Leaderfins

[Voltari]

I'm getting Leaderfins Neo Carbons as my first proper freediving bifins, anf I need some advice. I already have a medium monofin from them and I love it. It is true that LF medium is quite soft, but so far it has been good for me with monofin. I've been using snorkeling fins before for many many years, and with I have dived to 20m depth. I can surely do better nowdays especially with proper fins.

I'm considering between medium and hard stiffness. I am quite thin but I have very strong legs. I used to do athletics and sprint short distances. My ankles are my weak spot in legs though. They get sore sometimes if swim with fins for extended periods.
Because I haven't had proper freediving fins so far, I think it's better to have too light fins than tpo hard. I would like to be able to do and try everything with them properly. That's why medium would be safer bet, right?

Foot pocket size is another thing that I worry about more than stiffness. I read from this thread that footpockets are quite snug, which is good with thick neoprene socks. Now Im using only 1mm socks, but I think I should get 3mm for Finlands not-so-warm environment.

My foot size is EU 45-46 (US 13?..), so I have big feet. I would not say that my feet are very long to be 46, but ball of my feet (the tip of the foot with toes) is somewhat wide. Usually snorkeling fins are only up to 44-45, which is okay for me, but with my current fins I've experienced quite a lot of cramps. Thats why Im really glad to see that LF can make large foot pockets too. Im just worrying about the snuggness, if 45-46 is too big and my heel moves inside the fin. Propably it wont with 1/3mm socks? I don't know if I'm able to fit 3mm socks in 45-46.

I really appreciate if you help me. Now when Im working in Cyprus I can have really good kickoff for my freediving born out of years of serious snorkeling and scuba diving.

 

[thehok]

Leaderfins are having very good reviews and definitely on my list to buy in near future

 

[Aerwyna]

Hi all,I'm about to buy for the first time a carbon fins they are quite expensive but I found the leaderfins affordable for my budget. Does anyone knows anything about this make? Whats the risk buying a not well known makes? I will appreciate any info about the Leaderfins or any other cheap but good brand. All the best. Toni.

I've owned the pure carbon fins by leaderfins for about 5 months now the quality for the price is excellent. Just be careful not to scratch them they damage a lot easier than plastic. And the footpockets are very comfortable and great build.
-Tigger

 

[mkivtt]

Sorry everyone, I have bad experiences with footpocket sizing and since these fins come from overseas (I'm in the US) I'd like to get as good a fit as possible.

So I have to ask: is the LF pocket sizing accurate? Does it assume your are using socks? My no-brand scuba fins are US 7/8 and fit perfectly, but I tried Mares Razor Pros in 7/8 and they were so much larger it was ridiculous.

I am in warm water and don't use socks btw.

Your experiences please? Are the LF sizes accurate, or too large, or too small?

Thanks!

 

[Voltari]

Sorry everyone, I have bad experiences with footpocket sizing and since these fins come from overseas (I'm in the US) I'd like to get as good a fit as possible.

So I have to ask: is the LF pocket sizing accurate? Does it assume your are using socks? My no-brand scuba fins are US 7/8 and fit perfectly, but I tried Mares Razor Pros in 7/8 and they were so much larger it was ridiculous.

I am in warm water and don't use socks btw.

Your experiences please? Are the LF sizes accurate, or too large, or too small?

Thanks!

LF FPs are thought to have neoprene socks to my.understanding. I have a EU foot size 45-46 (US 12?..) and I have same size foot pockets. They fit perfectly with 3mm neoprene socks. I think that even 44-45 would be big for me without socks

 

[Voltari]

I must add though that I have had little bad experiences with rubber fork of foot pockets

 

[WhiteMamba]

Hi all,I'm about to buy for the first time a carbon fins they are quite expensive but I found the leaderfins affordable for my budget. Does anyone knows anything about this make? Whats the risk buying a not well known makes? I will appreciate any info about the Leaderfins or any other cheap but good brand. All the best. Toni.

I have never seen a good brand that isn't cheap. In fact I haven't seen any cheap fins that are good so I think the expensive ones should be worth it. I might be wrong but that's what my experience has taught me.

 

[Okis]

Has anybody succesfully fitted the leaderfins blades on the Cressi gara modulars footpockets yet?

I've seen someone else asking about it before in the thread but there seemed to be no awnsers from anyone that have seen it themselves but only "heard" about someone else who did it

 

[Voltari]

So I have sent NEO glass/carbon composite fins back for maintenance because of one faulty footpocket. I must say that LF has very good customer service, service has been really fast and smooth

Blades themselves are excellent, but neoprene coating on this NEO model is a bit strange. It feels to reduce snappiness of the blade and make it quite buoyant on the surface. It protects the fiber blade very well though and camo look really nice. NEOs are good for spearfishing but definitely not for performance freediving.

I am very happy with my carbon monofin and I'm looking forward to try LF pure carbon blades. About foot pockets I don't know, but I hope that upgrade the FP model that they use with NEO fins. I've understood that they use different FP model on pure carbon fins. At least extra clips what they sent me to try to fix my FP problem clearly were made for other FP model. Original were flat, soft and angled, while replacement clips were thicker, harder and totslly round.

