Bic 72"

Author's product rating:   

Value for money	OK
Durability	Excellent
How does it compare to similar products?	Standard

Advantages:	Cheaper and stronger than a custom .  High re - sale value .
Disadvantages:	Heavy, Un - manouverable .  Too much float .

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

A Bic board is an obvious choice as you have probably seen a lot of them about. However, it really is a beginner's board- and that's it. It's great when you are learning as it is indestructible (made of plastic) and sturdy but if you surf regularly, you will quickly find that the board is too heavy and un-manoeuvrable.

You will out grow the board as soon as as you start going down the line (catching and surfing the wave before it breaks by going left or right along it rather than surfing the broken white water in a straight line) To turn a board you sink the side you wish to turn by shifting your weight to the right or left. The boards are hard to turn as the back rails (sides of the boards) are very thick and rounded and therefore do not slice through the water very easily (For example it is far easier to pull a knife through the water than a spoon). The boards are also more bouyant than a custom (fibre glass board) which makes them harder to sink at the back to make the turn.

Six months down the line it will be frustrating that you chose the short term gain of having a really easy board to start with, over a custom-fibre glass board that is far more responsive and a board that you will probably keep indefinetly for small summer days.

If however you do not intend to take up the sport too seriously and just want a cheap board for the family holidays then a Bic is perfect as it will be easy to learn and have fun on becuase it is hard to turn (and is therefore quite sturdy) big (so it picks up waves more easily (generally the bigger the board the easier it is catch waves) and hard to break. It is also roughly 100 pounds cheaper than a custom board.

Cheap perfect beginer boards to also consider are NSP boards (also cheap plastic boards-but a little more sylish than BiC's) and SWELL boards (Swell boards are made of foam rather than plastic and are therefore even more bouyant and sturdy-dont ever buy one if you ever intend to take up the sport regulary as you will become board with it very very soon)

Dont be afraid to haggle over the price for boards as you can often squeeze a discount as there is such high competition in in the surfing market place.

In conclusion BICs are fantastic beginer boards but I would strongly recommend you buy a custom if you wish to progress far within the sport.

A good custom brand is ESCAPE surf boards (search on the net) or OSHEA. but there are many fantastic custom boards. Fistral surf company (Newquay) is one of the best places I have found to find them as it is cheap and they know what they are talking about. Also if you already know what you want the net as always is a good place to buy.