Red Paddle Co Ride 10’6″ Inflatable SUP -Test and Review

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Updated May 8th, 2024

Manufacturer and Model: Red Paddle Co Voyager 12’6″
List Price: $1699

Summary

The Red Paddle Co Ride 10’6″ is one of the most popular and best selling inflatable SUPs of all time. It is a basic and easy to paddle inflatable paddleboard made with premium materials and comes with an industry leading 5 year warranty. The Ride 10’6″ is a stable board that is fun to paddle around. It has a clean design that isn’t cluttered with a ton of accessory mounts and D-Rings. It’s very light at 20 lbs. The ATB Transformer bag is very flexible for storage and transportation. The Ride 10’6″ continues to be one of the best inflatable paddle boards available today.

Red Paddle Ride 10’6″ Review and Test

We have been really impressed with our Red Paddle Co Voyager 12’6″ and decided to try out there most popular board, the Ride 10’6″. I’m not a huge fan of touring paddleboards as I find them difficult to turn. I enjoy the easy to turn simplicity of all around shaped boards. The Ride 10’6″ is the perfect size for a 5’6″ 135 lb person like me. We got the package Ride 10’6″, from GreenWaterSports, that also includes a paddle and leash while it was on sale this spring for under $900. That makes it as cheap or cheaper then a lot of the mid-range paddleboards like Blackfin or Isle.

6 – Construction

The first thing you will notice when unwrapping a Red Paddle Co board is the attention to detail everywhere in the board construction. You won’t see glue blobs in the seams. The seams are tight. They deck pads are simple but clean with smooth edges. The bungees and D-Rings are low profile keeping the board clean and uncluttered.

The Ride 10’6″ uses Red Paddle Co’s MSL (Monocoque Structural Laminate) construction which produces lighter stiffer boards.

6 – Warranty

Red Paddle Co is one of the few companies that offers a 5 year warranty on their inflatable paddleboards. You have to register the board to activate the warranty which only takes a couple of minutes. Most companies offer 1 year or maybe 2 year. Very few actually believe in their product enough to give you a 5 year warranty.

6 – Stiffness (8/10)

We put the Ride 10’6″ through our standard stiffness test. We inflate the board to the maximum recommended pressure and then put it on a set of stands spaced 8 feet apart. We put 120 lbs onto the board and measure how much it deflects.

The Ride 10’6″ deflected 1.6″ during out test. This places it at the soft end for 2 and 3 layer PVC boards but much stiffer than the cheap 1 layer boards. The Ride is only 5 inches thick instead of the normal 6 inches. I expected it to be less stiff because of this. There are other advantages to a thinner board such as stability.

7 – Stability (8.5/10)

The Red Paddle Co Ride 10’6″ is 32 inch wide and only 5 inches thick. Most 10’6″ all around paddle boards are 6 inches thick. This takes a little bit away from stiffness. It helps with stability because it puts you an inch closer to the water. This makes you feel a less top heavy while standing on the board. Most rigid paddleboards are only 4-5 inches thick for this reason. This is really useful for smaller paddlers who really don’t need the extra stiffness from a 6 inch board.

8 – Speed (9/10)

Speed is not the purpose of the Ride 10’6″. If you are after a speedy board have a look at the Red Paddle Co 11′ x 32″ Sport. It is a slightly longer board with a faster shape. The Ride series boards from Red are designed to be easy to paddle and are good for social paddling. Any beginner can handle them. They are not as fast and don’t glide as well as their Sport series or Voyager series.

9 – Tracking (9)

The twin fin setup makes the board track as good as any other 10’6″ all around board. Once water is moving over the fins they do a good job keeping it going in a straight line.

10 – Accessories (9/10)

The Red Paddle Co Ride 10’6″ comes standard with just the board, bag, and pump. GreenWaterSports sells it as a complete package that also includes a paddle and a leash. I don’t see the package with paddle and leash offered anywhere else. We got the complete package version that includes the Red Paddle Co Cruiser Tough adjustable paddle and 8′ coiled ankle leash.

ATB Transformer Board Bag

The Ride 10’6″ comes with the latest ATB Transformer bag from Red Paddle Co. This bag has removable backpack straps that you can wrap around the board and carry it without the bag shell and wheels. This lets you carry less to the water. You do still have to carry the Titan 2 hand pump to inflate your board unless you have a smaller and more compact pump.

