Pylons & Towers
Lets face it, if you have a boat with no wake, no storage and no pylon, you are pretty much is in the dark ages as far as wakeboarding goes. Sure, you can wakeboard behind it, clear the wake, and do some little tricks, but it you want to fly, you need a monster wake and an extended pylon or tower. Some people may wonder why they should spend three times more money for a tower instead of a pylon, after all, they both get the rope up, the main job right? Well, towers have some definite advantages to pylons. Look at the chart below to see how the two match up.
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Towers |
Pylons |
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-Towers do basicly the same job as pylons, they get the rope up 6 or seven feet. This makes you get more air and it brings you down softer from big tricks into the flats. -Towers can be used to store boards and gear on top easily, they also clear up the inside of the boat so there is more room for fatties and friends. -Towers are said to take out the "rolling" action that you find with pylons, this makes it easier for the boat to maintain speed and keep a strait line. -The major factor that will keep pylons more common an lakes for a while is the price. You can get hooked up with a good pylon setup for about $300 US, for a tower, the price is at least $1200 US. -Towers are mostly for tournament boats, although you can get them for most boats with a bit of work. -Lets face it, towers just look cool. They make a boat look bigger and everybody on the lake will take notice of a decked out boat with a tower. If you feel the need to draw attention to yourself, buy a tower. |
-A good extended pylon will take the rope up about 6 or 7 feet, this makes you go higher when you get into the air because the rope is pulling you up and horizontaly, with a normal pylon, you are pulled horizontaly, and out of your trick. -Pylons help with those hard landings with letting you down softer, again, because the rope is pulling you up. -Pylons are available for any boat, the most common just slip over the pylon of a tournament boat, but some don't even need an existing pylon, and can fit I/O and Outboards. -Pylons are relatively inexpensive and they are a must if you want to improve your riding skills, If you don't have the dough for a tower, get a pylon. |
Here is some info on todays pylons, click on the name of the pylon to see a picture.
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PYLON |
PROS |
CONS |
OVERALL |
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Great for tournament boats. Low ski tow eye. |
Must have an existing pylon. |
Skylon was the first extended pylon, it is one of the best for tournament boats |
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Fits most boats. Low ski tow eye. |
Cuts seating to the back, won't fit some styles of boats. |
The Pod by Skylon will get the job done, but it cuts seating to the back, and it has alot of things you can trip over. |
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Fits any size of pylon, has two clamps instead of sliding overtop of existing pylon. |
Needs exisiting pylon. |
The Flight Pipe is a great pylon for boats with oddball sizes of pylons and ring top pylons.
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Fits with any boat, does not sacrifice any seating or view, out of the way cables, low profile base plate and a strong four point adjustment system, all parts are made from aircraft grade aluminum. |
No low ski tow eye available. |
The Big Air Pylon is the best pylon for I/O boats bease of the fact that it doesn't cut any back seating (you need people back there to get a good wake!) This is my personal choice for a pylon. |
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Fits any boat and it has a low ski tow eye for lowliners. |
Same design as Skylon's Pod with it's poles going from the pylon into the floor, it cuts seating. |
The Ten Foot Pole Retro has some cool graphics, it won't hurt your boat, but there are better systems out there for I/O style boats. |
