Need a New Surf Board. Looking for Suggestions

[bdisney3]

I have a 2014 Byerly Volt too - agree it's a bit of a letdown. Recently picked up a 2016 Ronix Koal w/Technora (http://www.ronixwakestore.com/ronix-...oard-2016.html) - love this board!

[swatguy]

There are couple guys on the site here who also took a Shim for a spin and ended up pulling the trigger immediately.......... was hoping they would chime in. Are there better, more performance specific boards out there.....for sure. Soulcraft being one of them . Possibly even the two Inland Surfrer models , but as far as an out of the box , price point, do everything well, just plain fun board, for a range of riders I don't think the Shim can be beat.

[Nick Heimer]

For anyone looking, both sizes of the 2017 Hyperlite Shim are selling for $439.99 at wakehouse. I have been riding an old 5'4" broadcast from before they swallowtailed the back end. We usually only surf when the water is rough, friends are with, or I am too tired to hit the wake anymore. With limited skills behind our smaller wave, it's been a perfect board. But, after reading some of the discussion and fining it so cheap, I figured I'd take a shot at the Shim. I went with the 5'3" version. I'm hopeful it's still playful at that length. Was temped to try a smaller board, but I don't know if our boat could provide enough push to ride and recover with ease.

[Nick Heimer]

Scratch that on the pricing from wakehouse. Looks like I might have got lucky on a pricing mistake, as it's now showing back up to $550. Still seems like a decent value with no tax and free shipping though.

[markj]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned getting a properly sized board. For some reason, you think a skim style board can't keep you in the pocket. Who told you it was the style of board that creates the problem? It isn't. It's the sizing. Some companies' sizing charts are BS. They tell you to get a board that's too small usually. Their sizing charts are aimed mostly towards advanced level riders. A couple years ago I sought advice from a pro rider about which high performance board to buy. He told me to buy a large. I did and then had a lot of trouble staying in the pocket. 6 months later I got the opportunity to ride an XL and it was perfection. Now I'm buying ANOTHER new board in XL.

[funkster]

Evening shade, do you mind me asking what your current ballast system set up is? Overall ballast weight and placement is crucial for wave shape and push. Going forward, this will also have an effect on which board you select. Like markj said, getting the right size board for your body type/wave will also play a huge roll in overall rideability.

Example:With proper ballast weight and placement I can surf ropeless on my black pearl behind my 87' 2001.

[Evening Shade]

Evening shade, do you mind me asking what your current ballast system set up is? Overall ballast weight and placement is crucial for wave shape and push. Going forward, this will also have an effect on which board you select. Like markj said, getting the right size board for your body type/wave will also play a huge roll in overall rideability.

Example:With proper ballast weight and placement I can surf ropeless on my black pearl behind my 87' 2001.

I have stock ballast plus 600# sacs on top of the rear tanks and a 250# sac under the bow cushions. I really wasn't interested in paying for more sacs or lead since I was planning on buying a new boat.

[markj]

I have stock ballast plus 600# sacs on top of the rear tanks and a 250# sac under the bow cushions. I really wasn't interested in paying for more sacs or lead since I was planning on buying a new boat.

Even though you didn't ask, that's not enough weight in that boat and you don't have it placed right either. No wonder you can't let go of the rope... You don't have a board problem. You have a surf wake problem. Fix that first.

[funkster]

Even though you didn't ask, that's not enough weight in that boat and you don't have it placed right either. No wonder you can't let go of the rope... You don't have a board problem. You have a surf wake problem. Fix that first.

I agree, this is why I asked about the ballast set up. I've been there and done that and it was the source of my frustration. Proper ballast weight and placement is key to successful surfing. This takes a bit a research and actually playing around with bag placement. The nice thing about wave shaping devices is you can evenly weight your boat which allows you to add more ballast safer. I've recently discovered the wakemakers lbs bags, I will be testing the capacity of my V-drive lockers ASAP.

[ScooterMcgavin]

There are couple guys on the site here who also took a Shim for a spin and ended up pulling the trigger immediately.......... was hoping they would chime in. Are there better, more performance specific boards out there.....for sure. Soulcraft being one of them . Possibly even the two Inland Surfrer models , but as far as an out of the box , price point, do everything well, just plain fun board, for a range of riders I don't think the Shim can be beat.

I'll agree with everything stated above, our local shop let us demo a handful of different boards this past summer and the shim was one of them. Great all around board with the different fin set ups, really responsive and like swatguy says does everything well. I ended up buying one and have been extremely pleased, and everyone that has rode it have had nothing but good things to say about it. I recommend, very strong construction yet very light.