Anyone rolling with a five fin set up? Pros/Cons?
Anyone rolling with a five fin set up? Pros/Cons?
do you mean all 5 fins in? I have a Lost Stealth with the 5 fin set up and its nice for different conditions but nothing amazing. I use a thruster most of the time anyway. Ive never done all 5 though hahaha now im kind of interested in how it would ride.
lol,Na although that would be interesting.Do you notice any drag when using it as a thruster or a quad?Originally Posted by superbust
Last edited by GoodVibes; Jul 31, 2011 at 02:27 AM.
The thruster works better in most conditions. If its smaller the quad will provide a little more drive as it should. Overall though the 5 fin is more of a selling point rather than performance boost IMO. If you're leaning on getting one I'd say go for it but don't be afraid to get a traditional thruster or quad. Hope that helps...
I have a Felix Modfish from Greg Griffin that uses all 5 fins. It's an incredible board that will never leave my quiver.
Last edited by Ray F.; Jul 31, 2011 at 12:46 PM.
i have a 6'0" dumpster diver style board w/ that set up. i've ridden it as a tri a few times & as a quad a few times, now i have it set up as a twin w/ a trailer (one of my all-time favorite fin configurations). we'll see how it goes if we ever get another stomach-chest high day...
i think it's a good option if you're curious about quads, but don't want to take the "risk" of getting a straight-up quad that you may not like. it certainly offers a lot of versatility. you won't notice the empty plugs dragging either. if guys like slater, who seems to get all or most of his boards w/ that option now, don't have an issue w/ it, i doubt mere mortals like us will.
if you've never ridden a quad before, be sure to try a few different sets of fins in the front & rear spots. they seem to take some tweaking before they get dialed in. thrusters are more "plug & play" where you can just drop a set of fins in & go. i generally suggest riding a board w/ the 5 fin option as a thruster first, to get a feel for the board, since that's what most people are familiar w/ normally.
i don't think those boards are meant to be ridden w/ all 5 fins in at once...i think it would be horribly tracky & near impossible to turn. the few shapers out there who do genuine 5 fin boards use configurations that don't look anything like your typical tri/quad set up.
I have a Lost Stealth 5 fin as well. When I first got it I set it up as a quad for a month or two and I loved it. Then when I tried it as a thruster it really came alive. I've since tried it as a quad a few times here and there but prefer it as a thruster. It all depends on your style of surfing, if you like long drawn out turns then you will like a quad but I prefer the quick snappy feel of a thruster.
It all comes down to preference and how you like to surf. Its definitely a good idea to grab one if you want to try out a quad for the first time without being stuck with a quad if you dont like it. Also its fun to always have the option to change it up when you want to try something new.
Just to clarify... there's 5-fin setups, then there's thruster/quad convertibles. Boards like Griffin's are true 5-fins, designed to be ridden with all five fins in. I believe most if not all of them have the rear three aligned in a row from rail to rail. Thruster/quad convertibles are not designed to be ridden with all five fins in. Usually there's a trailer spot, and two rear boxes somewhere in between the front set and the trailer. Putting all fins in a board like this will most likely feel very stiff and unresponsive.
I'm shaping my first quad/tri convertable and just installed the fin boxes this morning. Its a 6'2" x 20 1/2" x 2 1/2" thumb tail. I'll post a picture of the board and fin cluster. One thing i agonized over a little is that the front fins for quads seem like they are generally pushed a bit forward of where they would be for a typical thruster of the same size board. So this board will be set up with the fins pretty much where i thought the quad setup should go, but when set up as a tri-fin, the side fins will be a bit forward. That make any sense?
Here you go, brother. I hope this helps...
http://www.mckeesurf.com/brucemckee/multisystem.htm
Reply With Quote
