Yeah, I’m up on the Central Coast Los Osos/Morro Bay. If I’m ever in the area I’d love to check out your operation though.
Some people are going to prefer quads, some are going to like tris (or twins, or singles, or none, etc.).
One of the factors is back foot placement, the guys who plant the back foot on the tailblock generally prefer tris; while those who put the back foot a little further up seem to like quads.
**One of the factors is back foot placement, the guys who plant the back
foot on the tailblock generally prefer tris; while those who put the
back foot a little further up seem to like quads. **
Well said Mike.
The Young back foot ripper preferes the Tri set-up. Most of the hot kids I shape for tried quads because of the buzz however these days it seems they are all returning to their first love (TRI). On the other hand the older Front footers are loving the Quad and re-ordering them.
Getting a few orders for the South Pacific and Indo all Tri’s.
For Gun the Quads seem to be the equipement of choice.
Kind regards,
Surfding
Let me take it one step further. quads on shortboards have issues because you 95% of the time they are over fin'd and the board ends up feeling like you are dragging ass. That is not to say the properly foiled fins will make a board ride much better, it's just that putting in a set of G5 and G3 and calling it a quad...or putting fish quads in a board will never get the right feel. There's a lot more majic and witchcraft in a quad, than any other board.
Yes you can pump a quad...you can pump a single fin too. But you don't need to. Quads work well off the bottom and top becacause you have more fins on the rail. You should be able to generate as much speed out of those positions on the wave as to where you don't need to pump........But then I'm an old man surfer and back in the day we really didn't need to pump...or squirt. You just generates speed at the top and bottom, then controled the wave position with a cutback or off the lip....or maybe drag a hand in the face of the wave to stall?
Wide rear end boards work fastasitc in a quad. I only put quads on my full figured rumps. I set them up with the parallel fin set up from Probox. They work fine. Actually I set my boards up for a trifin first, then I put the quad in. And guess what..( I never surf them as tri fins....wierd)
But remember I don't surf anything sub 7'6", I don't want to work that hard to surf.
Also a quad in the hands of a good surfer is just that. A good surfer can make the worst board surf look great. Look at those finless, Keel fish, 1960's logs, single fin retros, etc, etc. Those boards in the hands of a Slater is majic. Those boards in the hands of you and me is situation comical.
Hey Surfding, you can just toss to in your board bag and bring me along :). Anyways, the quad is now becoming a thruster, adding a FCS center box. I will let you guys know if it helps or not, or if it is just the thick rails.
Thanks again for all of your guys help and recommendations!
i didn't read all the responses so forgive me if it's been said but, here's my experience with my self made quads...
quads don't pump the same as thrusters. talking about true pumping, not tic-tacking, not huntington hopping. top to bottom pumping to generate speed. quads don't feel the same as thrusters for that. less input is required. where you might do 3 pumps to beat one section on a thruster, it will take only one on a quad. so, in that sense, they are more "carvy". just find the steep part of the wave, and unweight on the upstroke, weight on the downstroke, unweight on the upstroke etc... some things that i found helped my quad to accelerate more per pump are:
- fins right on the rail. 1 1/8 off the rail or closer.
- good fins. fins with some twang. i'm really liking the Belik High aspect (glass) fins in most all beachbreak conditions.
- more cant in the fins. quad fins on the rail with 8* cant is a beautiful thing.
i did read part of Resinhead's response and disagree with him about quads not working in shortboards. i like mine... different strokes for different folks...
i'd be really interested in hearing your fin placement, cant, toe, etc...
Fin Setting for a Quad:
Front fins: 10" - 1 1/4" from the rail 8 degree cant 1/4" Toe
Back fins: 5" - 2" from the rail 6 degree cant 1/8" Toe
You may disagree however this is what has worked for me on shortboards.
I agree with resinhead concerning Guns:
Quads are best because you don’t need your front fins so far forward.
I supect that it's your thick rails.
I like my rails foiled.
Thruster or Quad I like a well foiled rail.
Let us know how your new set up works?
If your near the shop come by and lets check it out?
Kind regards,
Surfding
I am a big fan of quad now, my quad have nearly same shape than my thruster, no larger or thicker in tail. Back fins placement more on rail or more on center can change something too. But the key is how you ride: i try to make quad for my friends, those how ride same waves as me, speed french beach break drive with front foot like them, those how ride slower waves top to bottom prefer thruster.
I can see too that in général big (power) guys prefer thruster, i am really powerless front foot rider.
Sorry for my frenglish
Just call me Dry Humper… I can pump a quad just like a tri fin. In fact my quads generate more down the line speed than my tri fins do.
Your board is dropping its outside rail. That could be because the inside rail, which you should be standing on, has too much floation, or too much “grab” in the rail.
Fixes are:
- Smaller fins to release better. But you will slide to the bottom of the wave more.
- Harder rails at the bottom edge to release better. But you will slide to the bottom of the wave more.
- Your board is too wide, and when you stand over the stringer, you are weighting too far off the inside rail.
- Or my best guess would be to get a board with less floatation at the rails, so when you stand on the edge you will sink it more to make it ride level.
I had the same experience with a quad board that I made with a really thick tail. Over all 6’ x 14" x 20" x 15.25" x 3". I thought since I was about 205 that the extra thickness would work well for me however I was totally wrong I couldn’t pump it at all. Anyhow I gave the board to a friend who was a beginner that just wanted a small board to go down the line with minimal effort.
