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Review: Lendal Fusion Paddle
Independent Playak Paddle Review: Lendal Fusion. |
Specs
- length: 194 cm
- straight shaft
- feather angle: 20° (or 0° to 360° as on option)
- weight: 1087 gr (quite a bit more than in the official specs)
- outer blade dimensions: 42cm by 20cm
- blade material: CF (Premium Nylon12 resin with carbon fiber reinforcement. See manufacturers webpage for more info on the materials)
- shaft material: XPS
- bag size: 69cm x 28cm x 10cm
Overall
Like with every other paddle, I had to get used to the Fusion. After using the Fusion for a while, I came to the conclusion that this is more than just a spare paddle but is a predictable, well-balanced WW paddle of reasonable weight with some carefully designed extra features like small package size, feather angle adjustability (optional), variability, exchangeability and nice indexation.
The Fusion can be taken apart into four pieces (two blades, two shaft sections). This not only allows for smaller package size, but, due to full compatibility of all shaft sections and blades, also allows adjusting several paddle parameters to your needs, such as length, angle, straight shaft / bent shaft, strength, weight, price and customization of the paddle for different water conditions. Test until the end of your days…
A further advantage is that you don't have to buy a whole new paddle if one piece of it breaks.
Blades
The injection moulded carbon fiber blade appears to be as durable as you would expect from a WW paddle. The blade is predictable and pretty balanced, in particular for steep strokes. The blade area is of typical WW blades size and provides a medium stroke force. One thing that we didin't like about them is that they are quite soft/flexible.
Shaft
The shaft has the right flex, not too stiff, not too soft. The indexation on one of the shaft sections is really nice.
Paddlok Locking system
The locking system is carefully designed and manufactured. The individual sections of the shaft snuggly fit into each other. The lock works well. We did not have any issues with water leaking through the locking mechanism into the paddle.
Bag
The bag that comes with the paddle is durable and of good quality.
Conclusion
Pro
- Take-apart feature (small package size, ideal for travel, feather angle adjustability, variability, exchangeability / fully modular system)
- Balanced, predictable blade
- Durability
- Nice indexation
Cons
- We lost that darn tool for the Paddlok-System (not Lendal's fault of course :)
- Very soft blades
- Not the lightest of paddles
For more information on Lendal paddles, click here!