Glide O2 Retro 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – A High-Performance Cruiser for All Skill Levels | 2024

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Glide O2 Retro 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – Overview

Cruiser-style iSUPs are known mostly for their stability and maneuverability, and they aren’t normally designed for paddling performance. Their wider shapes are easy to use and fun for short distances but don’t usually lend themselves to efficient paddling.

The 2024 Glide O2 Retro 3.0, however, has shaken that up. With great stability and high efficiency, this cruiser paddle board gives a new meaning to all-around paddling.

Whether you are out for a sunset cruise with your pals, working on some SUP yoga, or ready for a long-distance fitness paddle, the Glide O2 Retro 3.0 can do it all.

— Glide O2 Retro Inflatable SUP Review Summary and Ratings —

Glide O2 Retro 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – Construction and Durability

Glide has fully updated its iSUP construction with the 3.0 series paddle boards. This new build is lighter weight without sacrificing any durability.

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Inside the O2 Retro, Glide has switched to a fully cross-woven drop stitch core Glide is calling the AeroMatrix Elite Core.

The AeroMatrix Elite core has a layer of high-density woven fabric for the base of the top and bottom of the board. This woven fabric is lighter weight and more rigid than a traditional knitted fabric base layer.

There are thousands of drop-stitch yarns spanning the two woven fabric layers that give the board its 6” thickness and flat shape when inflated. However, rather than being sewn through the layers in a standard “V” shape, the new cross-woven core offsets and angles the drop stitch yarns to make “X” shapes inside the board. This reduces the number of yarns needed (making the board lighter) but offers more strength than the typical V pattern to keep the board extremely rigid.

The outer shell of the Retro 3.0 is made with a new dual-layer fusion laminated PVC material. This new material is slightly lighter weight than the previous version but still boasts a high-density reinforcing scrim material between the layers. The fusion lamination process uses heat and pressure to bond the PVC shell to the fabric core rather than glue. By mechanically bonding the layers together Glide eliminates errors from hand-gluing the layers and further increases overall rigidity while reducing weight.

Lastly, Glide is now using a “TriFusion” welded rail around the edge of the Retro 3.0. An inner layer of reinforced PVC material is heat-welded to the deck and hull layers of the board to create a permanent mechanical bond. the outer rail is made with two layers of fusion laminated PVC material. This new triple-layer rail provides extra protection to the most vulnerable part of the paddle board and helps increase rigidity.

After the board construction, the full-length deck pad and all other on-board features are adhered to the O2 Retro giving it a final weight of just 21.8 pounds with a listed maximum weight capacity of 400 pounds.

Glide recommends inflating your board to at least 15 PSI for best results, but lists a maximum internal pressure of 25 PSI. That is the highest manufacturer-listed pressure rating for an iSUP that we’ve ever encountered. Most electric pumps don’t inflate beyond 20 PSI, so if you do want to maximize the O2 Retro’s rigidity, you’ll need to use the included hand pump

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For our rigidity testing, we put every paddle board through a standardized bend test. In order to keep everything as consistent as possible, we even have a dedicated electric pump to ensure that there are no discrepancies in inflation pressure from board to board. However, our dedicated pump does max out at 20 PSI (as many do). That is the pressure we used to test the O2 Retro 3.0 in both our bend test and our on-water testing.

At 20 PSI and with 170 pounds of weight in the standing area, the Glide O2 Retro 3.0 did well in our standardized bend test. We measured just 1.49” (3.8cm) of bend. That is slightly more rigid than our running average of 1.62”, but it’s not quite as rigid as the previous generation O2 Retro at 1.06”.

With the new lightweight construction (shaving about 2 pounds off the total weight while adding more features), I did expect there to be some loss of rigidity, so this wasn’t totally surprising.

What is most important, though, is how rigid the board feels on the water.

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While standing and paddling on the O2 Retro 3.0 at 20 PSI, I did not notice any bend or flex in the board at all. During our sprint testing, I did feel a little bit of flex when I was looking for it, but there wasn’t enough to affect the board’s performance that I could tell.

I could create a mild amount of bend in the O2 Retro 3.0 when jumping up and down on the board. When I stopped jumping, the board settled back down quickly, but with a tight or springy-feeling rebound.

If you do choose to inflate the board beyond 20 PSI, you’ll find that it becomes even more rigid, though there are diminishing returns on investment here and I find the O2 Retro 3.0 to be very pleasantly stiff at 20 PSI for me at 220 pounds.

Overall, the O2 Retro 3.0 is a very well-built board. The new AeroMatrix Elite Core construction is a great blend of weight and rigidity, and the welded TriFusion rails promise maximum durability.

