biscuit

you lost me there. not sure what you mean.

i've ridden both the fishcuit & the biscuit & liked the fishcuit far more. biscuit was "meh" as a small wave board. not enough tail area, IMO. it was ok, but nothing to write home about. the fishcuit redefined summer/small wave surfing for me. so much more fun.

 

i have a biscuit sized like my regular shortboard rather than 8 inches shorter like they recommend and i love it. takes a bit of adjustment because the flat rocker and and fat rails but it goes really fast and easy. doesn't turn on a dime if you're used to that but it's made me use my rail more which has improved my overall surfing. good for anything waist to head but isn't really going to replace a longboard for small mush wave stuff..

 

I have a biscuit and think it's a great all round board. Like Travy said it's fast and I think it's really easy to ride though it certainly isn't going to replace a longboard in small mush.

I think that you need to particular about the length that you are getting because I have a 5'10'' (I'm 5'9'') and it at times seems to be a little big. Not sure of the recommendations on that though.

Definitely would recommend it though cause it's maneuverable like a shortboard but allows you some of the buoyancy that you're used to like a longboard.

 

I own several biscuits over the years and is one of my favorite boards. I ride it in anything from knee-high to overhead. Works good overhead when waves are Slopey. Kind of like snowboarding. But I ride a short board. I am 6'2" and my biscuit is a 5'8". Since you're coming down from a 7'4". I don't know if this will help you.

 

I never rode a biscuit, and never quite understood the concept behind it.

Somewhat pulled in round tail, even the nose was a bit pulled in compared to most other really small wave boards.

and then at least 1/2" thicker than any other short board I've ridden. I mean isnt a 5'8" Biscuit like 2 7/8" thick with big round rails?

To me, small wave boards are all about planing area. In the tail for generating speed on small mushy waves, and in the nose to make it easy to paddle in early and fast.

 

exactly. the biscuit i had was 5'8"x20.25"x2.75"...& i found it worked far better in slightly larger (stomach-chest high & punchy) waves than what i wanted it for. not enough planing area to really get up & go in small, gutless surf. which is why the fishcuit was so much better...same size, far more tail area.

edit: this, of course, assumes you size them correctly. oversize any high-volume board & it'll work in anything. but it won't perform the way it's meant to, just paddle & catch waves w/ ease.

 

To me I found the volume was the key aspect. My 5'8" paddled well and had tons of speed in small mushy stuff. I'm no expert on board design, but maybe it has a lot to do with bottom contours. I found it went on rail really well. Yet not so much in getting above the lip. Bought a Gravy and hated it. Maybe it's rider ability/style.

 

i got a gravy as a 'step up' and love it. hate it in smaller, crappier surf but in clean pitchy stuff it's fast and stable and the volume up front helps get me over the ledge and down the face while the knifey tail holds tighter than the biscuit. definitely not a board for everyone or a daily driver.

i think what a lot of people don't like about the biscuit, gravy, etc. is it is marketed as a small wave slop board but it doesn't really start doing its thing until the waves get good at which point, why not just ride your regular short board? but for me--middle age dude who doesn't paddle as well as he used to--it was a way to get extra volume without going full on 'fun shape'. ymmv..

 

Oh yeah my bad, bought a motorboat and hated it. Gravey looked sweet for solid hollow waves but didn't have need for it since I had other brds.

 

Lalit,
Not sure where your located but i thought i remembered you surf Maryland sometimes. If you're ever in the OCMD area you might want to see Lee at Malibu's Surf shop and ask about Chemistry Disks as an alternative to the Biscuit.

I bought a 5'10" Chemistry Disk at the beginning of last summer, and just love it. Its pretty much been my go-to board for the past year in every type of condition except HH+

Its a wider board in both the nose and tail than the biscuit, and paddles and rides like a longer board. I bought a 5'10" and probably in hindsight should have gotten a 5'8" but love it regardless. I'm 5'9" and about 160.

Lee was great to work with, called up the Chemistry guys while i was there, put in the order, and i had the board in about a month. I know it cost less than a Channel Islands and a year later after TONS of use, its only got a few heel dents in the deck.

 

the biscuit has horribly thick rails, which would makes turns unbearably corky for me. It's also an incredibly thick board, so be careful not to get one so large/buoyant that you can't duck dive it. Boards this flat (no rocker) pearl very easily and take a lot of effort to turn...don't be fooled by watching machado ride it

I owned a CI pod, which is thinner and has smaller rails...and even that was too much for me. I couldn't get the rail deep enough in the water, so turns felt very "rolley". Fortunately, it had just enough rocker to turn it at all and a little bit of flip in the nose so it didn't wanna pearl every wave...but I quickly got rid of it anyhow