LongBoarde Tread Advise.

.... agreed... and I would suggest that that board is not just for bigger waves, and could be nose ridden though not a classic nose rider per say. I have a similar shape

 

Soooo you decided to get a stylist....

I have one as well, a 9'4 that I bought in the early 2000s. I have a few thoughts:

1. At first, I hated the board and was really disappointed in its performance. It took a long long time to learn to ride it well. It's a totally different type of shape with different rails and everything from a modern longboard. It does have limitations, but you have to learn to use them to your advantagE.
2. Watch some classic surf flicks on YouTube and notice how they ride and turn compared to modern longboard. Although this board is not a total classic, it has some newer variations, it is a good example of a modern shaper using modern materials to shape a classic shape.
3. After I bought this board- I didn't ride it for a while since I was disappointed. Then my other longboards was dinged and I didn't fix it, so I was kinda forced to learn to ride it, and happy I was.
4. Contrary to popular option here, this board will perform best is steeper, cleaner and faster surf. Waist to chest high is optimum. Trust me, I know... it's a dog in mushy surf.
5. If I could humbly suggest, maybe you have to adjust your surfing a bit to dial in this board. Pearling usually comes from having too much speed when matching the speed of the wave. This board paddles fast and gets up on a plain fast and comes to speed fast. I generally only need a few paddles to catch a wave with it, like 2 to 4 when timed out correctly. Also- I second aspect is changing your center of gravity when dropping in. On a HPLB or a shortboard or anything else, when you drop in, you push forward and lean forward into the drop, if I can discribe it correctly. With this board, you have to center your weight and slightly lean back (watch old surf movies to see) and maybe even angle slightly. Surfing it off the tail of the board, swinging it around... then when you start to climb back up the wave, walk up to the nose and hang on as the board takes off and accelerates.

Anyways, if you have any spicific questions, ask!

I would suggest sticking with it, it's. A great board

 

Is it an original Stylist? from the '60s? Or the new version? The new version is nothing like the original, which was flat as a plank. That's what they were doing back then, and like PJ said... you HAVE to surf them off the tail. The new version is much more user friendly.

I'll also second his suggestion of the August What I Ride as an "in between" longboard that can turn and noseride.

 

+1 I think you're spot on. Dropping in on my HPLB is similar to my SB, weight forward and crank the bottom turn.

 

You can't go wrong with a Stewart Hydro hull or Walden Magic.

 

Shawn and Kenny at Savage build some really nice boards. I'm going to have Kenny shape me a Tombstone Noserider here in a couple weeks.

 

I also have a rockered out HPLB as well as a lower rockered nose-rider. Your Weber DOES have rocker, it just doesnt have the rocker of the LSP, and my advise is if you want nose ride, just get used to approaching waves differently on the Weber, don't take it out in steep beach break where you wont be nose riding anyway. Also, give up on the idea of a longboard that is both a noserider and turns on a dime. That creature doesn't exist.

It sounds like you have a good noserider. I would just keep it and embrace it's inherent qualities. If you are going to go the route of a new log, you should go to a local shaper who has built a lot of longboards for a variety of conditions. I know here on the Delmarva, Jon Ashton has been building boards for 40 years, and i've ridden his longboards for the past 20. They are amazing.

 

Every LB I've had has a different personality. I grew up riding shorties, so it took some getting used to,letting the board do most of the work, not forcing the turns, using the momentum to my advantage. The first one was on old Donald Takayama, it would not turn period. You had to face it the way you were planning on going,look back over your shoulder, and then paddle when a wave came. It went straight. No rocker, a log with a fin. Thank God it got stolen out of the beach shack.

When I got a locally shaped HPLB I was in heaven. Surge, RIP bro!

