Iconic Australian bodyboard brand Rheopaipo is back and is bringing to market the biggest innovation in bodyboard design in many years: ISS - Interchangeable Stringer System.
"I grew up with Rheopaipo Bodyboards. They had the best boards, the best technology, and the best riders when I was a child," says Stracky, Rheopaipo’s brand manager.
"So in relaunching Rheo, we simply didn't want to just add another brand to the overcrowded sameness that is currently available in boards. We sat down and thought about what we wanted in a board and then went ahead and made it".
Several years ago, the geniuses at Xross Design approached Rheopaipo with concepts for an unrelated product. The discussion quickly turned to bodyboards, and the raw idea for the Interchangeable Stringer System was brought up.
"I was stunned; it was exactly what we wanted and had been trying to figure out. I threw out all their other concepts, and we’ve been developing ISS ever since", said Stracky.
The new range of Rheopaipo Bodyboards has been specially crafted to use the new ISS technology so that the only visible difference to current boards is a small hole in the tail to accept the stringer. The system is 100% sealed in the board and locks tight to prevent the stringer from dislodging.
Imagine turning up at your favorite local break, and it's perfect 6-8 feet and hollow. Yesterday, it was a 2-3 foot onshore slop.
So you pull the Soft Flex ISS stringer out of the board and replace it with a Stiff Flex ISS stringer that will better suit the faster walling waves on offer. This is the future of bodyboarding.
So, the simple solution is a system that allows you to interchange the stringers depending on your needs. Rheopaipo was founded in 1991.
Source: Rheopaipo