Step up in XTR?

[morrisone]

Question for my son. He is traveling around the world this year. He had a Ghost in PU and still has an Inferno in XTR.
He is now leaning towards ordering a step up (Ghost (Pro), 77+, Step driver, Happy Traveler/Black Beauty) in XTR. He loves his Inferno in XTR but some people do scare him off telling him dat epoxies don't work in the bigger stuff.

What are your experiences with XTR as a step up?
Thanks again!

 

[Goodfish]

I've had a 6'0 Tomo Hydronaut in XTR that is indestructible. Had it for over 5 years and there's hardly even a pressure ding on it. Had it in Indo a bunch of times and in solid typhoon surf. It's in SLCK. Not sure if they're still doing that, but ask them what's the most similar and go with that. You'll have no worries.

 

[ehiunno]

Never had an xtr step up but Javi surfs sunset on his stuff regularly so I'm sure he can figure out the right construction for you

 

[JDJ]

Don’t see a problem if he gets a stringer and heavier glass.

 

[ChaseTMP]

It’s not the resin (epoxy) some people were talking negatively to your son about, it’s most likely the EPS foam glassed with epoxy that’s thought to not be ideal for step ups.

Lots of ways to work around the perceived negatives using EPS/epoxy for borts designed/constructed for big waves. Plenty of massive waves ridden on Stretch’s EPS/epoxies.

I’m pretty sure XTR is XPS which I believe is similar to Varial. You can get Varial glassed with either polyester or epoxy. XTR only uses epoxy resins. In my opinion, both XTR and Varial have more inherent dampening in the base foam compared to EPS.

Varial is more heat stable than XTR, but XTR has worked around that with their vents.

 

[ehiunno]

Speaking of which...



Kelly Slater in Namibia on XTR parallel carbon??

 

[oeste858]

I have had and loved XTRs, both stringered and SLC. For a step up , I think he’d be fine with stringered and any glassing above 10.C (or whatever they call it now).
However my preference for travel boar in waterproof closed cell foam would be Varial because you don’t have to worry about overheat/delam.

 

[Aruka]

Ive had a couple Ghosts in stringered XTR. I really liked them. In hindsight I would have probably gone heavier glassing but at the time I was worried they would be too heavy. Now, having had a couple of the heavier glassed XTR boards I would go that route.

 

[Retropete]

Speaking of which...

View attachment 160396

Kelly Slater in Namibia on XTR parallel carbon??

Wide tailed board like that seems an unconventional choice for a mad barrelling wave like Namibia...especially if was the same swell as in the Koa Smith video (posted in the Album thread).

 

[ehiunno]

Wide tailed board like that seems an unconventional choice for a mad barrelling wave like Namibia...especially if was the same swell as in the Koa Smith video (posted in the Album thread).

Agreed but yeah this is the same swell. I also saw he broke 3 boards in one session so maybe stringerless is not the way to go lol



Xtr was posting clips of him surfing lowers on some PC Mannkind shapes recently. Guessing these are from the same batch. I'm so curious what he thought of them. Seems like their tech hasn't ever really caught on with the pros but maybe that will change with more of them exploring alternative constructions these days.

 

[JDJ]

Retodd once mentioned that his friend went to Skeleton Bay and quickly broke his entire quiver. Wave is insanely heavy. But surfing stringerless xtr (probably lightly glassed) is a strange choice by the GOAT.

 

[trifish]

Have had a few wood stringer step up boards in xtr as well as friends. No issues, just be careful leaving them in direct sunlight all the time when your not using them and should be ok. I might still prefer pu on the bigger unruly days just because it feels less reactive at times/more settled but it feels much closer to pu to me than eps.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

I have a ghost in Dark Arts. Extra layer. Still super light.

So far so good.

 

[ehiunno]

Retodd once mentioned that his friend went to Skeleton Bay and quickly broke his entire quiver. Wave is insanely heavy. But surfing stringerless xtr (probably lightly glassed) is a strange choice by the GOAT.

To be fair he has been king of strange equipment choices in the latter part of his career

 

[oeste858]

I have a ghost in Dark Arts. Extra layer. Still super light.

So far so good.

How does the weight feel with the extra layer? Similar to PU/poly stepup or still lighter?

 

[germs]

I have a ghost in Dark Arts. Extra layer. Still super light.

So far so good.

Curious what are dims/your weight? What conditions does it go in well? Thanks.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

How does the weight feel with the extra layer? Similar to PU/poly stepup or still lighter?

Way lighter.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

Curious what are dims/your weight? What conditions does it go in well? Thanks.

Me:

6’2 - 215

board:

6’3 x 19 7/8 x 2 3/4

its for good surf.

 

[germs]

Me:

6’2 - 215

board:

6’3 x 19 7/8 x 2 3/4

its for good surf.

Thanks very much. I have the same board, relative dims, and I love it in good waves, but I’m finding also that I’m starting love it in less than good waves…not knee high mush kind, but anything with even a little bit of energy and a face. I suspect partly due to the fact I’m not so good making my other boards work, and this thing just wants to go, all the time. Not the worst problem, I guess. Thanks for the info.