GSI Modern Retro Longboard

It's garbage, don't waste your money.

 

I have the 9'1 and it's definitely fun to **** around with when the swell's not serious. It trims and noserides very well for the price but it's definitely no hand shaped log.

The only real problem I had originally was with the fin box. When I would screw in the fin all the way the tailside of the fin had a lot of play. I never really understood why they put a cutaway fin on a single fin setup anyway so I replaced it with a Captain D-fin and it definitely fit better but still not perfect.

For the money it's worth it absolutely.

 

I have a modern long board with a 2+1 (not the retro) and its a good board, but I do wish I had spent the extra few bucks for something local. Talk to your shaper, you can get one cheaper than you think. Skip the resin tints, gloss coat, pin lines, graphics etc.. and you can drop the price dramatically.

 

Are all GSI labels crap? I know NSP is kind of a laughing stock, but the Haydens, Waldens, and MTavish, are they junk now too?

 

I had a GSI walden cd4 mini magic (or something like that, it was a 6'4) and it was an incredible board. Id say at least as durable and well made as my Lost.

 

FWIW, most shops do not pay their employees commission to sell surfboards. in fact, i've never heard of one that did. shops don't make enough off boards to be shelling out like that. really confused as to where that whole idea comes from.

& yes, gsi is ****. do as beevee suggested & skip all the extras. a plain white, sanded finish noserider locally built will be pretty damn close to the $650-$700 you're going to drop for the gsi ****ball. it might even come in cheaper.
or you can do what i tell everyone who claims not to have the $$ for a locally built board-wait a bit & save more coin. the beauty of a custom board is that you don't have to have the entire amount up front, just a decent deposit ($100-$200), then you can save up the rest over the ensuing 5-8 week wait time. that softens the blow a bit & gives you time to save up.

 

GSI isnt crap I had one and it was VERY nice. This is the one I had for a few seasons until i wanted something smaller...http://www.google.com/imgres?sa=X&b...nw=95&start=0&ndsp=41&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0,i:99

 

Just look for a used one in good condition by a reputable shaper, you'll be happy you did.You should easily be able to find one in your price range. I picked up a brand new WRV 9'6" for around $700 a few years ago. Well built and one of my favorite boards I'm still riding today.

 

This is the truth. If you talk to your local shaper tell him your budget and he will let you know what he can do for you. Its always better to put money into your brothers pocket than some large pop out boner jam company.

Brian Wynn Surfboards based in South Jersey has shaped some of the better boards in this area and if you get it bare bones like that guy said, it'll cost about the same as said pop out. Good luck!

 

a lot of it is appearance-based & has already been mentioned...gloss & polish, color work of any kind, pinlines, etc...you can also skip nose concave, which is something that aids noseriding, but isn't necessary.

basically, you want a plain white, single stringer longboard w/ a sanded finish.

 

this is solid advice as well. lots of good used logs floating around out there if you know where to look.

 

gsi most assuredly IS crap, esp. the non-name brand lines like modern. they might LOOK good, but a board (as we all know) is more than aesthetics. the blanks they use are second-rate foam at best. they skimp on glassing & use unskilled labor to sand the things, so the boards are rife w/ sand thrus & blemishes. they might put a little more effort into the name brand lines like walden, but i seriously doubt it.
avoid gsi like the plague.

 

good advice here..local is the way to go and skip the fancy stuff if you are on a budget. you wont be spending anywhere near $1000 unless you start adding gloss, polish, resin tint, etc, as previously mentioned. you'll probably be more in the $600 range. it doesn't hurt to ask around, right?

 

no, it creates some extra lift, so it makes noseriding easier, & you can stay up there longer/surf the board from the nose (so you don't have to backpeddle as much), but you can certainly noseride a properly sized log w/out it. it's a nice design feature if you can swing it, most of the high-end logs that are $1,000+ will have it, but it does make extra work for the shaper, so eliminating it will help keep the cost down.

 

Okay...I surfed one hard for a couple seasons in RI and it served me very well. I am a big guy and it held up great... not many pressure dents or anything compared to some other boards I have had. Very well made from my experience.