Anticipating my new shortboard, it has 5 FCS fusion fin boxes. It’s a big guy shortboard. I have no experience with the FCS fins, but with the five FCS boxes I’m
excited to try out all sorts of arrangements. Any feedback, recomendations of fin set ups is much appreciated, thx!
I weigh 205 and I like the Occy for its drive if I just want to outrun the barrel and carve a cutback. The FG7 is good all around. The AM7 is l little looser than the others.
My favorite fin is the GMB. It is a really good “all around” template and it’s size works well for bigger guys(although I know a bunch of medium build guys using it as well)
I agree with everysurfer’s advise as well. OCCY’s are good power fins, though not as responsive as GMB’s, they do offer more drive.
Any of the “7” line (M7, FG7, PG7, PC7) would work very well for a bigger guy.
If you want a quad set, go with the PC7q setup. Far superior in almost every respect IMHO
Actually…I think they have a 5 fin set that is a combo for switching between quad and thruster.
If I am not mistaken…the model number would be PC7-5. I’ll check on that for you.
Here’s a crazy idea…
Both of these fins had been described as providing lift in the tail. One is the 3d red tip, the other is a pair of side bits CRV fins. FCS discontinued the CRV but I’m tracking some down.
So here is what I’m wondering… what if you combine the pair of CRV, curved carbon fiber, side bits WITH the 3D red tip? OOOOHHHhhhhhhh.
Well maybe it’s no big deal, but might be worth trying. What ya think?
Here’s some pics so you all know what I’m talking about…
There are no crazy ideas, just ones not yet tried. We will be standing by for a detailed rider report in the morning.
stay with the carbonlites if you can find them
Simon Anderson S2
TC Redlines
AM
Byrnes
The original foam core inside curve 7’s (white/black)
H2 Large
Go to www.surfsource.com
check out the X-Rated fins (you can order from their AUS website too)
They’re foam core lite and stiff (Inside curve too)
get the large ones either design
the ones with the naked comic book girlies are fun
cheap cheap cheap
just as good too!
Hey bro
Tried that one already…the two combined weren’t so good. At least not in the conditions I tried them in(knee high mush balls)
I think the key to CRV’s is a bigger trailer fin. Something like a TP1 or GMB trailer.
The Red Tip also can’t handle any significant force. Mine had pressure cracks after the first few surfs.
Just my 1.874 cents
There’s a reason why no one buys those funky curved fins…I think the only people that have bought them have been the swaylock mad scientists. I think we all have a set, and think we all think they suck?
On my big guy boards i like the K-fins in fiberglass. The ones with the big ugly Dot.
The best fins you can get right now are from this guy. Handcrafted “Adjustable” FCS in G-10
worth every penny believe me. Coming out in an “off the shelf” version in a couple of months
I’m 6’1 and 185-190lbs, and I like both the FG5s and the PC5s. They’re both very light and have very similar templates, but different flex and foil. I like them by themselves as thruster setups, and in combination in quads, with the epoxy FG5s in the back. The PC5s are a bit stiffer, while the FG5s have more flex and are more highly foiled on the inside. The stiffness up front gives great hold on the steep part of the wave and lets you really slam hard into the beginning of the a turn, while the more flexy rear fins help carry that energy through to the last part to the turn. In small surf, the flex in the back also frees up the tail so you can push it around with your back foot a little easier, while the stiffness up front gives better drive in the mush. I played around with all kinds of setups, and found I like this combination the best. Then I spent a lot of time examining both sets of fins, trying to figure out why they work so well together. That’s when I noticed the pronounced inside foil on the FG5s and the difference in flex. Seems pretty logical to me.
I’ve also tried a few off-the-shelf quad sets with bigger fins in front, or different templates front and back, and prefer similar templates, but different foils and flexes.
I had the same question a few years back.
I went through the FCS catalog(also available onlinetake notes)
looked at base and depth figures primarily in mm , took notes ,
categorized fins as within my notes, bought some , experimented.
Go figure!
MR twins > Simon S3 > Occy > Sunny’s > GAM …
Nobody has ‘the answer’ for you.
Go figure, start buying and trying.
As to redtips and curved fins, if you are
considering these then you must already have a sizeable
fcs collection and appropriate fin knowledge to experiment with
these , if not, then my advise is appropriate. Think linearly.
let me introduce you to my friend “lisa”
fcs tabbed
stiff ultralight foam core
80/20 inside foil
H2 copy cat
less than $30
original sin-
if you can convince your closest surf shop to get a Test Drive Center (which we sell all the fins at our cost to the retailer), you can test all the fins they offer with just your cc on hold. without your exact weight, specs, dims, etc… it’s hard to recommened a specific set, but I always suggest to go for a surf and determine what the fins weren’t doing for you and adjust from there.
In regards to some of the suggestions from other swalockians … the OCCY’s and CRV’s are coming back soon in PC hexcore construction in the next couple months. We get some good feedback on the Simon Large Quad, which you could also use as a thruster set. If you’re value oriented, it’s also good to start with the GlassFlex fins that perform incredibly well with stiffer flex patterns than the old black composites.
Any retailer (not many on the peninsula) can custom order and set of fins we carry… we also have the Simon S3 Carbon Lites on sales so you can ask them to order for you on 20% off special
Feel free to call any of us in the office 858-300-2640 and we can always walk you through specifics with real time feedback
Best regards,
Bryant
Hey Rocky(watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat) Oops…sorry…I digress
I don’t know why they would be pissed about me having an oppinion. Besides, I didn’t say the fins sucked.
