Hey Mike - the only guy I personally know who has bought one is balding and drives a Porsche… draw your own conclusions as to the target market.
You guys are pretty much on the mark.
There had to be a line drawn with stock boards, so the company decided to make them stronger and come in at or under pu/pe weight. It’s what the public will relate and compare them to, but the strength, longevity and performance will speak for itself.
As Silly and Crafty know, to get showroom finish there are certain corners that can’t be cut. The same has to be said for trying to produce these boards in numbers.
The broken boards, yeah they break, but all boards break under the right (or was that wrong?) conditions. As for ‘snapping too frequently’, I don’t quite understand what that means as I haven’t seen too many. Nev has admitted he was a little eager with his statement, and agrees they are not unbreakable.
Also the jumping on boards thing on the website has been taken off. If you still want to do it it’s your board, go ahead, you’ll break the nose if you try hard enough (and you won’t get a free replacement). But make sure you go jump on your upside-down pe/pu as well. No boards are made to ride upside down.
I know this forum is not for company self-promotion, so I hope Mike and the moderators understand the need for answers and explanations to questions and comments made. If we overstep the mark let us know.
And Dave, yes, some are full length, but I can’t tell you how.
Still debatable Silly, more of a marketing myth than a reality I reckon. . . if a rider can’t whip an 8 pound board around as fast as his reaction times can handle then there must be something wrong with his legs .
Oh, and the style of surfing you are talking about would be more accurately described as ‘trick’ surfing. . . . calling it ‘performance’ surfing ignores the fact that there are many ways to ‘perform’ when riding a wave. . . . ‘trick’ surfing isn’t the only one. . . . calling trick surfing ‘performance’ surfing implies that it is somehow better or more functional. . . when in fact trick surfing boards are below par in many respects… . they sacrifice so much waveriding function just to get some dysfunctional heavily marketed tricks in. . .
.
Quote:
There had to be a line drawn with stock boards, so the company decided to make them stronger and come in at or under pu/pe weight. It’s what the public will relate and compare them to, but the strength, longevity and performance will speak for itself.
Thanks Wildy. I personally predicted this coming. I now wonder what took you guys so long. But hey thats how it works when you embark on a new venture…everyday you learn something new. And like you said, time will tell. Cheers
Aloha Wildy – I’m not connected to the moderators, but I think it’s cool that you answer questions in relation to the Firewires.
I’m a bit of a pessimist, dah, but I get the feeling of backtracking on initial marketing hype in regards to the jumping on the board stunt, weight strength etc. I know first hand that similar start up weight / strength issues were experimented at Surftech. I know they continued to improve from that point until now, as I know you guys will.
Renny Yater, being a composite guy and student of this technology, explained it well in depth from the starting gate. I know what your frustration must be like as the skeptics fire away w/o really knowing what, and how you are doing things; and how you have to protect yourselves. It’s interesting, both technologically, and in a business strategy.
I have to say that the board jumping trade show / Greg Lohre – Mark Price speal reminded me of Dick Chaney / Halliburton and the statement that it wasn’t about oil.
Really though, thanks for helping to set it straight and on the record.
It makes sense to me. . . stronger and a smidgin heavier. … the extra weight is going to improve performance anyway, superlight weight is just a pose.
cheers Wildy
thanks for putting it so clearly!
ive found getting a strong cosmetically nice composite board you need to
either
-
paint it on the outside with opaque, like surftech does to hide there manufacturing errors(ive found fairing compound while repairing one)
-
add weight with paint,xtra resin and/or 2pac, plastic finsystems etc
-
use a single sheet for the skins
its a pain
but thats what the market wants
its a big step up cosmetically from a balsa skined
i still think that firewire are light years ahead of surftech btw
looks like full strip dave
Roy
okay that makes sense
i can use the terms like “shortboard trick surfing” or something like that
there are more reasons then this for me to have a light board btw
i treck to a lot of breaks
1 kilo makes a big difference when your climming up a cliff face
dont see many big heavy boards at the places i surf regularly
also taking three boards to overseas etc
yours saving 3 to 5 kilos in your total board weight.
