last week i picked up a board rich pavel shaped for me (the thing is AMAZING) i was looking for a fin for it and he suggested a 9inch greenough flex fin. i’ve seen them before but never used one. well ive been riding it the last two days… the thing is soo strange. i can totally feel the fin flexing when riding, especially with fin-first take-offs and noseriding. anyhoo… i was wondering, what exactly are they supposed to do, what are the benefits/flaws, etc. ??
last week i picked up a board rich pavel shaped for me (the thing is > AMAZING) i was looking for a fin for it and he suggested a 9inch greenough > flex fin. i’ve seen them before but never used one. well ive been riding > it the last two days… the thing is soo strange. i can totally feel the > fin flexing when riding, especially with fin-first take-offs and > noseriding. anyhoo… i was wondering, what exactly are they supposed to > do, what are the benefits/flaws, etc. ?? Steve, George
s 1960s-early 1970s, flex fins were never targeted for end use on conventional longboards and noseriding, but rather for the progressively shorter, transition era designs carving turns and tuberiding. In reality, the adoption of these earlier high aspect ratio fins for use on longboards has been an ironic misapplication! Check the following website (http://www.realbeds.com.au/fg000.html) and note the 1999 Greenough design in the series of fins shown. Contact Trueames Fins (http://www.trueames.com/home.htm) for info on future Greenough fin design updates in G-10 laminate. For the Greenough 4A and 4C check (http://www.trueames.com/greenough.htm). Hey, give shout to Rich for me… he ordered a couple of my custom surfmats before his trip to Australia a year or so ago. Dale
Hey, give shout to Rich for me… he ordered a couple of my custom > surfmats before his trip to Australia a year or so ago. hey dale, will do. they are strange fins. i like it though, it turns sooo easy, i just have to think about it and its already doing what i want. another reason i brought this topic up was because after i tried out my new board and fin, i read an old surfers journal article about greenough and how they used flex fins on longboards with great results… i was hoping to find out what those great results were, but the article never said. the board he made me is sort of a traditional performance board for contests and stuff, so i suppose the fin will work on it… i just like to experiment with all types of fins, and boards, etc. steve
Hi Steve - I assume by fin first take offs and nose riding, that your new board is a longboard? I’ve been riding a Liddle Flex Fin in my 10’ Frye Eagle board for awhile and find that the “twang” as pressure is applied in a turn and then released, sometimes feels as if a spring has loaded up and shot me forward. Other times when i’ve gathered some speed to the shoulder, I can crank back and feel it conform to the radius of the cutback arc with a little push at the white water as it snaps back. On the other hand… I’ve had it let go on a late take off on a set wave and once on a bottom turn when I cranked hard from the tail instead of leaning in on the forward rail. An overly generalized statement on my part would be that they loosen your board up especially for smooth transitions in small to mid sized waves. People who ride rigid trifin shortboards in a punchy style may find them a bit wobbly and hard to get used to. I’m sure there will be other answers from riders more skilled at this than I am who ride different style boards.
hey dale, will do.>>> they are strange fins. i like it though, it turns sooo easy, i just have > to think about it and its already doing what i want. another reason i > brought this topic up was because after i tried out my new board and fin, > i read an old surfers journal article about greenough and how they used > flex fins on longboards with great results… i was hoping to find out > what those great results were, but the article never said. the board he > made me is sort of a traditional performance board for contests and stuff, > so i suppose the fin will work on it… i just like to experiment with all > types of fins, and boards, etc.>>> steve Steve, I
m sure the excellent results were related to improved handling, freedom and speed. As I said, note the last fin (1999) of the Greenough series on that great Australian site (<a href="http://www.realbeds.com.au/fg000.html">http://www.realbeds.com.au/fg000.html</a>). George recently mentioned that this design is closer to the fin that a conventional longboard should have, especially for noseriding. If you want to experiment, try making one thats just as long, but slightly narrower overall to that 1999 shape, with a 5 to 1, or 4 to 1 ratio foil at the base. Try and make the fin`s base width about 1 3/4" to 2". Dale