 

[mkivtt]

You returned it? How much did you pay for shipping if you don't mind my asking? I decided not to order from LF as they're apparently based in Estonia, and you're responsible for return shipping on your own. Both UPS and Fedex shipping quotes I saw online were hundreds of dollars... and I've had too many footpockets that are the wrong fit to risk having to deal with that kind of return.

 

[Voltari]

You returned it? How much did you pay for shipping if you don't mind my asking? I decided not to order from LF as they're apparently based in Estonia, and you're responsible for return shipping on your own. Both UPS and Fedex shipping quotes I saw online were hundreds of dollars... and I've had too many footpockets that are the wrong fit to risk having to deal with that kind of return.

I bought them while I was working in Cyprus and paid 30e for shipping. I had returned to Finland when postman came to pick them up from my house FOR FREE.

 

[GreenSpearo]

I have the Gara modular plastic, and been using them for 2 years. No major issues, durable and reasonably comfortable. Sometimes I get pain in ankle joints or pelvic joints when doing a lot of surface swimming (sometimes 1km just to get to the spot from shore then at least 2-4 km moving between spots and another 1km back to shore)
Couple of days ago I ordered Leaderfins fiberglass with leaderfins FP, I was considering getting only the blades from Leaderfins and putting them on the Cressi gara FPs but I decided to pay the extra to get them with their FP. They haven't been shipped yet. I may post my first impressions here when I get them.

 

[ronscuba]

I have the Gara modular plastic, and been using them for 2 years. No major issues, durable and reasonably comfortable. Sometimes I get pain in ankle joints or pelvic joints when doing a lot of surface swimming (sometimes 1km just to get to the spot from shore then at least 2-4 km moving between spots and another 1km back to shore)
Couple of days ago I ordered Leaderfins fiberglass with leaderfins FP, I was considering getting only the blades from Leaderfins and putting them on the Cressi gara FPs but I decided to pay the extra to get them with their FP. They haven't been shipped yet. I may post my first impressions here when I get them.

Curious to hear how you like them.

I recently got Leaderfins newer foot pockets. They are thermoplastic rubber vs all rubber. A big improvement as they are stiffer in all the right places. The combination of the soft flex of the fiberglass blade with the stiff footpocket works well.

 

[GreenSpearo]

I have received my leaderfins fiberglass with brown camo blades...
first impression, I was impressed by the responsiveness of the blade when bent. The foot pockets did seem ordinary, just soft rubber. Their sizing is smaller than that of Cressi and Mares. My Gara modular at size 42-43 is bigger than leaderfins at 43-44. I also have Mares razor that I never used in the water and at size 43-44 they are also bigger than the leaderfins.
In the water, the leaderfins felt light and provided good power. I was very happy... until after an hour or so, I stated to feel the edge of the blade pressing on the sole of my feet when kicking. This is because the bottom of the foot pocket is too soft. And it's painful. The second dive trip, the same thing happened.
At home I tried to install the leaderfins blades on the Cressi Gara modular foot pockets, but that will not be straight forward as the side rails on the blades are bigger than the track in the Gara foot pockets. So I have to either remove the blade's side rails of the area that will go under the foot pocket side rails, or cut some of the top part of the blades rails.

The difference in quality is very clear between the Mares Razor and Cressi Gara modular on one side and the Leaderfins from another. The Gara modular is the best IMO then Mares razor (although I haven't used it in water, but it's sole is harder than leaderfins and softer than Gara modular. ).
Before my next diving trip in about 2 weeks I may try to put the leaderfins blades on Gara foot pockets and see what's the outcome, if I didn't manage to do it. I will prefer diving with the Gara modular for this trip.

 

[zb324988]

I also now have to pop a question here. My feet is 27cm, which would result in a 41-42 foot pocket. But in my life I have always bought shoes of size 43. Not I am quite unsure.

 

[GreenSpearo]

A fellow member here asked about my feedback on trying Leaderfins fiberglass blades on Cressi Gara modular foot pokets... Here is my opinion.
To install the Leaderfins blades on the gra footpocket, I had to trim part of the rails on the Leaderfins that goes under the arms of the footpockets.
I also had to drill new holes on the leaderfins blades, as the existing ones did not align correctly with the holes on the Cressi gara foot pocket.
Then I had a small problem of the foot pocket arms slipping out from around the blades, I will use some glue to fix this issue before my next dive trip (hopefully after several weeks)
I did not like the Leaderfins foot pocket, very uncomfortable. and painful.
My advice is, if you can afford to pay more for quality fins that has both good foot poacket and blades, go ahead. Other wise what I did maybe a reasonable solution...

 

[Septopus]

Hi.
I ordered Leaderfins Pure Carbon blades to put into Omer Stingray footpockets. As described in the net this combination fits very well.
It is not a 100% fit but nearby. You have to drill holes into the blades, so be sure to order without holes. Installation is not a big deal. I really like the Omer footpockets and the carbonblades work well on them. I ordered medium stiffness which is (like I hoped) a little stiffer than the black Stingray blades but less stiffer than the Gara 2000 HD. The only thing is, that you have to keep an eye on the blades not to damage them. For pooltraining I put the plastic blades back in.
It did not take more than a week to deliver the blades to Germany.
Lars