Hey y’all, Im wanting to make a traditional single fin longboard (@ 9’6) with modern features (ie rails tail nose concave etc). Could anyone tell me what it is that makes a contemporary longboard as opposed to the old style plank with 50/50 rails and low rocker etc. Also if anyone could tell me what features make a noserider as opposed to a standard board? Cheers, J
I look at a contemporary longboard as being a sort of stretched out short board. Increased rocker, low rails, vee or concave bottom, three fins (thruster or 2+1 fin set up), light glassing. A lot of noseriders from the 60s had wide noses, an oval concave under the nose and kicked up tail. The longboard I’m riding now is a little bit of both. Not a whole lot of rocker, a subtle nose concave, low soft rails that get harder in the tail, some vee in the tail and a single fin. It allows me to surf how I like surfing a longboard, having the ability to carve a bit, tube ride and still be able to noseride.
right on the money DT.
other key differences between an old style longboard and a new style high performance one: a leash (never vs usually)
another one: weight (heavy vs light)
already mentioned but important: fin (one big one vs three)
for noserider info, read up in the archives, tons there…
Foamdust pretty much said it all. I would only add; Choose your blank well. You can change the nose and tail rocker when ordering the blank to suit your use. A kicked tail is important for noseriders. You can do that and still get the necessary vee needed to make the board “Progressive”. Subtle concaves work better on the more progressive shapes. So blend your concave nicely or go with nothing more than a flat or so-called sweet spot type concave. All around performance; keep the rails low, but soft. Hard in the tail. I prefer a single box with side-bites on progressive boards. No specics, just a few tips. You said you wanted to make a traditional, well that IS 50-50. Traditional is a less rockered blank, 50-50 rails. For a nose-rider, much deeper and larger nose concave, kicked tail, softer rails in the tail. McDing