Since then I have made many more quads with a lot less thickness out the tail and I can pump the heck out of them and generate crazy speed if wanted. The boards that I make for myself are by far my favorite boards. I don’t even ride them as tri even though put in a fifth box in them. I feel fully mobile and not held down at all unlike the first test quad board I did.
Hope that helps.
When you try to ride a quad like a thruster you end up out of sync with the board and the wave and your body is turning before your board is. Your trying to pump a board that needs no pumping and your unneeded gyrations are effecting your ride. You are trying to force the board to go where you want it (or think) it should go instead of following the board where it wants to go. That’s why people say riding a quad or a twin will give you a more soulful style…thats because you have to slow down a bit…you have to let go of that over used style of double pumping bottom turns and bunny hopping…and feel for what the board wants to do. Once you slow down a bit, sync up with your board and let it take you on the proper path you will find more speed and better turning than any thruster. I’m 6’4" 200+ without my 5/4MM fullsuit and I ride all quads from my 6’2" to my 9’2" and I’ll never go back. Don’t give up yet and forget about adding a center fin…it’s not the board, it’s you.
Quads can be pumped, some situations call for that. Having said that if you are trying to treat your quad like a thruster you are approaching them wrong. Think of flow rather than the constant adjustment of the thruster. Quads carry speed much better and in my opinion come out of turns still retaining quite a bit of drive. Look at the first couple seconds after you stand up. Are you getting any drive off of your bottom turn? If not look for a section to climb and drop on. Once either of these two situations are setup you should have all the speed you need for the rest of the wave without pumping. Sounds basic, but that's my approach.
Quads can be pumped, some situations call for that. Having said that if you are trying to treat your quad like a thruster you are approaching them wrong. Think of flow rather than the constant adjustment of the thruster. Quads carry speed much better and in my opinion come out of turns still retaining quite a bit of drive. Look at the first couple seconds after you stand up. Are you getting any drive off of your bottom turn? If not look for a section to climb and drop on. Once either of these two situations are setup you should have all the speed you need for the rest of the wave without pumping. Sounds basic, but that's my approach.
Billy,
I don’t doubt your experience with your surfing, but most good surfers would disagree with your evaluation of the correct way to ride a quad.
Youtube any pro riding a quad, and you’ll see lots of pumping for speed, that retains style.
the correct way to ride a quad.
That's funny, do you have a dvd??
I think there is a difference between unneeded pumping
(but wiggling) and the proper body motions needed to surf well on any board.
For me I just don’t like that pro surfer type of surfing where they surf as if
it was their last wave ever, they look like their trying to hard, there’s no
flow and no soul based style. My guess is a pro who surfs with that type of
style would pump and gyrate on any board he rode because he thinks the pumping
is what looks cool or feels cool to him…or what scores best. To some people
the hard pumping hyperactive surfing is good style and that type of surfing
looks good to them… but not to everyone out there I’m sure. For me I think
the most visually pleasing style is the guy who makes it look effortless,
without all the butt wiggling and unneeded gyrations. The guy that through
positioning and good wave and board knowledge doesn’t need to pump it like his
life depended on it. As far as Leviticus comments
go it sounded to me like he was doing the unneeded type of pumping and that’s
why he was feeling like a dumb ass as he put it. If in the end that is the way
he wants to surf then maybe a thruster is the right call. But for me I
noticed that when I made the transition from 3 to 4 fins I had a lot of
unneeded motions in my surfing that were throwing me off. I would pump when I
did not need to and throw myself off balance and out of sync with the boards turn…a turn that was usually faster than I was used to. I would try to force my board
when I did not need to and over push my moves with bad results. As soon as I stopped doing that (pumping and cranking
every turn to get speed and leading my board instead of following it) I found I had a much smoother style, I synced up with my board much faster, I made every
section I needed to, I turned better and faster and I had more than enough speed to do every move I wanted and new ones I never thought I could…all with no wiggles or dry pumps. But that’s just my opinion.
LMAO resinhead,dry humping ha.Quads work on everyting!Even motocross.Try a higher line on the wave and surf more top to bottom.Pics of the boards with fins would help,also knowing the fin placement would get more input from experts instead of other dry humpers.
Quad fins don't pump. Trifins pump. So if your trying to pump your quad you're only dry humping.
Quads are made to be ridden in the drive position, ie let them work with the wave. Let the pocket generate your speed then hit the gas off the top and bottom. Never any need to pump, or hop.
Now this is a bold comment but,...I think quads on short board are a waste of time. Quads work well on bigger boards because it moves the fin position further up..and that creates a fantastic situation where you don't need to move your front foot position to trim from bottom turn to cut back...as long as the design is right, then you just surf....I mean, stand up and just surf.
So what size quad are you surfing at 6'2" @ 240lbs big man...you are one oversized fella. You beter be surfing at least a 7'6" or you're wasting your time on a quad.
I guess that makes sense, I am very accustomed to pumping before cutbacks or top turns which makes it hard for me to transition. And me riding a 6’2"… no. The board is 7.0’ x 22" x 3" and the volume is carried through the board more than usual. I guess I’ll throw a center fin in and go back to business as usual.