Specifications

Glide O2 Retro 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – Features, Accessories and Versatility

The Glide O2 Retro 3.0 is available in a variety of different colors and now features more attachment points for customizing your setup. With the included inflatable kayak seat, the O2 Retro is also ready for hybrid SUP or seated paddling, but you will need to purchase a second paddle blade separately to complete the conversion.

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The O2 Retro comes with a great kit of accessories with everything you need to get on the water except for a life jacket. Included with the O2 Retro 3.0 kit are:

• O2 Retro 3.0 iSUP
• Wheeled backpack bag
• Air Throne inflatable kayak seat
• 3-piece adjustable SUP paddle
• 1 x 9” US fin
• 2 x 4.5” Fliplock fins
• Coiled ankle/calf leash
• Double-action hand pump
• Maintenance and repair kit

Glide O2 Retro 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – Paddle

The O2 Retro 3.0 comes with an updated 3-piece SUP paddle that is made to easily convert to a kayak paddle with the optional attachment.

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The Glide 3-piece hybrid paddle uses a blend of fiberglass and composite materials to create a comfortable and efficient paddle that can be used for either stand up paddling or seated paddling with an optional second paddle blade.

The paddle blade is made with a fiber-reinforced nylon material to help reduce weight while providing just enough flex in the water for a comfortable paddling experience without sacrificing too much power. The medium-size, rectangular blade is very easy to use for most paddler sizes. The curved shape makes it easy for new paddlers to know which way to use the paddle, and the narrower blade reduces fluttering when used as either a SUP or kayak paddle.

The shaft uses fiberglass for a very comfortable experience on the water. Fiberglass shafts have more flex in them than a carbon fiber shaft, but still keep the weight low and provide smooth power transfer for fast paddling.

There is a pin-and-clip adjustment system to change the length of the paddle. This type of system not only makes it easy to securely change the length, but it also automatically aligns the handle to the blade. There are also height and length markings on the handle section so you can quickly and accurately change the paddle length for different paddlers or conditions.

The hand grip is made of molded plastic with texturing on the front and back. The plastic feels solid in your hand, and the shape is quite comfortable.

Overall the Glide 3-piece paddle is a great starter paddle. It feels good in your hands and in the water, and you can change it to a double-bladed paddle for kayaking with the optional second blade.

Glide O2 Retro 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – Stability

At 33.5” wide, the Glide O2 Retro 3.0 is incredibly stable making it great for beginners and occasional SUP yoga.

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Stability is a key feature for most paddlers, especially beginners, and the O2 Retro is an extremely stable iSUP thanks to its size and shape.

At 33.5” wide, the O2 Retro is on the larger side for your typical all-around, and even cruiser-style paddle boards. In addition to its maximum width, the front of the board is kept very wide with wide shoulders and a rounded off nose.

This helps maximize the width, stability, and capacity of the board compared to more tapered shapes.

The rear of the board has a more modestly sized tail, but keeps things nice and wide until tapering in the last few feet of the board.

With a gently curving outline from wide nose to medium-wide tail, the O2 Retro 3.0 feels very consistently stable through most of its length. This is great if you need to adjust your position on the board to make room for a passenger, pet, or larger cargo.

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On the water, the O2 Retro feels incredibly solid. I didn’t notice any rolling or twitching, and the wide shape and rigid construction work together extremely well.

As I moved around on the board, the stability was consistent, but did drop when I stepped all the way to the tail of the board for a pivot turn. The narrower tail shape slides easily through the water, but doesn’t offer quite as much side-to-side support when balancing with the front half of the board lifted off the water. Rocking the board side to side was also very predictable and smooth. I didn’t feel it catching or twitching at all.

The one stability concern I do have is in choppy conditions. The low nose rocker pushes through waves and wake, even when they are small, rather than riding up and over. When the nose of a SUP dives under the water, that can greatly reduce the board’s stability as it tips side to side to resurface. I would like to see a little more rocker in the O2 Retro to help its performance in these less than ideal conditions.

Glide O2 Retro 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – Speed

I was not expecting a 33.5” wide cruiser style iSUP to impress me with its speed performance, so I was quite surprised with how well the O2 Retro did in our speed and efficiency testing!

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Our speed testing is done to simulate a few different uses. First we have sprinting and top speed tests, then casual cruising test, and last (but not least) efficiency testing.

In our sprinting and top speed test, the Glide O2 Retro 3.0 did quite well for its size. Often, wider cruisers like this can be difficult to downright impossible to paddle quickly. But the O2 Retro quickly got up to an average sprinting speed of 4.9 MPH at 75 strokes per minute. When going all-out, I was able to bring the O2 Retro up to 5.5 MPH at its fastest. I did notice a very small amount of flex in the board while sprinting, but moreso I noticed the low nose rocker pushing through the water more than gliding on top of it.