but at the end of the day ive been riding heavy for boards for 23 years
and now ive found an alternative
and actually like the way they ride
and i enjoy surfing more on lighter boards
the only reason i mentioned it in this thread
is because it is(or was a marketing claim of firewires)
that has needed to be adjusted due to markets demand for good cosmetics and strength
its the same as marketing an environmentallly friendly board and using two pac
its not a fair claim
i want to make a environmentally friendly board
but unfortunatley most people wont be happy with a wet sanded resin finish
they want something that wont go yellow
so that needs a uv resist
which is toxic if you want it clear
can you see the dilema
no matter how good firewire can make a board
they are still market driven
its not a complaint
but rather an observation of something most builders wanting to make some money, are controled by
and in way it prevents inovation
surftech used paint for years because their epoxy was not UV stable, most epoxies are not.
Yeah I see where you are coming from Paul.
Firewire’s are coping a lot of flack.
I’m reading people write about them breaking too often. I’ve only seen evidence of one breakage.
I think before people go to sledge on firewire they should do a bit of sledging on pu/pe first to weigh it up a bit.
lets see a pu/pe board will dent underneath your feet, it more then likely will ding and they do break. they go yellow also.
as for the comments about the boards only surfing as good as a good pu/pe. it would be interesting to see how the good pu/pe would go in two years time in comparison to the firewire.
I think the image of firewire could have been better amoungst rec surfers and sceptics if Nev and the media didnt publish the claims of unbreakable. That’s were Surftech’s advertising campain is ahead. I believe their one liner is “Stronger, Lighter, Proven”.
I don’t want to be misunderstood. I hope FW is immensely successful and they grow and employ lots of people. I hope the entrepenuers and especially Bert (Wildy,too) become wealthy men. I love stories with happy endings. I hope FW’s are more durable and surf better and the people that buy them enjoy them. Mike
Hey Josh, if you are seeing flak then most likely you are close to the target !
When I weighed it, I weighed myself with and without the board to get it more accurate than the board alone.
Also I’m suprised no one commented (or noticed?) on Nev’s signature on this one. Its one of the reasons I picked it up off the “used” rack (ridden twice). All the other FWs had some initials on them from the ghost shapers.
Can’t wait to get it into some decent sized surf. My XTR has been holding me over in the meantime.
cheers roy
as i do I ,think i see where youre at as well
id love to ride your boards!!
btw
i think firewire are doing something very very cool
(although personaly im not into the factory thing.they are really awsome not to take this thing to asia as surftech did)
im not attacking
just observing.
you may note Josh
that ive been pro firewire in all my previous posts regarding this construction.
and my opinion is based only on personal experience with my own building methods
i have very little knowledge of what happens in a firewire factory
its just assumptions and thoeries
(that i believe to be possibly correct)
is it possible surfstar101
that its not the original weight of the board when it was new
i should have said. I’m not reffering to those in this particular thread rather the comments i’ve read in over threads and surfermag.
sweet mate
yeah its annoying when you read peops bagging them
when they dont even know that epoxy is a “resin”
OMG!
Now this is taking Customer Service to another level…
soliciting to actually go out and help out new buyers
As this just turned up on Craigslist…
Has the worm turned?
Quote:
FireWire Surfboards-Awesome!!!
Reply to: sale-259855274@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-01-09, 2:32AM HST
If your wondering about how these new Firewire surfboards with balsa wood rails surf then wonder no more. They are the real thing and just awesome!!! Email me if you want one or to check it out.
- Location: Honolulu It's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
it looks like someone with some guts decided to fight the local blackballing and give Chandler a distribution channel. Hope it’s the real deal as too many shops have been slamming the doors shut on him since he left and he got black balled. Weird day…
Quote:
Thomson Surfboards New Shaper ALERT! - $430
Reply to: sale-259825115@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-01-08, 9:59PM HST
Aloha to All -
Surfboards for sale for am affordable price, check out www.thomsonsurfboards.com and check out our new shaper from T&C Greg Griffin.
Email us for an accurate quote
Aloha and Mahalo
- Location: Oahu
- It's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests