Having trouble with short and wide boards...

surprised none of the quad riders on this site have responded (I've never ridden a quad...but am shopping for my first)

first of all, you said the wave in question was good enough to have a "pocket"...probably not the right wave for a mush board. Maybe the tron is just a dog...it, apparently, has been discontinued for some reason (you don't see lost's round nose fish or CI's flyer, etc being discontinued...cause they work)

one thing I've noticed is that, usually, the better a board paddles/easy to get into the wave, the worse is it at performance riding the actual wave. That's one of the reasons guys like matt biolos keeps making new small board shapes...he's striving to bridge that paddle/performance gap the best possible

 

Might be that you just need to get used to it. Quads ride differently because they're supposed to. One suggestion is to try to move your back foot back. I don't know anything about the Tron, but it's supposed to be for bigger riders. Maybe it's just too much board for you?

 

my first thought is that it's too much board, like LBCrew suggested. most of those short, stubby shapes are meant to be ridden REALLY short & stubby...if your go-to hpsb is 6'2", the 5'9" is probably too big. what are the dims of the 5'9"?
i doubt it really has too much to do w/ the board being a quad rather than a thruster...more like the board is too big/the rails are too full for you, so you've got to work harder to get & keep it on rail.

 

^sounds about right. People think getting an even longer/thicker groveller than suggested is going to solve being out of paddling shape, but, more than anything, it actually just makes the ride really corky...paddling isn't helped much at all.

However, a really wide nose does help with paddling and also helps the board plane over flat areas when connecting to reforms...but, on steep/barreling waves, they dig into the face and slow down (if not bucking you off, altogether).

A lesser factor may also be the fins. Are you sure your fins are the right ones for that particular board? I personally hate messing with fins...even on a tri (quads are even more confusing). I usually just use the fins that came with the board direct from the shaper.

 

jeeze! that thing is sized right for me & i'm taller & heavier than you by about 20lbs!

 

the tron is a super fun board for me,like they said that might be a little high in vol for u to rip on.maybe real good for going fast on real small mushy waves though,dont give up on it yet,get some smaller fins maybe

 

btw , how did u find out volume on yours, is that a rough guess, i guess mine to be about same vol,im 20 lbs heavier than you

 

thats weird, i havent seen that on any of my chem's.cool

 

Just like with any type of board, outline shape can play a major role in how the board will function. Fish generally have very parallel straight outlines which makes them go fast down the line but they don't like to change direction. I make all my small wave quads fairly full with plenty of volume but the outlines are curvy. This makes them much more responsive off the top. You want to find a small wave shape that works well when the waves get good so avoid those wide noses. Keep the volume in the middle and tail areas. You are right about getting your back foot back over the front fins, but don't neglect the front foot. Small quads work best with a wide stance with the back foot right over the front fins and the front foot well forward and more front foot pressure than you might be used to on your thruster. This will give you more control when things get more serious.

 

Get some smaller trailers for your quad and it will loosen right up for you buddy. I have 4.5" up front with 3.5" trailers. Used to have 4.25" trailers, the new fins made the board a lot more fun for me, and not a big difference in size. LB crew could probably explain why this works, all I know is that it does work, and it works GREAT.

 

Keep at it!! Fell in love with quads the first time on one and that's all I ride now. Just keep thinking about the back foot and you'll never have turning problems. If it still feels skatey you need to change the rear fins as they would be to small. One of my favorite fins for a quad fish are FCS TC Aqualines. Very responsive and quick turns when you're heavy on the back foot. If you don't want to spend the money SF 4's are cheap and give you an all around good ride.

 

3/4" is a HUGE difference in fin size! if you're riding 4.5" fronts, i'm not surprised the 4.25" rears were too much!

 

I, too, woulId try messing with the fins. I'd start by taking out the rears on the quad, throw the biggest set of side fins I have in the front boxes, and ride it as a twin. The Future T1's are perfect for figuring out how to loosen up a stiff board. Too loose? Put some small rears in. Don't have any? Bust out the Dremel tool and hack down some old composite fins until I have what I want.
The same thing can be done with thrusters. If its too tight, I'll throw a small center fin in to loosen it up. I've learned over the years that changing up the fins can turn a board that is just okay into something that works really well for me.

 

hey Matty, just a hunch but you may have to take a little different approach to your "surfing" than you normally would on your regular shortboard. i know for myself, i ride a little 5'4" twin-fin a lot (just a board i don't mind beating up; trying to prolong the life of my actual good wave board) and i've found that i have to surf it much differently than what i was accustomed to. maybe you can try using the "less is more" approach... meaning once you've popped up, just try staying still over your board. maybe instead of instantly trying to pump down the line (unless that's what the wave is calling for,) you can just kind of hover there a few extra seconds, and allow the wave to do some of the work for you. you know, if you're taking off in a mushy peak, but you can see that the wave is going to steepen up on down the line... just chill a bit longer than you normally would, and then start getting busy once the wave allows for it. i've got a friend that is a master at this; he just keeps his board "tic-tacking" rail to rail, but he's not actually doing anything... all he's doing is "holding back" until the wave steepens up and allows for him to do whatever it is he wants to try. i know for myself, i basically mimic what he does (although i'm not nearly as efficient,) but i'll basically just stand still over my board, up until i get the notion that the wave is going to allow me to do something on it.

also, i would try riding that quad in lots of different conditions: when it's good, bad, and ugly. that 5'4" i was telling you about, i got it for crappy waves... well, much to my amusement, the board doesn't go that well in extremely mushy waves. if there's a steepness to it, it will. but pure mush? not so much. the board actually goes the best in good waves, and i don't hesitate to ride it almost all of the time.

i've found, for extremely gutless, crap waves... you're better off on a longboard.

best wishes to you

 

that's what she said. keep at it man if you are basing this off one session I bet its just something that's going to take some more time getting used to.

 

quads are good in good waves, but so is everything. for me, they go better with a little open face where you can really surf off your rails. rear fin placement/toe/cant is key. pinched rails go good on quads in good waves. for sh!t waves, love some low, boxy rails. not to much bottom tuck and a crisp edge run up roughly 20" off the tail.