flex nose longboard

i been building longboards with more rockered flexi thinner noses crew are loving them, you have the performance aspect covered coz the nose is higher and out of the water but when you walk forward it flatens out and nose rides like a flat board .i thought i was onto it but i met this american guy who said someone over there was doing that back in the 60 s does anyone know who???and did anyone here ride one??what was your thoughts???ive already found one draw back and thats in a little more juice if you take off late and put the whole front rail in at the bottom it flexes up more rocker, slows down and you get pitched over the nose …but in 1’ to 4’its great. ok thanks …curious to see what the old boys have to say?? regards BERT

Hi Bert, Yeah, the older stepdeck boards ( notably the Bings and such) were something like that, though probably not as sophisticated. They tended to be kinda weak and break right where the thickness transition was. If you glassed them heavy enough to prevent that, then your flex went away. A modern example shown in the link below. Note that the thickness changes abruptly at that sorta chevron-shaped white area just forward of the decal. Hope that’s of use doc… http://www.swaylocks.com/resources/Detailed/465.html

mine dont have an abrupt step or anything just slowly get thinner and coz im doing rail stringers or parabolic stringers as i learnt recently theres the extra strength and coz of those stringers there not as floppy so that flex doesnt rattle when you paddle but its flexy enough to flatten out when your up there regards BERT

Hay Bert, the first one to come up with one of these stepdeck, was I think Yater he called his the Spoon, then everyone jumped on the wagon. Greg Noal with the DaCat, Harbour with the Cheater(which you can see the Cheater II on his web site) Bing with the Light weight, Eaton has a stepdeck kicked tail Bonzer, Haut had the Bump. This was all going on in the late 60s just before the short board started to come on the seen. I think that the stepdeck should be looked into and refined somewhat. I feel that the stepdeck is the board, and will become best longboard. Keep up the work and keep us informed. You may not be the guy that started the whole thing, but I think you are the only one trying to make it all that it can be. Good work.

One surf movie featured Corky Carroll at Cotton’s Point on a Hobie with a very thin, flipped up nose. When corky would walk up and get toes over, you could SEE the nose straighten out

Hey Bert what are parabolic stringers? Joe

been riding boards like that for years, never had one break at transition point.Paul Gross has been making boards like this for years-modified spoons-no real noticeable step, but rahter a gradual taper(no extra kick though)walker foam with 1/2" balsa stringer = flex and strength.Carry on…

Bert, In June 2001 issue of Longboard Mag, there is an article called ‘Boards that Bend’… Its all about Benders and the story of surfboards that flex. It was written by Mark Fragale. Very informative and explains the concept and theory behind the stepdeck… He also states it was ‘Yater’ with the ‘Spoon model’ that inspired many to experiment with this concept and how “benders/stepdecks” evolved thru the mid 60’s… Try to find a copy it may help answer some of your questions. Good Luck…

BOSS Surfboards The boards Matt Howard and Brittany ride – first BOSS, then Tyler, then (and now) CooperFish. The BOSS really flex – I think you can search under BOSS Surfboards for their website. Bob O has been shaping them for years.

Bingo! That’s the article I was thinking of! Nice retrieve, “H20”! Bert…that was a great article. Try to get ahold of it. Informative… As I recall, it was several pages long w/photos. Step deck boards are great fun. Surfboards Hawaii had the model A . what a fine “ride”.

The Simmons proto typical spoon was in the Yater shop for years …lowering the deck forward closes the center of gravity gap to increase control forward…also reduces swing weight,a simmons concern to accomodate infirmed arm,… as boards age and work harden they are prone to sorely test the break factor I suggst an I-beam rein forcement on botton and even on top (if you get anal about durability) the Flex sales Pitch was persued first by Harbor then Greek there arn’t many of those examples left because they broke… the cat configuration was genius to spread the loading of the stress at the taper…Dora was known to Ride a occasional Yater…wasnt he boys?..the kids at the Pit knew…ambrose…fain took off in front of andy neuman on a yater thats when mickey straffed him

thats great guys, after some off the stuff ive read here i knew you guys would have some great answers…thanks …if theres anymore keep em rolling… hey joe parabolic stringers are stringers that follow the outline of the board…and im not sure of this one but i think they would still be called parabolic if they followed the outline curve even if they were set a distance in from the rails … regards BERT

Bert how close to the nose and tail do you let them follow the outline before you bring them thru the rail and how far in from the rail are they put at about the lap line? Joe

mine are actually on the rail …i started about 90mm in got closer and closer to the rail and they just went better and better…now being on the rail,they serve 3 purposes ,structual integrity running the length of the board ,stiffer rail line = more drive out of turns coz your rails arent flexing,and great side impact strength… regards BERT

Hum. I wonder if some of that high density foam would make some tough rails and provide enough strength to make a stringerless longboard with the rest of the core 2 lb foam?

that sounds similar to some of my early eps cored boards. i used the rail off cuts from my polyurethane boards and stuck them to the sides of eps with 3 layers of 6 oz in between …