Same dims. Same fins. Same waves. Just different foams. In this Joyride we tested two new JS Surfboards (5'6 Xero Gravities) in PU and EPS at the Waco Surf Pool.
My experience is (and heard this from Kelly Slater in a clip): EPS for smaller, clean perfect waves. Gives you more pop. PU for everything else, especially when the waves aren't perfectly clean. The softer feeling PU sits in the water better and it's corky/bouncy with chop.
Think your conclusion at the end was a fair characterization. As someone who’s switched entirely to EPS, you’ll notice the difference at first (more float and spring than you’re used to with PU). But after a while, EPS is what will feel familiar, and PU’s will be the material that feels different
Im riding EPS at the mo but my next board will probzbly be PU. I love the snap of the styrene board but there types of PU Ive seen that rival it both in weight and springback. The main reason by far is repairing dings. Being forced to use epoxy is a pain in the rear, it takes forever to cure meaning that board is out of service for days. With PU you could slap some Solarez on there anx be back in the water in minutes
@@xisotopex yes stringer less PU with carbon strips. Epoxy is much stronger than polyester resin. Single layer of 4oz plus 4oz tail patch on the deck. Light strong boards. Cheers
@@john2097 yes I have been riding stringerless epoxy boards since probably 2006, and no, not the surftech tufflight crap just polystyrene foam, fibreglas cloth and epoxy resin, with carbon fibre for stiffness
stringerless eps every time.... lighter, and more pop/spring.... it loads up and is controllable and never goes dead like a poly board does eventually.... however I have heard a poly board glassed with epoxy is a good combo but never tried that.
I woulda thought such a clean fast light footed surfer woulda preferred the eps but I enjoyed this. Apples to oranges, horses for courses all that... I'll figure it out.
I really enjoy EPS for midlnghts since it reduces swing weight, and the size of the board makes up for the lack of stability. But anything below 6'6, I much prefer PU.
I really like the Hify. But whenever there is too much offshore it goes unrideable. While the PE just ploughs through offshore chop, the Hify feels like riding a cannonball…
A nice little ding report at the end would have been cool, longevity is a big deal to me and I'm sure many others.......stuffs getting pricey out here 😳😳😳
yeah I just commented about this! heard good things about this combo but never tried it! my feeling is that the reason my poly boards always go dead after a while was due to the glass job, from what I have heard epoxy doesnt do this it keeps its cohesion or whatever you want to call it for much longer.... I love my eps/epoxy boards, so much speed liveliness squirt and control
@@xisotopex I liked PU and PE, but each EPS board I've had is too light, lack momentum or feel too stiff. Although ci spinetek works great, in 6'2'' ogflyer. PE is more dampening than PU, PU has a quicker 'snap'. Old PU boards still work fine for me if the shape's good. I've bought used PU which work great, I've had PU last some years and still be great, with moderate frequency of surfing,… a few times per month at most.
Well, it has been recommended for a long time, to reduce volume when riding EPS. Probably not going to get a fair comparison with identical dimensions.
Well, you could draw that as a conclusion of the comparison that you could reduce the volume on the EPS. But to compare you definitely need the exact same dims I think.
Agreed. The volume will affect the performance drastically. The needed to reduce thickness slightly perhaps whilst keeping the other dims the same. Also did they glass them the same? EPS is stronger than PU so glassing can be thinner to reduce stiffness of the board or a stringer could.have been added in order to compensate for buckling.
Michael, not quite a proper comparison, but nice try nonetheless. Jason should have done the epoxy with a standard stringer and no carbon... with the exact glassing schedule as the pu. Also, same wood and thickness for the stringers. That would've resulted in a most accurate construction comparison, if in fact you were trying to give an accurate and unbiased judgement of the foams and resins. Hell, throw a pu glassed with epoxy in the mix for a bonus comparison. I realize he may not offer his boards built that way, but just for true public knowledge about how constructions really affect the ride. Cheers
@@A-Brax so I checked it was curious, apparently eps floats better therefore paddle better when conditions are mint but atm you stop paddle it doesn’t carry momentum as good as pu, if you surf fast and strong waves on good conditions i will go eps :)
Actually ypu have zero clue what they're riding anymore. Js said they were painting carbon boards to look exactly like hyfi pre production. So no you have no clue what the pros are actually riding. Kelly has been riding eps exclusively for a while now.
