waterway glide vs. leaderfins hyper

[maanvin]

Dankje Eric!
You say you use a SOFT Leaderfin. Is it to be able to move with less efford under water and so to be able to stay under longer (breatholding)? Is it always to prefer for apnea swimming? I assume it will also give less thrust/speed and personally I like speedswimming a lot, but also want to stay under as long as possible. My intuitive feeling is to go for medium stiffness anyhow, but mayby that's result of my unknowingness...

[ericvrp]

I am a very unexperienced monofin swimmer. I bought a soft fin because I think it fits my build the best (tall and skinny). There are threats on this forum that can much better explain the details of the monofin religion than I will ever be able to.

[maanvin]

You've helped me anyhow!
It seems so far that people in this forum agree that the hyper fins from Max from Ukraine are relatively comfortable and give efficient thrust, thus they make a good choice. When I went to the triton equipment site I noticed that I was already in contact with them, since I was communicating with Markus from the Polyorg shop. I'll ask him if they deliver the same fin as Salibandy got.

[salibandy]

Eh, no. Markus is a different person. Polyorg is a shop that is highly unreliable, as you may soon find out.

Go straight to Max. It's the second contact. Darnitsa club.

And no, the fins are HIGHLY uncomfortable. Unless you specify that you want bigger footpockets to fit socks in.

[maanvin]

Aha. mmm okay.
Are all good monofins uncomforatble? So 5mm neoprene sock is needed for sure! I think I've read that the Glide fin from Waterway is supposed to be comfortable, but the performance of Max's Griper is to be prefered, so I will turn to Max!
Thanks!

[ericvrp]

I never understood those discussions about which fins are comfortable and which are not. The material used plays a big role for sure but the shape of your foot also has to match that of the footpocket. A perfect fit for someone with size x can be a nightmare for someone else with the same size.

Eric

[maanvin]

yes, it may be the same as with inline skate shoes, therefore they are often custom made.... unfortunately pair of shoes will then be 1000 euro easily. I'll go for the neoprene

[salibandy]

Even with a perfect fit, the footpockets will hurt. It's because they need to be tight to transfer power best. Also, the material isn't what you call soft.

[Fondueset]

Thought I'd chime in - since I have Max's Hyperfin. Mine is medium. I have been swimming exclusively with a monofin now for a couple years - mostly in open water - freediving year 'round in temps from 2-18C or so.

As mentioned in my thread on this fin - I am used to a hard waterway nemo - which hurt my feet very much for the first month or so. The hyperfin I ordered is medium stiffness - but it is softer than my soft Waterway Nemo (the Nemos have a rep for being fairly stiff compared to other fins). It feels very soft to me yet I find myself going incredibly fast.

The Hyperfin is very maneuverable - and I am able to swim further and faster with less effort. In the pool, during my first session, I did 25 meter sprints with 1/3 fewer kicks than with the waterway - and I go much faster with less effort. In my first pool session I did 50 sprints in 50 minutes. Foot pain was severe at about 15 sprints - but I found it grew less if I swam more - so I shortened my breathe-ups (why I did only 25 meter sprints!) At the end of 50 minutes I had very little foot discomfort. I believe that within a fairly short period of time I will be able to wear the fin for at least 2 hours at a time during the temperate season.

This fin is much more efficient than any other fin I have used - and Max delivered it within two weeks!

My experience with monofins has been that they are extremely painful in the beginning - my feet feel like they are about to explode, but that this goes away. My Waterway nemo was excruciating almost to the point of being unbearable and now I can comfortably wear it for at least six hours. I do not expect that kind of endurance form the Hyperfin because the footpocket is much tighter - but so far it is following the same pattern - though with more rapid improvement.

[Mullins]

Just received my Waterway Glide. Finally. It was sent in May but only arrived in the Bahamas (long after I'd left) about a month ago. And now it's made it back to NZ...

In the nick of time too, I've got a competition this weekend. I'll give the fin a test run at the pool tonight. It seems to be exactly what I asked for i.e. a hyper-style fin with broader shoulders (to get rid of v-flex), lots of angle like a Russian Hyperfin (in fact a little bit more, which is good), more rigid footpockets and harder neoprene to reduce compression on CW dives. Will take a camera along to the pool to check on how the fin behaves.

[marc25]

hey dave,

please let us know about the results and the details, that you asked for (which angle between footpockets and blade...) so that if I would like to order exactly the same fin, I can make that clear to waterway to get a clone of yours....

greetings,
marc

[Mullins]

The good news is the fin is nice and neutral in the water, the angle's about right and the footpockets are firm. Looking at the video it has only the slightest hint of v-flex.

The bad news is it's way too stiff for me so it's back to the drawing board...! When kicking continuously I dropped 1.5 strokes per 25m compared to my Hyperfin which is an enormous difference, but it came at a price.

[Mullins]

Marc, it's just a standard glide with 30 degree footpocket angle and 'hard' neoprene, I'm not sure exactly what type they used. the broad shoulders are standard for waterway fins so that wasn't a customisation. I haven't used a normal Glide but this one is almost neutral in the water which is great for dynamic. I'm sure Bogdan will be able to make you an identical one. This one is Medium stiffness but based on how it feels I need either a Soft or Extra Soft if they make one. The blade could also stand to be a fair bit shorter.

[chrismar]

Does this mean you're back to the v-bend monster for the comp then?

[Evita]

Originally Posted by Mullins

The bad news is it's way too stiff for me

Wus!

No I agree, the medium is very stiff compared to other fins. It'll be interesting to hear your review of a soft or extra-soft waterway glide.