hey, i was wondering what all of your opinions were on the new surftech boards. i just recently bought a 9’6 surftech board but i think its way too light and way to buoyant. it behaves like a cork. anyway, just wanted to hear your thoughts
Very CORKY!!!
I heard they’re great in waves that have a very low salt content!>>> hey, i was wondering what all of your opinions were on the new surftech > boards. i just recently bought a 9’6 surftech board but i think its way > too light and way to buoyant. it behaves like a cork. anyway, just wanted > to hear your thoughts
In reading the posts on this board, and in talking with several others who have or have have owned Surftech the most poignant message I have for you is: BEWARE, they break! I personally talked with one guy in the water who was on a new fake wood Surftech who told me that his first fake wood Surftech broke in half on a (very) big surf day last winter. It was three months old. I asked him if the company covered the break. Answer:NO! Total loss. Beware the stringerless Surftech. My opinion is you’d be much better off establishing a relationship with a trusted shaper in your community and, together, building your “magic” board.
Very CORKY!!! …my first surfboard was a yellow 7’6" HOLLOW WAVE, hand me own from older brother. wish i still had it, think my parents sold it at a garage sale…what a cork.
In reading the posts on this board, and in talking with several others who > have or have have owned Surftech the most poignant message I have for you > is: BEWARE, they break! I personally talked with one guy in the water who > was on a new fake wood Surftech who told me that his first fake wood > Surftech broke in half on a (very) big surf day last winter. It was three > months old. I asked him if the company covered the break. Answer:NO! Total > loss. Beware the stringerless Surftech. My opinion is you’d be much better > off establishing a relationship with a trusted shaper in your community > and, together, building your “magic” board. I don’t actually have a surftech, but my board is an EPS foam core with epoxy on glass. It is a wood veneer look as well. VERY BRITTLE! I split the nose on the second day surfing. How? I wish I knew. I was a little salty.
In reading the posts on this board, and in talking with several others who > have or have have owned Surftech the most poignant message I have for you > is: BEWARE, they break! I personally talked with one guy in the water who > was on a new fake wood Surftech who told me that his first fake wood > Surftech broke in half on a (very) big surf day last winter. It was three > months old. I asked him if the company covered the break. Answer:NO! Total > loss. Beware the stringerless Surftech. My opinion is you’d be much better > off establishing a relationship with a trusted shaper in your community > and, together, building your “magic” board. Good day, I don’t think that you need to beware of Surftech boards. If you are going to buy any board BEWARE any board will break. Even a redwood board will break! Because the blank is so light Surftech is able to put so much more glass plues the wood veneer on the board that adding a stringer would provide negligible added strength. I guess you could say that the veneer acts like a stringer that surrounds the entire shape. If you are talking about establishing realtionships with trusting shapers do you not trust the likes of Velzy, Yater, Takayama, August, Haut, French, McTavish, Munoz, Stewart, Nuuhiwa, Clark? Those are some of the pioneers of surfboard shaping GARY. They have their boards in Surftech availability and have been now made timeless. When those shapers pass on you will still be able to ride their artestry in Surfech Expoxy board form. I do not work for Surftech but do have a longboard and fish model and both boards are faster more durable than any homegrown back yard shapers creation. I recently took mine to Costa Rica surfed all over and was thankful that my board was not recieving dings with the careless hands of airport personel while moving my boards around. It has always been policy that when you buy a board that there are no guarantes!You buy it and it breaks your out! You take the risk of putting the board in all types of conditions and one in a great while sh*t happens, so is life! I think your BEWARE point is now null. I think beware of a polyester board built buy one who has not had 20+ of shaping and inovative creations like Surftech. I will continue and encourage all of my bros to buy surftechs for life. I have close to 16 friends that have surftechs and they surf better and love the concept. Take care and enjoy whatever you ride!!! :>
BRIAN, I’ll reserve the right to disagree with you. My suggestion to develop a relationship with someone you can trust wasn’t an order, merely a suggestion. My surfing experience has been enriched by becoming friends with knowledgable professionals who know surfing, know shaping, and are willing to take the time with me to build a board that satisfies my needs and desires. I won’t say Surftech couldn’t do that, I just suggested an alternative that has been very satisfying to me. However, I still stand by my “beware” comment. Remember “beware” means to be forewarned, to take heed. I think anyone considering purchasing a Surftech might want to know this bit of information. I know I would. The proportion of stories I have heard/read, and people I have actually spoken with re Surftech breakage is much higher proportionally than of those with the “conventionally” built surfboard. Since