Are you high? Michel Bourez and Taj Burrow have surfed Firewires for years and won contests on EPS at Pipe, Jbay, Bells, Margaret Rivers...etc Kelly rides them in contests since he created Slater Designs in 2016.
Dude you can hype up eps all you want but I’ll always surf PU. The fact remains, there double the cost of PU and have to much buoyancy. I can get a step up & all rounder shaped the price of 1 eps board. Sell em to the kooks who just like buying expensive 💩
stringerless eps every time.... lighter, and more pop/spring.... it loads up and is controllable and never goes dead like a poly board does eventually.... however I have heard a poly board glassed with epoxy is a good combo but never tried that.
![Mind Blown! Rasta Will Make You Rethink Foot Placement [Electric Acid Excerpt]](/img/1.gif)
My experience is (and heard this from Kelly Slater in a clip): EPS for smaller, clean perfect waves. Gives you more pop. PU for everything else, especially when the waves aren't perfectly clean. The softer feeling PU sits in the water better and it's corky/bouncy with chop.
Such a good board. Works from 1-2 ft - solid 6 -8ft for me!
Think your conclusion at the end was a fair characterization. As someone who’s switched entirely to EPS, you’ll notice the difference at first (more float and spring than you’re used to with PU). But after a while, EPS is what will feel familiar, and PU’s will be the material that feels different
Same board, same fins and same super contributions. But a lifetime of difference
Yaaaay!!!! The joyride is back!!! Keep um coming
Was trying to find this out this week perfect timing on the vid 🤙🤙🤙
A lot of pros use EPS exclusively for their wave pool sessions. The saltwater vs freshwater buoyancy also might play a factor.
I absolutely love my xero gravity boards. I have one in carbotune and one hyfi 2 and they are both killer. I prefer them over my new ci boards
he looke like the board doesn't turn well.is it true?
@soulsurfer3102 no board turns great. They are premium shapes by a killer shaper jason Steven's
Im riding EPS at the mo but my next board will probzbly be PU. I love the snap of the styrene board but there types of PU Ive seen that rival it both in weight and springback. The main reason by far is repairing dings. Being forced to use epoxy is a pain in the rear, it takes forever to cure meaning that board is out of service for days. With PU you could slap some Solarez on there anx be back in the water in minutes
There's solar epoxy also.
Personally I ride PU blanks glassed with epoxy resin. Best of both worlds. Maybe an idea for another review. Cheers
stringer less as well? pu with epoxy is something I have wanted to try for a while...
@@xisotopex yes stringer less PU with carbon strips. Epoxy is much stronger than polyester resin. Single layer of 4oz plus 4oz tail patch on the deck. Light strong boards. Cheers
@@john2097 yes I have been riding stringerless epoxy boards since probably 2006, and no, not the surftech tufflight crap just polystyrene foam, fibreglas cloth and epoxy resin, with carbon fibre for stiffness
stringerless eps every time.... lighter, and more pop/spring.... it loads up and is controllable and never goes dead like a poly board does eventually.... however I have heard a poly board glassed with epoxy is a good combo but never tried that.
Been on an epoxy the last few months just starting to feel it then today I got a smaller pu excited to feel the diff soon
I woulda thought such a clean fast light footed surfer woulda preferred the eps but I enjoyed this. Apples to oranges, horses for courses all that... I'll figure it out.
I really enjoy EPS for midlnghts since it reduces swing weight, and the size of the board makes up for the lack of stability. But anything below 6'6, I much prefer PU.
I really like the Hify.
But whenever there is too much offshore it goes unrideable.
