OASI Quill
The Quill is a wider, faster, cleaner, more consistent sister board to the Tranq.
Features:
– Full wood core.
– Sintered Ptex base.
– 600gram triax glass.
– 3mm Tunnel Concave.
– Gloss deck finish.
Sizes:
155cm x 44.3cm – Rocker 6.8cm.
147cm x 43.4cm – Rocker 6.5cm.
141cm x 42.5cm – Rocker 6.0cm.
136cm x 41.3cm – Rocker 5.5cm.
Weight: 3.2kg (Based on 147cm size).
(Rocker may vary slightly as this is never an exact science no matter what other brands tell you).
Recommended Retail Price:
Deck with fins – 749euro.
The Quill is now the closest feeling board to the previous 2020 Axis Tranq, with very similar outline, tip width and flex.
We added a tiny bit of extra width, rounded out the tips and removed the heel and toeside channels that the Tranq has whilst keeping the 3mm tip to tip tunnel concave.
Like the Tranq the Quill is built to be ridden longer (7-15cm) for Freestyle or Park with a more generous overall profile and tips than the Tranq or Wraith for added stability. Some Big Air or Freestyle riders may also prefer the Quill over the Tranq in more traditional sizing as it’s a slightly faster wider board at such lengths.
Due to the simplified base and added overall width the Quill is the smoothest board in the line up, it’s also the most consistent due to the slight added weight and more uniform flex profile.
Like the Tranq the Quill is equally at home as a Freestyle, Freeride, Big Air or Park board depending what size you choose. Many Freeride and Park riders will however prefer the Quill over the Tranq due to it’s simplified base and more uniform flex profile, which provides a smoother faster ride through butter slides and a more controlled flex on obstacles.
Bigger sizes such as the 147 and 155 are also a great option for Kite Schools or Beginner/Intermediate riders.
It’s a very easy board to ride that can grow with you over time, the added benefit being that they can be easily sold later on to Freeride or Park riders if you felt you needed to change size later.
Compared to the Tranq:
If direct sizes are compared (155 Vs 155) the Quill feels like a bigger more stable board, where as the Tranq feels more like a traditional 142-146 size that has simply been extended. The Quill feels a little more solid underfoot due to the lack of belly channels and increased width which adds a little weight. For pure Park or Freeride fun the Quill is a more stable and predictable board with a more even flex profile through the whole board due to the lack of belly channels and the overall wider profile and tips, this added stability and more consistent flex gives you a board that’s arguably a better Park or Freeride model than the Tranq with an extra sense of control.
Tip to tip tunnel concave:
Working on the Tranq with Adrian Roper from Axis we first created this tunnel concave in around 2016, at the time we hadn’t seen any other boards incorporating the concept and to this day I still don’t know of many. Not long after our first release with the concept Firewire Tomo and Slater designs also started incorporating a similar approach. What this narrow tunnel does is help give a feeling of lift underneath the board whilst retaining a small amount of directional stability and grip. With this narrow tunnel Vs a more traditional rail to rail concave you still retain the level of release a flat base would give you but with some of the smoothing characteristics a rail to rail concave gives, this also makes it far more practical as a park board as the tunnel concave is perfect for better locking into pipes or rails.
Another benefit is the concave helps break up the surface area of the base helping mitigate the suction effect to sliders or kickers that a flat base can often bring.
For this iteration I made the tunnel a consistent depth Vs the variable depth of previous as I believe that to be a more hydrodynamic approach.