one for around U$ 5000 and Flyer for around 7000.
Would someone buy it or for around 7000 buy the flitefoil?
Or should We play safe and spend U$ 8000 on a well known Takuma?
Thanks

Hi.

I suggest building your own efoil. They will all break. If you build it yourself you will be able to fix it.

If you must buy one…Buy the Lift e-foil or the Fliteboard.

All the other efoils will leave you disappointed. The performance will be lacking and you will quickly outgrow it. They will break, and unless you purchased form Lift or Fliteboard you’ll be SOL.

I ride with a guy who has a Fliteboard and his has broken twice on him. The company took good care of him. And I ride with another guy who has a Lift e-foil and when his broke, Lift took good care of him. Stick with these companies. Both of these products are high quality.

I would suggest getting the Lift over the Fliteboard because it is direct drive, fits the Folding prop, and has the 4’4" board option which is amazing! Maybe you can find a used Lift board if you wanna save some money.

Whatever you decide to do good luck. And please let us know your experience over the next 12 months with the product.

:call_me_hand:

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I agree that Lift is using direct drive but Fliteboard does not. They are using a Neugart gearbox. Btw waydoo’s motor is also 10 poles direct drive.

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A link ? :wink: [20 ch]

Today, the August 2020 choice is complicated, the offer is better than last year but proven and available reasonably priced quality models are still to come (Q4 2020 and 2021 will be clearer) :wink:
I for one, the main question is how much do you want to spend (therefore loose).

Group 1: LIft and Fliteboard ok but 13.00usd or 14.000€ in Europe, I can’t bring myself to put the price of a car in a toy.
Then the points to look at: (own or not) design, rental use, warranty, spare parts and the remote waterproofness.
One proven brand has it all right now: Takuma has many rentals in Europe (Germany, France, …) 7000usd or 6500€.

We have Waydoo with their own sleek remote (and unproven yet though) coming strong. They have shipped their first 250 Waydoo One board batch today in the 5000usd. Part of them are for backers, part of them for shops. Waydoo is the challenger that seems to be holding its promises

Then the third group that use the Maytech remote in the 7000usd:

  • PwrFoil that make their own assemblies, make their own board and batteries,
  • CIMI board band that offers a good manufacturing quality: Flior, Flitefoil, Glidefoil, …

Yes, until we know what the different brands are really worth, building is surely a good choice (you loose nothing) but renting too if you don’t want to loose too much and have a cold season coming in the northern hemisphere: a 800usd rental budget is not much compared to 7000 and could represent 20-25 efoil sessions if well negociated.

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I don’t. But I know it. In house propulsion unit of 10 poles.

I agree with you. Lift and fliteboard costs the same of many new cars or 1/3 of a new high end and full of technology Tesla. This makes no sense. New companies will challenge them in the next few years. I can see the prices dropping when escale production is reached. Too many new ideas and startups right now, but for sure 3 or 4 of them will became reliable brands and change this market.
I can easily see the actual high end efoils dropping their prices to around 8k in 2 years, while other companies that will reach escale economy with good quality will be selling at 4-5 k price range.
Will Waydoo be the first of these companies that will change this market? The USA Get Foil be the second one? Time will tell us…

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The market won’t change at all. Look at any other watersports markets. You have top tier products that always cost double the lower tier products and they always continue to sell.
Lift and fliteboard will always maintain a solid customer base even at their price points. They’re not interested in the lower tier guys and definitely not interested in a price war.
Everyone can dream about the luxury board brands dropping their prices, but it will simply never happen.

Agree with Jezza. Just look at the price of a Ski Nautique or a Nautique G25 ($100K to $175k). At $12K, any efoil is a luxury item. There are always people who can afford luxury items but for that money they want the best. I will actually be surprised if all the $6k efoils will be able to stay in business.

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I want, I want, I want…sorry did I already say I want one? Absolutely stunning boats!

