Surfing Waves

Hi all!
posted the same question in surfboard advice forum, but no reply. So i'm checking here. Mod can delete if it's not allowed to double post.

So i got the chance to try out a 7'0 Modern Love Child the other day. All in all i liked the board so i'm considering getting a 7'0 or 7'6.

But! I've heard some loose rumors about Modern boards having weak glass jobs and that they snap and ding more easily then other PU boards. Does anyone here have any first hand experience with Modern boards and the durability?

I live and surf in sweden. So no shapers around and limited option. Especially when it comes to PU boards. It would be great with some input regarding the modern boards.

//Henx

Modern is a GSI board; GSI is pretty good quality control wise as a general rule. Modern are mass produced, so there is always the potential for a bad batch I guess. However, mass production can - with appropriate quality controls - be just as or better than a smaller production.

Any board can break; If you are particularly concerned about it then go for an epoxy board or find a shaper and ask for heavy glassing (2 x 6oz or something like that). I know in Sweden there probably arent many shapers, but modern boards are also not that cheap (in Australia they are the same or very marginally cheaper than a custom board); so you may be able to find one in the UK or France or somewhere that will make a board and send it to you

That said - no, I havent heard anything bad about them I have read some good feedback of the Love Child, it looks like a nice board. The blackfish doesnt look too bad either, pretty similar with a slightly narrower nose. But the fact I havent heard anything bad doesnt mean much one way or the other; since almost every surfs a different board so getting feedback is pretty limited.

Pick one up in the shop and see if you can stick your finger into it (subtly and without damaging the board!). If you can then its lightly glassed and, while it may not break, will get bumps and stuff. If you cant, then its probably (?) tougher.

most of the time a board breaks you will find someone made a mistake - they wont admit it, but usually they put it into the sand or a rock or under a big lip or dropped it a few times etc.

I have not heard about them being weak, but also not that they are more durable. And considering they are a china mass product, they are very expensive here in Europe, too.

At that price, you can have your custom build in a strong material. I.e.

* Channel Island does custom builds across Europe through your local shop in all variants (Strong glassing on PU, Epoxy on EPS, Epoxy on PU).
* Fatum Surfboards in Peniche spend a lot of time with your to find the right shape, build quite fast and and produces very high Quality boards in 2x6oz glass (Poly only) and ship them throughout Europe for around 90 Euro. If you tell them what you like, they will be able to build you something similar.

And there is probably much more.

The GSI 7S Super Fish is a very popular board, and as such, some boards came into our shop for repair after getting dings. I found the glassing to be "Normal", like any other PU board in the shop. During those years, the boards were made at the Cobra Factory in Thailand, which is good. This year, I am not sure were they are made.

Where or what website did you hear this loose rumors of Modern board having weak glassing ? I would like to research that further.

Question - If you so worried about Dings and board SNAPPING, why don't you get a molded epoxy board ?

The 7S was designed from an original shape by Gary Loveridge who was my shaper on the central coast of NSW, a good shaper.
You got a lot of similar answers on your other posts, beyond a set of general opinions we haven't seen you surf so a close fitting recommendation is not possible.
A good all round board is what is continually being recommended, take heed

Thanks for the answers! all in all it seems like no ones heard any horror stories about them at least

Oldie wrote:I have not heard about them being weak, but also not that they are more durable. And considering they are a china mass product, they are very expensive here in Europe, too.

* Fatum Surfboards in Peniche spend a lot of time with your to find the right shape, build quite fast and and produces very high Quality boards in 2x6oz glass (Poly only) and ship them throughout Europe for around 90 Euro. If you tell them what you like, they will be able to build you something similar.

And there is probably much more.

The Fatum boards does look good. Found a few board with the same or similar outline and shape. I will contact them and have a chat

waikikikichan wrote:Where or what website did you hear this loose rumors of Modern board having weak glassing ? I would like to research that further.

Question - If you so worried about Dings and board SNAPPING, why don't you get a molded epoxy board ?

Thanks for the input about the glassing waikikikichan.
As for the rumors they came from a Korean shaper/repair guy. He joked and said that ding fixing modern surfboards is what keeps his business going. The others where some user reviews on some Australian website. I'll see if I can find it again.

