MIKES LAB FOIL WING REVIEW

Every so often there comes along a foil that I dream of getting. Several years ago, it was the MFC Hydros, then came along the Armstrong HS wings and lastly it was the Cloud9 wings that were so different from the rest of the pack. I am not sure when the ultimate wing will ever come out, but Mike’s Lab is close. A year ago, I had no idea they existed. Then my friend Grant got one and was hyping it up. I thought yeah sure it’s a great wing like all the rest. I was very skeptical. I mean who wants a foil that you cannot take apart? What if I want to use a different tail or a shorter fuselage? Who does this Mike person think he is making a foil that only comes the way it is and is not adjustable? I live to fine tune my foils. There is no way I am going to like this foil…I was wrong.

I borrowed my friends Mike’s Lab. My very first wave it felt a little funny, like the nose of my board was up. I readjusted the position and took off on another wave. I felt nothing! I mean that in a good way. The foil was there under my feet and was just responsive. I was flowing with the foil, and it was responding to my every move with a feeling of neutrality. It felt like I was on powder in the snow, flowing with a sort of muted feeling. I decided to go out the back of the wave and realized at that point how fast I was going. It did not feel that fast or out of control like I would on the Lift 120HA. It was smooth and grounded. I started to pump out for a second wave. I could feel the wing accelerate with each pump. I felt like I was speeding up, not slowing down. I aimed for a wave further out then I would normally try for. I was able to make it. I quit pumping ahead of the oncoming wave and initiated a turn to get into the wave. I could feel the wing accelerate thru the turn and my legs compress down from the G-force created. It was surreal. I had not felt that before. My turns while approaching the wave had always been a bit unstable and the turns slowed me down. This was completely different and what I thought it should be like. I had to have one of these! I ordered one that day…. well four months later I finally had one, the Mike’s Lab 800.  Several Months after that I received my 1000 & 1100 versions, and I came across a used 1300 that I bought. I use them all with my Project Cedrus Mast with an adapter.  Here is my opinion on these foils and why I think it is worth the price and other inconveniences.

Build

This wing is solid. I really mean that on multiple levels. The front wing, fuselage and tail are all connected and cannot be taken apart. This gives the whole system a stiffness that just cannot be duplicated with systems that can be taken apart. Flex and torsional stiffness are the best I have ever been on. What does this mean? When you initial a turn, it responds immediately with no lag. If you have ever driven a true sports car, you will understand it. When you go to pump out to the next wave all your energy is transferred to the foil. No flex. If you have ever driven an electric car verses a gas you will understand this feeling as well. In more simple terms input equals output on a Mike’s Lab foil due to the build quality. The front wings are a Polyhedral design. They are relatively flat in the center section and then go into a dihedral arch followed by a slight anhedral at the tips. They are very thin, but still very stiff. This combination allows the foil to turn, glide, pump and breach the tips with unmatched performance.

Takeoff

Mikes Lab 800

The takeoff with the Mike’s lab 800 is smooth and controlled. Like most other high aspect wings in this range it has a fair amount of lift but it is easily controlled during takeoff. I would say that the lift is very linear. I would say it has more control than a lift 120 since it is not as twitchy. It is very similar to the Sabrina 800 and the cloud 9 FS 850.

Mikes Lab 1000

The takeoff is just as smooth as the 800. It has more lift so a little more front pressure foot is required, but there are no surprises in the lift profile

Mikes Lab 1100

This wing has a lot of lift. The lift begins at a lower speed so it requires more front foot pressure for the same wave you would ride the others on. Nothing like the big old surf wings of the past. Smaller waves are fun on this wing because the take offs are easier.

Mikes Lab 1300

This is a small wave beast. There is a lot of lift at low speeds on this foil. It has an increased lift profile, so you definitely need to pay attention on the take off.

Turning

Mikes Lab 800

It turns similar to other high aspect wings in its category. It is certainly no surf foil wing. The design of the wing allows you to crank a turn as hard as you can with no flex at all in the wing. Push it to the max and breach the tips all you want. It can handle it with no issues. The 800 has one of the longest fuselages in the series and this elongates the turns. The wing is not good for sliding the tail as you may do in a more surf type wing. With those caveats in mind, this is an incredible wing to turn on. The rigidity of the whole wing is amazing and translates into turns that are smooth and controlled with very little pitch and yaw instability. When you go to make a turn you know where the wing is at, what it’s doing and how it’s going to react.

Mikes Lab 1000

This is a bigger version of the 800. It retains all of the 800 characteristics in the turn but should be reserved for smaller waves.