this forum is made up of people who have intelligent opinions, I merely stated mine based on past experience. Finally, I have no disaffection with any of the great shapers you mention who have licensed their shapes to Surftech. The concern I have is the product’s longterm durability re breakage. When you pay a premium for a surfboard, you want it to last and live up to it’s reputation. But in closing I would also say that there are probably hundreds of shapers worldwide who could compete with the “names” you mentioned. Those men are NOT the only great shapers alive today. Not only that, the many “unknown” shapers are passing on their experience, ideas and designs to the next generation of surfers who will enjoy the fruits of their knowledge and skill when both of us are down for the count. I admire these myriad of small business owners who have chosen to spend their lives providing lots of fun (and a living for their families) for guys like you and me. SUR4evr
Well Brian’s post got me thinking about this a bit more than I had. I’ve included several links here re stringers as well as extruded Styrofoam vs. EPS vs. polyurethane foams. Anyone interested in purchasing a “stringerless” board needs to research this carefully. It is my opinion that a stringerless board wrapped in a veneer of plastic is not as strong as a board with a stringer re breakage. There are always trade-offs when comparing products. In order to be happy and confident with a decision, a person should know what they are. Granted some of the links are competitors of Surftech but a wiser decision will be made when more minds have a chance to examine the facts and the variables. http://www.pointblanks.com/tech_highlights.html http://www.pointblanks.com/stringers.html http://sites.netscape.net/clarkgliddle/materials.html http://www.harboursurfshop.com/breaking.htm http://www.surfing-in-northdevon.co.uk/archive/clones.htm
I don’t think that you need to beware of Surftech boards. If you are going > to buy any board BEWARE any board will break. Even a redwood board will > break! Because the blank is so light Surftech is able to put so much more > glass plues the wood veneer on the board that adding a stringer would > provide negligible added strength. I guess you could say that the veneer > acts like a stringer that surrounds the entire shape. i haven’t owned or ridden a surftech, but i must question your point “I guess you could say that the veneer acts like a stringer that surrounds the entire shape”. a stringer’s thickness (deck to bottom) along the entire length of the surfboard provides longitudinal rigidity (for lack of better wording) that protects a board from snapping in two when things get hairy. a paper thin wood veneer serving as an extra layer of laminate will not provide this rigidty. the veneer is there for show (and it is beautiful), but at most provides a marginal amount of extra protection against surface depressions in the lamination, ie. pressure dings.
I don’t understand your posting Nib. You are going off what other people say about Surftech boards and it sounds to me like you have never owned one. If we did a focus study with a control group of 100 surfers surfing 4-6 pounding beachbreak for a year you would find that the Surftech boards would not dis-color, spider crack, or pressure ding. The traditional type board would be over with in no time due to wear and tear for the average surfer and a higher percentage of boards cracking. I have broke two boards in my life and both were the traditional polyester board type. One at the point and one in Oahu. I have never broke a surftech and surf town to North daily. I have surfed the Harbor on the most grinding days and have seen my bros snap there polyester boards or received nasty dings from the jacks in the past. My Surftech, no dings and very very strong under powerful conditions. There are many talented surfer/shapers that ride surftechs and trust the thinking behind their advanced technology designs. Your point about Beware of a Surftech that may or may not break does not make alot of sense. Frankily I think it is an ignorant comet and here is why: When you buy a board from any surf shop there is no guarantee or warranty. When you buy a board from a local shaper there is no guarantee or warranty. When you buy a skateboard and break it there is no guarntee or warranty. When you buy a car it comes with a short warranty but no guarantee. My point is that there are way more polyester boards snaping out there than Surftech boards. Take for instance Jeff Clark that surfs Mavericks he charges huge powerful waves and here is a blurb on what his position is with Surftech: This Maverick’s veteran is himself a maverick. Clark had dabbled with epoxy long before producing a Surftech model and as we all know Jeff is no stranger to pioneering things. He was the first to jump on the TUFLITE bandwagon. It was from his past experience that Jeff immediately understood the benefits of TUFLITE, both in and out of the water. Charging the haloed break with TUFLITE Technology in the 99’ - 00’ season. Jeff has yet to pop one - It doesn’t mean he won’t break one or that they don’t break - just that even he is impressed with the increased sensitivity, durability and performance of TUFLITE. This 10’0" is a board designed for very dangerous conditions. See Nib it says right there, Jeff has yet to pop one - It doesn’t mean he won’t break one or that they don’t break . Surftech has never put out any guarantee nor do any other shapers. It would hurt their buisness if