Surftech's

General Discussion
1

Hi people,

Got some questions regarding the Surftech’s - I gather some of you ride them or have ridden them, some may like them and others may not!!!

After conducting my own research into the product I have now weighed up the pros and cons to come to my conclusion.

However - I do have issues with the rigidity and stiffness of the Surftech. Am I right in saying that the Surftech’s are sooo stiff that they don’t allow for natural flex unlike a poly board??? Now when you take into account a high performance shaped 9’ Surftech longboard, the slightest flex is going to react greater to a longer board than that of a short board of the same construction. What i’m trying to say is - if I put a 9’ Surftech in a situation like free-falling a 3-4ft floater will the impact (and lack of flex) put the board under so much stress that it breaks in two pieces??? Are the Surftech’s too stiff???

Any thoughts or experience on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

I know the Surftech thing has been done to bits but i’m trying to pinpoint my main concerns.

While we’re on the subject - I find Surftech’s marketing is absolutely shithouse. I am not near a surfboard “supermarket” and don’t want to be, so the closest I can get to the product is via the internet or a magazine. The internet hasn’t been updated in months with all the latest longboard designs - I am only aware of new designs by the longboard mags which advertise the Surftech’s. Even then, you don’t get any description of what conditions that particular design is best suited to - thats what shits me the most.

FREDO

2

Fredo,

  1. Surftechs are tougher in most situations. I think that the scenario you described is very extreme and would place bets on the Surftech coming out unbroken more often than Poly.

  2. I agree that info on these boards is sparse, for example what are the rails like on any of these boards. But I disagree that they are slow to update the website. I notice updates frequently.

  3. I have seen the boards being made and can say that the workers are well paid and take incredible pride in their work. The standards of quality manufacture in general challenge any surfboard factory in the world in my opinion.

  4. Having said this I wonder how long it will be before the design of the boards are rejigged to account for the difference in density. Changing the thickness of the board is not the only change that is due.

3

I disagree.

Surftech’s stand more chance of surviving falling off your car at 70 mph than they would to survive axeing from a 3’ hollow wave.

Different forces at work here.

And if you know anything about Cobra’s construction history, you would know it’s full of pratfalls, shortcuts, and delam problems.

I WOULD ride a Surftech, just knowing it’s stronger against everyday dings and the lightweight hi performance possibilities.

But 9’ boards in general are prone to breakage, adding surftech construction just makes it worse.

4

For me, nothing will ever beat a custom made handshaped surfboard from a reputable shaper made in my own country.

5

you mean like this !!! check pics , inline pics loaded to big …

the following is a comment from a customer who brought one of my boards from an eastern states retailer…

Quote:

I have found your boards exceptionally strong with no degradation[=1] in 2 to 3 years I have a tufflite malibu I used on and off for about 3 months which when I cleaned the wax under where my back foot was the where indentations like a normal polyester board.

[=Black][ 2]even the surftechs still have a long way to go to achieve true durability …[/][/]

they could be building bullet proof boards right now …

but unfortunatly there being lead by the conventional board industry ,

who have no idea about the concepts of this construction , so you have the blind

leading those with the technology…

i could give a detailed description of why they still snap , and why they are to rigid

and why the rigidity effects performance , why they still dent , even tho other sandwich boards dont .

why there cores are brittle , why they dont tolerate shear movement and what effect this has on durability and performance combined …but im in one of those cant be bothered surfed out moods …its all in previous posts of mine , both here and surfer…

but even where they are currently at … no comparison to an outdated polyester board …

a conventional board will still snap easier in the same circumstance …

interesting that they would refine there construction techniques and update there jigs …

why would they do that if theyve created the latest and greatest technology???

as usual we will probably get all the standard arguements and propaganda over construction and which is best …

but id hardly say that anyone who hasnt had experience with thousands of both types of construction and kept data on strength to weight ratios and put many different constructions including surftech style and conventional constructions to

the test … would have any real idea anyway …

youll mostly get anecdotal evidence and varying opinions …

so the thing keeps going around in circles …

what youll read in a surf mag is hype and marketing …

no real science or honest appraisals …

whos gonna be the fox that gets the gingerbread man ???

enjoy the pics

regards

BERT

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6

try again

hopefully these load better…



7

Cheapest EPS foam and no stringers. You decide.

