Anyone ride firewires?

You know you can just select all (ctrl a) and backspace. Saved you so much future time. Yw

 

Have owned a few and still have a couple. I have a Tomo Vader in LFT and it is my fav in the small stuff.

As far as LFT goes, it is the lightest construction style FW uses. The boards are super light and very responsive; however, the down side is the decks have a thin deck skin so pressure dents occur easily. Also, the glassing on the rails isn't the best some spider fractures in the rails are common. At least this has been my experience. Never been a fan of the FST but really like the one board I have in timbertek.

Can I ask why you are limited to just LFT?

 

I see a lot of yellow fire wires on CL. Seems like they don’t last... never owned or ridden one

 

I'm trying to lineup from a local surf shop a demo for a Tomo Evo or something similar. The bottoms intrigue me too, but they may be too squirrly on takeoff unless clean and peaky. I may have that covered already with my NA Pete Dooley round tail round nose fat boy.

Kyle, does your Vader slide alot if it's choppy or over chest high? Is it corky on rail?

 

Never owned one but I have repaired a few. This is my experience:

The outer skin will crack with a deep enough dent. A misplaced heel or elbow can do this pretty quickly.

The factory recommends to actually use epoxy putty, the same stuff the use for autobody repair. Think Bondo, but epoxy. Then paint to match over the putty. Because of the sandwich construction and all the different materials they use you are kind of limited as to how you can repair.

In my opinion LFT are throw away surfboards. Not really meant to be repaired. Same with super lightweight poly boards. Use them up and move on.

 

I had an LFT Evo and had some fun sessions on it, but the board was falling apart faster than any board I'd ever owned before. Splits in the rails from unknown bumps, spiderwebbing all over the place including near the fin boxes, the rails felt soft when grabbing to duck dive, etc. Ended up selling it and went back to custom poly's for the time being. Stronger and I feel more confident in doing minor repairs myself if needed.

I also have an FST board that has held up much better, its a bit more high performance so it doesn't get a ton of use but it just feels like the glass is harder/board is more dense, and for a board that thin I think those are good qualities. I'd buy another FST board but I wouldn't touch LFT unless money wasn't an issue.

 

Hey Towlie. Kind of surprised you care. Need to buddy up?

 

Yeah the skin does crack pretty easily. I agree with HH to an extent. LFT boards have a very light glassing and the rails aren't really reinforced like FST or TT so they dent very easily. The rails are the worst to me. I had a Vanguard before the Vader and I was constantly repairing little spider fractures in the rail. LFT is def more a small wave construction as even some heavy water can dent them.

You might be right about the improvement in the LFT as I bought my Vanguard when they first came out in 2013 and by the end of 2014 it was beat to shit. I bought the Vader in 2015 (not sure if they made the changes by then) but it has held up much better. Attached a pic to show the current condition after 3 years of moderate use (it's been on a few trips).


I love MPH boards Bass, but that is personal preference. Since I usually surf smaller (>4ft) in SFL I like getting more planing speed with less effort. But there is always a trade off as you will get more speed due to less drag but that lack of drag will also take some time to get used to doing turns/cut backs. Once you dial it in though, you might really like it. I did!

I notice when I get on my front foot it can slide in some chop, but nothing crazy. Now, when to start getting to HH and over, it can get very loose. But I do ride a 5'4 so that could have something to do with it too. The diamond pin tail n the Vader helps in HH waves but when it gets that big I usually bring out something else. Vader is perfect in 3-5ft.

 

Are you asking to be my buddy? #nohomo ok?

 

Well I must admit, I do baby the hell out of that Vader after what I went thru with the Vanguard. It stays in the A/C in a bag if it isn't in the water and I don't use it nearly as much as I used my Vanguard. I'm sure that has helped a lot with its longevity. Good luck man! If you do go with the Cymatic, please post your thoughts after a few sessions, I have been eyeing on of those up for awhile, just need to sell some boards first to appease the wifey (have a 5'6 Baked Potato in TT for sale if anyone is interested, near perfect condition).

 

Nah me neither - FWIW I love tit-tays. "buddy up" is a term used by old guys like me who don't have any sweetleaf and want to grab some from a buddy. That being said, I would be happy to be friends. Wait, aren't we all friends here already, like in a 'I dont really know you' kind of way?

 

Yuge diff between “I don’t really..” and “I REALLY don’t know you”. It’s like.. you think you know someone and then WOW I really don’t.. meanwhile I don’t really ... really doesn’t carry the same element of surprise.
That being said you’re right, this one and more posts should be about tit-yays. I don’t understand why they aren’t.
Also I accept your invite to be the bestest of friends forever. That’s nice.

 

Get a room ya homos. Haha