for those bothered what made my mind up read on:
I know different wings have different charicteristics and this makes peoples choices a very personal thing and as ive said before forget reviews and fly them as the proof is in the pudding to coin a phrase. Im no expert on Wings in fact the opposite and these were my observations and conclusions I came too.
I almost decided on the Niviuk Hook which I dropped from my list due to the fact I always have wendys XS on those top end days as she is usually found on her Hangie anyway so I get the best of both worlds for most conditions. I also Demo'ed a Chilli and flew a couple of others inc Rons Spyder (thanks Ron) but it finally came down to 2 contenders for me which suited my weight range and were current wings on the market.
The Mentor wow this is Fast, Fast, Fast! in fact back to back with the golden I could immediately tell the difference and on a hands up glide with Bill he zoomed past me on the golden even though we sit comfortably in the middle of the range. Ground handling is awesome even on a top end day like we had at East Hill it popped up with no tendancy to overshoot and sat solidly into wind with no adverse pitch or yaw. In the air I found it quite lively but going from the Bolero this was always going to be the case. However I was still slightly unnerved from time to time, but as it was East Hill and some quite punchy thermals were going through that day I put it down to conditions. As for the Coast flight I had it was rock steady with sweet handling as was expected.
The Golden 2 Somehow I immediately felt at home on this wing and in many respects handled like a turbo version of my Bolero in fact the 2nd flight saw me screwing comfortably over the top of East Hill with Paul down below wondering if I was going to return! Which I did eventually as there was a series of these popping off every 10 min which I made the best use of while Paul had a fly on the Mentor to exchange notes. Ground Handling hmmm now thats a different matter! while this wing loves to fly it hates the ground and launching is quite a tecnique but watching Paul tame the beast proved it can be done, as for the Coast well it was ditto as per Mentor.
Both wings are nicely constucted, the bag is far superior on the Nova and you get a wicked speed bar with a funky new adjustment design(check Bills or andrews next time you see em on the hill), the Gradients is er, well not there! yup you dont get one!!! It was a close call on which to go for I thought maybe the Mentor would see me being a little more adventurous where the Golden being an easy step up for me. In the end it could have easily been the spin of a coin, however Steve at the S&W made the easy decision for me as there was the chance of an old price golden bought before the Euro hike if I didn't mind the colour. He also already had a buyer lined up for my old wing so it was a no brainer for me. I am now the proud owner of a Golden 2 Gold/Grey. So next time you are on the hill say hello to the Golden Girls AKA Colin, Paul & Gary.
ps knowing Gary he probs be getting something new soon anyways lol