8

hey whats going on ?? i can see a stringer on the outside ??

are they trying to trick us …

from the outside it looks like the real thing …

who knows maybe one day they get some expert help , at a price of coarse…

but as usual theyll probably be trying to source information on the sly , and get it for nothing …

better get my stick ready for whacking day …

watch out for snakes…

regards

BERT

9

There was a posting on longboard.net by someone who recently broke their Surftech longboard (as well as a Boardworks) while on a recent trip to Costa Rica. The poster said:

“I broke both epoxies in real hollow waves. The waves were breaking hard and I was pulling into thick closeout barrells. Just bent the boards and snapped them two pieces.”

Not much more information than the above description is provided in the thread, but I guess you could contact the person who posted their experience.

10

the stringers are just painted on with dark varnish. you see this on al the cobra boards, surftech, RRD, starboard…FAKE

11

“I was pulling into thick closeout barrels”, he wrote, and both his boards were broken.

Why do the innocent have to suffer? Effing stooopid, what did he expect?

If a wave has sufficient energy to substantially bend a board, it probably has enough to snap it. A little flex, more or less, ain’t gonna matter. Damn near all the offshore boards I’ve seen are WAY stronger than ANY shop PU/PE board.

Four ounce bottoms with double four decks MY ASS. They crush. They ding. They snap. It’s good for business.

12

Honolulu,

In fairness to the person whose quote I excerpted from longboard.net in my post above, he goes on the say in his post:

“It was the last few days of my trip and I was being stupid.”

Pretty costly move.

13

Well I guess he has SOME appreciation for his foolish moves. But then, he didn’t have to ship 'em back from wherever those hollow barrels were.

14 
Howzit Honolulu, They are a piece of junk, one friend had his break just paddling out at in 3 foot Rock Quarry and another frind had his break pushing through a 4 foot wave at Hanalei Bowl. If you've ever seen a broken one up close you'd think it was made out of a styro foam cooler. One of my room mates bought one and when he got it home he found a stress like crack on the bottom about a foot back from the nose. The board had not been ridden yet so there was no reason for the crack due to surfing. Well the reason was the composite they use comes in 8 foot lenghts so anything over that is pieced together which makes for a weak area. Hanalei surf co took the board back and gave the room mate a great deal on one of the wooden models and he just hung it on the wall which as far as I'm concerned that's where they all belong. Aloha,Kokua
15
Quote:

Damn near all the offshore boards I’ve seen are WAY stronger than ANY shop PU/PE board.

huh???

Problem is they come in one strength: “what they give you.”

16

Here’s a pic of a Tuflight that snapped on what looks like a mushy day.

17

when the NEW knock offs come to market all the old time surf tech guys will have their own finger pointing excercise and the new riders of the enpurpled maze of marketing confusion will get topical and lobby for the vote of any undecided surfboard “consumer” yes thats what they are and will become not maker not rider not affectionado not devotee not repairmen and women but …consumers…get that straight… like a cow or an elephant or horse with their head down and masticating all day for survival …consume to live…and best of all shop for the best fodder to graze on … herd animals unight the darkness that surrounds is comforting when you have an ad campagin to hold onto …ambrose, and it’s good because some guy said so …whatshisname you know the hot guy that won the confrontatiion with criterion on the krappy day at the best spot in the world where that guy on krak got beat up

18

Related question for the Hawaii guys: In recent travels over to the islands, I’ve been really surprised at the amount of Surftech/Boardworks longboards in the line-ups. Why do you think they are so popular over there? Here in San Diego this is almost a “non-issue” by comparison - very few of these “molded” boards in the line-ups here (once again, “comparatively” speaking). Is it because of a cost/difficulty issue in getting Clark (or Walker) blanks into the hands of the shapers? Just an observation that got me thinking…

19 
Howzit msacht, It's possible that we aren't as bias when it comes to giving new ideas a chance. There are a few guys in the line up riding them but those same guys also have a few custom poly boards in their quivers. Personally I wouldn't own one even if they gave them away for free. Aloha,Kokua
20

board whores all…the economy is such over here that people can and will ride anything,and if they can save 30$ they will ride it for a yeareven if they dont like it …they will deny themselvesexcellent quiptment for a mere 30 $ until they come accross the legendary deal of a lifetime,which by the way happens often when visitors leave behind boards to expensive to return ship…honolulu surftech saturation in rental fleets is obvious advantage and just overflow from that as well as military retail outlets factoring into the equation … ambrose… recreational suring solutions to save $ and wait time