Album Surfboards

sdsrfr

Phil Edwards status
Jul 13, 2020
5,854
11,262
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San Diego
Agree with ^. I guess that’s what I mean by fishy feel
I forget if you tractiobed yours or not. I’m still thinking of doing it to see if it helps.

I thought I went full hipster after a long summer of stubby twins but then took out a pointy nose boar this last swell and boom my foot is right against the tail kick every time.
 

MathDebater

Michael Peterson status
Apr 13, 2016
2,580
6,117
113
SD
Still riding the crap out of my vanerial cabron plasmic yEAST version this trip. Big azz fascination twin fins. What a blast. Some denting where my front and rear hoofs go but no dinks and no cracking around the future boxes in this high tech wax melter supreme build.

Going to grab a 5-10 varial carbon twainsman from a member here on my way home after the surf stops pumping here. I think the smaller dims will help with some of the issues i had with my first one but we'll see.
Oh good, glad you're saving me from the temptation of buying that board


So what's the dims of your old one? Wanna sell?
 
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oeste858

Phil Edwards status
Sep 11, 2017
6,931
17,272
113
San Diego, CA
I forget if you tractiobed yours or not. I’m still thinking of doing it to see if it helps.

I thought I went full hipster after a long summer of stubby twins but then took out a pointy nose boar this last swell and boom my foot is right against the tail kick every time.
No pad on LB, mines too pretty to desecrate, and haven’t felt like I needed one. My theory is my front foot wants to find the wide point, after a few years of riding mostly stubby boars n fish. So I think that makes sense it’s not an issue for you if you’re riding more HPSB. I’ll test out my hypothesis when I finally get my Varial Phantom wet- which at least for me, has its wide point further back than most of my boars.

So what's the dims of your old one? Wanna sell?
LOL. I asked him a couple months ago. He already sold it to some local yokel he knows from the waterfall. Quitter.
 
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sdsrfr

Phil Edwards status
Jul 13, 2020
5,854
11,262
113
San Diego
My theory is my front foot wants to find the wide point.
so I think that makes sense it’s not an issue for you if you’re riding more HPSB. I’ll test out my hypothesis when I finally get my Varial Phantom wet- which at least for me, has its wide point further back than most of my boars.
quite possibly.

im thinking one needs to ride the lightbender short to have front foot in the right place and still have the back foot ready to pivot for tiger sheds.

instead, I’m doing a bit of shuffle in positioning from high line mode to turning mode and a snap in the pocket quickly changes into a cutback on the shoulder when not timed correctly.

if I ride it off the back the whole time the forward foil and swing weight kind of irks me and doesn’t nearly have the same drive down the line.
 

j_mac

Legend (inyourownmind)
Aug 16, 2020
418
1,567
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quite possibly.

im thinking one needs to ride the lightbender short to have front foot in the right place and still have the back foot ready to pivot for tiger sheds.

instead, I’m doing a bit of shuffle in positioning from high line mode to turning mode and a snap in the pocket quickly changes into a cutback on the shoulder when not timed correctly.

if I ride it off the back the whole time the forward foil and swing weight kind of irks me and doesn’t nearly have the same drive down the line.
More and more, I think certain Album models are meant to be ridden on the shorter end owing to the amount of foam squeezed into them, foam forward distribution, flatter rocker, and the rearward fin placement.

I noticed the increase in board performance with the Plasmic going from the 5' 6" to the 5' 4". They felt like different boards/models. I noticed this even more so downsizing the Twinsman. Surprisingly, the shorter Twinsman feels easier to surf.
 

SD_Dan

OTF status
Jan 23, 2019
267
719
93
More and more, I think certain Album models are meant to be ridden on the shorter end owing to the amount of foam squeezed into them, foam forward distribution, flatter rocker, and the rearward fin placement.

I noticed the increase in board performance with the Plasmic going from the 5' 6" to the 5' 4". They felt like different boards/models. I noticed this even more so downsizing the Twinsman. Surprisingly, the shorter Twinsman feels easier to surf.
Still early days on my plasmic but I think I’d agree with you. I for sure could’ve done fine on the 5’5 or maybe a slightly beefed up 5’4. That being said, the 5’6 is still super fun. It does feel a bit chunky though.
 
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j_mac

Legend (inyourownmind)
Aug 16, 2020
418
1,567
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Rode my TM in some steep, sucky head high lefts (backside). Board is so fun. Maybe best I've had in a long time.
Need to reorder same lenght, but wider/thicker. And maybe a step up TM.
I can't believe I was almost done with the Twinsman model, as I didn't connect with it. I was chalking it up that it doesn't work me. The shorter Twinsman is rapidly becoming my favorite board. It keeps getting better and better. Waves have come down - waist to chest high beach break. This morning I started with the Plasmic, which went okay, but I am now noticing bulk of the Plasmic if the waves have better shape. After a few waves, I decided to grab the Twinsman and it went so well. I am happy camper with the Twinsman.
 

tedshred5

Michael Peterson status
Aug 5, 2015
2,720
6,380
113
I can't believe I was almost done with the Twinsman model, as I didn't connect with it. I was chalking it up that it doesn't work me. The shorter Twinsman is rapidly becoming my favorite board. It keeps getting better and better. Waves have come down - waist to chest high beach break. This morning I started with the Plasmic, which went okay, but I am now noticing bulk of the Plasmic if the waves have better shape. After a few waves, I decided to grab the Twinsman and it went so well. I am happy camper with the Twinsman.
@j_mac where do you live? is it typically more punchy than mush? everything i've heard about the TM is it's not a small wave bord
 
