Album Surfboards

racer1

Tom Curren status
Apr 16, 2014
13,006
15,143
113
Honolulu, Hawaii
Insanity is theeeee board.

Absolutely love it. Nothing weird just rips.

surfed overhead steep rights with a large stretch quad set, held in so well on the steep parts. Too stiff in the flat parts, but found my good wave fin set. Gonna try twin plus trailer next. Thruster went really well last week so that will be my all around neutral setup.
 

trifish

Billy Hamilton status
Sep 23, 2009
1,559
4,335
113
Shred City
Insanity is theeeee board.

Absolutely love it. Nothing weird just rips.

surfed overhead steep rights with a large stretch quad set, held in so well on the steep parts. Too stiff in the flat parts, but found my good wave fin set. Gonna try twin plus trailer next. Thruster went really well last week so that will be my all around neutral setup.
Did you size it like a hpsb?
 
  • Like
Reactions: j_mac

SixtyGrit

Gerry Lopez status
Oct 3, 2015
1,120
1,378
113
SD
Brahs, need some advice here. For the 87th time, twinsmang sizing.

I surf NCSD waves.

Had a 5'6" TWRP in xtr (still listed here by the guy I sold it to, for +$200 after fin box replacement), and rode it a LOT, always felt slightly chunky to me as a DD, even though I purchased it for juicy waves. I always reached for it in everything from chest to OH conditions.

I was always constantly curious how a 5'5" swallow would feel as a DD, but I still haven't pulled the trigger due to me basically being a pu$$y. Anyways, there are a bazilion 5'4" twinsman swallow tails on varial's site, any of which I'm considering as a DD, but I'd like to hear from people who have sized theirs at HPSB volume... 28L is starting to feel a bit better to me than 27L :rolleyes:,... so 5'4" stock sizing is pretty aggressive for me, especially for a board that Matt says you should feel good about sizing up 1-3L over your HPSB.

Here's my question: given the 5'6" felt slightly like cheating, and was a bit chunky, should I put in a custom for a 5'5" stock, or YOLO a 5'4" for instant gratification? Has anyone had an experience of undersizing their tm?
 

oeste858

Phil Edwards status
Sep 11, 2017
7,591
18,651
113
San Diego, CA
Brahs, need some advice here. For the 87th time, twinsmang sizing.

I surf NCSD waves.

Had a 5'6" TWRP in xtr (still listed here by the guy I sold it to, for +$200 after fin box replacement), and rode it a LOT, always felt slightly chunky to me as a DD, even though I purchased it for juicy waves. I always reached for it in everything from chest to OH conditions.

I was always constantly curious how a 5'5" swallow would feel as a DD, but I still haven't pulled the trigger due to me basically being a pu$$y. Anyways, there are a bazilion 5'4" twinsman swallow tails on varial's site, any of which I'm considering as a DD, but I'd like to hear from people who have sized theirs at HPSB volume... 28L is starting to feel a bit better to me than 27L :rolleyes:,... so 5'4" stock sizing is pretty aggressive for me, especially for a board that Matt says you should feel good about sizing up 1-3L over your HPSB.

Here's my question: given the 5'6" felt slightly like cheating, and was a bit chunky, should I put in a custom for a 5'5" stock, or YOLO a 5'4" for instant gratification? Has anyone had an experience of undersizing their tm?
me: 40’s, surf 3-5x/week, 6’0, 180 lbs. Usually ride fishy twins, but my pointy-nosed SB DD vol has gone from 32L a couple yrs ago to 34L now- catch more waves, easier. Stock TMST at 5’10 (34.4L) feels perfect in WH-HH local reefs, and does exactly what I hoped as a stepdown from 6’1 TMRP, which I ride OH+. RP rides bigger than its size, feels so solid and stable in good surf. My next board up is 6’7 Townsend or 6’8 R. blackbird .
YMMV
 

Tomay

OTF status
Feb 2, 2010
179
377
63
Had a pretty disappointing experience with Album Australia on the latest custom.

Was told by their instagram to put the order through, pay for it and then when it was up to be shaped they'd get in touch to dial in my custom dimensions request. All good. Got an email despite putting a note on the order for a phone call so I could discuss the changes (stretching out a Plasmic by a few inches). The email was titled "Board Size Confirmation" where we agreed upon stretching a stock 5'4 to 5'7.

Got the board during my radiation treatments so I didn't even really look at it. When I finally got it in the water I noticed that 5'4 had been written on it but dismissed it as a mistake or potentially that the 7 had been given a lip (poor handwriting). By eye it looked longer than my 5'5? Obviously I struggled to get it going, especially getting into waves and paddling. Measured it up and it was a 5'4, so obviously they made a mistake. It had been a while because I had been crook but I shot through an email seeing if there was anything they could do to help.

The customer service rep told me I couldn't have ordered a custom because I would have had to pay $1500 (rather than $1200) for the privilege of custom dimensions ($300 to stretch it a few inches apparently)? I told him I had proof of the conversation with the shaper and he told me to take it up with him instead. Strange. But I did, where I was requested to provide proof via image of the board. I did. I never heard back anything.

