Surfing Waves

Im somewhat new to surfing, and am looking at getting a board, but ive surfed with a friends before for a while. I'm wondering what the the big differences are between the epoxy boards vs. the fiberglass. i understand the fiberglass boards already, but the epoxy has EPS cores and Extruded polystyrene "closed" core epoxy boards are kinda confusing. Im wondering what the performance differences are between the epoxy boards vs. the traditional fiberglass. From what ive heard the epoxy EPS "open" cores can take on water if dinged badly so i figured id check with more exprerianced people before i buy one.

EPS/Epoxy flex more than a regular PU/PE board, yellow quicker, float more, soak in water alot quicker, and get delamination easier. Both boards are made with fiberglass but one has epoxy resin and eps foam and the other has polyester resin and PU foam.

There is a thread in the shortboard area entitled "growing" in which I've posted a few details about the construction of Epoxy and Custom EPS boards.

As I see it these are some of the differences: -

If you buy Epoxy (Surftech, Santa Cruz etc) then you buy it off the rack. Unless you are lucky enough to find a board with the exact dimensions & spray you want, you will have to pick the board with the nearest specs.

If you buy PU, you can have whatever dimensions, rails, rocker, tail shape, glass job, etc you like. If you get a good shaper, you can have a huge amount of input on your board, right down to the graphics. You can do this with custom EPS, but because epoxy is nasty stuff, not many shapers do them at the moment.

It is the general opinion that the Epoxy boards are more durable than PU boards. PU boards ding, pressure dent & snap. Epoxy boards ding, but don't pressure dent so much. The outer layers often chip off, rather more easily than you would hope. Epoxy boards still snap, although apparently they do take a bit more of a pounding to do so! Epoxy resin isn't affected by UV light so much as fibre glass resin, meaning your PU stick will yellow in the sun.

The heavier the glass job on a PU board, the more weighty it is. Because Epoxy boards are tough, they don't need such heavy outer layers so tend to be lighter. This adds to the performance, but you can get blown off the face if it's strong offshores. Some boards rely on their weight for performance, things like retro shapes and logs don't go so well in Epoxy because they haven't got the weight behind them.

Epoxy boards and EPS board are supposed to flex more than PU boards. stringered EPS boards obviously don't have so much flex as the un stringered versions. Epoxy boards absorb energy as you pump down line, which correlates to propulsion and speed that reacts with the flexing deck and bottom, meaning you've got a board that maintains speed and in theory should turn better.

Top end Epoxy and EPS boards tend to be more expensive than PU boards.

EPS is open celled which means if you ding the board it soaks up water like a sponge & is then pretty much knackered. However, new technology EPS can be engineered to densities similar to polyurethane foam, yet much stronger, and fused to be virtually waterproof. It's worth finding out which is inside the board as obviously it can make a huge difference.

There are hundreds of differences, but these are the main ones that I can think of !

Hope it helps
ECS

so as you see it, what would you pick as far as performance and value? a PU board, and then if you had the money for something all performance a high end "closed" epoxy board?

miamisurfer wrote:EPS/Epoxy flex more than a regular PU/PE board, yellow quicker, float more, soak in water alot quicker, and get delamination easier. Both boards are made with fiberglass but one has epoxy resin and eps foam and the other has polyester resin and PU foam.

Um.... major generalisation going on there...
Depending on the construction (there are lots. Lumping them all under 'epoxy' doesnt help), a quality epoxy board (as opposed to a BIC/NSP type pop-out) flex less, soak in water similar or less, and dont delaminate. Oh, and they dont yellow.

Eastcoastsurfshop is on the ball though. Except for the flex, maybe... in theory the EPS flex more, but thats now what it feels like in the water.
The lack of flex is one reason people dont like them, and why they can feel 'corky'.

drowningbitbybit wrote:The lack of flex is one reason people dont like them, and why they can feel 'corky'.

Thats not quite true, the new Santa Cruz are have as much flex as a PU board, and the Surftech TL2's are equally as flexible.

Surftech boards now have a waterproof core too.

And compsand.com boards are flexy and not corky... And 100% custom.

-doug

northswell wrote:

drowningbitbybit wrote:The lack of flex is one reason people dont like them, and why they can feel 'corky'.

Thats not quite true, the new Santa Cruz are have as much flex as a PU board, and the Surftech TL2's are equally as flexible.

As I said... lots of different constructions, and lots of different characteristics.

To be specific - shorter Tufflite/surftech boards dont flex

Mine does. Just tried 3 of the boards in the shop, and my 6'5'' Stretch flexes as much as the PU boards i've got in.

I was talking about a regular open-celled eps board that you would get from a local shaper not a popout. When I hear epoxy/eps I think of an open-celled eps blank with epoxy resin and fiberglass, not one of those popouts.

I am currently thinking about buying a high end epoxy board from Jirah Laws (Aus open champion) Direct from him they are $500 bucks in shops they retail for 700 odd. I did read that taj burrow at bells won on an epoxy board.

This is the company who Taj burrow now uses for his boards

http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/

easty

personally i don't like epoxy boards, they don't feel right to me, although many people ride them these days, and a lot of good riders use them too. although i did like my mates Santa Cruz board

What about poleyester boards (O shea) they any good / strong what are the diffrenses from epoxy / fibr glass?

I think it is what you are used to as to what you will like the feel of. I basically have surfed epoxy for the last few years, I love them. Poly feels heavy and sluggish. The new TL2 surftechs have a waterproof core and feel just like a poly board with flex, but with a stronger outer skin so it should ding less. I can hardly wait to try one out. My friend bought a Firewire, says it is insane, super responsive, better than his custom poly's, and it is his first epoxy ride ever.
Before you buy, try. You might be suprised at what you like.
Unless you want one of Kitesurfer's Harmergeddon custom's, then just buy it. The guy is an ANIMAL at shaping!

jethrodog wrote:I think it is what you are used to as to what you will like the feel of. I basically have surfed epoxy for the last few years, I love them. Poly feels heavy and sluggish. The new TL2 surftechs have a waterproof core and feel just like a poly board with flex, but with a stronger outer skin so it should ding less. I can hardly wait to try one out. My friend bought a Firewire, says it is insane, super responsive, better than his custom poly's, and it is his first epoxy ride ever.
Before you buy, try. You might be suprised at what you like.
Unless you want one of Kitesurfer's Harmergeddon custom's, then just buy it. The guy is an ANIMAL at shaping!

Blatant pimp, but I am with you on this one.

Maybe it is time to start to charge him more rent for my workshop .

I tried a 10ft surftech Takayama nose rider in Bude two weeks ago and it was great - I could throw it around like a mini mal, and it was light enough for the other half to carry it down to the beach.

I am totally sold on epoxy at the moment, and looking forward to getting a Robert August and a Stretch....they are not bullet proof, but they appear to be alot stronger than fibreglass/foam. As far as I can see the surftech/ tuflite constructions are the market leaders at the moment...