To summarize the review below in two sentences: Maximized riding positions equals an unbelievably fun time. You will have a hard time regretting this purchase. Bought two towables for 2013 summer lake fun:SPORTSSTUFF 53-1860 GRANDSTAND 2 Towable andSPORTSSTUFF 53-1275 Towable Mixmaster 2 Towable Action Tube . We ended up using the Grandstand 3x as much as the Mixmaster. The towables arrived for the July 4th (Prime shipping) weekend. Holidays on the lake mean high traffic, which creates rough waters and hazardous conditions. We took the Mixmaster out first, and the riding was just brutal. On top of that, our spotter didn't see us fall out at least twice. We lasted about thirty minutes before calling it quits and deciding to try the Grandstand. The Grandstand blew up nicely - took about three or four minutes to fill it using a shopvac. Later on, we did notice that one of the balls had rotated, so we had to unzip, deflate, and re-position it to inflate some more. We also had to inflate a bit before going out the second day, but it needed a minimal amount of air. We deflated the whole thing in about seven minutes, using the shopvac to remove the last bit of air. It tucked away nicely into a storage bin. No matter the position, the Grandstand handled the rough waters beautifully. Plus, it provided good visibility for our spotter. We didn't use anything to keep the two rope from dipping into the water, so if we sat like we were riding a horse, we'd get a face full of water every thirty seconds. Sitting backwards and laying down fixed that. There are plenty of handles and they were positioned just right for any position we wanted to take. The rope handles could be a little softer, but despite about an hour of intense riding no one developed any blisters. We never figured out how to steer it. No matter how hard we (two petite women) leaned, it wouldn't move outside of the wake. In our attempts to do so, we often leaned too far to the side (and fell off) or too far back (which caused the towable to lift its head up and throw us off if we couldn't lean forward fast enough). The driver was often unable to put us outside the wake. The maximum boat speed was 20MPH. On some towables, falling off at this speed HURTS. I was never afraid to fall of this, because it never hurt no matter what position I feel off on. We did have a few scraps with the ropes that weren't pleasant. Sometimes a rider would lose balance and fall towards the other rider, landing on the rope handles. A little uncomfortable, but nothing too serious. Surprisingly we didn't have any major collisions. Another thing about falling off was that it was one of the easiest towables to get back onto - even without help. Again the handles are positioned perfectly - I'm 5ft and I had little trouble reaching them to pull myself up. We did have it flip over twice. Each time we had to climb up (using the rope attachment as a step), then grab an edge, and flip it over. That was about the hardest experience we had with it. Every person loved to ride it. Our heaviest rider was about 160 and our lightest about 120. Everyone had a good amount of experience riding, but standing up was still challenging. We had a ton of people pointing at us and watching us - it was (IMO) the coolest towable on the lake. We spent about three hours pulling everyone Saturday and Sunday, and only quit because of pure exhaustion. We also spent about thirty minutes laying out on it (it is really comfortable and the balls are positioned just right for a lounging position :) ). I was a little hesitant to buy this one, because it is the most expensive towable I've purchased by about two hundred dollars. However, I have not once regretted it...except for the fact that all I can think about is getting back out on the lake. Definitely consider this towable - it has been worth every penny.