The best part of the ATB transformer bag to me is that you can leave the backpack straps and padding off of the bag. If you rarely ever use it as a backpack, no need to carry that extra weight. I store my SUPs in the basement and carry them up and down stairs every time I use them. The Ride 10’6″ becomes a nice, very light SUP to carry up stairs and throw in the back of the car once you get rid of the Titan Pump and leave the Transformer backpack straps at home.

Red Paddle Co Titan Hand Pump

Red Paddle Co includes their Titan 2 Hand Pump with the Ride Paddleboard. This is by far and away the largest and heaviest hand pump we have seen from any inflatable SUP company. It is a well built and beefy hand pump with features such as a removable handlebar and folding feet.

The Titan 2 has 2 speeds. You either pump on the downstroke with 2 chambers or 1 smaller chamber.

This is the second board we have tested and reviewed with the Titan 2 and I will admit I’m not a huge fan of it. I don’t think it inflates boards any faster than other double barrel pumps. It also can’t deflate which makes it more difficult to put the board away. The biggest downside is just the size and weight of it. I would prefer a smaller, more size and weight-efficient triple or double action pump that is a better match with the portability of the ATB Transformer bag.

See our guide to the best electric inflatable SUP pumps for some good alternatives.

Cruiser Tough 70-86″ 3 Piece Paddle

The Cruiser Tough Paddle has a composite shaft and has quick release locks at the top and middle joint. The handle shaft has a groove that keeps it aligned with the paddle blade. The paddle feels stiff and solid on the water. The bottom quick release clamp in addition to the spring pin makes the paddle feel solid without any wobble or play. The paddle looks and feels like something you expect from Red Paddle Co. It doesn’t scream cheap anywhere.

Ankle Leash

The package from GreenWaterSports included a paddle and ankle leash. The ankle leash is a 8’coiled design that is typical of what inflatable SUP packages come with.

11 – Portability (9/10)

The ATB transformer bag lets you carry a more minimal bag to the water. It gives you flexibility and gives you another way to make the bag lighter. Red Paddle Co includes the biggest and heaviest hand pump out there which is at odds with the goal of carrying less to the water. Red Paddle Co really needs to come up with a more compact and lighter weight pump to go with this new bag.

13 – Dual Fins

The Ride 10’6″ now has 2 fixed fins. Older 10’6″ Ride boards had 3 fins. Red went down to 2 slightly larger fins so that the board will pack into the bag easier. They perform as well as the typical 3 fin thruster arrangement. Most paddlers couldn’t tell the difference between an old Ride 10’6 and new Ride 10’6″ in terms of tracking or glide.

10 – D-Rings and Accessory Mounts

Red Paddle Co takes a minimalist approach to their boards. They do not load them up with a ton of D-Rings and mounts. You get 3 front bungees on the Ride 10’6″ and 1 D-Ring at the back for attaching the leash. There are 2 D-Rings built into the front bungees. There are no D-Rings around the middle or rear of the board. There is no rear bungee. You do get 1 action mount at the front of the board you can use to mount a GoPro or speaker.

10 – Kayak Conversion

There are not enough D-Rings on the board in the correct location to mount a kayak seat. You would have to glue on more D-Rings to do it.

10 – Setup and take down

The Ride 10’6″ is easy to inflate using the Red Titan 2 pump. It takes me about 6 minutes to inflate it to 20 PSI if I work at it really hard. The 2 attached fins mean there aren’t any extra steps to do after inflation.

When it comes to take down, the TItan 2 hand pump cannot deflate so you have to roll the board a couple of times to squeeze out all the air. I’m not a fan of the Titan 2 and this is another reason why.

We typically use an electric pump for inflating and deflating boards. This adds a few minutes to inflating the board. It saves a few minutes putting the board away since you can hook the pump back up to suck the air out instead of rolling it multile times.

See our guide to the best electric paddleboard pumps for our latest electric pump recommendation.

Recommendation – Buy or No Buy?

The Red Paddle Co Ride 10’6″ is a great fun and easy to paddle all around board. It has a clean uncluttered deck. Its 5 inch thickness means you stand closer to the water giving it a more stable feel without adding extra width which would make it slower. The package deal from GreenWaterSports includes a paddle and leash giving you a complete setup that is ready to hit the water.

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