Surfing Waves

Hi there,

I've read through a lot of the 'which first board?' threads and have a decent idea of what I want but just wanted to confirm that I'm not crazy or wildly off-base. I've fallen in love with surfing of late and plan on getting out there as much as work permits (hopefully twice a week). I surf primarily in the Rockaways and Long Island, which means 1-5 foot waves for a good portion of the year. I've been out about a dozen times, the first several on foamies and a few on a cut-out longboard, about 9'. I'm leaning towards getting a funboard (trying one out this weekend), or a mini mal in around the upper 7' range. These two struck me as good options for a good first board to beat the hell out of:

http://www.bicsportsurfboards.com/produ ... 2,480.html
http://www.surfindustries.com/shop/us/s ... longboard/

Couple other useful details - the surf can be pretty mushy, so I'd like something that can handle the really slow days and be easy to get up on, but also allows for some progression in terms of turn control. I also occasionally ride the subway to get to the beach, so smaller is obviously better for that. I'm a smaller dude, 5'7" & 125 lbs., so most things will float me.

Would appreciate any help or advice you guys have - as a beginner kook, I'm very much in need of it! Thanks

Some thoughts, the BIC will be sturdier for knocks and bumps on the subway the Surf Industry board is a standard PU and will develop shatters and cracks more easily from standard knock arounds.
Both the boards will turn OK when you can and both will handle mushy to reasonable conditions.
Both are pretty utilitarian boards for a beginner the BIC will have a longer shelf life for durability , you'll know when you are ready to progress to the next level.
If you can get a lot of time in the water then upper 7ft good, if not go up a notch to 8ft but the trade off is the battered people on the subway .
see how you go!

What Jaffa said. The Bic looks a bit more beginner friendly, but the other one might be slightly 'higher performance' for when you later get better. But either will be good choices and you might just buy a new board when you get better anyway - in which case the easier board to learn on is the best.

As Jaffa said, the Bic will be tougher

Get the cheaper one... or find a similar board second hand.

But look at the bright pink version!! Ooooooooh

Thanks for the great advice! And haha to the above ^

I should have also mentioned that someone at a local boardshop recommended this one. Basically just a longboard with a foot taken out and supposed to be easy to pop up on those mushy days. anyone have experience with it?

http://www.torq-surfboards.com/long-80.html

and this one's slightly shorter:

http://www.torq-surfboards.com/fun-76.html

The torq's are fabulous for beginners like us, you'll find a few on here who rave about them myself included. Just bought the 7'2 version and it's a really good board. I've just stepped down from an 8'4 second hand BIC that has helped me learn enormously.

That 8' looks on the money for you. The shield skin that contains the paint covers two layers of epoxy I believe and because it's essentially a paint layer (I think) it is prone to a little chipping but the board itself is tough and stable, really nice shape and 8' is going to be mint to surf on!

Having said that..you're just starting out. I'd advise once again to get a secondhand big oil tanker like I did, you'll be banging it around and wiping out everywhere having the time of your life and with a cheap secondhand one you really won't mind but will you feel miffed if you trash a brand new board? Just something to consider.

I still kept my BIC btw and took it out the other day because the waves were small, was up on everything and grinning from ear to ear! it's all about the fun and the Stoke!!

Jester wrote:The torq's are fabulous for beginners like us, you'll find a few on here who rave about them myself included. Just bought the 7'2 version and it's a really good board. I've just stepped down from an 8'4 second hand BIC that has helped me learn enormously.

That 8' looks on the money for you. The shield skin that contains the paint covers two layers of epoxy I believe and because it's essentially a paint layer (I think) it is prone to a little chipping but the board itself is tough and stable, really nice shape and 8' is going to be mint to surf on!

Having said that..you're just starting out. I'd advise once again to get a secondhand big oil tanker like I did, you'll be banging it around and wiping out everywhere having the time of your life and with a cheap secondhand one you really won't mind but will you feel miffed if you trash a brand new board? Just something to consider.

I still kept my BIC btw and took it out the other day because the waves were small, was up on everything and grinning from ear to ear! it's all about the fun and the Stoke!!

Thanks dude! Just curious, what is your height/weight? Since I'm on the small side I think the 8' is around the equivalent of the average guy's 8'4"

I'm 6'2 and weigh about 12 stone. I rented foamies for ages and I'm still learning. It's all a numbers game, you need a lot of time standing up to learn stuff, you need a lot of waves to stand up on, you need a board that catches a lot of waves to do that. Congrats on being captain sensible and looking for something that isn't 2" taller than your average traffic cone!