Surfing Waves

I'm looking to buy my fiance her first board

she's only just at the stage of standing on a swell board,

there are'nt any boardshops local and i spotted this one on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SURFBOARD-EPOXY-S ... dZViewItem

has anyone owned one of these "epoxy" surfboards? would they be a better bet than a bic or nsp?

Thanks for any feedback

Anythings better than a BIC or NSP

What is EProxy???

Is it a hard surface like fibre glass or???

i dont know exactly what it is but its tough alright and heaps lighter. if your gana surf over reef or shore breaks its the way to go. its a couple hung more expensive though

epoxy boards only have the fact that there like ding/spider crack proof and are really light goin for em. if you think shes gona drop it, or be careless with it then id say go for it but other then that i wouldnt

Cheers, I think it's probably a good idea by the sound of it as she's not the most careful owner.

i have made a few epoxy boards now. epoxy is easier and safer to work with it is more expensive and takes more time than polyester resin boards. they surf much different too you dont get the flex in epoxy boards that polyester has but you get used to and compensate for it epxy boars are much easier to repair and if made right will last you much longer the strength is all in the glass so make sure u r not getting something rapped in 4 OZ cloth i use at least 2 layers of 6 OZ and maybe 10 OZ if the board i am making is bigger, they are more durable there is a very informative web site about epoxy system three or west system

Ive been thinking about getting an epoxy short board myself but Im not sure how they handle as compared to regular boards. I know they are lighter. Im concerned about the shape and how, on the ones ive seen, there is no shape to the bottom of them???

ok. so hand shaped epoxy is the way to go then. my friend has and epoxy board but I looked at the shape of the bottom and it seemed pretty flat as in no contours. maybe contours dont matter?? or maybe his board wasnt hand shaped?? so there are other epoxys with some contours on the bottom then??

im just kind of interested in them because of the durability and because they are so light. i was thinking about getting one but i just wanted to see what other differences there are.

To properly see what shape the bottom of a board is you often need to hold something known to be straight (ruler or something) against the bottom so you can see the slight concaves/vee whatever.
Boards do sometimes have channels that are easily visable, but most don't.
And some boards are flat - or at least have flat areas.

Oh yeah and the shape won't vary according to building materials.

i think what bgdkmetzger2003 was talking about where channels. you neednt worry about these they wont make that big of a difference to you. If you are talking about rocker all boards have different amounts of this the general rule of thumb is that boards with less rocker are meant for slow flat weak mushy waves or a beginner board and choppy conditions. Boards with more rocker are meant for hollow fast powerful bigger waves, clean conditions etc. the reason you dont see epoxy boards with as much rocker because alot of companies make epoxy boards for beginners who are likely going to run their boards aground or into rocks or reef alot! Companies dont want to sell you a high performance board that wont snap because they wont make money that way! bgdkmetzger2003, youll have to do some homework on this because there are a few companies out there that are making short performance boards NSP has some new ones or try have a local shaper make you one. Hell Id make you one but the cost of shipping it would probably be way too much! Good luck

The whole pop-out / custom division is becoming blurred

An epoxy, like surftech, isnt a custom in the sense of going to your local shaper and asking for a board 6'4, soft rails, double concave etc etc, but neither is it a pop-out in the traditional sense like BIC.

They're exact copies of boards that were hand-shaped, but lighter and stronger.

The Donald Takayama board, for instance, was popular way before surftech was about. And Takayama gets royalties (quite a lot of them, apparently) so its still supporting the shapers (although not your local shaper, and a far smaller number of them).

An interesting time in surf design and building, right now. And the custom/pop-out line is going to be more and more blurred



And just to add my opinion, Ive got customs and one surftech, and I love how light it is, and how Ive yet to ding it. Feels slightly strange in an undefinable way at first, but you soon learn that its 'different' not 'bad'

Depending on what type of foam the shaper (or machine) uses, epoxy boards are much more boyant, enabling the shaper to shave alot more foam off of the over all thickness. That is a big part of the reason why epoxy boards are much lighter, also polystyrene foam is way lighter than polyurethene. I take it surftech popouts dont have stringers do they?

i just went to the surftech website, they have bulletproof boards!! The sandwich construction they use with the PVC coating is super strong. They must be based ou tof Cali are they?

I agree with you taht the line is becoming more blurred! And now with clarke going down its only going to get worse! shaping shacks are fast becoming a thing of the past! Ill be making my own as long as I can help it.

wow, there is a lot of new information out there. Thanks for all of the input. I think ill try a find a place where I can have some input on the shape of the board but i will probably be going with an epoxy for my next board.