Shade. We LOVE shade! While boating, shade is relatively hard to come by though without a bimini top. For those of us fair-skinned, or even those tiny little humans, not having a bimini to create shade screams “hello sunburn!”
Choosing which top is the best choice for your boat is almost as important as choosing your wakeboard tower. For some, it’s just as important! We are here to help narrow down the best way we have been able to help our customers by asking the following questions.
Do you have a wakeboard tower?
This is one of the first questions we ask customers. While most customers who call us are looking for a tower combo package, purchasing a combination of items like a wakeboard tower and a bimini top, some are just looking for a new bimini.
There are some manufacturers out there that make bimini tops that do not require a tower. For instance, Carver or Westland, and you can find these through many online suppliers. However, all of the biminis that we manufacture here at Big Air require a wakeboard tower, and to even be a little more specific, we need to attach to round tubing on a tower.
If you do not have a tower and are in the market for one, be sure and read our blog post for some tips on choosing your new wakeboard tower.
For those with a tower already on their boat, keep in mind we clamp onto round tubing. We can accommodate 1.5″ tubing up to 2.5″ tubing, which covers the vast majority of towers out there. Very few newer models are using tubing larger than 2.5″, but it is being done. If you are unsure on how to measure your tubing size, see our post for details.
Mount preference: under or over the tower?
Mounting position can help narrow down your choice of bimini top as well. We currently manufacture 3 bimini top styles; the Super Shadow Bimini, the Collapsible Bimini, and the Tube Top Bimini. One mounts below the tower, and two of them mount on top of the tower.
Mounting below or on top of the tower is purely a personal preference. For those that like a more “standard” or “classic” styling, they generally prefer a bimini that mounts underneath the tower. This would leave you to choose the Collapsible Bimini.
For a more modern look, or for our taller customers, an over the tower mounted bimini is generally preferred. Our over the tower styles are the Super Shadow and the Tube Top Bimini. The customers that like these bimini styles like them because they have the option of maintaining their headroom.
If you have opted for an over the tower style, then this still leaves you with two bimini options to choose from. Let’s help narrow that down even further. Our next question to these customers refers to the use of the tower, will you be bring and storing an inflatable?
If the answer is no, then the Super Shadow Bimini would be the best option. The Super Shadow is a bimini shade with full coverage but no intentions of storage.
If you answered yes, the Tube Top Bimini is a great choice. The Tube Top Bimini starts with the base of the Super Shadow Bimini. Then we add a few more support beams and straps to ensure it can hold the weight of the inflatable and keep it secure.
Bimini color choices
From here, we hope we have helped you limit your choice of bimini style, now the final part is to choose the best color option.
The Collapsible Bimini is only available in our top 3 Sunbrella fabric colors; Jet Black, Pacific Blue, and Jockey Red.
The Super Shadow and Tube Top Bimini are offered in a wide variety of colors. You can choose from standard Onyx or upgrade to one of our many Sunbrella choices; Jet Black, Forest Green, Pacific Blue, Jockey Red, Cadet Grey, Burgundy, Toast, Logo Red, Charcoal Grey, Royal Blue, Navy or Sunflower Yellow.
With so many options available, we are sure to help you find one that matches your boat! If you are having a hard time choosing, send us an email or give us call with the colors you are looking at and we will be more than happy to get some swatches in the mail to you.
