First quad feedback

[diggerdickson]

Had the board today out in some good lefts with decent size and grunt for the first time since Ive had her. Found it heaps stable on drops plus held in nicely if I needed to turn half way down the face, held tight when needed.

I have been reading a lot from other posts about one of the down sides of quads being pivot, well for the first time since Ive had her I thought that I would really try this out on the lefts ( im natural stance and a very average surfer), came of the bottom with a nicely held bottom turn to beat the section, a few pumpls down the line to gain as much speed as possible, then went into a second bottom turn and aimed up at the tip of the lip on about a 75-80 percent verticle I wanted to smash the lip in a hard re-entry but found that my timing was out, the lip was already starting to pitch over and my nose was only just starting to go through the lip. I was forced to snap as hard as I could, there was no slide, no hangup in the lip and it pivoted just fine to me, once snapped I just leant forward and droped back down the face and went into another bottom turn.

For the average mug this board pivots fine to me, of course I cannot say for the more advanced surfers amongst us as that is not me. Would be interesting to hear how other quadfather guys are finding the board on there backhand for pivot.

[brownhornet]

Ive had my Quad for about 2 months now. I must admit that everything I have read about them is quite exaggerated in both the good and the bad. I remember reading a comment about not wanting to take one overseas unridden for a host of reasons. Really it took no longer to get use to my quad than any new board. Are they faster? Yes but not life changing. Do they just gather speed on their own? Hmm maybe but again not life changing. Do they struggle to pivot and go vert? Haven't notice much of a difference but I do have the McGee roundtail setup. Sweet spot for back foot is bigger? A little.

The main ones I have felt are undoubtedly it is loosers and easier to push around in turn in snaps in a way that decreasing fin size in a thruster never really achieved. It still holds really well where a small fin in a thruster just makes it have more slide. Also that you don't have to work the board quite so hard to generate speed. Doesn't mean that it takes off without any work on the surfers behalf. One thing which is not as noticeable is the thrust of a thruster. I have spoken to a number of surfers who say they have never really felt this. If you haven't felt a thrust then you'll never know the difference..or what you're missing. On a big backhand bottom turn to reo in good surf I can guarantee this drive on every bottom turn. On the quad it feels more to step out on the turn and doesn't get that drive or thrust. Maybe if we ever have any decent surf in NSW again I can confirm this with more authority. I love my new quad just find it odd that everyone's comments seem to be so polarised.

Bottom line for me is quad rules the summer surf but ...as i read somewhere once before...come a larger 4ft+ winter surf I reckon I would prefer thruster. Not that I couldn't ride quad comfortably, just prefer the feeling of thrusting from a bottom turn and vert whacking the lip with power. This is why we all now own a number of boards where we used to own one. Right board for the right day. One thing I might suggest to conclude is that a quad is maybe a bit easier to ride for your average surfer as it takes away some of the need to constantly work a thruster to get it moving. I am always in awe of how great surfers make really weak average waves look good. See how they generate speed from nothing. Most average surfers are not good at doing this (includes me). In bigger surf we all appear to surf better as the power is there for us. A quad can compensate for some of this...but again not life changing.

[Yuke Hunt]

McKee
McKee
McKee
McKee
McKee
McKee
Its McKee
Apart from that ... good feedback Brownhornet ... Quads go just fine in big surf ... and as you stated its about what you feel comfortable riding in certain conditions ... if we go back to the early years of the thruster ... a majority of surfers still rode single fins in large surf because of the assumption that they performed better than tri-fins in those conditions ... perception rather than fact.
I find it far easier to initiate and control tail slide on a quad setup than I can on the tri-fin configuration ... and must agree with the consensus that quads do seem faster than thrusters ... I have one quad that is by far the fastest board for its size that I have ridden ... but there is possibly more to it than the fin setup ... still trying to work out the nuances of this little conundrum.

[Donweather]

Righto, got meself some K2.1s this arvo and their slotted in with the G1000s at the rear. Let's hope the wind remains light in the morning and I can test the new setup out.

[Nick Carroll]

I love my new quad just find it odd that everyone's comments seem to be so polarised.

It's probably because so many different fin shapes and positions are being used...often with much uncertainty as to the effects.

Four fins offer more variety than three...but variety can also mean confusion. Very slight changes in template and fin placement can have massive and sometimes unexpected results. This without even mentioning all the other design aspects which a quad set-up can affect and be affected by.

When three fins first blew up, it was a v different story, everyone just plugged straight into the standard Simon measurements and much of the experimenting (the five-fins, the seven-fins, Widowmakers etc) happened at the margins. This time the experts (McKee, Stretch etc) are on the margins and the experimenting is happening in the mainstream.

Gonna take a while before some general understanding emerges between designers and surfers as to what works best. Me, I sorta suspect there won't be one "best" with quads...rather a range of highly disparate designs and set-ups working to different ends, but maybe with some v general principles holding true.

