Where to buy first wake board?

First off Happy New Year fellow CC fans!
Been looking at wake boards and wanted to ask where should I buy from?
I'm a beginner-intermediate rider that plans to progress quickly - skate boarded and wind surfed as a kid and have been snow boarding for 15 + years.
I found evo dot com and am fine with buying an older model. They appear to have some good deals on packages.
Any other good sources or suggestions?
TIA
Robert
86 SN 2001

If you can hold out for a while and find a local board shop that you can demo a few different makes and models then that is what I'd suggest. They each ride different and the bindings can make the board. Do a little research and be sure that you get the right length according to weight and height. My advice would be to buy an intermediate to advanced board then to start off with a beginner board. A beginner board's edges are more rounded thus making it forgiving type of board. It's slow to cut and my experience is the landings are harder.

An advance board has more rocker thus making the board launch of the water but yet the landings are a little softer. It has sharpe edges making the board able to cut on a dime. Bad thing is they are less forgiving and will bite you (slamming you to the water) if you get to lazy on them. Both my teenage girls learned on an advanced board when they were 10 & 12 and have done well. I just bought them a new board for Christmas (online) that is more suited for their weight and height (it's a chick board too) so they should be able to ride a lot better.

I'm 5'10 185 lbs and ride a Liquid Force Trip 142 ( I think). The last two boards I've owned were LF boards. I just like the brand as they have held up well and the way they ride. The board I got the girls is a womens version of the Trip. I've ridden a Hyperlite and a couple of other brands which I personally didn't care for how they rode.

There are some great deals on new boards that are a couple years old. If you don't care about having the latest and greatest graphic on it then snatch one up. It's boat show time so if you can get to one then there are usually some vendors there that have good deals on equipment and you can see first hand and even try on bindings. You do get what you pay for so keep that in mind. Don't get some $30 wakeboard rope from Sports Authority or walmart. Get a good ZERO stretch rope (spectra or poly e)and a good handle. You may spend $100 on a rope but that rope will pay huge dividends on the water and it will waaaaaay outlast the cheap one. I'm going on 8+ years with the last one I bought.

Good luck in your search.

Don't skimp on the bindings, they can be used on most any board when/if you change.

Lot's of used stuff on www.ski-it-again.com

I've bought several boards off ebay. Hyperlite, liquid force, Byerly and Ronix. Like mentioned above, the same length from brand to brand and model to model is different because of the boards vary in width and shape. If a board is too big, you can't cut as hard and a little chop will be scary. Check craigslist. A friend of mine got a deal on a new Hyperlite Murray.

Here's the truth and a little advice also. Truth is, if you are going to ride and progress then this will not be the only board you buy. So don't go spend 400.00 to 600.00 dollars on something that looks cool but you have no idea how to ride. My first board was a stingray blindside. It turned like a mack truck, you had to almost stand the board on end while edging but it got me on the water. Oh and it was a continuous rocker so it made the landings a little softer. (something to keep in mind)Just buy the right size board and go get wet. Last of all we never really think of this but ya know there's a chance you may ride for a bit and decide you don't care for it. Be a shame to waste all that money. I rode bull in the Midwest for 6 years and seen a lot of people come and go with fancy equipment that rode one time and decided a bulls back is not where they should be. lol