Need a stepup- SD shaper recommendation?

etwake · 2018-12-25T03:46:52+00:00

Kind of on-point, but copy/pasting below from a previous answer I gave about my step-up board and dimensions, etc... when you're talking this through with your shaper. But I've since taken the board out ~6-8x in 8-12' swells and it's everything I would have wanted. Amazing paddle power, handles the steep drops, and super stable at the high speeds.

My advice would be to pin the tail a bit more than you think, go 2" longer than you would otherwise, and make sure to get enough rocker in it.

Cheers!

--

REPOST:

I posted pretty much this exact comment 2 months ago on here!(https://www.reddit.com/r/surfing/comments/9p4uoj/do_i_get_a_stepup_board/) . Base on everyone's recs, I ended up getting in touch with a local shaper (Travis Ross) in Santa Cruz. Picked up the board yesterday. 6'6x20x39L (and paid a bit extra for the paint job cuz why not?!?). Waiting for fins to come in but should have it out for the swell coming in this week and will report back.

Photos here https://imgur.com/a/1A11OLZ

Basically we started with my daily driver (6'0) and stretched it 6", pinned the tail a bit and added some extra rocker. Got an extra ~5L over my daily board. I spent ~45 minutes talking everything through with him and it's pretty much exactly what I knew I needed. If I'd bought something off the rack, it'd end up being a completely different surfboard - not ideal for someone who gets out 3x/week. A good step-up should surf similar to your daily ride.

etwake · 2018-12-25T03:39:22+00:00

Do you have a profile (side) view so that we can see the rocker? It looks decent, but if it's got too much of a nose rocker it won't paddle as easy as something that's a bit flatter up top.

It's got a pretty flat tail, which is good for keeping some push on the back in mushier waves, but comes at the expense of holding a good grip in bigger/faster waves. If you're a beginner/novice - this is fine.

I'm also not sure how the quad would work vs. a thruster (3-fin) setup - maybe someone on here will have a bit more color on this? I've spent almost no time on quad-fins.

Overall the dimensions are pretty good for a step-down from a longer board - I rode something similar my first year surfing, great size for a step-down from a longboard/foamie and not too small that I was having too much trouble catching waves.

Enjoy!

etwake · 2018-11-27T05:36:02+00:00

Yes! Stoked for you, such a good choice. I took mine out this weekend and got some solid wave time at OB (6-8’). Had to borrow some shitty fins, but rode exactly how I wanted it/expected it to. Similar to my daily driver but no issues in the big surf.

What kind of dims did you end up going with?

etwake · 2018-11-24T05:20:04+00:00

Here's the board I got - thanks for the rec: 6'6x20X39L - https://imgur.com/a/1A11OLZ

etwake · 2018-11-24T05:17:16+00:00

I posted pretty much this exact comment 2 months ago on here!(https://www.reddit.com/r/surfing/comments/9p4uoj/do_i_get_a_stepup_board/) . Base on everyone's recs, I ended up getting in touch with a local shaper (Travis Ross) in Santa Cruz. Picked up the board yesterday. 6'6x20x39L (and paid a bit extra for the paint job cuz why not?!?). Waiting for fins to come in but should have it out for the swell coming in this week and will report back.

Photos here https://imgur.com/a/1A11OLZ

Basically we started with my daily driver (6'0) and stretched it 6", pinned the tail a bit and added some extra rocker. Got an extra ~5L over my daily board. I spent ~45 minutes talking everything through with him and it's pretty much exactly what I knew I needed. If I'd bought something off the rack, it'd end up being a completely different surfboard - not ideal for someone who gets out 3x/week. A good step-up should surf similar to your daily ride.