they had to replace every broken board. What other place what have a chance to snap boards than Mavs and he surfs it the most. Your point is shot down here once again with these facts. Look at this list of shapers that have their models in Surftech form: M-10 Rat Boy G Minami Santa Cruz Robert August Bear Godon & Smith Rich Harbour Haut Hobie Hap Jacobs Bob McTavish Mickey Munoz Johnny Rice Donald Takayama These guys would not want to have their names tarnished by Surftech if the boards were snapping on everyone and the fact is THEY ARE NOT. These boards are ten times stronger than any polyester board and have a better resale value. Here are some more facts: THE NEXT GENERATION IN SURFBOARD CONSTRUCTION GOAL: Create a more durable, superior-performing surfboard. Everybody knows the Aerospace industry has probed the technology to do it. We see other sports utilizing it. Carbon epoxy golf shafts, tennis rackets, bicycle frames, sandwich epoxy wakeboards, snowboards and sailboards all stronger and lighter, giving better performance to the users. So why not surfboards? RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: Our composite construction is the culmination of over ten years of research and development. Surfers have been waiting for a surfboard that has more durability without losing performance. SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE: Our first and foremost goal is superior performance. This is achieved by perfect shape reproduction. TUFLITES are produced by first matching a pre-tested design, then cloning that board again and again so the surfer purchasing it knows it’s going to perform. The second aspect of performance is weight. A lighter board is more responsive and sensitive. This allows quicker direction changes and tighter positioning on the wave, higher aerials, and more controlled floaters. STRUCTURAL DURABILITY: A board with structural durability does not mean it’s undingable or unbreakable. It is a board engineered not to fall apart under your feet while surfing. The deck is engineered not to crush in and delaminate from general surfing. The body is tough enough to take those little thumps here and there without opening up holes. HOW DOES TUFLITE ACHIEVE THIS? Our shaped blank is E.P.S. - Expanded Poly Styrene (styrofoam). E.P.S. is the lightest shapeable foam on earth. Over the last 40 years, it has been highly refined for just this type of high-impact usage. While generally viewed as a cheap low quality foam, it actually has physical properties substantially superior to urethane foams in two critical areas. First, it is resilient. It has memory so if you hit it, it absorbs the shock and springs back. This minimizes pressure dents. Second is shear resistance. This means it will not tear easily resulting in delamination. The E.P.S. shaped blank is three times lighter than a standard foam blank. We take all the weight savings from the lighter blank and apply a much thicker, more durable high-tech sandwich skin. THIS IS NOT GARAGE TECHNOLOGY! It requires sophisticated tooling, precision laminating and resin handling. The lamination is actually bonded to the blank with heat and pressure. Every board is completely cured before it leaves the factory. At the center of the sandwich is a high-tech PVC sheet foam. This is very expensive, heat resistant and impact-tolerant material. Once the glass is placed on both sides of the sheet foam and wrapped completely around the softer E.P.S. core, you have a tough exterior skin with a light interior. This creates the ultimate surfboard structure – light, strong and most of all responsive. These boards catch waves easier, turn sharper, hit the lip harder and higher, give you more sensitivity, and liveliness than anything you have ever ridden. Everything the urethane foam board achieved in performance over balsa wood, this technology surpasses that difference over standard urethane boards. This is the next generation. The latest developments are with NHS using Surftech’s technology for their team of riders for the top shortboard designs. Now why would some of the TOP surfers be going with Surftech as the chosen to OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) their boards? Also Rat Boy, that guy is a very talented surfer who goes big on airs and surfs all types of waves. Why would he have his name on boards and for all the groms that are buying that model take a chance on the technology because their friends that are riding them are so stoked on the concept. I think you are so wrong to bad mouth Surftech with your beware statements and you have no hard evidence besides a few folks who have had some bad luck. With all I have stated in the above I have many more people backing Surftech that live and breath surfing for all their lives. People who have pioneered surfing and people trust their boards in the epoxy form to be sold. I know that there is probably jeaulousy that may exist because there is a Surf company that is being very successful in todays competitive surfboard market. But you do not have to make the Beware arguement because I could be here all day saying beware of this or that and people could shoot me down all day like I have with your statment. Just remember SHAPERS DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT THEIR BOARDS WILL NOT SNAP NO ONE DOES AND WILL NEVER HAVE A PLAN TO DO SO. Now I hope that was loud enough and you understand this fact. If anything beware of crowded breaks, HIV, hepatitis, shark infested water, surf schools, lime disease, ecoli, FEAR TACTICS.
