Surf simulator boards/setup

[lurkluke]

My partner wants to practice surfing while the surf is low.

She asked me to research those carve/Surf skate boards, which I assume are garbage.

I'm thinking she just gets a cruiser with some good wide trucks and big wheels, from companies who've been doing it for years, but I'd love to know if people have any insight into the surf specific ones.

She's a beginning surfer, never skated.

[Enrico Pallazzo]

Honestly for a non skater who’s only interested in surfing and that surfing feeling, one of those carver boards might just be the move.

Had friends who surfed in college and had carvers and while it was fun to make fun of them for those goofy things, according to them it was the best approximation for surfing while pumping around a parking lot.

[the_dangery_bois]

There are basically two big groups of surf skates.

There are pure surf trainers, which often have a spring system in the trucks.

Second, there are surf skates with traditional bushings, but the kingpin hole is oval so that there is more travel, also the bushings have higher rebound and the front truck is reversed.

I ride the second type a good bit.  It’s pretty versatile.  The only really big difference in riding style is that you have more maneuverability through a turn.  That means that your turns are bigger with all 4 wheels connected to the surface.  (Mostly it just requires finding wider lines in bowls, and planning to carve out where you kick turn.)

I ride my normal trucks super loose and on high risers anyway and come from the big swinging tic tac era so the mechanics aren’t that much different in that sense.
 
If you can’t pump or tic tac for forward speed, there might be a bigger learning curve

. Overall, they’re fun because they’re hard to fall off of because they’re heavy and limiting which is good for getting over the head trip that comes from weird slams on your regular board.

Fwiw, I think I can “surf” ace af1s about as well as Carver trucks, and gain speed quicker. If you know how to pump around in a circle without tacking or lifting your front wheels off the ground, you know how to surf skate.

I don’t surf, so I can’t compare the mechanics to riding a surfboard.  Dudes seem to use the other type to practice snap backs and hard turns.  I ride mine as a rehabilitation fuck around thing, like how people are with polorizers.

As to quality. The carver c5 trucks are very well made. They’re heavy and overbuilt. I think it would be easier to damage an ace or an Indy, tbh.

[moonordie]

Go to a longboard shop and look for the white guy with dreadlocks, he'll be able to advise.

[Ray C. Usery]

All the old surfer dudes and surf chicks that skate the little transsion park by the beach all skate carvers

I have no idea what they feel like, I just know it looks like your front truck is on backwards

[moonordie]

All the old surfer dudes and surf chicks that skate the little transsion park by the beach all skate carvers

I have no idea what they feel like, I just know it looks like your front truck is on backwards

A friend is into that shit and let's say is "interesting". Nothing to do with skateboarding for sure in terms of feeling.

[Xen]

[rikki]

I'd recommend getting a surfskate. You can't really emulate that kind of turn on a normal skateboard, even if it's a cruiser with hella loose trucks. Less tinkering -- a surfskate is ready to roll with soft, grippy wheels and trucks that are good to go for the purpose of surf-style turning.

Good brands are Slide, Carver and Miller. I have a Slide surfskate (rarely ride it anymore, though) and it's pretty much perfect for that kind of thing. Carvers tend to be overpriced and Miller trucks aren't that good as compared to e.g. Slide.

The one I've got:
https://slidesurfskates.com/producto/quad-sunset-30/

[goodatmeth]

Yeah get her the real shit, not just normal loose trucks. I've never surfed but tried someones surfskate at the skatepark and it's completely different than what you can get with any normal setup.
Gotta get over yourself thinking it's lame or whatever, just try it and have fun with your partner <3

[roba]

it is kinda fun. i think yow, smoothstar and carver are the best brands when it comes to surfskates. it's way different than a regular skateboard/cruiser, you don't have to push to gain speed with it and going really fast with one is pretty much a death wish. i think your partner will enjoy a surfskate more than a cruiser if they come from surfing, but i think it might be harder to learn to control.

oh and also know that some carvers have pretty low trucks (low for a surfskate), so it's possible to get wheelbite with them. yows are tall so that's not really a problem with those but then again a taller truck means more lean and that might make it harder to balance on it.

[Frank and Fred]

I'm going to sound like an arsehole here and I am when it comes to the whole surf/skate thing....  I hate those Carver boards. You are on the right track. Just get  her on a regular skateboard. Maybe a 9"+ deck.. Some Ace trucks, and Oj mini super juice. A nice low, wide and somewhat loose set up. Then find some mellow hills and banks, learn to carve, kickturn, just have fun learning to balance and going nowhere sideways.

The whole surf/skate movement.... I don't have a word for it... It's for surfers who don't want to seem like their skateboarding. All that exaggerated driveway roundhouse cutback nonsense...it encourages everyone to try to surf like carbon copies of dudes on the tour.... yuck...

[Jory4]

I very rarely disagree with @frankandfred but I am going to here. (Apart from the bit about the surfskate movement / insta clip thing being kooky - it’s very Vulnerable Adult Learner as beachgrit would say!)

Surfskates ( ie those with the double pivot front truck ) are the ONLY thing that allow you to properly mimic the body English of surfing a short / midlength board as far as weighting/ unweighting / body positioning etc.

They do look super kooky, they aren’t cool and they are one dimensional and useless for cruising to the store but they do work /relate to surfing in a way that a cruiser with a single pivot front truck doesn’t. You can make use of this practice on flat ground ( or the aforementioned driveway obviously)

That said, a normal cruiser is gonna help some with balance etc and be more versatile.if she’s capable of riding it around a bowl / park transition, even better - carving lines around a bowl has some similarities to climbing and dropping along a wave on something like a fish.

If you are talking longboard surfing, learning to cross step up and down a longboard skate definitely helps progression.

[Frank and Fred]

I respect your “position” on this @Jory4 because I know you can surf and skate…

…as long as you’re not poking your bum out like a baboon in heat with your arms swaying around like a waiter in an earthquake… all good with me…

[Jory4]

I respect your “position” on this @Jory4 because I know you can surf and skate…

…qas long as you’re not poking your bum out like a baboon in heat with your arms swaying around like a waiter in an earthquake… all good with me…

As an aside, plenty of VALs round our way, bum way out, arms gyrating like mad, surfboard barely deviating from the straight line it would have taken anyway! 🤣

I should admit, I bought a surfskate ( the penny version which is good value/ cheaper than yow etc ) over lockdown.

 Found it was really good for filming myself then looking at how my body position was. It really ironed out some bad habits / helped me get lower and rotate into turns more. That really helped my surfing.

I only ever rode it in secret & I’ve barely used it since!

The surfskate thing has kinda become another set of lessons that surf schools can sell / the adult learner can buy into in the way that people obsess over which volume of FireWire pop out they need or own a beautiful bing log but don’t wax all the way to the nose

Back in the day, I learnt a lot of logging surf skills on a Powell longboard skate in between bombing hills - cross steps, balance for hanging heels , drop knee cutback positioning etc

[lurkluke]

Cheers @Jory4 & @RembrantQeinstein - super helpful.

We'll check out the surfskate specific ones. No shops around us with a decent range but I reckon a friend probably has a couple she can try.