 

Thanks to all you guys for all this info, super helpful. I am looking to by an LB as well, and have hunted for that in-between, but i think you are right- it doesn't really exist. Most of the time I am on a short board. I just moved to a house on (above) the beach, s naturally I need to buy a long board so that i can walk down and surf when its small. I really enjoy long boarding in general and am really psyched to be able t log more now that its so close. My thinking is to buy an EPS of sorts so that it will last forever. If I only plan on surfing smallish waves, do you guys think this is an issue?? Also, have a look at this "what I ride" that is for sale for 1/2 price? is this legit or just a super jenky model? It was litterally the first thing that came up when i searched for that model.

http://www.realwatersports.com/robe...MI7sCpxaPD1gIVi5V-Ch0cgAdaEAQYAiABEgLm4fD_BwE

 

http://www.realwatersports.com/rober...iABEgLm4fD_BwE

In my opinion spending $600 on a factory produced longboard constructed this way is a terrible idea. I don't care if they say the regular price is double the sale price...its a rugged toy masquerading as a longboard. It will be light, choppy if there is texture, and will not have the sweet glide you get out of a real longboard, made out of a proper longboard core, and glassed/glossed/polished the way a longboard should be built.

If your budget is $600 for a log, i guarantee you can find a great used longboard for that price. A real handshaped POLY longboard, made by someone who knows what they are doing, that will be glassed properly and last you for a very long time if you take care of it.

Seriously i would pass on that factory produced board and go look for a real honest longboard.

 

I am pretty happy with my 9'6" Robert August Mark Martinson as an all-around option. For a solid year after I moved back from CO in September 2015 it was the only board I rode. Technically it's still the only board I own, although I've been borrowing shorter boards from friends over the past year with the intention of figuring out what I want to buy in terms of a shorter board. But the desire for a shorter board is really only for the biggest, hollowest 5-10 days a year here... LB is my preference for basically all others. And even on the biggest days, it's generally less about not being able to make it work and more about not wanting to spend $1000+ to replace it if I get caught in the wrong spot and snap it. Granted, no board is going to be optimized for all conditions, but that one does a good job of bridging the gaps... flat enough to ride small summertime waves, but light/quick enough to make steep overhead drops in the winter.

 

+1

 

i know its not a longboard , more of a fun shape . but that lib tech pick up stick and it kinda meets those requirement of both nose riding and turning capabilities . The few times i have had it out i found myself laughing at myself while trying to figure it out . Found out it surf more like a shorty at the tail , towards the nose more of a long board with a little dead spot in the middle with little response . I find i grab the pick up more then the 9'0 ashton noser . I have dinged up that ashton more on land then i have ever in the water . Poor freaking board been threw hell . thats kinda why i pick up stick now .

 

Although i did agree with LB when he said that no board will do it all.... with LBs i feel its petty easy to get a all rounder. Or at least easier than a SB. Granted, that may be due to my size at only 150LBs. I can nose ride non nose riders. A bigger guy may have more of an issue.

When i solely LBd, id take it out in HH-OH stuff and loved it. Not ragging on anyone. But digging the nose on a steep drop is not a rocker issue. Its a technique issue. Hell, even my SBs have low rocker. Its just a diffrent approach that you got to get used to.

 

That's pretty much true for everyone... Boards are strong in the water, weak out of the water.

 

Fair enough. My longboard technique sucks in overhead hollow waves. Actually, my longboard technique sucks in all conditions, I just pay for it way more when it's big and hollow. Come to think of it, my technique on all boards sucks in all conditions. To summarize, I'm a kook. (I feel like that's ultimately the takeaway of nearly every conversation I have about anything.) What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, longboards. If I could only own one board for all possible wave conditions in Jersey, it would be my 9'6" Mark Martinson. As evidenced by the fact that I only own one board, and it's that one. But we've established that I'm a kook, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

Your uncle NJsurfer42 was much cooler. What happened to him?

 

No idea... he was gone before I got here...

 

Awesome post LOL. I ride the same longboard from ankle slappers up to OH and it gets the job done. I would have a huge quiver if I could afford it, but I can't, so I don't ha.