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Tropol Monofin - a Fondueset Review

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
I've got quite a bit more time in with this fin - both open water and in the pool.

I've been doing lots of dynamics and checking out the glide. Its seems excellent.

The Tropol is fantastic for dynamics. It feels very solid and moves through the water nicely. I think the fact that the blade is slightly negative really helps - its not so negative that it starts to sink during the glide phase and you don't have to maintain speed to keep it from floating.

Lubos - the guy who made the blade, has been making monofins since 1988. He says that he and a bunch of other finswimmers put all their knowledge and experience together in designing the blade.

The fin show no signs of any gluing problems with the footpockets.

It is extremely comfortable - even after very long dive sessions.

I'm going to try and run this fin by as many good freedivers who use monofins as I can - and see what they all think.

But in my opinion Tropol is presenting us with a very high quality fin, in terms of performance, materials and comfort, and I have no problem recommending that anybody looking for an excellent hyper/non-axial fin check them out.
 
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Can we please see a close up pool video?

Have you tried overpowering the fin? - What happens?

I'll bet the fin is good for 'sprints', have you compared it to similar stiffness fins this way?

Sorry for asking a very similar question.
How does the stiffness compare to a Waterway Glide Medium Distance fin?
It would be nice to know how his standard stack up compared to the competition's.

Maybe Lubos can put the stiffness into comparable numbers, as I understand there is an official way to measure blade stiffness.

I think it may be very good fin for depth, with the close to neutral buoyancy, and the medium stiffness allows for a quick descend and ascend.

Last year I tried a Tropol test fin out in Sweden at the Nordic Deep competition, but the one they had was a size to small for my feet. Maybe there will be a Tropol fin that fit's my 45 feet that I can test there or maybe at the World Championships in close by Denmark.

Ciao, and thanks for your review Fondueset!

Kars
 
Hi Kars,

Well, I haven't really tried to overpower it. It does not bend perfectly flat like the Waterways I've used - but it has a very gentle curve laterally - no 'V' - as mentioned - more of an ')' . I don't get the sense of really being able to overpower it. It is very well balanced for me - it always feels like I get a very good return on my energy investment.

Unfortunately I have not used a Waterway Glide - only a nemo - both hard and soft. The Blades on the Nemo are very good though - particularly for an entry level fin. I would say this is closer to the hard nemo - of course with much better force transmission and energy storage - due to the footpockets.

I can't wait to try it for more depth. I would like if it were just slightly positive for depth - which I think is what they are planning for their freediving fins.

To my unrefined sensibilities it seems a most excellent fin - better the more I get to know it..

Our pool is very political - taking video there is problematic for reasons that make no sense whatsoever. Approximately 1/3 of the people who use it on a regular basis are insane.
 
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Reactions: colinox and apneaboy
Wel a Danish top freediver told me he likes a little v bent because it makes the fin more stable and going strait easier. Especially handy for when the end of the apnea where the power and coordination is going down.

From you little dynamic "into the wild" I did notice the small bent, and I think now the little curve ")" is positive thing adding more stability.

I wouldn't pose so humble; you're now monofinning for some time, tried already a nice variety of fins, have a decent good technique and with your critical mind and your freediver sensibilities keen on efficiency.
You've learned to feel the fin and quickly find the sweet spot of it quickly.
"It is very well balanced for me - it always feels like I get a very good return on my energy investment. "
Click to expand...
Some very important remarks, very attractive indeed for the efficiency demanding user.

It sounds like Tropol is finding the right mix between Balance, Efficiency, Comfort, adding possibly unsurpassed durability as a bonus.

I'm looking forward to a test of a 'soft blade' model.

Kars

ps.
To bad they probably need only ONE review

ps2. 1/3 Insane people? In history there plenty of times where the sane are viewed and called insane by the majority of people parroting their insane leaders - maybe you can record 1 swim after everybody got out at the closing time striking a little deal with the lifeguard?
 
It is a very strange pool... Perhaps a better word than insane is 'mean'.

Thanks for your remarks. I have been working hard on technique. Finding the balance of hydrodynamics and relaxation. Very interesting.

I think the curve in this fin is very good. It is quite stable in the water, despite being somewhat stiff - and the curve is not so much that I feel a loss of thrust.
 
Well, I went back to the pool and everyone was nice to me. As I said: Insane.

Lubos of Tropol has just sent me an update from their website - the link below has the footpocket cut slightly off center to show the reinforcements which are built in to support it and the blade.

