thanks kool-aid! keen to see your sub driver reviews as you get more sessions on it.
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Lost Driver 2.0
- Thread starter Aruka
- Start date
Also, not sure if it's the foam the glass or the glassing conditions or all of the above but whatever they're using/doing feels like heaven underfoot.
Also the board tumbled about six feet down a cliff and not a ding or dent.
Also the board tumbled about six feet down a cliff and not a ding or dent.
pretty consistent with my thoughts on teh original driver. not as aggresively rockered as other hpsb's i've had but still handled critical stuff just find.
Just a damn easy predictable board to surf, and surf well.
Glad you finally got the Driver out in some decent waves and that she's not a total dud Casa
Last couple times I rode mine I ran DHD L sides with a smaller center and it felt great. Little looser and easier to throw around. Finally been good enough waves to ride a real board again, thank goodness.
Last couple times I rode mine I ran DHD L sides with a smaller center and it felt great. Little looser and easier to throw around. Finally been good enough waves to ride a real board again, thank goodness.
there are better ways to get ur board down besides throwing it off a cliff brah
When I get the driver and have a chance to ride it I’ll do a comprehensive driver 2.0 series review.thanks kool-aid! keen to see your sub driver reviews as you get more sessions on it.
New driver 2.0 landed. Just waiting on some waves to give it a try. Should be able to get some feedback on it by next week (fingers crossed).
So I've finally gotten to ride it a few times in some decent surf.
I've found the JS FCS fin to be very compatible with the board. Obviously the Kolohe fin is a go to for a lot of of people but personally I felt it was too different from the way I like to surf. Fannings are popular too but the JS fin just felt like it had better release.
Pros:
- paddles well
- really easy to catch waves
- It's really easy to surf (more on that below)
- "drives" well
Cons
- It's really picky in regards to type of wave it likes
- a few nuances of the board I just don't like (more on that below)
Conditions I've ridden it:
- Peaky, clean, chest-head high Oceanside pier (south side, mostly lefts)
- Clean, overhead Blacks
- Waist-head high blacks
- Hollow, thick head-overhead beachbreak tubes
- Head-overhead powerful pitching but mediocre reef surf
- waist high, sectiony, shallow racetrack reef surf.
I'm giving it a C.
It's really easy to surf as in this is a great shortboard for a beginner. It's the most stable feeling HPSB I've ever surfed and gives a ton of confidence in all aspects - from catching waves to completing turns in more critical sections. It's like you can't come disconnected. It's really obvious why some of the air guys really like this board, it just gives a lot of confidence especially under the front foot. To me it really doesn't turn on at all until chest high, and really excels in head-OH surf.
That said it has me feeling pretty lost. As in, it's not aboard I'm going to progress on. And while it's an easy board to surf, I find that like training wheels it's carrying me through situations I normally would have blown. I've done some great turns and some turn that feel horrendous on this thing. It's just mediocre.
Admittedly it's different than what I typically ride, or really have ever ridden. More thickness through the nose, more foam to the rails, and a rocker that to me seems pretty flat through the middle.
The nuances that seem to really stick out to me:
- It needs waves, and the wave needs to be standing up, always.
- That said, not every wave that starts chest high ends chest high. And the board just feels like a total dog in small surf. The first 2/3s of the wave can feel great, then in the shrinking last 3rd suddenly it will feel like a struggling heavy load of board.
- Trying to take a tight high line off the takeoff backside the rail just gets in the fcking way. The "in the way" sensation comes from my front foot and then toward the nose. Feels like the board is bogging and working against me. Taking off a little behind the peak and trying for that first initial pump into a high line it's been difficult to make it happen on multiple occasions and sections I would have typically been able to take advantage of have been bogged into/through and liveliness is lost.
- Big sweet spot. Very obvious with this board. A good idea in theory, but there's got to be a downside. Sounds silly but I know what the downside is, I just can't put it into words. The best I can say is, without a huge sweet spot you're going to learn where the sweet spot is and the board will behave predictably, leading to the ability to produce quality surfing. With a huge sweet spot it's going to help you ride the board but allow you to be sloppier and lend itself to sloppier foot placement, at least in the case of mortals.
- I'll save the really weird for last. It feels like this board's rocker has multiple faces that you interact with during the wave.I've never been able to "feel" a board's rocker like this but there are moments where it feels good and moments where it just feels dull and bulky.
