Hydroflex vs Epoxy vs Stringerless Carbon Boards

The idea that a board flexes when you push it through a turn and then "snaps" back to its normal form, providing an elastic like boost. I only feel it when I really crank a full 180 degree turn, like a high speed cutback or round house. When a board is right for me, I feel the flex in the critical part of the turn, and then a boost coming out of the turn... depending on where and how you surf, it may be difficult for you to feel... you will know it when it happens.

 

...Hydroflex is also made in Oceanside, CA.

Surtech "Tuflite" were the modern benchmark for stiff shortboards. Most significantly, turning on a Tuflite took much more effort than on the same shape in standard PU/PE.

 

Its a pretty amazing feeling isn't it - that boost? Rear foot placement has always struck me as key in getting that kind of propulsion out of a pump or turn. Got to be right in the sweet spot of the fin cluster and feels like both the fins and the board itself are loaded up with energy that gets released as you come out of the turn.

 

The flex thing is different for everyone, and I think it's one of the least known and quantified aspects of design.

But there are some generalizations that can be made. The most important one, I think, is how a board responds to rider input. A flexier board will not respond as quickly as a stiffer board, because the board absorbs some of the energy you put into it. A stiffer board transfers that energy a lot more efficiently. So response is the #1 effect flex has on performance, IMO.

Second, is how the board flexes in curvy parts of the wave. I actually feel a board flex the most when inside the tube or in the pocket. This has had a profound influence on how I shape rockers into the tail of my boards. Knowing how a board is effected by the curve of the wave itself drives a lot of what I'm doing in terms of design.

Third, for me, is how a board flexes during a turn, and then how it returns. In fact, what I call "flex return" is more important than the "flex" itself. I don't buy much into the "load up the board and feel the springback shoot you out like a slingshot" idea, because I don't believe the board adds any forward energy coming out of a turn. What I do believe, is that it conserves energy... in other words, minimizes the loss of energy that's scrubbed off by a turn through form drag.

Finally, I think flex has a HUGE effect on how a board pumps for speed. I've said this recently in another threadde... every board has a sort of "frequency" created by how the board flexes and returns... a sort of natural resonance determined by the shape and materials used. So that frequency is set, and only changes as the board ages and the materials fatigue over time. But the rider, in order to most efficiently pump for speed, has to pump in rhythm whit the board's natural frequency. Think of it like this... when you bounce on a trampoline, you bounce up and the trampoline bounces up and down several times before you land back down. A board isn't working like that exactly, but if your pumping at the wrong time, and fighting the natural "twang" of the board, you won't get as much speed out of your pump as if you pumped with the natural twang of the board.

Confused?

 

what he said. love my xtrs. Am down to one poly board now and 2 eps, rest are xtrs. Where can I get some custom bortshorts made to wear over my wetsuite?