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Firewire Vader, Fins recommendations

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NorCalNomad
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Re: Firewire Vader, Fins recommendations

Postby NorCalNomad » Mon Dec 26, 2016 9:37 am

Alysum wrote:So what's the verdict on affordable fins for a Vader ? I'm getting my 5"1 January !

Has anyone ordered from aliexpress ? The free shopping says it takes 20 days is that so ?
Support you damn local shop. :angryfire:

By spending money there you are investing in your interests in the local community.

magic%20Ed
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Re: Firewire Vader, Fins recommendations

Postby magic%20Ed » Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:13 am

I love the AM3's, there small and versatile. But forces you to use the rail a bit more.

About the inside foil: my opinion is based on experience, but I'm allways open to new insides. I tried the Vanguard with a foil and did not like it (as I did not like foils in the past with other boards). But it was a short session, whenever I can get my hands on a test set, I will try them again on a Vader and/or Evo.

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Re: Firewire Vader, Fins recommendations

Postby Alysum » Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:23 am

NorCalNomad wrote:
Alysum wrote:So what's the verdict on affordable fins for a Vader ? I'm getting my 5"1 January !

Has anyone ordered from aliexpress ? The free shopping says it takes 20 days is that so ?
Support you damn local shop. :angryfire:

By spending money there you are investing in your interests in the local community.
I do support my local shops but I'm not going to spend 250 bucks on my very first set of fins when I have no idea what I want/like. If the shops sold cheap plastic fins I'd buy but they don't seem to...

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Re: Firewire Vader, Fins recommendations

Postby knotwindy » Wed Dec 28, 2016 7:24 am

Alpha F4 thruster. great on the Vader. Have not tried them on the Vanguard.

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Re: Firewire Vader, Fins recommendations

Postby Bushflyr » Wed Dec 28, 2016 7:49 pm

Yes, 20 days from Aliexpress is about right. Search for my other comments, I've posted a bunch of info on my Ali fins here and on FW forums. Basically for my VG I'm liking the G3 setup. Busted one of those off on the reef and threw on a G5 set. Nearly as good, but I think a tetch tight. Going back to G3's to compare. Given that the VD has a bit more rocker than the VG I'd order a quad and a thruster set in your normal surf size. See what you like. I rode quads on the VG for a year or so and liked them but the board took too much effort to get a good snap off the lip. I could do it, but it was work.

@KW I tried F4 thrusters on the VG and it was crazy tight. Blown out bottom turns and impossible to snap off the lip. It was actually SO tight I blew out a bottom turn, went over the bars and broke some ribs. :cry:

Alysum
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Re: Firewire Vader, Fins recommendations

Postby Alysum » Fri Jan 20, 2017 2:01 pm

For those in Australia has anyone had experience with the fins from http://www.numfish.com.au/ ?

windtzu
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Re: Firewire Vader, Fins - mixing front vs rear fins

Postby windtzu » Fri Dec 01, 2017 4:19 pm

I just purchased a 5'1 Vader with FCS2 Reactor tri fin config - medium. The retailer recommended the Reactors in tri fin. Im' looking forward to getting out this week.
I'll use the tri fin for now, but I always leaned to quads on my kite-surfboards. It's easy enough to buy some quad rears if I decide to give those a try.

Question: does it matter that the quad rears match the fronts; in this case should I match the quads with Reactors or could I use let's say Performers, etc?
Am I even good enough to even notice such a difference is what I'm wondering, or does mis-matched fins create a clear performance issue.
I have little actual surf experience-knowledge and in the past just use the fins that came with my kite-surfboard.

Thanks!

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Re: Firewire Vader, Fins - mixing front vs rear fins

Postby CaptainArgh » Fri Dec 01, 2017 9:38 pm

windtzu wrote:
Fri Dec 01, 2017 4:19 pm
...Question: does it matter that the quad rears match the fronts; in this case should I match the quads with Reactors or could I use let's say Performers, etc?
Am I even good enough to even notice such a difference is what I'm wondering, or does mis-matched fins create a clear performance issue.
I have little actual surf experience-knowledge and in the past just use the fins that came with my kite-surfboard.
Do fin choices make a significant difference? Yes. Are you going to notice different brand fins from front to rear? No.

I'm in the same boat as you and haven't had the luxury of enough surf experience to try boards back to back with different fin combinations. I'll regularly pull off rear fins on some boards or move to a shorter fin, mostly just to loosen up the back end. But yeah, for the most part I've used what comes with the board.

Pulling out the center fin on your Vader and putting in two rear fins will give you a good idea of how the performance of the board changes going from thruster to quad. I've ridden that board as a quad a couple times but typically ride the Vader as a thruster. The board rocks either way. I love it.

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Re: Firewire Vader, Fins recommendations

Postby zerogee_ca » Sat Dec 02, 2017 6:04 am

Dont be afraid to mismatch fins. You may not notice a difference at all. But sometimes the change can be dramatic and not always in a good way. It could turn a good ride into a dog. Or it could be magic, the best most fun combo ever. You wont know until you try.

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Re: Firewire Vader, Fins recommendations

Postby Alysum » Mon Dec 04, 2017 12:54 pm

Currently running quad with a set of Futures 437 plastic. I like it so far. Better upwind than thruster.


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