Don't know what they are like over in the states but I'm pretty disappointed in the experience. I ended up selling the board for $800 so lost $400 for 6 surfs where I realised the board just wouldn't paddle for me. They stuffed up, but worse they went about dealing with it in a cheap and unprofessional way. Was meant to be my groveller to get me back into surfing. Bummer.

Compared to my MOTE where I got plastic fins instead of glass ons and was told he'd shape me a whole new board while I rode the one he supplied and the service is night and day.
 

vanrysss

Michael Peterson status
Mar 25, 2019
1,813
4,151
113
from Oregon, now SD
Brahs, need some advice here. For the 87th time, twinsmang sizing.

I surf NCSD waves.

Had a 5'6" TWRP in xtr (still listed here by the guy I sold it to, for +$200 after fin box replacement), and rode it a LOT, always felt slightly chunky to me as a DD, even though I purchased it for juicy waves. I always reached for it in everything from chest to OH conditions.

I was always constantly curious how a 5'5" swallow would feel as a DD, but I still haven't pulled the trigger due to me basically being a pu$$y. Anyways, there are a bazilion 5'4" twinsman swallow tails on varial's site, any of which I'm considering as a DD, but I'd like to hear from people who have sized theirs at HPSB volume... 28L is starting to feel a bit better to me than 27L :rolleyes:,... so 5'4" stock sizing is pretty aggressive for me, especially for a board that Matt says you should feel good about sizing up 1-3L over your HPSB.

Here's my question: given the 5'6" felt slightly like cheating, and was a bit chunky, should I put in a custom for a 5'5" stock, or YOLO a 5'4" for instant gratification? Has anyone had an experience of undersizing their tm?
I'm 35yo, 5'10" 180# surf daily and ride a 5'7" at Race's suggestion. If you rip, are in your 20s, or are built like a bird probably go 4" under your height. Go 2" under height if you're fat, over 40, or can't get in the water regularly.
 

j_mac

Legend (inyourownmind)
Aug 16, 2020
430
1,635
93
@silentbutdeadly Album GOAT mini review

It is a 5' 7"x19.38"x2.38" 29.7L - it is a dedicated quad fin. The fins are both shifted fore and aft, as well as spacing between them. I tried a few different fin combinations, even more pivot fins on heel side, in the end the Album NVS work best.

I think the GOAT will be similar to the pointy nose Disorder that @jkb custom (depending on the board width). The Disorder and GOAT have similarities and differences. The Disorder is more of parallel outline, more bottom concave, more rocker, and tends to pivot and glide. The GOAT is more of stretched, lower rocker quad fish with speed, and seems to have more curve to the outline (not sure if this is biased by the pointy nose). I was ordering a custom Insanity when Matt offered GOAT model up instead. It sounded too good not to go for it. It is an asymmetric hybrid between an Insanity and Bullet. The rails feel great. (***Irony - every time I go to order an Insanity Matt offers different version for me, I have custom Insanity in the works now that is a dedicated twin plus trailer, I told him I have yet to have a board that works great at twin plus trailer)

The GOAT is a keeper. It is one of the boards that works in a range of conditions. It has a good feel and don't overly have to work to have fun on it. If you want to catch waves and have some performance, this is the board. Even though it works in a range of conditions, I grab it for slopier, softer, or smaller waves. For the conditions, I tend to grab the GOAT over the Plasmic, Plasmic EAST, Twinsman, Wills Fish. It is an easy board to paddle and catch waves. My friends are always surprised how many waves I am able to catch with this board. The GOAT has great speed and can accelerate down the line. The board width and slightly wider tail can be a bit cumbersome, particularly with turns (where it feels like it will unexpectedly catch, just need to be aware). It has more fish attributes. The tail @12" is 15.75" wide and the nose @12" is 14.75" wide. The tail has 1.5" lift and the nose has 4.5", less overall rocker than many of my other boards.

I have two Disorders - a bulky 31L 5' 6"x19.6" and skinny 5' 6"x 18.38", 27.5L. They perform differently.

The 31L Disorder, though a cheater in many regards, surprisingly doesn't get into the waves as well and doesn't have the performance of the GOAT. The GOAT gets into waves much easier and prefer the GOAT over the 31L Disorder. The skinny 5' 6" Disorder gets into waves well, and the wave catching/paddling feels more than 27.5L. The skinny Disorder is my other keeper and probably my favorite board for how well it works, pivot, and glides.

I think the GOAT will work well in a range of sizes, where I think the Disorder works best being narrower.

PLACEHOLDER FOR IMAGES
 
Last edited:

racer1

Tom Curren status
Apr 16, 2014
13,006
15,143
113
Honolulu, Hawaii
@oeste858 and @racer1 need goats in their lives
My wife just sent her salary requirements for a job she's had a few interviews for. She's been my business partner for the last 6 years, but this is an opportunity with a company she really believes in. If she gets hired, I might be doing a two board stock varial yolo including a goat.