Best Boards

My flyer goes in literally anything. Especially crappy beach breaks in New Jersey. It might be a little less rocker than you'd want, but the waves around here can be pretty steep and it never pearls. Mine is 5'10" @ 27 liters. Hope this helps.

 

Go to surf shops and look BUT DONT BUY

Get an idea in your mind of what you want and the right board will come your way.

 

Stretch buzzsaw perfect ec board

 

Too bad they won't let you test ride it before committing the big bucks.

 

Yeah you could also just go test a few. Or get a custom shape.

 

Check out some Haydens

 

Go to your local shaper, my only comment to these kind of posts.

 

If I was rich I would have a dream quiver of haydens, ci's, ajw's, and a potatonator. Unfortunately I am not. Second the local shaper idea. Mine makes me models of the ones I dream of for $300 less than a shop board. And i love them. Find a shape you think you would love (gravy has a good amount of volume right? Maybe a weirdo ripper or shred sled next for you?) and talk to a local shaper.

 

if you really want to move to a board that is better fitted for your size, you will go through a frustrating adjustment period. Your Gravy is just under 34 liters, per the CI website. You are 125 pounds. You should be riding boards at least 10 liters smaller.

I'm 5'10 180 pounds and in my thirties and all my boards, grovelers through step ups, are between 28 and 32 liters. I'd think a kid your age and at your weight should be riding smaller boards than an older guy that has 50 pounds on you.

I'd recommend playing around with the board selector function on the CI website, just so you can get an idea of what size/volume of board to ride. Take that information to your local shop and get their feedback, and go from there.

Since you will hopefully be making a pretty drastic jump in board volume, i would recommend a board that is a little forgiving. the flyer is a great model for that, and the remix has a little extra width in the tail and nose, but is still very performance oriented. of course other brands and/or a local shaper can offer many different boards that will help.

Good luck. So far you've probably felt pretty good, your riding a shortboard, getting better. Now comes the realization that you've been massively helped by a huge board. size that thing down, and once you get used to it, you'll see your surfing improve drastically. You'll realize the other board helped you in some areas, but held you back in so many other areas.

Keep the current board for the winter, you'll appreciate the volume then...

 

maybe find a company or shaper who has multiple models on offer. then buy one, work through it, ask
yourself what you do/don't like, go for what you do and lose what you don't. stick with the company or
shaper, get another one of their models, repeat. i call this fine tuning…like tuning in an fm station well.
(anybody remember fm?)…..also, for those who suggest constant down-sizing of volume, be careful with
this cause (wet) wetsuits, wave period, playing field and competing for waves are relevant factors especially
in new jersey where i surf……less so on west coast but STILL relevant….

 

A little advice from yer ol' unka Cheech.

My first brand new board was done on the side by Mike Doyle. I went to WRV in the 80's and they sent me to their shop to talk to a shaper. Being a big guy I was assigned Doyle. Lucky for me he said he'd do in his own work shop. I got it for 1/3 of the price.
Go and ask to talk to a shaper for a custom, and do some wheeling and dealing. Only give him blank money. tell him he'll get more after it's shaped and the rest after it's in your hands

 

Use this;

http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/surfboards_volume_calc.php

Check out the boards they suggest, get an idea of the dimensions that will fit you better, then look for a used board with similar dimensions. You should get a better idea before buying new.

 

I second this, but for me it says I should be riding around 20 liters of volume, when right now I'm riding 27 and really enjoying the float. It will probably give you a crazy low number, which is why I also second buying a used board of the same dims/volume. If you want to save more money, then you can test ride some at a local surf shop.

 

I've ridden a lot of CI's, and there's definitely nothing wrong with them, I just don't get the hype. Well, I do, bigger company=more advertising=better sales. Living in Rockaway, especially in the summer time, the question isn't 'what kind of board do you ride?" its 'which Merrick do you ride?'. Also, most decent surf shops will have demos, if you're in NY, Breakwater Surf on Rockaway Beach Blvd will let you play with a demo of just about anything they sell. Find that magic board. If its the first one you ride, it probably wasn't the right one.

 

Have a local shaper make you another...give him the board and have him go at it. If you like the overall profile and foil...I'd say stick with it. If it's not broke...

 

To be fair to your shaper, you should expect to put down the cost of all materials as a deposit. If the guy's got any integrity and reputation at all, he's going to give you a fair price... and there won't be much room for "wheeling and dealing."

 

Maybe not up there, but down here one can.