Comments on: Which do I choose? Epoxy or Traditional Fiberglass Surfboards

by: Patrick

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:29:04 +0000

And once you buy a new one you’ll save another 300 bucks so you can repeat the process and never have to pay for another surfboard again

by: Patrick

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:28:16 +0000

How about instead of paying 800 bucks for an epoxy board, buy a traditional for 500 and put the 300 you save into a bank account. By the time you need a new board because you got a traditional youll have enough money to buy another one.

by: 5′8 Surftech Soul Fish - Randy French

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:02:05 +0000

[…] The local surf tech rep here in Hawaii has been cool enough to give SurfboardShack.com a full run of all their Surftech demos. While I’ve always favored traditional PU boards, I am quite intrigued with epoxy boards and Surftech’s long list of boards shaped by the world’s top shapers. After writing an article debating which surfboard material works better, epoxy or polyurethane, I’ve had a number of people inquire about how well epoxy, most notably Surftech boards work in a variety of conditions. Up to this point I had only ridden one Surftech board and a few other epoxys so I guess you can say I haven’t given epoxy a fair chance. Anyway, thanks to Surftech, I now have access to write about every Surftech board available and let you all know how they ride. […]

by: John

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 02:49:24 +0000

experienced the problem you describe of epoxy with wind conditions. I regularly ride a 6′ fiberglass thruster, but today tried a 6′6″ epoxy single fin egg, obviously a much thicker and wider board. I felt like I couldn’t get “into” waves like my smaller fiberglass board. I’ve also tried an epoxy shortboard in small surf and felt this way. I don’t like epoxy, but I will give my new big board another try when the waves are weak.

by: Bob

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 05:00:03 +0000

Even though you may be forking over an extra couple hundred dollars more, epoxys such as surftech, last way longer and hold up better than conventional p/u boards. Just don’t leave your epoxy in a hot car on a sunny day and they should last awhile. For the average guy, you get your pick of established proven designs instead of experimenting and tweaking board adjustments with a shaper which ends up costing more in the long run as you filter out the dogs trying to find that good all around board. P/U boards also seem to lose their livelyness after a few months. It seems for every few custom boards I get,only one may be user-friendly enough to be that special. This ends up getting expensive in the long run when you figure out the original cost of an epoxy. Plus epoxy tends to have a better resale value than a dinged up, delaminated, yellowed board which can occur in quite a short time.

by: jed bush

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 07:08:33 +0000

BUY MARKO FOAM AND YOUR BOARD WON”T LEAK WATER LIKE THE OLD EPS OPEN CELL FOAM AND IF YOU LIVE IN HAWAII AND YOUR BOARD IS TOO FLOATY THEN GET A THINNER BOARD AND IF YOUR BOARD IS TOO LIGHT FOR CHOPPY CONDITIONS GET A HEAVIER
GLASSJOB WITH THREE POUND EPS FOAM .

by: jed bush

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 07:01:27 +0000

I hate to be the bearer of bad news boys but POLYESTER RESINS ARE FAR MORE TOXIC THAN EPOXY. THEY ARE 2300 TIMES MORE TOXIC THAN EPOXY BOARDS . AND YOU CAN’T RECYCLE PU FOAM AND YOU CAN RECYCLE EPS FOAM AND IT’S BIO-DEGRADEABLE.
SO QUIT THE PROPOGANDA THAT GRUBBY CLARK STARTED ABOUT EPOXY.

by: Neal

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 01:20:38 +0000

Jeff, I read that some of the newer EPS foams are completely water proof. If I’m not mistaken, the new Surftech TL2 cores don’t take any water in.

by: Jeff

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:45:48 +0000

Epoxy will allow you to age with grace. I’m 40 years old with a nagging back injury. Rather than push the length of the board I began riding wider and thicker boards. I have found that “vee” is essential in being able to go rail to rail and I am surfing better than I ever have. In fact I will take down pretty much anbody 40 years old in SD and 90% of the kid rippers.

My favorite board of choice is 5′11″ x 22 x 2.7. I have tested regular foam and epoxy. As you can imagine regular foam is “much” heavier and requires more effort. On the otherhand, epoxy is “so” light it’s just like having a regular shortboard. From that perspective epoxy dominates and I will never change.

What totally sucks about epoxy, specifically Austin Foam Core, is that whenever you get a ding it sucks water in like a sponge. You basically have to cut open a hole, put it in the sun, make the ding face down, and wait 5 days for it to dry - just like I am doing right now.

As a solution I made a backup board but then the glass job was so poorly done that my first session my tail basically caved in. I waited 6 days for it to dry, took it back out, and then had an air bubble that somehow was taking on water. I don’t know if the glasser did a crappy job but Austin Foam Core sucks in a ton of water. It’s the worst for that. At least with a regular board you can take a blow dryer, dry it overnight, and then fix a ding the next day. it don’t work like that with epoxy. No freaking way.

Anyhow, despite the extreme water intake with epoxy boards, even on the slightest dings, I still prefer the lightness over the heavy regular foam.

by: Pete

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:43:46 +0000

I am starting out and have both boards. I just bought an epoxy at half the price of the fiberglass. This is a great option for me because not I am not so afraid of messing the board up. I think this is a good thing for kooks most.