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racer1

Tom Curren status
Apr 16, 2014
12,920
14,979
113
Honolulu, Hawaii
I can't believe I was almost done with the Twinsman model, as I didn't connect with it. I was chalking it up that it doesn't work me. The shorter Twinsman is rapidly becoming my favorite board. It keeps getting better and better. Waves have come down - waist to chest high beach break. This morning I started with the Plasmic, which went okay, but I am now noticing bulk of the Plasmic if the waves have better shape. After a few waves, I decided to grab the Twinsman and it went so well. I am happy camper with the Twinsman.
my first 3-4 sessions I thought the TM wasa dog. I was pretty sad about spending that much and hating it. Then I went out and said I’m not gonna think, just go straight on a few and not do any turns. Let the board do the work. Since then it’s been incredible. Hard to describe.
 

sdsrfr

Phil Edwards status
Jul 13, 2020
5,854
11,262
113
San Diego
@j_mac where do you live? is it typically more punchy than mush? everything i've heard about the TM is it's not a small wave bord
Fwiw the duu that sold me my lightbender also had a TM, and kept the TM over the LB citing he regulars the SD beach breaks and liked it more.

ive seen a few TM’s headed out at the NCSD reefs but never one with dirty wax. I expect the LB is better suited for that kind of wave 95% of the time all the time.
 

j_mac

Legend (inyourownmind)
Aug 16, 2020
418
1,567
93
@j_mac where do you live? is it typically more punchy than mush? everything i've heard about the TM is it's not a small wave bord
Here's my Twinsman diatribe... provided only in case someone else has wondered

Very true, I may be biased by my local conditions and the recent run of good waves, but I have surfed it now in a range conditions where I thought a lower volume/shorter Twinsman wouldn't be ideal and yet worked well. I live near Monterey, CA. I also seek out waves with more punch, can't always get this though and stuck with slopey waves. I started surfing the 5' 6" Twinsman in bigger waves, and then in bigger, softer waves, then in smaller waves, and each time I enjoyed the board. In the smaller waves, the board fits well with performance than my short fishy-style boards. It feels like a hybrid between the Insanity and fishy style boards. It is playful in the smaller waves. Like most boards, the better the wave, the better the board feels.

I have wanted to try 5 '6" Twinsman for some time. I would do circles in analysis paralysis because of owning the 5' 8" Twinsman and debating how much difference could the 5' 6" be and with everyone stating keep volume up. I have had good surfs on the 5' 8" Twinsman, but it wasn't a board that I frequently grabbed. Based on comments, I went the wrong direction and I YOLOed a 5' 10" carbon varial Twinsman, swallow tail, as I didn't care for the 5' 10" roundtail that I also owned. I thought maybe the 5' 10" swallow would be the answer, and it was IMO better than the RT and prefer the feel of the Varial. Again fun surfs on it, but it is too big for me (@Aruka is grabbing this one on his drive back).

At this point, I was seriously done with the Twinsman and trying - haha! I was happy with the 5' 4" Plasmic/Will's fish. I decided to finally to do a custom 5' 6" Disorder before the holidays, which was many weeks out, and then saw Plasmic EASTs showing on Varial asked about different sizing coming down the line and pre-paid for the 5' 7", which was a few weeks out (ironically delivered today). It was surfing the 5' 9" Insanity that pushed me over the edge. I gravitated to the Insanity, as I enjoyed the narrowness and lower volume and the performance of the Insanity. The length was so so when the waves got smaller. My eagerness to surf a shorter version of the Insanity grew, and when the 5' 6" Varial Twinsman popped up and I said f#$% it YOLO and got it. After receiving it, I still wasn't sure that my impulsiveness was correct as prior comments rattled in my head. Only one way to squash the voices, go surf it. As said above, each surf on the 5' 6" Twinsman was solid and saw more potential in the board for most conditions.

As someone who has owned 4 longer versions of the Twinsman, and nearly sold all of them. In similar longer sizes, I prefer the CC Lane Splitter, I believe this goes back to @sdsrfr comments above about surfing the Albums shorter. CC Lane Splitter has fins farther forward and I believe similar to the CI Twin Pin (fins are forward), these boards work better in longer lengths. With the longer Twinsman, my feet felt out of position unless the waves were big, and many times it wasn't the board I wanted to be on in those conditions. With the 5' 6", foot position is intuitive. I still move my feet around on the board.

I went from being done with the Twinsman, to I can't recommend enough the Twinsman (but as short as possible)!

Hope this helps....
 

oeste858

Phil Edwards status
Sep 11, 2017
6,931
17,272
113
San Diego, CA
Phew. @j_mac curious your height and weight.
So you’re at 5’6 TM & 5’4 Plasmic & 5’7 Plasmic East. Let us know how you like the EAST. Been eyeing those stock ones but so far resisting the urge.
 

tedshred5

Michael Peterson status
Aug 5, 2015
2,720
6,380
113
Fwiw the duu that sold me my lightbender also had a TM, and kept the TM over the LB citing he regulars the SD beach breaks and liked it more.

ive seen a few TM’s headed out at the NCSD reefs but never one with dirty wax. I expect the LB is better suited for that kind of wave 95% of the time all the time.
i can see an XTR LB in my future eventually, as a no-nonsense-safe-bet DD.
 
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