Surfing Waves

Hey ive been bodyboarding for years and years and now im trying surfing. ive rented a board a few times and i love it so much i want to buy my own. any advice on brands and sizes. im around 5'5 and was thinking of a 7'9 longboard. would this be ok? and what are bic boards like?

cheers!!!

im no expert on board sizes as i have only been surfing for roughly 2 weeks although like you i had bodyboarded for years. I have a 7.8" tdk funboard and im 6.1ft i think the general dea is that the board should be around 14" bigger than you are and faily wide and thick for stability and buoyancy.

Some of the veterans will probably answer this better.

Ps - Stay away from mass produced boards (i.e chinese made/machine moulded) A buddy is just learning and bought one, it was awfull)

ok first thing a longboard is over 9', and a shortboars is under 7'(usualy) what you want because ur a complete beginer is a mini mal proabably around the 7'6"-7'9" area and most probably a bic or nsp as these are basicly plastic so if you drop it or knock it it will be ok. dont bother spending loads of money on a fiberglass board because you will hit something at one point because ur a beginer.

isaluteyou said to stay ayway from mss produced boards, buy if your a beginer they should be okas they are stong and boyant.

isaluteyou, not al mased produced boards are bad, iv got a 9' classic bic and its a amazing, its one of the best shaped longboards around.

isaluteyou wrote:Ps - Stay away from mass produced boards (i.e chinese made/machine moulded) A buddy is just learning and bought one, it was awfull)

Some of the pop-outs are awful. But more and more boards are being machine moulded (we've argued about whether thats a good thing for surfing elsewhere...) including 'real' boards and using the new technology materials. So stay with the times....


But BSC2000 is right, go with a 7'6" BIC/NSP. It'll be perfect for learning. Have fun.

thanx 4 the advice guys

Machine moulded boards lack any soul. The same thing applies when buying a body board a lot of people walk inot a drug store and come out with one yes its made from poly E or polypro yes it has all the additions. Slick bottom etc but no it does not come close to my Custom X. Hand crafted goods are always better quality.

But hey its all about budget and just getting a board and hitting the waves. But the more you learn about your sport the more likely you are to go for more expensive higher quality equipment. Persoanlly i would rather go for a really good second hand board even if it needs a few repairs than settle for something you will want to change very quickly.

Its also a phychological(sp) thing you will feel better about yourself and have a sence of pride riding a good quality board. If you start off with quality you will never have to upgrade it you may just change sizes or style for preference but you will never get rid of it.

If a machine moulded board is high quality then thats cool and fine but if you are really amped about surfing go for quality even if its secondhand.

isaluteyou wrote: Hand crafted goods are always better quality.

Not true.
A custom shaped surfboard is much more prone to slight errors in production resulting in delamination etc. A decent machine made board (Im talkiing about surftechs, some of the s-core boards etc, rather than cheap pop-out plastic boards) will be of consistent quality and last a lot longer than a custom board - they dont delaminate, ding or break nearly as easily.

Whether you get the same "soul" from a machine-moulded board is a different matter.

think im gonna go for a 7'6" bic performer

That should be a good decision. Once you feel comfortable, you can add to your quiver and go longer or shorter with a good secondhand board.

Depending on where you are, and if you know any shapers, you might be able to get someone to shape you a board once you know a bit more about what you like.

As for mass produced versus hand crafted versus imports.. the NSP's and BICs have come a long way, as have epoxies. I'm still partial to glass, although I'd try an epoxy if I knew the shaper and they knew what they were doing and could make it light and well.

roxy18 wrote:think im gonna go for a 7'6" bic performer

My girlfriend learnt on exactly that board and progressed really quickly


(Personally I hated it, but its perfect for learning, and I have issues with any board longer than 7' - not because they're cr@p, but because I am)