While in the grand scheme of things this isn’t particularly fast, I did notice that it didn’t take as much effort as I thought it would to paddle at this cadence, even with the low nose shape.

Of course, cruisers are meant for a more laid back pace. So slowing things down to a comfortable and easily sustainable 25 strokes per minute, the O2 Retro moved along at a respectable 3.6 MPH. That is around average for shorter, wider iSUPs, but again felt very easy to do.

And here’s why…

I spent a lot of time testing the O2 Retro’s efficiency (referred to as “glide” versus the brand name “Glide”) because I had trouble believing it.

Once the O2 Retro was up to its cruising speed, I could take a single paddle stroke and then pause and the Retro kept moving an average of 21 feet before I felt it slowing down. That’s a gliding ratio of 2.0 board lengths per stroke!

To put that into perspective, our top-rated touring and racing paddle boards have an efficiency measure between 2-2.2 board lengths per stroke.

The rigid construction and smaller tail shape of the board both work together to reduce turbulence and drag allowing the O2 Retro to move so smoothly through the water.

Glide O2 Retro 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – Maneuverability and Tracking

Cruiser SUPs are generally more agile and harder to track straight, but the fin placement and selection for the O2 Retro turns that notion on its head – when you want it to.

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In our maneuverability and tracking stress tests, we use the full fin setup that comes with the paddle board. This is how most paddlers will set their boards up until they become more comfortable and proficient on the water and begin looking to change things up.

To test the O2 Retro’s agility, we count how many forward sweep strokes – a basic turning stroke that paddles in an arc from nose to tail – it takes to turn the board in a full circle. With all three fins installed, the O2 Retro needs an average of around 7 sweep strokes to turn 360° from a standstill. That is quite a large turning radius when compared to other wide cruiser iSUPs, but isn’t too far away from the overall average for all-around paddle boards.

When working in smaller increments I could easily turn the O2 Retro up to 90° with about one forward sweep stroke.

Reverse sweeps (paddling from tail to nose) quickly turn the board in a full circle with an average of just 3.5 strokes. And of course more advanced maneuvers like cross-bow turns and pivot turns also bring the Retro around very quickly.

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I was not prepared for how well the O2 Retro did in our tracking test.

After 10 paddle strokes on a single side of the board, the O2 Retro 3.0 deviated an average of just 8° off course. That is ridiculously good for such a short and wide paddle board. 8° is essentially the threshold for touring iSUP performance in the same test.

What is going on here – I thought this was a cruiser!?

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The O2 Retro 3.0 has a 2+1 fin setup. This arrangement is quite common to see on inflatable paddle boards, but Glide has taken it a step further.

First, they’ve ditched the small, plastic, fixed side fins for removable 4.5” fins.

Second, the center fin uses a Universal Standard (US) fin box and sits at the very end of the board’s tail.

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The included 9” “Dolphin” fin is extremely rigid and has a wide base where it connects to the board. By keeping the main fin so far back and choosing a wide-base rigid fin, Glide has maximized the fin’s leverage against the board turning from side to side.

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Now, there are definitely times where you want to be able to turn the board faster. In that case, you can take out the two 4.5” side fins (which use a fliplock fin box) and run just the center fin. This will help even out the maneuverability and tracking performance. Because the O2 Retro 3.0 uses a US fin box for the center fin, you can also find hundreds of different size and shape fins to further tweak the balance between these two features.

Glide O2 Retro 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – Warranty and Customer Support

Glide warranties their paddleboards against manufacturing defects for the reasonable lifetime of the board, and their accessories carry a one-year warranty as well. There is a 30-day return period, however the customer is responsible for shipping costs and a 20% restocking fee. You can contact Glide customer service through their website, via email, over the phone, on social media, or in person through their retail network or at their Salt Lake City, UT warehouse if you happen to be in the area!

Glide O2 Retro 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – Overall Impressions/Review Summary

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I was hesitant when I first inflated the O2 Retro 3.0. I really liked the previous version of the board and when I saw it was an inch wider I was worried that the performance of the board was going to drop. But boy was I wrong! Glide has created a super-stable and easy-paddling, high-performance cruiser iSUP. The O2 Retro 3.0 feels fantastic on the water. It paddles smoothly, it steers and turns easily – and tracks straight even easier – and is loaded with more storage and cargo options, and a great set of accessories.

The Glide O2 Retro 3.0 is a fantastic iSUP for beginners thanks to its stability, and makes a great option for those who want an all-around/cruiser paddle board that can just as easily be rigged for fishing or cleared off for some SUP yoga.

Glide O2 Retro 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – iSUP FAQ