Board advice

[808LoKi]

I'm in the market for a new longboard and wanted some advice on what I should be looking for.

I've been surfing for a few years now, mostly in between kaisers and rock piles on Oahu. Looking to develope more of a noseriding style. I'm 6'4" about 190 lbs, currently riding a 9'4"x22"x3" longboard set up w three fins. The nose is pretty narrow and there is a lot of rocker.

I am looking at a Walden magic x2 epoxy, 9'0"x22 1/2"x3". I've read good and bad things about it. Basically it seems like it rides well and can noseride, but it's light, stiff and doesn't do well if it gets choppy. Also it's a GSI pop-out so there's a lot of opinions on that.

I can also get a poly hand shaped 10' big board. Not sure the exact measurements. It's a really beatifiul board and I'm sure it will catch everything and will give me plenty of walking room. But limited turning and I'm told wouldn't do well in bigger waves. I will still have other boards that will work for that stuff, but I'd like to get a versatile board.

theres also a bunch of boards on Craigslist, usually around 9'6", with wider noses and square tails. One of these would probably work fine, but may be too similar in size to my board now to feel much different.

This is a really great forum, thanks for reading and commenting. I appreciate all of the help. Mahalo.

[jaffa1949]

As I read your post you are still looking for an everything board.
At 9ft you could probably ride a board with less rocker but stronger rocker is the way to use a long board like a shorter board.
9'6" and 10' boards slightly wider 22" or 23" less rocker a moveable centre fin probably have a 2+1 configuration but ditch the side bites for nose riding and put them in to hit the bigger waves.
Move the centre fin forward in the box for looseness and back to stiffen it up.

you could, of course support your local surf industry and buy two boards for the dual purposes you want.
One more thing with your size and weight,don't worry about opinions ride what suits you!

[waikikikichan]

Steve Walden use to come to Waikiki a lot. I used to compete on a Walden Magic model ( molded-epoxy made by Boardworks before they changed to GSI ). Good all around, Nose ride - Tail ride. Lots of contours and hard edged chine rail. It's funny to hear people complain that molded-epoxy boards are too light and hard to surf in strong wind. It's funny because that's the same thing they said about Poly/PU boards when everyone was riding heavier wood boards.

I've been surfing for a few years now, mostly in between kaisers and rock piles on Oahu. Looking to develope more of a noseriding style.

Could you clarify the "noseriding style" ? Do you want to actually Hang-Ten or just have the Classic drop-knee turns and walking back and forth ( versus the modern progressive swinging arm radical movements ) ? If you want the smooth style without actually getting to the nose, 10 foot is fine. But if you want to nose ride, 10 foot feels like a marathon, even for your height.