Fin choice

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Snowy McAllister
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Fin choice

Post by channels » Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:47 pm

Need advice on fin choices for a longboard. I have a 9' 2" longboard at home, not too thick and a very pulled in tail; not quite a 'performance' longboard but not too far off it either. It has FCS plugs for the side fins and a fin box for the back fin but I'm looking for a fin set up that focuses on turns rather than noseriding or cruising....suggestions on fin setup anyone?

Beerfan

Re: Fin choice

Post by Beerfan » Sat Sep 10, 2011 4:46 pm

Image

8'' fluid foils dolphin, and shapers, SB sidebites. In the pic, the side fins are plastic crap fcs. The shapers sidebites and fluid foils dolphin give good drive and great manouverability. I f*cken love hitting the bottom turn on my backhand on my 9'1'', i throw all my weight down into it, and it rockets back up the face.
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sickpig
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Re: Fin choice

Post by sickpig » Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:46 am

You may also need to factor in your weight in to your fin choice as well, as I am in a similar scenario of playing around with my fin set up and someone commented that my current fin was too large for my size (80kgs) - just another consideration 8)

Beerfan

Re: Fin choice

Post by Beerfan » Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:58 am

Good call sickpig. The above is for an 83kg x 5'9'' human.

grapsta
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Re: Fin choice

Post by grapsta » Sun Sep 18, 2011 8:28 am

I've got a similar question...got a Mctavish Charger that has the 3 small FCS ( 7s ??) that came with it and want to get a larger centre fin for some extra drive - whats a good larger centre fin and wheres a good place to buy em ?

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otway1949
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Re: Fin choice

Post by otway1949 » Fri Dec 02, 2011 2:46 pm

I've got an interesting experiment coming up.
Currently using C drives as side bites on my 9ft Outer Island and a 9" Roxborough centre fin.But as the board has a single to double concave with a bit of venturii compression where it goes 1 to 2, I am trialling the FCS bozer quad fins the board is not quadable but it gives me a small and a large set of Bonzer fins.
All I need now is some surf :D
Jaffa, I'm opinionated, and I'm sometimes right. So?

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Cuttlefish
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Re: Fin choice

Post by Cuttlefish » Fri Dec 02, 2011 6:09 pm

grapsta wrote:I've got a similar question...got a Mctavish Charger that has the 3 small FCS ( 7s ??) that came with it and want to get a larger centre fin for some extra drive - whats a good larger centre fin and wheres a good place to buy em ?
Here you go Grapsta,
I've got a 6.5" fin I used in a 6'6" I had and also as a centre fin on my 7' diamondtail with FCS bonzer sides.
Nicely foiled fibreglass fin and unbeatable price.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Solid-Fibreg ... 3f0cff12c9
Only a rat can win the rat race.

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otway1949
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Re: Fin choice

Post by otway1949 » Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:01 pm

Cuttlefish wrote: I've got a 6.5" fin I used in a 6'6" I had and also as a centre fin on my 7' diamondtail with FCS bonzer sides.
Nicely foiled fibreglass fin and unbeatable price.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Solid-Fibreg ... 3f0cff12c9
After one small surf with the smaller of the bonzer quad pair in as side bites I'm rapt, held longer and more forward nose rides to the point where others noticed and yet there was good release to whack a turn and itwas able to be quite angular in the turn less arclike than single fin. Still looking for a proving ground of bigger stuff though :D
Jaffa, I'm opinionated, and I'm sometimes right. So?

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Cuttlefish
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Re: Fin choice

Post by Cuttlefish » Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:46 pm

I've always used the larger ones.
Love em.
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otway1949
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Re: Fin choice

Post by otway1949 » Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:23 pm

FCS sell a quad set at about $155 Futures have nothing to offer!
Jaffa, I'm opinionated, and I'm sometimes right. So?

Beerfan

Re: Fin choice

Post by Beerfan » Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:30 pm

I know what i want for xmas. I have a board that would go well with those fins i reckon!!

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Cuttlefish
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Re: Fin choice

Post by Cuttlefish » Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:46 pm

otway1949 wrote:FCS sell a quad set at about $155 Futures have nothing to offer!
Ouch $155. :shock:
I'll ask at my local shop and see how much they want for a set.
Only a rat can win the rat race.

