Pranayama Heavy - heavy rider's first impressions
Not a review. Will aim to return with that in a few months. Got my new Pranayama about 10 days ago and I've been out with it in about 6 of these, longest outing being a 19.35km push returning from a friend (which was also my longest push so far).
For context, I've started riding early this spring, I'm 37yo, 100kg (220lbs, hopefully descending now) and got the new Pathanjali in the Heavy flex pre-preg construction, with 74A Hokus, Pantheon's drop-through risers, Stylus trucks and the stock bushings. It's beautiful and a pleasure to ride.
It's actually a bit longer than I thought and I can fit the standing platform very well with EU 42.5 shoes. The mellow concave makes switching to/from mongo pushing easier than with other boards I've ridden.
I think the flex at my weight is the most relevant thing to state here - it feels very supportive and less flexy/bouncy than I was expecting. I think it makes sense, given I'm about in the middle of the reccomended weight range for this board. This helps make the board far more stable than I was expecting, though it also transmits a bit more vibration on bad roads than I was expecting. I can't compare to a classic construction or to the light one, but compared to a friend's Prism Sled, it's definitely more rigid. That said, it flexes far more than my Nexus (which does flex A BIT but just a bit) and it does dampen the road better than the Nexus too. The Hokus probably help too but more on them later. I've included a gif of the flex at my weight standing mongo on the center of the board.
Trucks and bushings, starting with wheelbite: I cannot get it. With the bushings engaged to where I'm very happy with the maneuverability of the board, I'm about 2-3mm from biting when I forcebly stand on the edge of the board with my the balls of my feet. I'm pretty sure this is helped by the risers, because they lower the board so much that, when leaning, the rail goes under the middle of the wheel. This puts the wood farther from the edge of the wheel the more it leans, counteracting how the turn brings the wheel closer. So even with relatively loose bushings I can't get wheelbite, but YMMV and please test this and tune to your preference before going out. Hopefully the bushings will be durable, because they feel like they are high quality and they don't seem to be available after-market. I'd probably get Kranks if I need to replace them.
The Stylus trucks turn nicely and feel stable. I haven't broken traction yet but I haven't ridden them very aggressively either. The low ride height for the huge wheels is very satisfying! Going down slight inclines I've found no problem with wobbles as long as I keep a good position on my front foot. One-foot steering feels both easier and more controlled than on my Nexus with Paris V2s. Did I say the stock bushings feel good?
I LOVE the Hoku wheels. They really do go over almost everything and I don't think they're difficult to accelerate. I'm 100kg, I think that's the bulk of inertia for me and not the weight of the wheels. They're very high rebound and I feel like I'm getting out of them what I put into them. I don't feel like they're getting too squished under my weight. I was worried I'd need the 78A ones but everything seems fine ( I'm still itching to feel out a whale Trip with pink ones though 😁).
Vibration dampening of deck + wheels is noticeable, although not as hyperbolic as I've read on a few other posts. I would say that the pavement feels better "by one grade" compared to my Nexus with 83a Kegels. Something like horrible pavement feels rough, rough feels medium, medium feels smooth. We have a lot of rough pavement here. I wonder if the classic construction of the deck would improve this significantly.
Also a last note on water resistance: I've gotten caught in rain for about 1 hour last Friday, to where I've even had a puddle in the deck. After the trip I wiped the deck and took the wheels off. The next day I had my 19km ride and it was no problem. Today I had time to dissassemble the whole thing and give it a once-over. The griptape looks intact, nothing is rusted, bearings spin fine, no sign of delam in the bolt holes or anywhere else on the deck. I don't plan on getting caught in the rain too often but it's giving me a reasonable amount of confidence.
All in all great first impression and looking forward to riding it for a long time!