Tropol-monoploutve

also pictured below: (click the link above for a more detailed explaination)

 
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Freediver Torpedoes Cinder Block

Heres the scenario.
At a Public Beach here we've got these swim buoys. They are big, and heavy - about 4 feet tall. They are held upright by a cinderblock suspended under them by a chain - and they are also anchored to the bottom with a chain to a concrete slab.

I like to practice monofin sprints between them. Its pretty hard to swim a straight line without a visual referent for 30-50 meters so we just use the buoys for a general idea of distance and direction.

Yesterday I got bored doing distance breathe-ups so I decided to do all-out sprints for awhile. My dive buddy saw my fin streaking off "like a torpedo" - then, a few seconds later, the buoy jerked and tilted violently. It did this because the full force of my body, via my left middle finger, hit the suspended cinder block and sent it spinning like a top.

Whoo hoo!
 
Thanks fondueset for the excellent report!

So do they sell them yet? Last time I asked the answer was no.

Looks like everything I want from a fin - my biggest frustrations with current one's are build quality consistency and durability and it seems they've addressed those at least.
 
Man, your fingers find trouble, first its hail stones and now you beat up on a poor defensless cinder block. And what else are they getting into?

Connor
 
Fondueset, are saying this fin needs a safety warning for unexpected high speeds?

I had a similar thing happening during a dynamic competition. Because my stroke went better than expected I bumped into the wall at 25m. I heard all my bones in my hands cracking loud, turned around, moved my fingers to check for broken fingers. Luckily all were fine and continued to swim, resulting in a PB of 100m Dynamic.

Love, Courage and water,

Kars
 
Kars - that is quite similar to what happened to me. I know it is 14 kicks between the buoys - but I was going as fast as possible. I relaxed after 15 kicks and slammed into the cinder block at 18 because of higher frequency!
 
your mouvement under water are very good-looking
also your pictures are amazing as ussual...
i like this mono and the way you use it...
i like my monofin to, but now i have some little questions
my mono [wich is in the picture bellow] costed 400 euros
is medium stifness and no angle
how you describe in little words my mono versus yours? [assuming that you allready sweemed with my type of monofin]

the picture:


if my post is an intrussion in the thread, i appologize...
 
Hi Vali,

Very nice fin! I have used fins of that type - even some with the omer footpockets. I cannot see quite well enough to tell if the blade on your fin is hand-laminated - if it is you will see layers of fiberglass on the back. If it is not that would be one difference.

The main differences however are blade angle - as you mentioned, and the footpocket design. The Non-axial - or 'hyper' fins are made with a large footpocket that allows for more blade angle. The footpocket, as you can see from the diagrams above, is also designed to contribute to energy storage and release. Tropol uses different materials but the principal is the same.

In general though, the type of fin you have is more comfortable, lighter and quite sturdy. I think your type is a better choice for a first fin.
 
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Thanks for the input, thank you foundset:wave
as for dynamics could you made a comparative with the triton?and overall differences between the 2?

They sell monofin bags with blade protector as those of triton?(monofin on airplane problem solved)

How do the fins fell with barefoot, confort and performance?

I also have nemo do you recomend it for use in freezing waters?by the way were do you use to dive to get such tremendous water temps variations?

Can't wait to get my hands in one of those beauties
 
I dive in the usa - in lake michigan - year 'round.

I have not done a strict comparison - partly because my big triton is softer than the tropol, and my smaller triton has a smaller blade. Number of kicks (continuous) for 25 m is the same. The Tropol does glide very nicely - perhaps in part because it is slightly negative in shallow water - whereas my tritons tend to float at low speeds in shallow waters.

I like the waterway Nemo and think it is very good for cold water. It does not have the performance of these hyper style fins - but it is very sturdy and comfortable and has a quite good blade. I have owned two and passed both on to others after much use.
 
I used to have the exact same fin as Vali- until it fell apart. If you look up monofin problems on here you'll find a whole thread on it. The fin is nicer than the Nemo in that it has more blade angle and is easier to kick. The Nemo has the advantage in that it is stronger overall and doesn't have the same weak points as the Specialfins.

My Triton has been my favorite fin so far- and I've owned 7 of them and used another half dozen more. If they can make the Tropol without the glue issues that I've had with the Triton fin it would be a top contender.

Jon
 
thanks for the input foundset, sorry about all those question but your interesting reviews make me very curious ,

for ice nemo,for sunny and pool dynamics probably tropol (my choice for my new fin)

Would like to had also that tropol says on their site that they can personalize the footpocket foam and the angle specially for freedivers, will put in contact with tropol and I will give my feedback when I get my new fin:inlove
 
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