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WANDERER
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Re: Fin choice

Post by WANDERER » Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:18 pm

another thing to consider is how much rail your fin selection will commit to a turn, especially in regards to longboards - I find that large sider fins on a long board with a flattish tail rocker may pull more rail down into the water than you can handle - which also references sickpigs point; if you don't have the weight to lay into the rail then you'll be fighting a losing battle against your fins and rocker - likewise if you are a big fella who likes to lean it over you need to have fins that can cop it, there's no magic number, or actually, maybe there is but we don't have the knowledge to fully utilise it, so trial and error is the way forward.
I've just bought an 8'0" feral dave widow maker / mini mal, I've put smal side bites in with a 6" center similar in shape to a large thruster fin, however I think I'm gonna go for a 7" dolphin as I don't think the 6" is giving me enough leverage.
I had a 9'2" Wilde high perfomace shape years ago, and I had H2's in as sides, it pulled way too much rail into the water for my liking, and once leant over didn't like to negotiate on the arc. Went for some standard GL size side bights and it was much more user friendly.
I think on a mal you want your side fins to thrust you through turns a bit, but otherwsie not effect the flow too much, longboards have no trouble getting down the line going straight, but having the side bites helps to keep the turns nice and snappy, to the point that if you're not that good a surfer who's probably not gonna be pointing your board back at the critical area that often, you could probably do without side fins at all...
now I'm just thinking out loud...

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Cuttlefish
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Re: Fin choice

Post by Cuttlefish » Fri Dec 09, 2011 6:26 am

$60 a pair for the larger of the set of 4. 8)
Edit: to clarify that's $60 for 2 fins...the larger ones out of the set of four.
Last edited by Cuttlefish on Fri Dec 09, 2011 5:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Only a rat can win the rat race.

Beerfan

Re: Fin choice

Post by Beerfan » Fri Dec 09, 2011 2:06 pm

$60 ???? WTF?? You must know someone pete, i've only seen em for 155.

Wands, i have a PU/PE 7'2 diverse SG/widow. Only a few surfs on it and still trying to get the fin combo right. I had it out in 3'+ the other week as a thruster, Went very well, but i want to try full size sides, and a 5.5'' - 6'' centre fin. I reckon that'll keep it drivy, but still give nice turns. Let me know how you go with fins on it. Did you get a dynocore??

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WANDERER
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Re: Fin choice

Post by WANDERER » Fri Dec 09, 2011 4:19 pm

It's a slightly heavy PU construction with a chocolatey swirl resin tint on the deck, good quality build, picked up off a bloke who was trying to sell it for $450 on ebay but wasn't getting any bites, he originally listed it for $500 and it went by without a bid, he then relisted it at $450 and it was passed up again, though I was watching closely, when I finally called the bloke and organised to meet up and I saw the quality of the construction I ended up paying the guy $425 for it and I feel I got a pretty tidy deal for a clean board in near new condition (I reckon the guys fotos on ebay didn't do him any favours - strange angles and poor lighting).

It should fit nicely into my competition quiver and make the transition between 8 foot and 9 foot heats smooth, and basicly thats what I bought it for, I plan on getting back on the contest scene next year for a bit of fun, both club and opens.

So far I've only had the one surf on it, and that was after 5 weeks out of the surf with a bung knee, so I've hardly even got a feel for it yet, but I did get some nice turns both off the top and cutting back, enough to inspire some joyous intrigue. Hopefully I'll give it another crack tomorrow at a NE magnet up the coast, I'll stick with the current fin set up until I've got my feet sorted and have had a few good waves on it, but at this stage it looks a little underfinned and I did get that flickey-wafty sense when i pushed it hard through turns - but like I say I'm a long way off making a fully informed decision yet.
I've got some M5 sides as well so maybe I'll give them a crack at some point too.

Now to convince the missus that I NEED to trade my near new HPD Erik Sommer model for a brand new HPD "In The Pink" Model - nice boards but damned expensive!

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Cuttlefish
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Re: Fin choice

Post by Cuttlefish » Thu Dec 15, 2011 5:25 am

FYI....
Bonzer set here
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FCS-B5-BONZE ... 35b7c3e95c
Save lots of $'s.
Only a rat can win the rat race.

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otway1949
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Re: Fin choice

Post by otway1949 » Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:55 pm

The Bonzer fins don't work in Victoria as there are no tubes >><< . Went down to the mornington peninsular and looked to surf in the Flinders area >><< Matched up with Hatch and a subsequent surf checked showed ocean beaches big and out of control heavy side shore windsswell was big enough to head into western port and the softy spots, of Point Leo Little Noosa and Pines looked to be a possibility. not so devil east wind blew them to mush at about 2ft MEH!. But in the spirit of go out, I did, with the little bonzers in the board tracked didn't track wobbled and woggled there was no drive in the waves so it was a wallow.

Disappointed and of course now I'm back at Merimbula and by the reports I'm hear tell me I timed it perfectly to go elsewhere and missed.
The up point is that I now have a huge Christmas swag of wifely brownie points and a matching credit card bill :shock: :shock:
It was good to meet the Hatchman and get wind of his petrol fumes and thoughts. But even a local couldn't buy me a wave :shock: :shock:
Jaffa, I'm opinionated, and I'm sometimes right. So?

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