As to getting an epoxy board. I have an eps/epoxy longboard wich feels a little to springy and doesn't really handle the wind chop that well. I've been told that PU does better in messy wind swell conditions.

jaffa1949 wrote:You got a lot of similar answers on your other posts, beyond a set of general opinions we haven't seen you surf so a close fitting recommendation is not possible.
A good all round board is what is continually being recommended, take heed

Indeed I have Jaffa. And I listened and figured the shape would be great since I'm coming down from a longboard
The question wasn't so much if the board was right or not. More about construction and durability compared to other PU boards

I surfed the modern love child for the first time last week. The board surfed great and a caught about a dozen waves. When I came back in I noticed the board had compression in the top deck. I know this tends to happen to all boards as the age...but on the first surf! The day was mid sized mushy waves. I had no collisions or bad wipe outs. The compression is from popping up to my feet?! I'm guessing it is a
manufacturing defect. I contacted the place where i bought the board and the company claims this is a wear and tear issue. I followed up with the couple board repair shops on the coast they say this type of problem all the time with Global Surf Industry boards. They figure it is inexperienced workers over sanding the epoxy coat as they mass produce boards. Anyway...its all pretty disappointing. Lesson learned. I won't be buying from GSI again!

Wow Stearie! Sounds like you got a really bad one
I actually didn't end up buying the love child but have been surfing another 7'0 mid length. Was looking at their new "High line" model, but considering what you wrote, i think i'll stick to what i have for now.

Similar story here. Bought a 6.4 Modern LC in white, PU. After 3h in barely surfable 1-2 feet, no power waves. The deck was full of dings. I know that from older boards or heavy usage, tough conditions with lots of compression. I even had a super cheap PU board from Spain, that looked like that after 3 weeks. But this was clear as the coating was way too light to safe money as a shaper told me afterwards. Lesson learned.
I am under 140lbs. I know PU gets dings ... sure, and probably no shop will easily accept a return. However, it feels really bad paying 650€ for a board and having the feeling that it will rather fast disappear under your feet over the next months.
I have a Pukas PU and had a Carbon Wrap ultralight EPS, that cracked even if you looked at it . Had to fix it several times, but it was the obvious out of the water board handling crack. Both look much better after years than the GSI Modern Love Child after 3h.

Shop said, reseller (intermediate dealer) was laughing at him trying to open an investigation for lets say a bad batch.
As you have no chance as a customer, I can't recommend that board. Even if it felt great even in mini waves.
Cheers
Alex

slearie wrote:I surfed the modern love child for the first time last week. The board surfed great and a caught about a dozen waves. When I came back in I noticed the board had compression in the top deck. I know this tends to happen to all boards as the age...but on the first surf! The day was mid sized mushy waves. I had no collisions or bad wipe outs. The compression is from popping up to my feet?! I'm guessing it is a
manufacturing defect. I contacted the place where i bought the board and the company claims this is a wear and tear issue. I followed up with the couple board repair shops on the coast they say this type of problem all the time with Global Surf Industry boards. They figure it is inexperienced workers over sanding the epoxy coat as they mass produce boards. Anyway...its all pretty disappointing. Lesson learned. I won't be buying from GSI again!

That's interesting. My local shop have a few of these. It looks really nice but they kept saying be very careful of it. It's expensive board and each ding will cost $100 to repair. I'm wondering if they knew that it is fragile? I didn't bother renting it and just went with a NSP.

Haha, I would have paid more for the damage than for the new board.
Btw, a friend of mine has the 6.8, I surfed it too. Looks fragile, but no massive ding issues so far. Only 2-3 and some scratches from transports.
So there might be good ones out there. Maybe they have different production sites with different quality rates?
Mine was made in China I think. A lot of companies use offshore production to maximize profits. In case that leads to a higher failure rate then they should cover that. But that's just my assumptions. Maybe its the same quality

BaNZ wrote:That's interesting. My local shop have a few of these. It looks really nice but they kept saying be very careful of it. It's expensive board and each ding will cost $100 to repair. I'm wondering if they knew that it is fragile? I didn't bother renting it and just went with a NSP.

I almost bought a Modern, but a friend of mine showed me spider web cracking in his rails after 6-7 surfs... I also pressed my thumbnail gently into the board at my local shop, and it started to make an impression. And I was NOT pushing hard. It seemed really weak.

In addition, they sell their boards online and undercut their retailers’ prices, which seems kinda shady. That’s my 2 cents.

Tom

I love surfing Moderns, really versatile, good stability and turn easily, but yes, they ding pretty easily. I wish i knew that before purchasing.