Neckbeard

[Mexican]

Ok, time for some subjective opinion's.

The CI Neckbeard is a strangely alluring shape and im not sure what it is. Put one under your arm and it doesn't feel quite right but looks like it could go. I like it but be farked if i'm paying for one. Ill wait till some punter off loads one secondhand.

Anyone had a crack for some feedback??

[Skipper]

Ha ha. Just been admiring :? one up at Surfculture.
Neckbeard?! WTF?
Maybe bumfluff would like it.

( grabbed a copy of Smorgasborder and Kurrungaba for free by the way ).

[pridmore]

its the Dane thing, he likes a neck beard and I am guessing he named this model...board looks like fun, a Dumpster taken further....

[Mexican]

Pridmore whats your take on the design from a shapers perspective?

Not all boards are for everyone and I can see the limitations in where it can be surfed and by who it can be surfed as it should. Watching Dane surf it is not a good indication of how it would actually go.

Could you stretch, and thin, the plan shape out for longer boards and still see it work??

[pinhead]

Could you stretch, and thin, the plan shape out for longer boards and still see it work??

No.not really. I have a similar shape but mine has a swallow and isn't as short, mine's 5'7". You can go with that formular - short, wide, flat rocker, straighter tail outline but you'd have to tweak the variables to suit your size and riding style. The straight rail works because there's less of it and Dane being a big guy can get plenty of leverage - lengthen the rail (or shorten the rider) and it'll start to feel stiff, also Dane can use the straight tail outline to get drive out of committed vertical hacks. With a bigger board you wouldn't be able to over power it in the pocket. If you want to go longer, you'd need to put more curve in the rail and some flip in the nose - but then it would be a different shape. Also these types of things work with flat rocker. Make it longer and the nose will stick when you come out of a vertical turn so you'd have to tweak the rocker as well. I bet most guys will order them too long and end up just pumping down the line.

[Mexican]

Thanks pinhead.

I was wondering what would happen if one was shaped 6.0 x 19.5 x 2.38. Usually this width and thickness is associated with a 5.7 or 5.8. From what your saying it would go straight pretty well but not pocket turn, without some adjustment to the rail line at the tail.

I like where the design idea and guess ill talk to a shaper about the tweaking.

[Cpt.Caveman]

I like the look of it actually. I reckon the general width, forward widepoint and wide tail would combine to make it very fast, sitting on top of the wave and generating a lot of its own speed. It will probably maintain a lot of speed through turns due to the wide tail too.

It will be a board that just produces less drag in general than a stock standard HPS.

If it were me, I would need it very short so that the wide tail and forward widepoint still had some responsiveness. A 6'0" with a forward widepoint might surf more like a 6'2" or so, due to the extra rail-line.

[collnarra]

Simon's been making something similar, but more refined IMO, for a while now. The model name is the KB.

http://basesurfboards.com/en_AU/simon-a ... fboards/kb

[pinhead]

I would need it very short so that the wide tail and forward widepoint still had some responsiveness. A 6'0" with a forward widepoint might surf more like a 6'2" or so, due to the extra rail-line.

Exactly, the length recommendation is 4-6" shorter than your height. That's like 5'5" for most people. Which is a bit of a leap of faith if you're on a 6' hps right now.

[crabmeat thompson]

Did anyone ever ride one of these?

I got a mate who's the same weight as me, he's offloading a 6'0" real cheap ... He's moving to Japan with his wife and everything not tied down must go.

[Cpt.Caveman]

What length do you normally ride for your standard HPS Braithy?

6'0" would be a little long for me as a Neck Beard, and I'm 5'11" and 87kg. I do have a bias towards mini-board designs for small waves though.

[crabmeat thompson]

My normal shorty is 6'3" x 19 1/2 x 3 5/16 ... In saying that, I haven't ridden that in about 2 months. It's been all the 5'9" dumpling recently.

I just go by volume usually, and to get my 87 kilos moving I like anything around 35 litres (give or take 1.5 litres) which is bang on what this neckbeard is 35.8 litres. My 6'3" is 31 litres and I'm over sinking up to my tits and bogging rails on waves I shouldn't be.

I'm heading down to BH tomorra and I'll give it a test run, if I like I might buy it. I'll get change outta $200 for it, and he sent me a pic of it, and it's still got its original wax on it, looks like it's been surfed once, but he reckoned he's surfed it for about a month.

His loss might be my gain.

[kookster]

Hey Braithy, MP may kill me for saying this, but aren't they pretty damn close to your Dumpling shape? A bargain's a bargain though.

[crabmeat thompson]

Hey Braithy, MP may kill me for saying this, but aren't they pretty damn close to your Dumpling shape? A bargain's a bargain though.

Good question, I just took a drive up to Nobbys and fondled a few neckbeards ...

Similar tail shape, but the dumpling has more nose planshape, more volume, boxier rails and would be a better groveller I would imagine. The Neckbeard has pretty low rails, and full HPS outline. Plus it's a thruster compared to a quad.

My mate reckons 1.5-5 foot is supreme for the NB, and he's had it at dredging south straddie, and it handled a treat, all he did was put some big futures in it for more hold off the bottom. I'm not sure I'd take the dumpling at Straddie when it's on like that, it's just not made for it.

So hopefully the dumpling will be my knee to head high, more on high tide/ fuller waves, and the neckbeard waist to overhead, more low tide suckier type waves.

[Cpt.Caveman]

Sounds like it could be a good step up from the dumpling then? A lot of cross over in ideal wave range but a bargain is a bargain as said

[crabmeat thompson]

The neckbeard is a goer.

Really skatey feel to it, but man, it's forgiving and paddles like a mofo. I can see with a bit of time under my feet, it'll be a go to board when the surf's pumping. It turns on a dime. Effortlessly.

One outstanding thing about the Dumpling is, when you get on a bigger board (and a thruster?), your surfing is much more highly tuned. Fast twitch reflexes are going off right now. To get the quad to turn and manoeuvre you gotta put in the effort, and this only helps on bigger boards in better waves.

I'm not sure the NB would be good for anything under waist high, even though it'd paddle into them, there is not alotta drive in the small stuff, if you can't generate it, it won't happen. The dumpling is the opposite in that department. It has drive to burn when it's smaller and weaker.

[Cpt.Caveman]

It sounds good!

I wouldn't mind a chop-tail thruster like that sometime next year when my go-to board snaps. I think its time for something a little different for the decent wave department, but I'm not going back to a typical foiled out HPS. I love the effortless glide you get from planshapes like that.

[crabmeat thompson]

I tell you CC, you can flick it off the top with ease, and coming off the bottom generates so much speed.

Lots of fun. I'm keen to get it out on a point and link a few sections together on it.