[Trev]

I'm probably oversimplifying it but.....
It seems to me, as Nick said, the computations are almost endless by the time you add in a fourth fin, plus all the different types of fins available.
I'm flat out woryying about three. Most of the time I don't even bother moving my centre fin, although I (think) understand the basics of speed versus turning ability.
I suspect there are as many different riding styles out there as there are surfers, so there's probably a set up for everyone if they can find it. Then, the surf will change.
However, as someone else said, how many of us are good enough to actually be able to make use of the variety?
I'm never going to be a world beater in the surf but I try my best to make the most out of every wave I catch. I spend a bit of time on the paddle back out, analysing what I might have done better, or differently and try to make use of that knowledge on the next wave.

[Donweather]

Well, with the K2.1s in the front as highly recommended by Mark after some feedback, all I can say is......fecking sensational. Board turns so easily now and it just has this amazing drive coming out of the turns. I couldn't believe the difference just with the change of the front fins. Also tried one off the top and once again it turned brilliantly and came down off the lip/foam and just kept on driving and generated some great speed.

A damn top board Mark and I seriously can't wait to get her into my OS Surfari in 4 weeks time!!! Here's the break just off the doorstep..............

[diggerdickson]

you bastard don, that wave looks sensational and a lot of fun

[Trev]

Yeah.

[pridmore]

glad they did the trick, thought they might...you prob lost a touch of drive so maybe take the M3s' with you OS in case you need a bit more speed and drive to make it thru the spitting reef caverns.....looks sweet that right...... when you head off and whats the quiver ???

[Donweather]

glad they did the trick, thought they might...you prob lost a touch of drive so maybe take the M3s' with you OS in case you need a bit more speed and drive to make it thru the spitting reef caverns.....looks sweet that right...... when you head off and whats the quiver ???

Thanks Mark. Yeah I did loose a bit of drive, but mainly on the flats, and I was happy to loose that given the ease of turning and still pushing very well through the turns. And yeah I was intending to throw the M3's in the board bag for the fast racier waves over there....cause after all, that's what we designed the board for yeah.

We leave on Feb 1st. Taking my 6'4" thruster, 6'4" QF and my 6'9" rounded pin for the larger days.

Bring it on I say.

[Donweather]

Sorry guys, but I can't stop raving about my new quadfather. Got to ride her in some powerful, punchy 2-3ft clean beachies this morning and once again I'm super super stoked by how she goes. So fast in a straight line, turns on a dime (with the K2.1s) and just comes out of the turns with so much speed and drive.

Once again, thanks Mark......a bloody top job mate!!!

[pridmore]

no worries Don, glad you are happy with the board, thats what I was aiming for and what you wanted, so good stuff....keen to see some footage and pics of you tearing up the Solos in a few months....



I rode a qf today owned by Caveman from Sydney and he has the same fin set up you, went well too....

[diggerdickson]

had the quad out at 3 foot I suppose, I hate calling size. some good barrells, steep waves, beautiful solid shoulder. The board just rips, beautiful long carves back into the pocket and great speed throughout. One thing I do know, I owe mark a 6 pack

[Cpt.Caveman]

Haha good to hear that I'm not the only one stoked with a good quad.

I've recently been noticing that the quad has different benefits in different sizes and whether the waves are bowly or not. Does anyone else notice this?

e.g. In smaller waves it really helps by holding more speed through turns, and picking up any of the waves energy.

In bigger waves the hold and drive just make it so much more fun to throw into tight arcs and see how hard you can push it.

Good fun!

[mical]

I've recently been noticing that the quad has different benefits in different sizes and whether the waves are bowly or not. Does anyone else notice this?

Yes CC, I've noticed.

I've been riding quads almost exclusively for about 2 years now and love them.

However, I got a small run of 3'-4' swell for a few days before heading up to the sunny state over Christmas and rode my old 'go to' thruster for something different.

I really enjoyed it as it was fresh, loose and exciting, so I'm jumping back on those again for a while.

[diggerdickson]

Haha good to hear that I'm not the only one stoked with a good quad.

I've recently been noticing that the quad has different benefits in different sizes and whether the waves are bowly or not. Does anyone else notice this?

e.g. In smaller waves it really helps by holding more speed through turns, and picking up any of the waves energy.

In bigger waves the hold and drive just make it so much more fun to throw into tight arcs and see how hard you can push it.

Good fun!

I have defiantely found in small weak with chop my small fish is way more fun, is loser and easier to throw around, what it loses in speed compared to the quad in the junky stuff it makes up inthe other areas. But once the waves clean up, starts gong square, pushing down the line, or giving real big shoulders to play with give me the quad any day, from 2 foot up the quad for me is the go to board.

[diggerdickson]

after today would love to get a full quiver of these things with a swinger for the small stuff, ahh one can dream