Trying to decide on Shortboard style/ brand

The-Ry-Man06

Hi, I won a board recently. It's a 7'6" circle one jeff townsley. Unfortunately i already have a 7'10" heritage pretty much the exact same board. I sort of want to trade it in for a shorter 6'10" spyder or something. I know barely anything about short boards. can someone advise me on brand or particular style/shape/tail??

Also if anyone's interested in the 7'6" throw me a PM. not sure about price or anything yet. Ill be taking some pics and throwing it up on adverts probably in the next week or so.
Cheers.

loctite

Pretty big jump.......
If your insisting on dropping down, make sure its got loads of volume.....i.e width & thickness.

The-Ry-Man06

Ye its grand i've surfed a 6'1" for a while and im not into this goin smaller for the sake of it so id be going with something with a fair bit of volume. Just really looking for advise on brand or style of board people have found good.

spaceHopper

The-Ry-Man06 wrote: »

Ye its grand i've surfed a 6'1" for a while and im not into this goin smaller for the sake of it so id be going with something with a fair bit of volume. Just really looking for advise on brand or style of board people have found good.

Instead of been spoon feed you'd be better off doing some reading on line about surf board shapes and what to look for.

loctite

Spyders are nice board......... Used to surf an exec, loved it...

But it had a super light glass job on it. The board full of dings....... I know someone with a spyder 70's fish and same deal......

Still great boards though......

The-Ry-Man06

spaceHopper wrote: »

Instead of been spoon feed you'd be better off doing some reading on line about surf board shapes and what to look for.

I'm just looking for some advise! Of course im looking on line also but i've found talking to people surfing the same breaks, explaining the level i'm at and getting feedback on their preferces is a lot more helpful than reading usually biased articles about popular surfboard brands in different countries

kodute

You want to move down from 7'10 to 6'10 skipping the 7'6 altogether? Its a big jump. Why not try the 7'6 first see if you like it?

Talk to a shaper too. They'll give you good advise you on what to get

The-Ry-Man06

Ye It might be a little challenging at first but I should be alright i've used a fair few boards before with not all too much difficulty. The 7'6" is just too close to the 7'10" i have at the moment. I was thinking of dropping to a 7'2" but i think ill just take the plunge and go that little shorter.

OldGuysRule

What size are you? That has an influence on any recommendations anyone can pass on.

What shape of board are you riding at present, a minimal, fat boy flyer, large thruster, retro single fin? The length is only one characteristic of a board. You note that you rode a 6'1" for a while, was it a low volume, high performance thruster or a nice chunky fish?

A key question; What do you want out of a new board. Do you like agressive turns / snaps, down the line speed, cruisy sweeping arcs across the facem or just catching the most waves possible? As said before, tal to a shaper, there are enough of them around the country and they are generally skilled at taking what you say and making the right recommendation

What kind of waves are you surfing at present, I am presuming you can get out the back and ride an unbroken wave, get a couple of turns in and what not. If not, going that short might be a step too far at this stage.

donga_perkins

To be honest if you're talking about "Brands" then you're more than likely talking about a Chinese Children board, built in a factory in China either by a machine or someone who's never even seen the ocean. I really wouldn't be thinking in 'brands' at all, I'd be thinking in shapers.

Like the lads said, talk to a shaper. Nothing will beat a good board built by a good local shaper.

What's also important is that you're starting to push the limits of the 7'6 right now. If you're not then I wouldn't really recommend a drastic change.

gumbynation

when i went for the step down i went for a 6'10 Jason Stevenson thruster which i got in perth. i still use it 6 years later when its 1.5x overhead plus.
im 73kilos and abotu 5'9. found it a great board to learn to do turns on and solid enough to take to indonesia so that worked for me.
when looking for your step dopwn board you should be considering your size and weight. if you are riding a 6'1 your obviously not a heavy bloke so a 6'10 might work well for you too.
ive seen a few rusty baords in shops but the look lik they are all made in that super factory in thailand (someone correct me in wrong)
a few shops in bunoran have been importing boards from oz/france i think so you can pick up a quality made 'brand board' but why would you want one?

for your purposes you shoudl talk to a shaper. youll get one cheaper off them then you wil pick up a DHD JS Chili 'topbrand' baoird int this country and you'll be getting one custom made for your purposes from guys who know what they are doing.
just be honest about your ability and the direction you want your surfing to go.
also rich at westbay surfboards up in portrush maybe worth a shout if you are up that way.
good luck

The-Ry-Man06

Ye cheers didn realise that about the poor quality branded boards. Ill definately get in touch with a local shaper see what they reccomend. I'm 6'0" and 12 stone. The 6'1"x19"x2"1/2 'cult' shortboard i used had very little volume and i found it quite frustrating. It was a standard enough shape with very little volume in the nose and a swallowtail. I find the turning action on the 7'10" too slow and i'm not making the most of the unbroken wave. This is the main reason for going smaller. I dont tend to catch very big waves so ill need a fair bit of volume. What sort of price would i be lookig at for a custom board compared to a one of the various production boards?

spaceHopper

The-Ry-Man06 wrote: »

Ye cheers didn realise that about the poor quality branded boards. Ill definately get in touch with a local shaper see what they reccomend. I'm 6'0" and 12 stone. The 6'1"x19"x2"1/2 'cult' shortboard i used had very little volume and i found it quite frustrating. It was a standard enough shape with very little volume in the nose and a swallowtail. I find the turning action on the 7'10" too slow and i'm not making the most of the unbroken wave. This is the main reason for going smaller. I dont tend to catch very big waves so ill need a fair bit of volume. What sort of price would i be lookig at for a custom board compared to a one of the various production boards?

If you aren't making the most out of the 7'10 then you need more practice, you should be able to catch a clean wave, make the bottom turn and surf the face, all a short board will do is let you do sharper turns on the face.... why not get an improves lesson for one of the shops in Bundoran or Ben's surf clinic they should be able to tell you what short board to go for.

gumbynation

just to be clear,
not all of the 'brand name' boards for sale in shope in ireland are thai factory built crap.
im pretty sure a couple of the shops in bundoran are importing australian built DHDs and maybe some others but at a steep price.
the classified sections of irishsurfer.com and longboardireland are both worth a look if you want to save some coin.

sports physio

Hey all im surfin about a year now and have 7'10 but i think i have outgrown it and want to move onto a smaller board, i recently seen a guy with a board about 7" or so but it looked really wide with loads of volume. I didnt get to ask him what make it was but it looked like a nice step down .. can any guide me to a brand to make shortboards like that ? most iv looked at seem to narrow n slim ...

cheers
Derek

spaceHopper

sports physio wrote: »

Hey all im surfin about a year now and have 7'10 but i think i have outgrown it and want to move onto a smaller board, i recently seen a guy with a board about 7" or so but it looked really wide with loads of volume. I didnt get to ask him what make it was but it looked like a nice step down .. can any guide me to a brand to make shortboards like that ? most iv looked at seem to narrow n slim ...

cheers
Derek

It's probably what's called a fun shape, or a fat boy flyer - have a look on donedela.ie gumtree.ie and adverts.ie there's loads of boards knocking about