Best Fins for JS Pier Pony???

Fins really don't make that much of a difference unless you are a pro. If for some reason you do not like the fins on your board maybe figure out what fin is good for you. More area = more hold, larger base = more drive, more rake = longer turns figure out what you like.

 

that is incorrect. unless you're only riding straight down the line, fins will definitely make a difference and even then you'll notice a change in speed. sure if you aren't very skilled it will be hard to tell the difference between models, but fin configuration can change a board.

back on topic though, there's really no "right" set of fins for a board. do you want to go faster, or are you trying to turn the board a lot? should there be a release or do you want them to hold very well?

 

+1, I didn't know the difference for years but it definitely makes a difference

 

Check out the Futures "Controller" fins. Everybody I've talked to that's running them on a really short/wide board seems to love them.

 

Whatever you do... don't listen to anyone who tells you to put Controller Quad fins in the board... unless you like flat turns and/or want to surf either like your grandpa or like a super-progressive shredder straight out of 1973!

Having said that, I agree with ND081. I think that template (SHAPE: depth, rake) and configuration (spacing of your quad or thruster setup) are way more important that fin construction materials. Even most advanced surfers wont notice too much difference between techflex and composite in the same fin template, whereas they'll immediately feel template differences.

My $0.02 anyway.

 

LMAO...please don't listen to this guy. fins make a HUGE difference...i've had boards that were utter dogs w/ the stock plastic fins that came to life w/ the right set of fins (sometimes even just the same template in better materials).

the big question here is, how big are you? height/weight? it plays a role in fin selection. i agree w/ the "avoid the controller quad" advice. if you're a bigger guy, the AM-2 techflex 5 fin &/or MB-2 5 fin sets are good choices. the clay marzo 5 fin set is a good choice for medium sized guys as well.

 

I agree, fins do make a difference, even for us mortals.

As far as thruster sets go, first time I tried FCS AM (al merrick), being super raked made the board want to turn so wide (better for bigger waves, I guess). I could absolutely feel the difference, especially just coming off the upright M5. I also found heavily canted fins significantly slower on smaller waves than more vertical fins. If you opt for canted tri's, be prepared to be on your rails a lot.

supposedly, the wider the tail, the bigger the fins. Just got my first quad a couple weeks ago (Couch Potato - super wide tail) and I'm currently riding the Future controllers it came with. The outer fins are big and ultra raked, but the trailers are about as upright I've seen. Combination gives good speed, decent drive and turns are surprisingly compact, but could be a "jack of all trades, master of none" type deal (I'll post when I get more time in). I also have some upright T1 twins I'm going to try as the outer fins but keep the controller trailers in there...in theory, should make for even tighter turns. Of course, you can't lose with T1's and just a center trailer, either - it's an old tried and true success.

 

Maybe Philo's got a point. I personally don't have any experience with the "Controllers"......I'm only going by other guy's opinions. Me personally I'd rather run the Futures AMT setup on a more high performance small wave board with a narrower swallow tail. Great hold, drive, and turn on a dime. The ultra short / wide boards just seem too limited. And if the waves are that damn small you'd probably have more fun on an air mattress while sucking down a frozen pina colada from a ziplock bag!

 

supposedly, the couch potato's tail was designed for controllers. idk, might not work as well on a different tail shape/size or fin box placement. Anyway, like I said, I'm not married to them...yet

 

General rule of thumb: Wider tail = Needs more fin area.

But, of course, there are plenty of exceptions and a lot of it comes down to personal preference and style. I'm currently getting ready to put myself into some paralysis of analysis and try out some new fin combos. njsurfer42 is inspiring me to become a fin geek.

I personally like fins with some cant in them, didn't really know this until I got some Aqualines earlier this year--before I was just a plain old pc-5 kinda guy (ok, I use fcs, but you get the point).

 

try the marzo set. it's too small for me, but it seems to be a good all around template. quad rears are a little small for my taste, but the pier pony has a fairly pulled in squash tail for that type of design as i recall, so that may be ok. don't be afraid to mix & match, also. i can count on one hand the number of times i've had a quad set work great straight out of the box. usually i end of swapping stuff around & riding a franken-set to get the right feel.

 

i can't help it, i'm a nerd.

fcs has the cant built into the box...do the aqualines have additional cant built into them like the h-2's?

 

Yep. My boards have little to no cant in the box... I WANT SOME H-2's!

 

that's interesting. bad install maybe?

h-2's were fun in the right waves, but not a good all-around fin, imo. they're so low area, i felt they needed a wave w/ a bit more push to really shine.

 

I'll pull out an angle finder and see, but I don't think they're any more than 3 degrees or so.

 

I run FCS in a board that was shaped after the couch potato (pic here)
I just recently discovered the magic combo (i know you're running Futures, but maybe you can correlate to a Futures fin). I use the MR-TFX up front and the aqualine quad rears in the back.

 

would be T-1 or MTF up front, QD-2 375's or small in the back (aqualine rear is 366).