Just picked up a used but not abused Bing Lightweight. 9-0 with a round pin and very knifey rails. I love the paddling and turning. I struck a 10" fins unlimited dale dobson that I had lying around on it and it is does fine, but. . . Any advice on alternative fins? I am 5-7 and a fire plug like 195 lbs and like turning and gliding, and am an okay nose rider. I know Mr. Johnson will chime in with some sagely advice, and any other suggestions will be tried out! Thanks!
greenough 4A from true ames fins is my go-to template for single fins of all lengths & persuasions. i'd prob. go w/ a 9" w/ a board that size & tail width. should give you plenty of hold, drive, & turning ability. the flexible tip will give you a bit of extra "twang" out of your turns, too. i ride a 10" in my 9'6" si si slider & had a 9" in my old 9'2" robert august
my nr 2 i use the Calvani fin and my 9'10 elevator i use either there light weight fin . They both work really well. I use the Lightweight fin when the waves tend to peel fast this give me that extra flex I need and the wide base give me the hold when I am perched on the nose. When its peeling and glassy I use my Nose rider fin its a 11 inch pivot fin . Awsome drive it make the board glide really well and once the board it lock in and you on the nose your set . Best thing to do is look on Ebay for fins you can get super deals on fins there here the link to bings site and the fins they carry http://www.bingsurf.com/merch-fins.html For what you want I thing anything over a 10 inch fine will make it hard to turn that board .
I was having concerns of drag with the Bing #1001 Pivot fin monstrosity that came with the Spoon, so I took njsurfer42's suggestion and got a Greenough 10.5" 4A. I'm sure it'll have less drag & tracking than the current fin, but since I don't plan on riding my longboards on anything past chest-high, I started to research low-drag fins. They're all unconventional, but after studying the dynamics of flow, I started to look heavily at: 1. Turbo Tunnel 2. Cheyne Horan's Star Fin 3. Revolution Spitfire 4. Wavegrinder I know some guys swear by the Turbo Tunnel, but I cannot be convinced that the tunnel doesn't create more drag than a normal fin. So I ruled that one out. The Star Fin made sense because of the shape's background in sailing. Of course, the boat on which it proved it's potential (Aussie 2) was mostly straight line racing & it was 20 years ago. Different keel designs have evolved. The Spitfire makes sense because it's design nearly eliminates vortex turbulence, which is a great deal of drag. So much drag that it's considered faster than a conventional fin of equal length, despite the Spitfires greater surface area. I settled ordering a Wavegrinder, with the 4A as a backup. If you take the rider input out of the speed of the board, the physics behind the concept of the Wavegrinder makes sense & it should be the fastest design (length for length) that you can get. I'm not convinced about it's ability to provide drive in a turn, but I'll remain undecided until I surf the Bing with it in. It's currently in the mail now. I'll comment after I ride it.
