just ordered a custom for surf the in the 2-5' range - basically an all around go to east coast board. ordered it as a 5 fin, and was thinking about just picking up a set of quad rear fins - 375 Quad Rears. http://www.thesurfboardwarehouse.com/p-1593-future-fins-quad-rears-br-honeycomb-all-models.aspx i will probably ride it mostly as a thruster but definitely want to give it a go as a quad as well. just trying to save a few bucks instead of ordering full quad set since i have a ton of future thruster setups. anybody have these or have any feedback. and if so, what other fins have you ridden them with for the fronts.
depending on how big you are & the placement, i think 375's might be a bit on the small side. i've found that i prefer 400's or slightly larger (410-420 or so) for quad rears. is it more of a hp shape w/ a center line placement or a fishy type shape w/ a rail placement? i've gone as big as 435 for my rears on a wide tailed simmons type board.
im like 6' 185. i would say the board is more of a hybrid - not fish but not hpsb either. i actually am talking to the shaper about fin placement to see what he recommends with this design.
I'm looking for my first quad/convertible. For years, I actually thought quads were a fad/gimmick...until I finally researched the design in depth. Any extra speed the quad allows in small/mushy waves is always welcome and I can switch back to a tri when the waves get steeper....plus, I can't deny quads look freakin' cool
I moved away from the quad. On bigger days it generated a little more speed/stability, but it took away from the slightly loose tail feel which I like. I guess it depends on your local wave, too. But like you said, you can just switch it up which is cool.
only thing that concerns me about 5 fin convertibles is the possible extra tail weight. FCS might be o.k., but future boxes and fins are a bit heavier. Wouldn't matter on better waves, but small/mushy waves need all the help they can get and an unbalanced, tail heavy board seems like a negative.
100% agree! that said, i'd prob. recommend a 400 or larger regardless of fin placement based on your size...you're the same height & weight as i am.
Quote Originally Posted by waterbaby I can switch back to a tri when the waves get steeper.... true, but I was talking about hard bottom turns and going straight up to the lip on steep waves. I see some pros can manage that on quads, but others, not so much
I've found that if you want to design a quad for "good" waves, you can get the best results by decreasing the cant and/or pulling in the tail template a touch. The theory is, you essentially double the vertical lift the fins create when you switch from a thruster to a quad, and when the wave size starts getting up to about head high, you don't need as much fin lift. So you can decrease the cant, or reduce the planing surface under your back foot. This will also help loosen up the feel... what Manisses mentioned. As far as weight... it's really not a concern. We're really talking grams here. How much you ate before your session makes a bigger difference in weight than an extra empty box... or two. Many... many years ago, I was talking about mountain bikes and components and how crazy it was getting with guys trying to shave grams off their parts. The guy I was talking to said, "hopefully, the sack in my pocket weighs more than that."
i think that's a matter of dialing in fins, fin position, tail width, & spending the time getting accustomed to quads. very few pros (& only slightly more average joes) have really spent the time doing that. many will dabble w/ quads here & there...parko's statement was pretty telling...something about preferring quads in barrels (aka: going straight) but switching back to a thruster when the waves/judging requires turns. we're so used to riding thrusters that when we hop on a design that we expect to perform like a thruster & it doesn't, we're very quick to discard it & say it doesn't work. you can push a quad like you can a thruster, you just have to tweak certain design aspects & aspects of technique...same as on a single fin or twin fin w/ a hp shape.
I have two quads, well one is a 5 box but still. One is a wide classic fish (4 boxes) the other a 6 foot diamond tail for chest and up waves with a thinner rail (5 boxes) I use the 375 for rear in both but as mentioned sometimes in smaller stuff it's to stiff. For that I took an old set of 375's and cut them down and sanded to shape about the size of a nubster (also made on of those for the 5 fin). Two reg front quads and the little trailers and you get the best of both worlds. Last month I actually rode the 5 fin with full size front, small sides and nubster when it was head high. Crazy loose but with drive and would tail slide like a mo foe!