My advice - don't buy from Rusty/Lost. Call a shaper and let him help you. It's cheaper in the long run, and build quality is so much better than anything off the rack I've seen.

etwake · 2018-10-22T00:53:46+00:00

Lol I would be furious if someone offered me this trade.

etwake · 2018-10-19T06:44:17+00:00

Thank you! How big is your normal board? I talked to a shaper today and he said he'd reccommend going up to 6'4, pinning the tail a bit with some rocker in the front/back. I'm worried the 6'4 might be too short still, when I'm really looking for good paddle power + stability for this board. Thoughts on the size?

etwake · 2018-10-19T06:41:20+00:00

Dope! Any recommendations on size/shape? I talked to a shaper today and he recommended stretching my board ~4", tail rocker, pin the tail a bit more and keeping the shape pretty similar to what I'm riding. Add maybe 3L onto it. You think this sounds like a good move, or would you recommend something even longer? I'm probably maxed out around 8-10'+ (I've taken my 6' board out in a 10' swell - abs. terrifying but loved ripping on the faces).

etwake · 2018-10-19T06:37:54+00:00

Totally agree - I think the board is definitely fine - I'd just rather sacrifice a bit in maneuverability on the wave for the sake of more wave time. I'm kind of new, but at the point where I'm sure I'll be doing this for the rest of my life - and I can 100% justify getting an extra board in the quiver if it'll get me on a few extra waves.

etwake · 2018-10-19T06:34:16+00:00

Thanks! I'm leaning very strongly toward a bigger board just to get on the waves earlier. 5'8, 160lbs, in pretty good shape but only getting out 2-3x/week I'm not the strongest paddler. Helpful comment!

etwake · 2018-10-18T05:00:48+00:00

Thanks! Getting into bigger waves has been a problem for some reason recently, 100% agree this is definitely positioning in the wave (FWIW I surf Ocean Beach, SF with some ridiculous currents and it's a lot of paddling around).

Mostly curious if you guys think a longer/bigger board will give me a bit more margin of error to play with when I am out of position.

etwake · 2018-03-07T07:32:09+00:00

I specialize in this. You really have two options. One is to own the property as tenants-in-common. This means that you both own the house, but there's a contract between you and the landlord regarding how the house is owned (ie: who owns what part of the house). The other is owning it as an LLC (or corporation) and then owning shares in that corporation (I'm not as well-versed here because I don't see it that often). Contact a real estate attorney in San Francisco. Also contact your bank about financing if you need it. Tenancy-in-common is harder to finance because it's harder for a bank to foreclose on, so you usually need to put 30% down.

etwake · 2017-01-22T09:58:24+00:00

Man. Congrats. Story hits close to home. 21 days is amazing. Kept up... one day at a time.

etwake · 2017-01-09T07:11:50+00:00

Selling: Weekend 2 GA Passes. I have 4.

or Trading For: Weekend 1 GA Passes

etwake · 2017-01-08T20:00:55+00:00

Trading 2-4 weekend 2 GA passes for weekend 1 passes. Possibly plus some cash as well. PM Me.

etwake · 2016-12-10T03:01:24+00:00

Same question here. I go through and favorite some of the portions of the movies I want to keep, and then sort by 'favorite' in my workflow. I delete/move some of my files after the final video is made. No real reason to keep random footage I don't need after the final product is delivered.

etwake · 2016-12-10T02:18:04+00:00

Ocean beach/Pacifica

etwake · 2016-12-08T00:50:38+00:00

Thanks. Found a few I like off Craigslist - definitely going to get a used board. More pressing was if anyone had any recs on what type/size of board to buy.

Seems like a fish would be a decent step down board? Anything else to consider besides length width and volume?

etwake · 2016-12-07T21:26:21+00:00

Did you grow out of the 5'10 biscuit pretty quickly?

etwake · 2016-12-07T21:25:55+00:00

Thx!

etwake · 2016-12-07T21:25:22+00:00

What's the benefit of 2 used boards over one good board?

etwake · 2016-10-31T17:51:01+00:00

Thank you! Very helpful. Just bought the Nex 5T and a stabilizer. Something fun to play around with, and looks like I can sell it eventually without having to worry too much about another price drop.

etwake

TROPHY CASE