Riding Underground Firebird "backwards"

[RichardL]

How does it work? Am thinking of adding it to my board quiver as a cross between a twin tip and a surfboard, especially for those messy ocean days with short set intervals and messy waves where I don't want to lose surfboard. Seems to me you would ride it out with surf fins forward, so you would be set up for wave riding on way in. Does this work ok? Any general Firebird comments out there?

[charlie_don't_surf]

I guess you could, but why?

I rather ride mine toe-side...its easy as with this stick (granted two hours later you'll have 1 sore calf).

[RichardL]

Thanks CDS. So toe side is easy i.e no gybing? How do you like the board overall and how does it perform in surf.

[charlie_don't_surf]

Yeah, toe side all the way...like I mentioned, one leg gets more sore than the other after along session. However, board planes fairly easily and you can point it fairly high into the wind, makes the toe side easy going.
For powered surf riding conditions its great. Its got 0 drive on a wave so you need to be powered, but you can really carve on a wave confidently...like coming in on a right hand break toeside, bottom turning (impossible to loose the edge) the come back in on the wave...good stuff.
I've been very happy with it and tend to ride it a bit more than a TT....especially if there is any "terain" in the water...mushy or big surf with the right wind conditions...a bit missionary on flat water, obviously.

[Andres_Santacruz]

My custom 140x38 Underground rides really well backwards, but it does need some power. I ride it frontside on some tacks , but sometimes you need to be riding backside so that you can jump over incoming waves, etc. But there is no better feeling than going out towards a wave frontside and carving it up vertically slashing it to bits in the process, switching direction and outrunning the whitewater.

The last 7 pictures are of my mutant, it is for sale by the way, great condition 300 dollars.

http://picasaweb.google.com/asantacruz/Tablas

[murdoc]

that's the problem with any mutant board:
either it rides so bad backwards that you rather go toeside or jibe,
or it rides backwards well enough, but when riding forward it doesn't feel like a directional but like a regular TT with fins too big.
to jibe a >140cm board ... tough job, especially with two straps, but when you can jibe a big one, you'll learn.