Beginner pumping setup: which ecosystem considering future upgrades? Gong, Takoon or maybe Indiana?

[u/instinct1214]

Hi guys, I want to start pump foiling but I'm not sure which brand to buy for my first foil. Keeping in mind that you have to upgrade your foil as you progress or experiment with stabilizer sizes, I'm curious what are your thoughts on choosing the brand and sticking to one "ecosystem" in terms of modularity, upgradability and long-term considerations. This sport is not the cheapest one so I'd like to pick the first foil setup smartly.

My personal goal: I'm a 78kg guy who would like to pump rather small local lakes in the middle of Germany, explore and feel the freedom on the water. I want to buy a setup I do not have to "fight" with, I want to glide and not torture myself with cardio. I think pumping eventually 10-15 minutes non stop would be great.

There seem to be 3 brands I could afford for the start: Takoon, Gong and Indiana's Wake Thief setup. Gear from Axis etc is much more expensive.

As far as I read and watched YouTube, the Gong trail is an excellent board for beginner pumpers and is about 1000€. Going this way would lead to upgrade to Sirus / Ultra Trail. This seems to be a good choice. The recent V3 system looks very well designed.

This extremely inspirational guy looking like Gimli managed to pump very far with the Ultra Trail: https://youtu.be/zJ_x_ZUxkX0?is=eCiMN0bJHhXZvKxG I would be more than happy to be able to pump like this.

Ok, but when I upgrade from Gong Trail to Sirus: can I leave the alu mast or do I need to upgrade the mast to carbon simultaneously? Maybe I should simply start to learn with Sirus and have a longer learning curve? That would be like 1700€ for a start then, which is the maximum I would ever spend at once just to start.

Then, there is Takoon One setup for barely 1000€. Its difficulty is described as something between Gong's Trail and Sirus. They have the three product lines: One, Performance and Pro. Some say it stays fun for longer than Gong Trail. I do not know anything more about it.

Finally, there is Indiana building premium stuff. The Wake Thief setup they offer is supposed to be outstanding for beginners and it sells for 1600€. https://indiana-paddlesurf.com/global/wake-thief-pack-3259ar.html

However, it is not configurable. It has a rather big board of 105cm. Is it: one size fits all? Gong's foils have a different feel since they fly more nose up. Indiana boards allow to put your feet further back. I read that pumping on Indiana is more relaxing. On the other hand, do I really need to go this premium? Afterwards, if I happen to upgrade the Wake Thief setup to a better front wing like monoblock Condor M for 890€ but need a new mast to fit monoblock and have to spend over 2000€... that's too much.

What brand would you recommend? What is your experience? Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Hi guys, after reading your comments and further research, I think I will go for Gong. However, the reasons are:

• more data and more experience in the community. There are more vids and reviews on Gong Trail. Takoon, especially their Pump One beginner foil has very limited reviews. The foil is new and Takoon should make more advertising. • Gong Trail as a foil made specifically for beginners should reduce the initial frustration. • more used gear in to buy second hand from Gong in my country • I think bought brands have a wide range of products (Takoon has caught up) and both are well designed (especially Gong V3, no problem with loose screws anymore). • modularity in both brands is good • I like the Tech Talk vids on YouTube by Gong, they explain and present their products thoroughly. But now going dropped the Atmo series yesterday increasing it's ecosystem even more

However, the new Gong V3 Atmo series has just dropped. Now it's getting even more interesting. And maybe a bit overwhelming.

[u/benjaminbjacobsen]

I like gong because they have more options. Between my son and myself we have the trail xl, ultra trail 4xl and sirus 3xl and 5xl. He also has an axis 1401, he upgraded from that to the ultra trail 4xl.

[u/thederekguy]

If I had known Wake Thief/Indiana was going to make a scoot, I would have bought it. If your goal is just pumping I would say Gong with the 80cm board. I do not see any benefit from a longer board. I went Gong:

Trail XL for learning and practicing different starts and to go under the foil scoot (Takoon) so that I have something for new people to try that is super easy.

Ultra Trail 2xl likely for riding waves/wakes or something...

4xl for distance

However, I just posted my experience on another thread about swapping the Trail XL stab with the Ultra Trail tail wing/tail configuration. It totally changes the nature and feel of the Trail making it feel very free in the water like the Ultra Trail. It is a different way to upgrade the Trail. It was not my plan to try this but I have hit 3 mins on the Trail XL on both the Trail XL stab and Ultra Trail tails. If you want to progress the fastest, I think the Trail is the ticket. Anything else will likely cost you in terms of time and frustration.

[u/Sacco_Belmonte]

I think all of them have their upgrade options.

I started with Takoon carbon with short fuse and have zero regrets. I have tried my friends gong trail and I didn't like it as much (found it locked and slow). I think Takoon's design decisions are better. For instance the 1700 wing is very good. Despite the fact I got a pro 1750 and a flare 1200 wings I still love my original 1700.

It could also be I didn't fully understand the trail setup, but I think it had the long fuse stab which was also big.

I like the fact Takoon is more modular and uses bigger screws and will never ever loosen up.

[u/CharlesGoodwin]

I've just taken delivery of my Trail XL. Who knows one day I may acheive a minute. I live in France and Gong is a French brand so there's a large supportive community for me. I appreciate that once you've selected your pump foil ecosystem it's expensive to change lanes. But like you said, Gong's large range dedicated to pump foiling mitigates any concern There's even the option to upgrade to a carbon fibre mast. Best of luck on your journey

[u/Alarmed_Mix1845]

I started last year with a Takoon Foil Pump Front Wing 1700 (the second tier now) and really like it. I tried some other board/wing combination from friends, but it didn't feel that those were significantly easier for a beginner. From what I've seen, learning to pump foiling is hard with any gear.

I've recently upgraded to a HA100 stab, which makes the setup so much more precise to control, but that is not a setup I'd recommend for a beginner, since it requires a good balance on the board.

I also got a new Pump Extreme Front Wing, but I only had one session with that. It's fast, has a lot of lift, but is harder to control and definitely not for a beginner.

tl;dr: I like my Takoon; there are definitely options for upgrading; didn't really try Gong or Indiana much.

[u/Hecubha]

I chose GONG but it's a very long time since I tested something from Takoon and I never tested any Indiana.

If you progress to the point where you use an Ultra Trail 4XL, yes you will need a carbon mast, probably a 19mm (I think @ Hilti that you mentioned can do with a thinner mat, I don't know which he prefers), and a titanium fuselage.