While the PE just ploughs through offshore chop, the Hify feels like riding a cannonball…
A nice little ding report at the end would have been cool, longevity is a big deal to me and I'm sure many others.......stuffs getting pricey out here 😳😳😳
How do I get a job at stab?
how you like this board?1_to10. is it true this board hard to tern?,
When the next episode of HSGP dropping? 🤔
And then, there's PU with Epoxy resin.
yeah I just commented about this! heard good things about this combo but never tried it! my feeling is that the reason my poly boards always go dead after a while was due to the glass job, from what I have heard epoxy doesnt do this it keeps its cohesion or whatever you want to call it for much longer.... I love my eps/epoxy boards, so much speed liveliness squirt and control
@@xisotopex I liked PU and PE, but each EPS board I've had is too light, lack momentum or feel too stiff. Although ci spinetek works great, in 6'2'' ogflyer. PE is more dampening than PU, PU has a quicker 'snap'. Old PU boards still work fine for me if the shape's good. I've bought used PU which work great, I've had PU last some years and still be great, with moderate frequency of surfing,… a few times per month at most.
Too heavy and stiff
@@sergioalvarez376 EPS is too light n boggy unless with special additions as Ci does with spine-tek.
@@bonsummers2657 yes, I mean the combo PU+epoxy resin is worse than PU+PE resin because it is stiffer and normally heavier
Well, it has been recommended for a long time, to reduce volume when riding EPS. Probably not going to get a fair comparison with identical dimensions.
Correct EPS should have been 5-10% less volume
Well, you could draw that as a conclusion of the comparison that you could reduce the volume on the EPS. But to compare you definitely need the exact same dims I think.
Agreed. The volume will affect the performance drastically. The needed to reduce thickness slightly perhaps whilst keeping the other dims the same. Also did they glass them the same? EPS is stronger than PU so glassing can be thinner to reduce stiffness of the board or a stringer could.have been added in order to compensate for buckling.
Absolutely, the local rule of thumb here is to take off 1-2 litres depending on the volume of the board
I’m pretty sure that the Js hyfi models are changed slightly so that they are surfed the same size as your pu
Michael, not quite a proper comparison, but nice try nonetheless. Jason should have done the epoxy with a standard stringer and no carbon... with the exact glassing schedule as the pu. Also, same wood and thickness for the stringers. That would've resulted in a most accurate construction comparison, if in fact you were trying to give an accurate and unbiased judgement of the foams and resins. Hell, throw a pu glassed with epoxy in the mix for a bonus comparison. I realize he may not offer his boards built that way, but just for true public knowledge about how constructions really affect the ride. Cheers
Same dims. Same Fins. Same waves. Just different haircut.
looks like Ventura
Yo
Is it only me ? I feel like eps are more slow 🤣
Nah, my epoly red tiger is a sprinter bro.
@@A-Brax so I checked it was curious, apparently eps floats better therefore paddle better when conditions are mint but atm you stop paddle it doesn’t carry momentum as good as pu, if you surf fast and strong waves on good conditions i will go eps :)
epoly vs. eps
@@A-Brax
@@mikesamouel4791 the hawaiian dude with a yen and yang logo tell you?
Ask yourself if you've ever seen a pro ride an EPS board in a contest...no you haven't. They choose PU every time, even if its Team Lite glass.
a lot of the top pro's are surfing EPS epoxy's when it's small, and yes in contests.
Actually ypu have zero clue what they're riding anymore. Js said they were painting carbon boards to look exactly like hyfi pre production. So no you have no clue what the pros are actually riding. Kelly has been riding eps exclusively for a while now.
Yeah and 99% of us can’t afford to toss out a team lite board after one or two sessions like they can
Are you high? Michel Bourez and Taj Burrow have surfed Firewires for years and won contests on EPS at Pipe, Jbay, Bells, Margaret Rivers...etc Kelly rides them in contests since he created Slater Designs in 2016.
@@hokindee8044 Yes, Im always high...and it's a well known industry secret that both Taj and Michel sprayed their PU boards to look like Fireweirds
Dude you can hype up eps all you want but I’ll always surf PU. The fact remains, there double the cost of PU and have to much buoyancy. I can get a step up & all rounder shaped the price of 1 eps board. Sell em to the kooks who just like buying expensive 💩
stringerless eps every time.... lighter, and more pop/spring.... it loads up and is controllable and never goes dead like a poly board does eventually.... however I have heard a poly board glassed with epoxy is a good combo but never tried that.