Mikes Lab 1100

This wing has more chord and is not high aspect. It has a more “big wing” traditional turn to it. You can crank some nice long turns on this with the stiffness setting it apart from the rest of the pack in its square cm area range.

Mikes Lab 1300

Ironically this wing turns better than the 1000 or 1100. Small waves only for this beast, but with the shortest fuselage of the series it surprised me how well it turned. Crank it as much as you dare since breaching the tips is not an issue for this foil or any other Mike’s Lab foil.

Lift

Mikes Lab 800

This is a high aspect Wing so like most of the highest specs wings it requires a fair amount of speed to maintain lift. This is not a slow low-end type wing. It requires effort to maintain speed, but the reward is incredible speed. Generally speaking, this wing is 2 to 4 mph faster than my other wings that are similar shape.

Mikes Lab 1000

This is just on the edge of high aspect. The lift is greater than the 800. It is linear and very forgiving.

Mikes Lab 1100

This definitely has a lower speed lift profile. This will get you up and going in smaller waves. Bigger guys will appreciate the lift on this foil.

Mikes Lab 1300

Small waves are the best for this wing. It lifts at a very low speed so getting into waves is easy. Just a little speed and you can pop it up and be on your way.

Pump & Glide

Mikes Lab 800

This is an incredible Wing to pump. The high aspect wing allows pump speeds that feel faster than other foils. Even my other high aspect wings do not feel as fast as the Mike’s lab feels while pumping. I have no subjective way to measure the speed of my pumping with the Garmin that I use but as I said before the wing is generally 2 to 4 mph faster than my other wings so I think this will also translate to the speed of the pump. The glide on this wing is above par as well. Like all high aspect wings you need to have speed in order to maintain the glide, but the low end on this wing seems to be a little bit better then say a lift 120 or Cabrinha 800. I find that when I am coming in from seal Beach jetty and trying to ride very tiny swells, I’m able to do this with this wing. I do not have to pump as much to keep in the swell as my other wings.

Mikes Lab 1000

This wing pumps about the same as the 800. I would say it is a little more forgiving at the low end. Conversely on the high end it is a bit slower.

Mikes Lab 1100

This is a more traditional pump and glide type of wing. The increased chord allows for low-speed pumping and recovery.

Mikes Lab 1300

This wing has insane glide to it. Just remember to slow your cadence down and enjoy the ride. You can truly pause between pumps on this wing, but do not be fooled, the thinness of this wing makes it fast.

Stability

The simple answer to the question of stability is yes, it is very stable. These wings feel like they are on rails when you are riding them. Turns are a pleasure and do not require excessive concentration to maintain a proper turn. I think that the stiffness of the whole wing and fuselage along with the tail make the stability possible.

Summary

These are incredible wings. All of Mike’s lab wings are amazing. I have the 800,1000, 1100, 1300 wings at the time of this writing. They are all incredible wings. The build quality is amazing. They are like a Porsche Taycan. They are sleek, fast, and solid. Mike seems to understand the hydrodynamics of a hydrofoil well and translates that into fine-tuned hydrofoils. These are truly great out of the box and do not need tinkering with the angles etc. like other foils sometimes need. The strength and rigidity give you that instant input-output feeling. The design gives you speed that is controlled and comfortable. The downside to having one solid unit is a lack of adjustability. You cannot change the length of the fuselage, nor can you try different tails. I am a big fan of adjustability and with Mike’s lab you give that up. Normally I would not buy a wing that lacked this adjustability. Like I said in my intro. The only reason that I ended up getting one was because I was able to try it. Now maybe the wing just fits me, but pretty much everybody who owns a Mike’s lab says the same thing. Is this the ultimate foil? No is the simple answer. Is this an incredible wing that will allow you to push yourself to the limits of your ability? Yes. Have other manufacturers copied his design in the 800cm realm. Yes. The new Cloud9(Big Fan), Cabrinha 800, New Ono HA foil and Unifoil Progression Project wings have a very similar design to the Mike’s Lab 800. I think this is because HA wings are better with the Polyhedral design incorporated into it.

The big question is should you get one? This is obviously not easy to answer. Here are some guides.

  • If you want the Porsche of foil wings, then yes
  • If you do not mind the lack of adjustment, then yes
  • If you are willing to pay double what other brands are, then yes
  • If you travel a lot, then no
  • If you need one today, then no (six month + waiting list)
  • If you have a Project Cedrus mast, then yes add it to your quiver. You are saving 2G easy.
  • If you want a one wing quiver to do it all, then no
  • If you are looking for a Surf type foil wing, then no right now but he is testing one so maybe yes in the near future.