…Lost Surfboards’ Matt Biolos with the unreleased Puddle Jumper.
If you love to surf, chances are good that you harbor a healthy obsession for the surfers most cherished artisan tool: the surfboard.
Even now, hundreds of surfboards later, I get giddy when I pick up a new shape for the first time. I want to know how it will feel under my feet as I glide down the line. My mind races with images of taking a drop at X wave, turning hard in Y conditions, racing a punchy section at Z beach break. But I’m not a shaper. And, while I have learned an awful lot about surfboard design, I wanted to tap into the immense and constantly evolving knowledge base of these masters of foam and resin. So I found a few shapers who are as tapped into knowledge as they can be, and I asked to simply describe what they’re riding and how it will work for an everyday surfer in the water. No product pitches. New board not required. The board in question need not even be under their label. Just describe your favorite board as a surfer talking to a friend who does not have a wealth of shaping knowledge and experience.
In line with our goal at CompareSurfboards.com of providing other everyday surfers real, experienced based reviews of surfboards and surf gear, the My Favourite Board/My Quiver series provides honest appraisals by a hand-picked selection of the world’s best and brightest shapers–both large and small–of their favorite boards.
The series started with a bang: Matt Calvani of Bing Surfboards shared his tribulations in overcoming the seemingly simple task of evolving the original Bing Dharma into the more versatile Dharma 2.0, while mad scientist Dane Hantz of Vulcan broke down his desire to meld good technology with good design to make your sessions more productive.
Then I was fortunate to catch up with one of my long-time favorite shapers, Matt Biolos, founder and co-owner of …Lost Surfboards. Much to my delight, Matt over-delivered, talking through his full go-to quiver, starting with a brand new model, the Lost Puddle Jumper. Then Matt moved up the wave range to his hybrid, the V3 Rocket, his “pointy nose shortboard”, the Sub Scorcher 2 and finally his reliable step up, the …Lost Mini Gun. I was so engaged (and frothing); I tried to sneak out the door with the three boards I hadn’t already ridden… so here, in all its glory, is Matt Biolos’s go-to quiver and exactly what he loves about each one of them.
Episode 1: The Puddle Jumper
Episode2: V3 Rocket
Episode 3: The Sub Scorcher 2
Episode 4: The Mini Gun
Stay tuned for more from the world’s best shapers and, of course, for real reviews of the some of the best surfboards in the marketplace at CompareSurfboards.com.
