I need some information about these bords:
Are they fast?
Do they have volume enough for 190 pounds?
How long can the be?
Are they “rideable?” for a old guy like me?
Can you get me a rocker design?
Do they have always stringer?
etc. etc. ect…
(I saw one in the net, but seems strange…)
- Are they fast?
Mine is, faster than a board should be at its size.
- Do they have volume enough for 190 pounds?
My first was 6’6" by 23 by 3, floats and paddles me at 180 lbs.
- How long can the be?
9’ to 5’0"?
- Are they “rideable?” for a old guy like me?
Way. No twitch like a fish, lots of glide and mine feels solid in up to HH surf. I am 50.
- Can you get me a rocker design?
Yeah, none in the tail, 3" or more in the nose.
- Do they have always stringer?
My first had 36" of balsa stringer starting at the nose, the one I am shaping now is the same. No flex that I can feel. I started with a stringerless 9’4" to get either a 6’8" or a 6’6". Most of the boards out there are much shorter, living in Oregon, I needed more float and paddle speed.
etc. etc. ect…
Lots of info out there, boardside has a template.
My simmons has totally opened up a lot of days where I wouldn’t otherwise be surfing around here at the beach breaks…namely the really soft high tide conditions.
I absolutely love the versatility of this board…grovels well but it also handles real surf very well.
Mine is 6’4" x 23 1/2 x 3 1/8 stringerless XPS with bamboo skins.
Lots of down the line speed but you can also pivot it off the corner keels and get some sweet turns out of it.
Weird? Yes.
Worth riding? Definitely.
Wooooweeee!!! That thing is sick!!! Uhoh, I’m pining for one…You vacuum bag the skins and rails on it? Are the rails just high density foam? Did you think about balsa rails? Man, The look of the quads on that thing…
that particular fin setup didn’t really work well on this board (technically it wasn’t expected do), I’m using keels now in the back boxes and loving it.still haven’t tried any other quad combos.
I forgot to mention, I’m 6’1 and around 240lb…quite a bit bigger than the original poster and this board still catches waves that I wouldn’t be catching if I was on any other board.
this is XPS through and through, Spencer Kellog at iShapes in Ventura designed it and cut it, I took it home, bagged on the bamboo and did the laminate…there’s no funny business with the rails…it’s just blue foam with some bamboo over it. the bamboo skin on the deck in particular is quite useful as this is a lot of foam to duck dive…I use a lot of knee to punch this board through and the deck is still bulletproof.
we’ve started discussing refinements to this one. it’s becoming my go-to spring time board for the local surf…VERY versatile.
Hey Luis,
I think surfinghigh has it covered- yes they’re fast, the originals, like the real Simmons one, are eps so have great float- my 5’5" floats my 185 lb no problem. The width and thickness help a lot, and I’ve seen people riding the pu knockoffs that seem a bit boggy. Only time I disagree with s-high is in length, I think the minisims need to be mini (no more than 6’2 or so, I like ‘em 6’ and under) so you have the total skateboard feel, but that’s just personal taste. They are really fun to ride, s-high is totally right about the feel being like a less squirrely fish, and they’re great boards in less than great waves as well as being insane on a good lined-up wave- my board of choice for a clean point break without a doubt.
[img_assist|nid=1041221|title=casper2|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=640|height=522][img_assist|nid=1041222|title=rkta|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=481|height=640][img_assist|nid=1041220|title=casper1|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=640|height=561]
Hey Tyler do you have a good outline shot of that board? Im looking at it and cant figure out if the straigtness of the rails is an optical illusion or not.
btw, my life being 10 times easier, haha that was completely unintentional. Maybe I should have said 12 times easier? You are a clever guy.
I’m a big guy too, 6’2" and 240. That thing looks like it’d be a blast. What was wrong with the quad setup?
And I have a bamboo skinned board from Shwuz, love it, no deck dents yet.
5’9" x 21"
… have fun !!
there are no illusions…prepare for ultimate trim:
to be honest, the problem with the speed dialers could have been me.
I’ve only recently sort of “figured” the board out…I should be fair and put the dialers and some other quad fins I have back on there just to see.
the keels feel far more drivey…get me around sections when I lay it on to a rail in classic keel fashion…I’ve been meaning to try my Takayama and Bing probox setups in various configs to give it a go.
please tell me what you think of this:
Brett, feel free to contact me if you’d like to give this board a shot for a week or two.
I’m in the south bay.
This way you can try before you buy…if you were considering acquiring one of these bad boys.
most of the shapes I’ve seen pull the template in either gradually from the midpoint like Brom’s beauty above or in more traditional Simmons fasion at about 12" or so from the tail.
mine has a hair of tail rocker…an inch or so, maybe Spence can elaborate on the benefits.
Hey Luis,
Yes they are fast, but it seems they work better on smoother building waves not pitching hollow waves.
I am 5’9" and weight about 190 and I ride a 5’6" x 22" wide x 3" thick and it floats me no problem.
I guess they can be as long as you like, but remember that duck diving something with that much float is going to be tougher. Believe me when it is head high or over head duck diving that 5’6" is a workout.
I would recommend this board to anyone. They are just a blast to ride. I have ridden, bonzers, thrusters and fish and I always go back to my mini-simmons.
Your rocker design looks about right.
I am making one right now that is stringerless and it seems so far like the other ones. I think the thickness in the middle of the board keeps them rigid
Hope this info helps - also what I think helps these boards some is if they have a belly on them that blends into a deeper single concave. The belly seems to help them transition from rail to rail easier.
Cheers,
Mike
One good question:
How is the bottom design of a board like this??
I put belly in the bottom about an 3/8" - 1/4" or so deep and a deeper single concave starting at 24" from the tail and running out the tail. But that is just me, I would be curious how others do it. The belly is at its deepest right around the midpoint then fades out flat at 12" from the tail. Hope that helps…
Mike
let’s see some pictures!!!
Pictures are located here - http://www2.swaylocks.com/node/1029889?page=2
Toward the bottom. i posted the belly, concave and all. I guess I misspoke on the belly I stated before that it is around 3/16" or so and that sounds closer to what it was. Earlier I said it was about 3/8" to 1/4" so I guess that it could be a possibility too. I have another one that I have finished, so I will have to take pictures of that one and give up the dimensions. I also have a third one with a rounded tail and I moved the fins up to match a fish setup more like 6 1/2" from the tail instead of my normal 2" from the tail. I am hotcoating that one now and will hopefully have it in the water by next week. I am curious to see how sensitive such a wide and thick board is to fin placement.
Cheers,
Mike