8'6" new deal.

[surlygringo]

Not to complicate your decision making, but I saw last week that NSP is making a new longboard model; the High Roller. I believe it comes in 9’x28”x125ltrs. Not a quad, but might be worth checking out since you liked the Super X.

[SurfKiteSUP]

@B-Walnut... curious, what did you not like about the SB Spice?

Was considering it as my next board but some mixed reviews about it so would like to hear your feedback.

[B-Walnut]

@B-Walnut... curious, what did you not like about the SB Spice?

Was considering it as my next board but some mixed reviews about it so would like to hear your feedback.

I'll throw out the caveat that the demo was for the 8'8" x 32" 140l board which is far wider and higher volume than I would ever buy. That being said the things I didn't like were:

1. It felt disgustingly heavy at 9.7kg. Everything starboard makes in the "limited" construction is wildly heavy and their blue carbon construction isn't featherlight and comes with a stiff price upgrade. Essentially you save 2lbs for an extra $850. You can get a 10'2"x32" 160l monster from Kalama that is almost the same weight as a blue carbon spice at this demo size and save yourself $650.

2. It felt like it paddled really slow. Again, probably an unfair comparison, but my 9'2"x30" 126L 7.5kg kalama paddles quite well due to the shape. The spice felt painfully slow, and had what felt like zero glide.

I felt very strongly against it, but I think I was also coming to the conclusion that I want glide, early wave catch, longboard shapes with a narrower body. After missing a few big waves on it I switched over to the demo of the 9'0"x28" 121l NSP super X and was catching waves and carving some nice lines.

That being said, my buddy who demo'd it the same day and will be changing boards from a starboard blend element, 9'8"x30" 146l board thought it was awesome and bought it.

So, I think if you want to work towards more aggressive shapes, it may be worth a look. If you're like me, and want to catch as many waves as possible, narrower longboard shapes are probably preferred. I am still expecting to demo the 9'0"x28 108l new deal and the 9'0"x28 108l kalama in the next month or so. If the literage doesn't hold me back, I would expect to buy the kalama.

[SurfKiteSUP]

@B-Walnut... curious, what did you not like about the SB Spice?

Was considering it as my next board but some mixed reviews about it so would like to hear your feedback.

I'll throw out the caveat that the demo was for the 8'8" x 32" 140l board which is far wider and higher volume than I would ever buy. That being said the things I didn't like were:
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Wow!  Thanks for the detailed response.

I'm on the SB Wedge 8'7" and looking for the next board in my progression.  I lean more toward the shortboard-style surfing so something like a Spice or the new JP SurfPlus or something similar - a little shorter and less volume.  Not sure I'm ready to step all the way to the "pro" surf shapes yet.

Anyway, thanks for the info and sorry to hijack your thread!