just out of curiousity, had anyone ridden the surftech version of the model t? it is not like im looking to buy one or anything, surftech isnt my cup of tea. im just curious how a traditional longboard design molded into 7 or 8 lbs would ride.
if you havent ridden a model t ssurftech, have you ridden any light traditonal longboards? the one i have is 23 lbs. but what about one wiht light glass, not volan.
does it take away from the traditional feel and make you wish it had an adge in the tail wiht a double concave??
I have a nineplus “the don” mal, it’s based on the model t.
Beautiful board, It’s huge planing area and weight make it a dream to paddle and you can get some good speed up on it, I imagine the surftech would be a little high up in the water, and bouncy to boot.
The bbc wales message board had a similar discussion going last week, the general thinking was that epoxy was good for progressive shapes, but not really suited to traditional mals.
The Model T surftech rides like a dream. With the traditional shape and huge planing area. All the surftech does for it is make it even more bouyant. It does comprimise the whole ethos of the traditional boards (surftech makes them turn easier and easier to carry down to the beach) but I belive it is a good thing for making people aware of the original shapes of the boards.
I rode a 9’6" robert august surftech this summer in costa rica. I didnt like it at all, felt like I was standing on the roof of a car driving down the rode. I do, however, have a 6’4" merrick tuflite in my quiver (17 boards at last count) which is one of my favorites for waves under head high. I have learned to never listen to anyone else’s opinions when it comes to boards as we are all different.
My buddy has the Surftech Model-T…I ride traditional logs about 98% of the time I surf, and I thought the SMT surfed like poo-poo. For a noserider, I thought it seemd really light and “airy”. It didn’t seem to have the momentum or hold that aa heavier traditional board has…Just my .02 cents…
just call the “man” himself in oceanside, donald takayama will make you a model t , or any other shape, built to you specs. he can make you a dream board! last time i called the oceanside store about 2 years ago, they could make me a model t, w/ volan for $825. or ask them about the epoxy model t . they are very nice people to do business with.
I actually owned a Surftech Model T and also a wood copy Wingnut surftech. Hated the way both of them rode. I can’t put my finger on it, but they did not paddle very well, did not hold speed very well and turned like a rock. They were light. Sold them within six months and have stayed on poly heavier boards since. More momentum IMO
im just curious how a traditional longboard design molded into 7 or 8 lbs would ride.
Is it really possible to make a board that size, that weighs that little? I think I’ve read Greg post about 10 to 12 lb. longboards, but I assumed he meant 9’0" high performance type shapes, not a wide, thick, longer “traditional” shape.
It also sounds like what most of the guys here are saying is that the board won’t really be “traditional” or surf anything like one, without the weight anyway.
I don’t believe there have been any threads on making purposefully heavy boards with eps foam and epoxy resin. I wonder what weight adding strategies folks would recommend? I suspect that in the end, it just might turn out that for a noserider, heavy clark foam and traditional glassing schedule is the easiest method, best surfing, and is of course plenty durable anyway for the type of waves the board is supposed to be surfed in. But if one was going to use eps foam, maybe there are heavier foams out there than the 1# and 2# people are using for shortboards? Or maybe there is a heavier material that can be added to a sandwich method than balsa? Hmm…i’m interested in hearing about it.
I’ve ridden a wood surftech Robert August noserider (9’4") for a couple of years and really like it. Fast in small waves and nose rides well. But I think its much heavier than my custom wood veneer epoxy (9’1" triple stringer) made by a local shaper. Only problem I have with the wood surftech is its a bitch to repair…