I simply said they didn’t work well together, number one…number two, the comment about the center fin is not just my oppinion, but the oppinion of every guy that I have talked to that has surfed those fins. Everybody that I have spoken with replaces the center fin with something else. The quad set up looks like it would be killer though.
As far as the comment about the 3D Red Tip, that is my experience and something I have seen a number of times. The arch of the wing tends to exibit stress cracks when surfed in conditions where significant power is used. It has nothing to do with the performance of the fin.
I actually like both of the fins individually, and I like FCS fins. That’s why I sell them.
I doubt Webber or Harris would want to throw down with me for that.
Mahalo
Yo Tod,
It was only in jest, but some good points raised in your reply. I wonder if the cracking is an isolated problem?
As Elko was the main man promoting Harris’s wing fin then it must have been a fault in the mass construction if they were cracking.
I am sure if any one is cracking fins it’s Elko and Harris could crack a few things too, that boy CAN surf.
Maybe you should let FCS know so that they can make sure such a great design does it’s job.
Rocky
Hey Rock! No harm, no foul bro.
Yeah, I’ve seen the cracking on a few of those. Power surfing seems to be the culprit.
In all fairness though, I have seen power surfers completely break regular fins.
In the end, the reality is…I own both the 3D and the CRV’s, allong with my K3’s, GMB’s, etc…etc…etc…
and I owned them long before I was selling them.
I like all of them, and when FCS re-releases the CRV in hex core like Bryant said, you can bet I’ll have a set.
Mahalo
Hey Jay, I saw Ben Aipa down in the parking lot at Kaisers and asked him what his latest thing was. He had curved side fins and that trippy FCS middle fin with the wings. He said he really liked that combination. The one thing that he did mention was that the side fins had a lot of cant so that the tips were almost vertical to the base.
This was at least a year ago maybe a bit longer. I tried the curved side fins and never felt they were anything special. Oneula must have 50 fins that he plays around with, he used to like the curved ones. With the exception of the griffin fins on his 5 fin, or the cutaway design and greenough stage 4 for singles, I use simple basic fins.
Yo OS,
There are lots of good suggestions here. It can be rather confusing trying to make ones mind up what to try.
I’ve been making custom fins for a while so I’d like to share a few ideas:
If you take several fins with the same template and foil them differently they will, of course perform differently. The majority of side fins on the market are flat sided and the over cambered side has pretty much the same foil on almost all fins so making general observations about the materials they are made from and there depth and base length can give a good general comparison of how one can expect a given fin to perform because the foils are so similar.
With this said, the notion of undercambering the inside of the fin comes into play and puts another variable into the picture. Add to that a twist in the fin so the camber of the base is less than that of the tip and you have another variable. The list of variables goes on infinitum, percentage ratio in foils like 80/20, fins panels layed up on a 55 gallon drum, bamboo composites, carbon composites. helical foils, ect. ect. ect.
So where am I going with all of this? Suffice to say that big powerful surfers need more to drive off of. I’m fairly certain you can settle on a rail fin size between 4.625" and 4.75" of depth and be comfortable. As tip area gets larger you get more power but loose release. You’ll want you fins to have a nice taper in the foil but still has some backbone to them so what kind of panel or what type of composite construction they are done with certainly plays in the picture. Big boys don’t do well on thinned out flexible foils. Once you find a set of rall fins you like you can play with trailers for you quad starting at about 3.5" foiled either symmetrically (bigger waves) or unsemmetrically (smaller waves). Differing quad trailer will have a huge effect on performance. For your thruster start with the same size trailer as you rail fins. You can change the trailer on your thruster set-up larger or smaller to make the board more managable in larger or smaller conditions.
Stay Stoked, Rich
[quote="$1"]
Yo Tod,
It was only in jest, but some good points raised in your reply. I wonder if the cracking is an isolated problem?
As Elko was the main man promoting Harris's wing fin then it must have been a fault in the mass construction if they were cracking.
I am sure if any one is cracking fins it's Elko and Harris could crack a few things too, that boy CAN surf.
Maybe you should let FCS know so that they can make sure such a great design does it's job.
Rocky
[/quote]
the following observation is in no way related to any one specific person or any single posting on this thread or any other. any similarities are coincidental: whats up with big mouth, east coast types who talk shit, then when there is a response they backpeddle as if completely unexpected and off the wall. "whoooa dude, jeeez! whoooa like we were only kidding dude sheesh! relax man! youve got an anger problem bro.".shaddap donkey! KA-TONK! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......
hahaha! ok now back to the thread: though its a bit old, its as if it were written for me! im 6'4", 250 lbs and pretty solid. i either surf or bodysurf everyday. live on the west side of oahu, hawai'i. and i just received my brand new freshie 6'8" big guy rocket! im very new to FCS. have always ridden glass ons except for a couple of pin tails that i dont like so mostly collect dust. anyway the freshy has the five fin setup and im dying to experiment and especially to run it quad! but for now i own a set of FCS pg7's and a set of shapers stealth s7's. but i immediately noticed as i torqued down the set screw on the side fins that they were not sitting down flush but displayed a rather o0bvious and annoying gap. i asked the shaper about it and he said i wouldnt even feel it or notice it., anyone else out there had this experience? could it be the result of an incorrect angle of cant? because it is both sets of fins showing the same gap along the base.
~~Aloha
"I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." --as quoted in Bob Woodward's Bush at War