do not understand the craze of CI, rusty, lost other mass produced boards

Turtle... From the outside looking in (west to east?) it sounds like you've got a good "big picture" perspective. Thanks for your insightful posting.

But I hope you have it wrong about the "holier then thou" attitude of the consumer. I like to think there's more to it than just blind faith.

Resale is another issue entirely... at least for the guys I know. Few if any make that a consideration when they're choosing a board. I'm thinking proximity may pay a role in that as well, but most guys here who are looking for a custom have pretty high standards and know at least SOMETHING about what they're buying. They're a discerning and educated consumer, skeptical about where the "herd" is leading them, and have at least the presence of mind to look beyond the brand. This, at least to me, is the opposite of narrowmindedness. Money and quality waves around here are equally short lived and hard earned.

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Originally Posted by leethestud

my feelings are that CI's and the like are for pros and spoiled cali kids who are basically sponsored by their parents.

Take any CI board into someone like Tim Nolte and he can make you a "fryer" or a "dumpster driver" for $450 or so, if you know what I mean.

Take your intentions/ ideas to a guy like Jesse Fernandez or Tmoore (I have a thing for wrv) and they will always amaze you. That is basically what the pros get to do with Al Merick.

I think having a guy that surfs the same waves as you making your sticks is critical. Having the right equipment is what is important, not what the sticker says or what pro's are riding it, because guess what? Pros are better than you and that pro model board is only holding you back.

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this.

also, too many surfers are about image. so if dane reynolds is at the top of the list when it comes to being "cool" all of the kids are going to want his board, his brand, and his haircut.

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Originally Posted by ND081

this.

also, too many surfers are about image. so if dane reynolds is at the top of the list when it comes to being "cool" all of the kids are going to want his board, his brand, and his haircut.

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i wonder if there is anyone else out there that pays no attention to professional surfing like me. i recognize the big names, but i never watch or research any contests.

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Originally Posted by super fish

i wonder if there is anyone else out there that pays no attention to professional surfing like me. i recognize the big names, but i never watch or research any contests.

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Thats me too

the board I loved most was my Rusty Piranha. If you've ever seen an actual Preisendorfer shaped Piranha up close, the shaping is absolutely gorgeous and the rails are the most perfect I've ever seen. Unfortunately, mine was a tuflite and, as many of you know, they are way too light and extremely slow...but the tuflite Piranha is a 100% Preisendorfer computer clone. In fact, I kept riding it much longer than I should because the shape was just so amazingly beautiful.

I also tried a hand shaped EPS "Rusty" Piranha, just to see if it was any faster...but it was almost as light and still too slow. To make matters worse, this one was shaped by a ghost shaper and had none of the finesse the Preisendorfer clone had, especially in the rails.

(^this phase was just after clark foam went under and everyone was trying new things)

point is, these big name shapers really are (were) the cream of the crop

Ci's have great glass jobs. just purchased my one due to the whole $$$ issue, but theyre worth it.

CI's have the worst and cheapest glass job in the industry. They've always been glassed buy Hawkinsen in Santa Barbara and it's always been among the worst glassing I've ever seen. Over the years they have never improved. Rusty is one of the best shapers I've ever seen (I mean I've seen him shape a board) don't know about the quality of the glassing on his boards. I have no respect for lost surfboards. Don't care to go in to it except to say the owner is an ass.

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Originally Posted by Wavecraft

CI's have the worst and cheapest glass job in the industry. They've always been glassed buy Hawkinsen in Santa Barbara and it's always been among the worst glassing I've ever seen. Over the years they have never improved.

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this is one of the most patently false things i have read on this forum. as big an operation as ci is, no one glass house could support their volume. ci contracts out to a large # of glass houses, including moonlight, one of the most highly respected glassing organizations in the country, as well as mystery, haakonsen, guru & a few others, & they do a good amount in-house as well. their quality control is top-notch also...say what you will about the company itself, but the owners of moonlight will testify to just how strict ci is when it comes to who they allow to glass their boards.
rusty is a fantastic shaper & really knows is craft, but has fallen victim a little to the "model" craze, i think, & is playing catch-up. 20 years ago, the r dot brand was one of the foremost names in surfboards, but has since been replaced by ci & lost. personally, i think his boards are a bit low volume & are thin for the various shapes widths & lengths, but that's just my own opinion.
matt biolos (lost's co-founder & lead shaper) is probably one of the most progressive shapers in the industry today. he may be an ass (i've never met him myself, but liked how he called out the young us pros on instagram back in the spring), but he is an innovative designer, good marketer, & has never claimed pro-level ability for himself, which (true or not) draws a lot of average joes to his shapes. you may not like matt as a person, but his ability as a shaper & designer are hard to match.

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Originally Posted by GnarActually

Ci's have great glass jobs. just purchased my one due to the whole $$$ issue, but theyre worth it.

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Surely you jest!!!.......My local shaper says his ding repairs are 95% CI's from poor glassing and a friend has a new one for sale he's only ridden a couple times but looks like it's 10 years old.

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My local shaper says his ding repairs are 95% CI's from poor glassing and a friend has a new one for sale he's only ridden a couple times but looks like it's 10 years old.

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Thats actually a bit hard to imagine. I never owned a CI but have surfed with friends who do for as long as i can remember, and ridden many of them, liked the ones I rode, and most of them were well over a year old and holding up as you would expect a light poly board to hold up. I've done ding repairs on my friends CIs and their boards werent noticably different than other lightly glassed performance shapes when i repaired them and a lot better than some.

Given this:

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ci contracts out to a large # of glass houses, including moonlight, one of the most highly respected glassing organizations in the country, as well as mystery, haakonsen, guru & a few others

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what is the theory? CI instructs these well established glassers to do especially weak horrible jobs on CI boards? Nothing about it makes sense...people arent buying a Dumpster Diver or Fred Rubble because it weighs a few ounces less, and it doesnt save any money in production to draw out an ounce or two of resin, or sand out the hotcoat a bit thinner.