I watched some video of a few waves the other day and I did a few decent backside snaps under the lip. The thing that stuck out is the turns looked good, but during each one of those turns I can remember thinking "This board feels strangely bulky" and overall that pretty much sums up my general feelings about it in our day to day surf. With some power and size it turns on nicely though.
I've found the JS FCS fin to be very compatible with the board. Obviously the Kolohe fin is a go to for a lot of of people but personally I felt it was too different from the way I like to surf. Fannings are popular too but the JS fin just felt like it had better release.
Pros:
- paddles well
- really easy to catch waves
- It's really easy to surf (more on that below)
- "drives" well
Cons
- It's really picky in regards to type of wave it likes
- a few nuances of the board I just don't like (more on that below)
Conditions I've ridden it:
- Peaky, clean, chest-head high Oceanside pier (south side, mostly lefts)
- Clean, overhead Blacks
- Waist-head high blacks
- Hollow, thick head-overhead beachbreak tubes
- Head-overhead powerful pitching but mediocre reef surf
- waist high, sectiony, shallow racetrack reef surf.
I'm giving it a C.
It's really easy to surf as in this is a great shortboard for a beginner. It's the most stable feeling HPSB I've ever surfed and gives a ton of confidence in all aspects - from catching waves to completing turns in more critical sections. It's like you can't come disconnected. It's really obvious why some of the air guys really like this board, it just gives a lot of confidence especially under the front foot. To me it really doesn't turn on at all until chest high, and really excels in head-OH surf.
That said it has me feeling pretty lost. As in, it's not aboard I'm going to progress on. And while it's an easy board to surf, I find that like training wheels it's carrying me through situations I normally would have blown. I've done some great turns and some turn that feel horrendous on this thing. It's just mediocre.
Admittedly it's different than what I typically ride, or really have ever ridden. More thickness through the nose, more foam to the rails, and a rocker that to me seems pretty flat through the middle.
The nuances that seem to really stick out to me:
- It needs waves, and the wave needs to be standing up, always.
- That said, not every wave that starts chest high ends chest high. And the board just feels like a total dog in small surf. The first 2/3s of the wave can feel great, then in the shrinking last 3rd suddenly it will feel like a struggling heavy load of board.
- Trying to take a tight high line off the takeoff backside the rail just gets in the fcking way. The "in the way" sensation comes from my front foot and then toward the nose. Feels like the board is bogging and working against me. Taking off a little behind the peak and trying for that first initial pump into a high line it's been difficult to make it happen on multiple occasions and sections I would have typically been able to take advantage of have been bogged into/through and liveliness is lost.
- Big sweet spot. Very obvious with this board. A good idea in theory, but there's got to be a downside. Sounds silly but I know what the downside is, I just can't put it into words. The best I can say is, without a huge sweet spot you're going to learn where the sweet spot is and the board will behave predictably, leading to the ability to produce quality surfing. With a huge sweet spot it's going to help you ride the board but allow you to be sloppier and lend itself to sloppier foot placement, at least in the case of mortals.
- I'll save the really weird for last. It feels like this board's rocker has multiple faces that you interact with during the wave.I've never been able to "feel" a board's rocker like this but there are moments where it feels good and moments where it just feels dull and bulky.
I watched some video of a few waves the other day and I did a few decent backside snaps under the lip. The thing that stuck out is the turns looked good, but during each one of those turns I can remember thinking "This board feels strangely bulky" and overall that pretty much sums up my general feelings about it in our day to day surf. With some power and size it turns on nicely though.
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I'd be interested to know why they went from single to double to just single concave.
Going back to my sharpeye , it has much more sensitive rails that are less forgiving , while the lost feels good, but it is more forgiving and while I like that for ease of use, I can see where it doesn't give the feedback when I'm fucking up? Similar feeling? Like sometimes I'd rather be punished and learn from my error
Since its usually ridden at the lower volume with higher level durfers , the straight single is more versatile.
Not really looking at anything else. I've clicked very well with Xanadu's stuff, particularly the Xank and X21, overall he's provided good one on one guidance. X21 has a lot of rocker but for whatever reason is very versatile in a variety of decent surf.
I'll probably try another JS sometime soon, I've had good luck x2 with his stuff.
I'll probably try another JS sometime soon, I've had good luck x2 with his stuff.
