What is the major differences in performance between all of the concave shapes that are applied to noseriding longboards? Can anyone give me a good discription of the big three?
I’ve seen and shaped concaves a dozen different ways. What do you mean by the big three?
I’ve always thought there were only a few nose concaves that are commonly used. If there are more then please explain. I’m really interested in what Gene Cooper is doing on his NOSEDEVIL board and his DEVICE board. It seems the N-devil is close to what you would find on a Bing Noserider—a deep oval concave. The DEVICE seems longer and rounder—less oval than the N-devil. What do these types of concaves offer in terms of nose speed, stability, etc. Any info would be great. Thanks
I generally see concave as being in two camps. Both those you were talking about would be similar. First when the rails are turned up, and this can be done either by just turning them up or with a chine, you are going to get better manuverability from the forward riding position. The other way is with a down rail. this would be similar to the Con Wingtip which gives, overall better lift but less manueverability. There are also the boards that don’t have concave, that are flat or rolled. The flat bottom can be down railed or rolled on the edge which gives very good forward manuverablity and excellent lift. The rolled bottoms, like the Weber Performer had excellent manuevering and Weber used a wider nose template to create lift. I find it interesting that at the peek of the noseride era (1967) concave had been pretty much dumped by everyone in favor of flat or slight roll. Manuverability had become key. Today I think most manufacturers (including me) put it in for marketing.
So are you saying that you could take it or leave it Greg? If you were in the mood for a noseriding day of surf you wouldn’t see the added benefit of some nose concave? Why would all the major longboard players still use it when it takes up more labor to make a nice dish concave i wonder?
Interesting, I’ve had this conversation before with Bob Pearson, who claimed (like Greg) that he only shapes concaves into boards that are going onto the rack in his showroom. The last few longboards I’ve shaped have been fairly flat bottomed at the nose with a wider outline and a bit more foam (thicker at the nose) and from what I hear (I’ve been out of the water for a while with an ACL tear) they noseride great. My design is based off the best noserider I’ve ever had, shaped by Jed Noll, which was also flat but had a great overall teardrop shape which made it easy to park it on the nose. Jamie
Greg, I have traditionally surfed flat bottomed boards—shapes by Mark Martinson and found them to be fast noseriders. I’ve also surfed rolled bottom boards like the Weber Performer. In fact the board I’ve surfed was a Tyler Sleek Zeke which has a considerable amount of nose roll. Eventhough the roll gave me the ability to steer from the tip, I did not like the overall speed and trim qualities. Recently, I’ve been playing with the concaves—and yes I’ve heard all the anti-concave arguments. My latest board has a fairly pronounced ovalish concave. The concave is set about 3" from the rail and works back to a single point(S-concave??). I’m not sure on the cut into the foam but I figure it is a little less than 1/8". I am about to get another board shaped and want to experment with another type of concave. Have you or anyone shaped and surfed a concave that is cut fairly deep, set 3" or so from the rail and blended into the hull? This is what I think Gene Cooper is doing with the DEVICE. But I’m not totally sure. Anyway thanks for the feedback. Cheers.