speeed fins hassles

[marcus]

has anyone else had any hassles with speed fins?
mine seem to pop out at the slightest bump on a rock and puncture the board with the rear trailing point on the fin base when they are popping out.

im thinking about glueing them in as this will be the fourth fin ive lost just from slightly touching the sandstone reef.

[hamish]

i lost one of the fancy carbon fibre ones just popping the fins out of a turn. came out too easily and expensive to replace (which i didn't do)

[marcus]

i lost one of the fancy carbon fibre ones just popping the fins out of a turn. came out too easily and expensive to replace (which i didn't do)

can i ask what you use for fins on that board now?
did you get the plugs changed over?
the shaper that gave me the carbons for $30 a set (he was given them) quoted another guy at around $80 to put fcs plugs in.

[hamish]

Marcus,
I bought the cheapest set of replacement speeed fins and put them in, it was a chili custom which I sold a couple of months ago as it was getting to the point where it would have no resale value at all. New thruster has fcs which I'm more than happy with

[Cpt.Caveman]

From what I've heard and from my own experiences, the problem of the fins falling out was easily corrected. The new plugs don't do the same thing.

I owned a Geoff Horner board with speedfins about a year ago until it snapped and I thought they were fantastic fins. The extra drive that I would get coming out of turns from the whip-back of the trailing edge was great.

The one problem I did have with them was that if you did bump into something like a rock, the trailing edge would put a big cut-like hole into the glassing. Its easy to fix so it didn't bother me.

I never had a problem with them just randomly falling out. The only time I lost any fins was when I jumped off a rock into the water and clipped the board on the rocks as I was landing. I've paddled them into a rock coming in before too and they didn't fall out, they just put a little cut in the back of the board.

The only other problem I found with them was that there seems to be such an anti-speedfins sentiment by a lot of shapers and surf shops. I have a hunch that the fins were initially falling out but when surfshop owners and shapers went back to speedfins saying they're ruining their business, speedfins didn't want to compensate. Thats just speculation, I don't know if its true but it seems to make sense to me. Whatever caused it, it can be hard to find the fins you want in stock. It might take some ringing around to find a shop that has them.

I'd get them again if Drew Anderson offered them.

[ric_vidal]

Marcus, you MUST ensure you push them home thoroughly and they click in. On a new installation this can take a bit of pressure and it can be deceptive. Best way to get them out is using the wax comb under the base like a little fulcrum and just knock out by hitting the leading edge. This removes any risk of damage from the bottom.

You can do just as much damage taking out tabbed type fins if you aren’t careful.

I use Speeed on every board unless someone specifically requests otherwise. God help them. The fall outs I’ve heard of have been through bodily contact and that might just be a blessing.

Sorry Dino but I like them and have from the first time I rode a board with them installed, but with my surfing...

Speeed recently released a multiplug which takes both Speeed and tabbed fins (FCS style), although the Speeeds will no longer click in with this method and they are held in by grub screws. They lost the battle yeas ago, too many people are hooked on FCS style tabs.

All the systems make a horrible mess of your board with heavy contact, but then you wouldn’t go too well with glass-ons either.

[marcus]

cp caveman and hamish , ric
i agreed withmost of what you guys had to say, especially regarding the cuts the fins do to the board when popping out.
i get mine popping out from old habits from bodyboarding, of sitting deep on a reef and paddling over shallow suck ups, when following through with the duckdive i have bumped the tail on the cunji a couple of times and lost fins like that.
it has been a real hassle finding shapers or shops that stock these fins, and my board being an epoxy, i dont know where im going to find an epoxy repair guy.
i have been using araldite as a temp fix on the holes.
ric ill take your advice and make sure they go in all the way, and ill try to stay away from shallow reef and be more carefull, afterall im new again to boardriding so i may be kooking it and not realising.
although i have to say, worrying about board damage and changing your surfing style to suit sucks.

[ric_vidal]

i have been using araldite as a temp fix on the holes.

Doesn’t one of the sun curing ding fix kits come in epoxy? Pretty sure it does Marcus.

ric ill take your advice and make sure they go in all the way, and ill try to stay away from shallow reef and be more carefull, afterall im new again to boardriding so i may be kooking it and not realising.
although i have to say, worrying about board damage and changing your surfing style to suit sucks.

Sometimes they just need a bit of lubrication spit’ll do... you shouldn’t have to change your habits too much Marcus. I’ve hit things (not too hard mind you) and haven’t had a problem. Point is, you might have similar problems with tabbed fins, only you might do more damage to your board.

[marcus]

cheers all for your advice, now all i have to do is wait for the only surf shop around here that sells them to order them in for me.

[marcus]

Marcus, you MUST ensure you push them home thoroughly and they click in. On a new installation this can take a bit of pressure and it can be deceptive.

is that like an old Atari?
matt pete and i got an Atari for christmas as kids and we couldnt work out why the screen was the ants picnic no matter what switch we toggled on the back of it, then someone had a bright idea of jamming the cartridge right in, and hey presto, we had comando.
i guess its a simmilar thing

[ric_vidal]

apology accepted.

bastard

I went to futures and i wouldn't use anything else now.

Too fiddly from this end for this black duck. Seen one too many Futures installation router straight through the deck of the board. Flat box into curved surface, but they’re all flawed :?

[marcus]

when ordering fins, do you use the terms, port and starboard?

[ric_vidal]

when ordering fins, do you use the terms, port and starboard?

Only if it’s a very, very big board

I don’t, but that doesn’t make me right... maybe just ‘when the bottom of the board is facing up it’s the left or right fin’ will do Marcus.

[marcus]

when ordering fins, do you use the terms, port and starboard?

Only if it’s a very, very big board

I don’t, but that doesn’t make me right... maybe just ‘when the bottom of the board is facing up it’s the left or right fin’ will do Marcus.

the nice man at breakaway surf shop just told me that jodie cooper from speedfins is in the paper for having been bitten on the hand by a shark, no wonder she hasnt replied to my email yet.

[mad]

Marcus, I rang Speed fins direct from the admin phone number on their website. Their admin person took the order then and there and i had my fins the next week. They were really helpful, from memory the ladies name was Sophie.

Don't stuff around with emails and half chewed reps, phone straight to the office and talk to someone who can help you

Only got them in my fish, and yeah I give them a tap/thump for Justin (case), but they're fine.

When ordering one fin either fax or email a diagram, or use terms like "looking at the bottom of the board from the tail to the nose - it's on the LHS/RHS". it's a bit labourious but covers the angles. I photocopied and faxed a fin and a diagram to their admin office with all my details. Too easy.

[marcus]

just had a look at the other fins, and there is this bit underneath the fin, where it slots into the plug, where it apears that some plastic remains untrimmed from the manufacturing process that should have been cut off, this is stopping the fin engaging properly.
i filed it down, however this may have contributed to them coming out so easily