Which mini mal would you choose?

[mrpotato]

Hello all,

With the lack of swell recently I have been forced to revert back to my old mini mal (a very cheap first board I bought a few years back) and have really enjoyed the longer board and was thinking about getting rid of this piece of crap and upgrading to a decent board. My question is what board around the 7'6" size would you recommend? Not looking for an epoxy style board either.

Any recommendations would be great

Cheers
Mr P

[WANDERER]

get a hybrid, minimals are for useless stand up and go straight style surfers.

[mrpotato]

Hi Wanderer, I was thinking about that option as well so what shapers should i check out for a hybrid board?

[phil osofer]

Check out Geoff Mcoys website.
Wide point + rocker 3 inches below halfway, + extra thickness in tail means sweetspot a bit further back, which means they are easy to turn.

[sean--]

Check out Grant Millers website . The model is called a Powerglide and it goes really good. The information on the website and the testimonials tell the story. Got one myself at 7'6" although 7' is the standard size. I'm a bigger bloke and can hang five on it and throw it around and it surfs shorter than its length.
He's a champion bloke to deal with as well.

[mrpotato]

Thanks Sean I was just checking out the Miller site & impressed with the powerglide..does he have a showroom in mona vale or do you need to order and wait the 3-4weeks+ ?

[porca]

i know its a long way from where you guys are but mick carabine in wollongong does a nugget for these type of days
they are thicker and wider than usual

[sean--]

Thanks Sean I was just checking out the Miller site & impressed with the powerglide..does he have a showroom in mona vale or do you need to order and wait the 3-4weeks+ ?

I'm not sure about a showroom as I live down on the South Coast. I guess an order would take about 4 weeks . The best thing would be to get in touch with him and talk to him about it.
As for the board itself it would be among the most versatile boards around. Spoon's got one as well and he seems to like it .
He does stock boards that sell at various outlets so if your after a 7 footer you may not even have to order.

[rock]

The Miller Waterskate is a great board too and he makes them up to 7'.

It's not exactly what you said you were wanting, but I tend to take my 6'10" Waterskate out on the smaller days when I used to use my old 7'6".

[mrpotato]

Thanks all for the help! I'll go take a look around and check all the boards people recommended and make a decision.

Cheers,
Mr P

[bro]

Try the Bourton Bat Fish Quad at the BASE shop in Manly, you get the glide of the bigger board with the speed and loseness of a quad, plus they have one you can test drive, ask for Tav and tell him uncle bully sent you

[mustkillmulloway]

get a custom off geoff horner....he use sell in the realsurf store so admin might have his number

only mini mal i've ridden that i liked

if u gonna get a nugget....get a mccoy....i think it's pretty rude how many shapers are rippin off his designs

[Cuttlefish]

Had a few Miller's now.
Used to ride a 7' X 22" X 2&3/4" Powerglide.
I enjoyed it but I wanted something with less swing weight in the nose.
I wasn't worried about nose riding it so the extra volume wasn't necessary. However I wanted the glide with more manouvreability.
So I had Grant shape me a 7'2" X 22" X 2&3/4" rounded pin. Egg plan shape with a flip in the nose. Rails more like a short boards. The Powerglide's rails are quite blocky for floatation.
Single to double concave with a flat rocker.
10" single fin box and FCS side plugs.
The idea was to have a board which you could have in your car and roll up to the beach and not be caught out with the wrong board for the conditions.
How's it go?
It doesn't catch waves as well as the Powerglide. But once you're on them the free flowing lines and speed it has more than make up for it. The beauty of its shape is the ease in which you can take off and do fade bottom turns with no fear of pearling like on a longer board.
With the speed from big bottom turns then its easy to carve big arcs and take a high fast line. I like to ride it off my front foot.
I ride it with a 7&1/2" Island single fin and FCS Kelly side fins but GX's work well too.
I've ridden it in ankle snappers through to 6' points and beachies and its been fun all the way. The only thing I'd alter is to lose some of the nose rocker as it really doesn't need it and would help with duckdiving.
The Powerglide was really easy to duckdive and looking at the shape you wouldn't think so.
Grant has probably shaped one for himself now so he'll know what you're talking about if you call him and ask about it.
Just tell him it's Pete's from the Sunshine Coast.

[Spoon]

Can reccomend the powerglide. As he says, paddles like a 8'6" rides like a 6'6". I have had heaps of fun on mine. It's good to have something that you can throw around. Chat to Grant, he's a top bloke. Doesn't really have a showroom as such but he does have boards to show if that makes sense.

[sean--]

Can back Spoon up 100% on the Powerglide. Would be the most versatile mid length I've had. Does everything.

[RickyG]

^^^ Guys stop it please!!! Been keen to get a powerglide for ages but $$$ and other commitments make it impossible - I thought I'd got the idea out of my head but now I want one even more

[Cuttlefish]

One more thing I forgot to mention about the Powerglide was its great glass job. Glassed to last makes a huge difference in long term pride of ownership.
I've had a lot of boards I've sold off because they had ordinary glass jobs.
The Powerglide looked absolutely pristine after a year. No heel dents whatsoever.

[RickyG]

^^^ Guys stop it please!!! Been keen to get a powerglide for ages but $$$ and other commitments make it impossible - I thought I'd got the idea out of my head but now I want one even more

I've got a very fat tax return cheque to deposit today, hmmmmm