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Let’s see what will happen.
Even the jet ski market changed a lot during the last decade…
Remember…
People that have money, have money because they know how to value things and to make money.
One thing is to buy and pay for a luxury brand like Cartier or Rolex watch.
Sorry, but an electric e-foil can be considered just a toy for many people.
Rim/Blackberry, Nokia, Kodak and so many other brands that used to dominate their markets thought the same way and we all know what happened to them…
We can check what will happen in 2 years…
Competition is important to improve quality and decrease price.
This is the way that it happens in business.

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Here’s the great Takuma quality shining through: Frank | Facebook

Nothing like board delamination fun…

And Takuma even dodged the warranty! Redirecting...

There’s a reason Lift and Fliteboard cost way more #yougetwhatyoupayfor

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For Takuma’s defense, Frank Strutzke has made a mistake by using bad screw holes on the mast plate.If you reduce the screw distance by 1/3, you increase the ripping level arm by 1/3. Was it forbidden tu use these 2 screw holes on the mast plate in the Takuma user documentation ?
image

That’s why US rails aren’t a totally satisfactory solution if the board bottom skin is not linked to the board top skin or if the bottom skin is not seriously reinforced what Takuma claims for their 2020 production.

image

Meaning: we knew there was a problem, we solved it but we cannot recall the old batch, it would be too expensive for us.

image
A similar ripping case issue appeared on the Efoil FB forum two months ago mid June (2020)

Waydoo need to be watched closely for this ripping problem because they are using a mast locking system burried or stuck in EPP.

200616 W-One mast locking system

The CIMI band (Flyor, Surffic, Flitefoil, Glidefoil, …) has it al good: no US rail but four strong stainless steel inserts linking board bottom and board top skin. Looking forward to seeing them replace their Maytech remote by a truly waterproof one.

Surffic SS inserts

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Great analysis. I believe the Waydoo mast locks in to the aluminum frame - not the EPP foam. Hopefully this works better than the first gen Etakuma.

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It seems there are a lot more Takuma issues that are creeping in now: Redirecting...

A couple of guys have had this same issue. And again they didn’t want to honour the warranties!

This guy is obviously a hard core player … not sure a LIFT or Fliteboard can resist to repeated bumps and jumps…

If you read the thread with those pictures there are more posts of similar breakages. Apparently they are related to weak extrusions for the mast and screws loosening while riding. Because of how the Lift and Flieboard masts are put together that won’t happen.

If you want to see how much a punishment a lift board can take, here is a video of someone going truly hardcore: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwmnV2AMlk8&fbclid=IwAR1akq3mUOgBXuBijzVdy3ILyXEydp9eH9F94aCkVBOHyZCrdnNR-vlQIlQ

And 360’s on a Fliteboard: Redirecting...

Game over: Takuma have changed their mind and just taken the board under warranty. So you can have a warranty at 6500€. Could they have done anything else with Waydoo arriving strong ?
Let’s hope Waydoo will follow this path.

I had the chance to see the #waydoo_one already in Frankfurt. Above you say you have to watch the connection of the mast into the board. If you want my guess, this is one of the stiffest connection of all. It is exactly milled and goes into the board for about 60mm. And it is secured by those 2 screws but they have no force from the mast momentum at all… They sey inside the epp there is an alloy frame that takes the force and as we inspected it, I believe that because it is very stiff in that middle area, where the battery is inserted…
And if you ask me, it is not a question to choose between a takuma and the waydoo. On first impression it is more a choice between fliteboard and waydoo one. And then if you compare the price, then it is less than half, and in my opinion the waydoo is just a newer generation with some smart gimicks. Only point that I would prefer the fliteboard is, it is about 5mph faster than the waydoo according gps speed…
German dealer said he got some boards already but sold out within 1 day, however he promised to get them back in stock in september…

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here is a video of someone going truly hardcore

Using a leash with an eFoil seems really dangerous - and borderline suicidal without a helmet…