hey, i was wondering what all of your opinions were on the new surftech > boards. i just recently bought a 9’6 surftech board but i think its way > too light and way to buoyant. it behaves like a cork. anyway, just wanted > to hear your thoughts Can’t believe the pool guy hasn’t responded to this one yet.He has a pretty good relationship with those guys and apparently they are working on the weight problem.(the too light/corky thing seems to be a common issue,especially with longboards).
i haven’t owned or ridden a surftech, but i must question your point > “I guess you could say that the veneer acts like a stringer that > surrounds the entire shape”. a stringer’s thickness (deck to bottom) > along the entire length of the surfboard provides longitudinal rigidity > (for lack of better wording) that protects a board from snapping in two > when things get hairy. a paper thin wood veneer serving as an extra layer > of laminate will not provide this rigidty. the veneer is there for show > (and it is beautiful), but at most provides a marginal amount of extra > protection against surface depressions in the lamination, ie. pressure > dings. theres no way a surftech is more snap resistant. maybe minor dings, but for me,i’ll never buy one. sure all those shapers are great, but they are going for the $, clear and simple. not to mention they’re not even made in the u.s…thats a good enough reason for me. also, what if you like your board, but want the next one 1/4" wider and 1/8" thinner, with a little more concave and a little less rocker…oh too bad, can’t do that. i’m all for progress, but i don’t see these boards as the next step.
theres no way a surftech is more snap resistant. maybe minor dings, but > for me,i’ll never buy one. sure all those shapers are great, but they are > going for the $, clear and simple. not to mention they’re not even made in > the u.s…thats a good enough reason for me. also, what if you like your > board, but want the next one 1/4" wider and 1/8" thinner, with a > little more concave and a little less rocker…oh too bad, can’t do that. > i’m all for progress, but i don’t see these boards as the next step. i have ridden some of them too
theres no way a surftech is more snap resistant. maybe minor dings, but > for me,i’ll never buy one. sure all those shapers are great, but they are > going for the $, clear and simple. not to mention they’re not even made in > the u.s…thats a good enough reason for me. also, what if you like your > board, but want the next one 1/4" wider and 1/8" thinner, with a > little more concave and a little less rocker…oh too bad, can’t do that. > i’m all for progress, but i don’t see these boards as the next step. I see that Rat, AR, and Barney are tearing on the SC Surftechs. So what if they are not made in the US what is anymore. Is the car/truck, clothes, food, electronics that you purchase all made in the USA? Not! They are by far way snap resistant look at jclark surfing mavericks. Is that not enough proof there? Those boards are much stonger you cannot argue with the science and chemicals of epoxy vs. standard resin. Look what boats are made out of Epoxy. Because they are tougher and last longer. Yes you do compromise on the dimension but you can have a custom one drawn up. Just ask! Those boards are not only the next step they are now everywhere and people are stoke on them world wide. GO SURFTECH GO!!!
Hey employee of the month, this crowd makes their own boards start to finish. What makes you think they want a pop out? re: breakage, I have haven’t broken a board since I was in high school. The trick? Keep it away from the lip. I’ve seen a couple of those “beautful” wood thingies floating around, they look like they surf atrocious. Boing, boing, boing. Oh, “Rat Boy” has one? Gee, let me get my freaking wallet out. Nice color job on that one bro bro. HAHAHA!
I don’t own a surftech board…I could care less who rides them…I like riding the creations of my own mind and hands…It gives me a lot of satifaction to design, build, and surf a new board. Follow the crowd and become a sheep…think outside the box and end up on a rubber raft…breaking a board would only give me a great reason to make another one…as if I needed a reason…
Surftech boards may be more durable than some other boards. The difficulty is they cannot easily(cheaply)be customized for the individual. If you are interested in an advanced technology that still involves the custom shaping you need to advance your surfing, you should check out Surflight boards. Note: I have no connection to the company. I am simply impressed by their ideas, particularily with regard to the question of flex.
no one asked you tuna.
That was a mindless post secret surfer. Go back to surfing your porn smart guy! You get what you pay for!