OK, now I know a lot of you will hate this subject, however these boards are everywhere here in the UK. One thing however I am noticing a lot of is people who have bought these boards are finding they are having problems with the seams going on the rails, these becoming porous and then leading to the boards delaming/ splitting all the way along the seams. For a board that is relatively expensive, getting only 6 months use out of a 10ft Noserider seems to be very expensive!!!
As a borerider, these boards are popular because they are supposed to be virtually indestructable… However, this myth seems unfounded as most of these guys are now having real problems with their boards sucking in water!
So…has anyone run into similar problems and what is the best way to repair them? Is drying them out and vacbagging the best way, or are there better/ easier techniques? Thanks.
I’m not a shaper, so I don’t care what you ride or repair. When I first started windsurfing, I had 2 Bic windsurfers and these are a lot like Bic windsurfers. You can repair them with a heap of epoxy and fiberglass, but it’s still going to be heavy and ugly-er when you’re done. The skin of those boards is what is hardy, but the way they are joined together at the seems makes them real susceptible to delam over time, especially when repeatedly exposed to significant heat while on land, then thrown in cold UK water. The potential good news is that Bic may honor warranties for delams.
Look to the windsurfing community in regards to these boards. Bic windsurfers are as impressive as their surfboards in the same way that Lucas Electrics are as impressive in classic British cars as they are in refrigerators. They’ve been making boards that are susceptible to splitting at the seems for a long time. Their shapes are okay looking and ride okay, but everything about them, including their construction, is mediocre at best compared to other boardmakers. If you want something that is Bic-like in terms of having a strong, resilient shell, go with an NSP of some sort. They seem less likely to split on the seem. If your customers should realize that there is no such thing as an inexpensive surfboard. They can either pay for quality upfront that will also be decent to resell or pay for repairs over the lifetime of the board and not be able to give it away.
If your customers should realize that there is no such thing as an inexpensive surfboard. They can either pay for quality upfront that will also be decent to resell or pay for repairs over the lifetime of the board and not be able to give it away.
Not my customers, just fellow surfers I meet. This is why I make my own boards and why I make custom boards for others. It is just an observation I have seen that these BICs’ do seem to delam easily. Will mention the warranty aspect to one guy I know whose board is 6months old. Thanks
You can use petex stix and a soldering iron to repair bic boards, get them from a snowboard shop. I’ve also seen people use P45 car body filler, but i think this looks ugly.
I got a Bic Longboard after I broke 7 boards in one summer in Florida (old boards and a couple repaired snaps, and yes I am 3/4’s kook). I had it for about 6 mo and my roomate who had never been surfing before buckled it when he got piched on a shallow beach break where they had been dredging. I am not sure if the shop that I went to pulled some strings for me since I had been so generous with my credit card there, but supposedly Bic sent me a new one in exchange for the buckled one. The replacement was identical except that it was a hideous yellow color. It lasted me several years even in (sometimes) pounding Imperial Beach, CA surf. I traded it to another learner here in DC since I always ride short or Fish now.
I never had any problems with splitting at the seams though… I wonder if they are being left in the sun for extended periods or could benifit from a vent?
When I was learned to surf I rented a BIC for a couple of years because at that point my parents weren’t sure if the whole “surfing” thing would stick. I see them mostly used by shops as rental boards and instead of having large dings on the deck or the bottom, they are almost all split down the rails. Most shops just use duct tape to keep them together, and because they’re rental boards they don’t care if they suck in water. The boards get replaced almost every season, so duct tape is cheaper than repairing the boards. Unless you take great care of them, they’re not really worth it compared to other cheap epoxy boards (NSP, Southpoint) which don’t split at the seams.
email the bic guys you can google bic surfboards for their site . … the bic I’ve surfed on was plastic so I guess you could use h20 proof plastic cement for those