9'0" Retro Noserider - Foamy

I do my homework, so for those of you who also do the homework and research before making a purchase, then this review is for you. I hope it helps. My background, I have surfed for years and on a scale of either Advanced, Intermediate or Beginner level surfer, as a choice, I would put myself in the Intermediate level. I have surfed up and down the east coast and I have surfed everything from 1 foot to 15 foot. I have surfed performance boards to grovelers to midlength to longboards. Where I surf on the east coast, in the south, we only where wetsuits for about 2 to 3 months of the year and then our water temperature will remain above 74 degrees, which means we surf in board shorts and the foam on the board did cause skin irritation underneath the knees and around the inside of my legs. My guess is that where I am hanging my legs and knees over the side of the board while sitting between sets and where my board shorts did not cover my skin is where I got the irritation. To fix that problem, I did end up purchasing both 3/4 compression pants and then tried compression knee sleeves to wear while I surfed on the board and both on their own worked from keeping me legs from irritating, but because I have to wear one of those items under my board shorts I subtracted one star, but I am using and enjoying the surfboard, so I would rate it a 4+, if that helps. Everything else with the board is a 5 star, so let’s review the 5 stars of the board. Since I surf on the east coast, which is primarily soft beach breaks, the 9’ Retro Noserider Foamy seems to catch those small mushy waves, which the volume of the board helps in those small mushy waves, but with the board combining a wider than normal square tail with a scooped nose and 50/50 rails, this board makes noseriding a breeze and is ideal for small conditions, but I can see it in pointbreaks, and difenitely see it in those lazy summer days. This thing covers all the bases with smooth maneuverability and cruisey paddling. In regards to the center fin that came with my purchase, it was a high quality fiberglass fin made by Paragon Surfboards factory, which was fine, but for the record, the single fin box is just that and you can interchange your favorite center single fin, if you have other fins. I added my 9” True Ames Greenough 4-A fin, which again, there is no real difference from a quality perspective of what came with my purchase, however, the True Ames Greenough 4-A fin is designed for both speed generation and spending time surfing in the pocket, so the 4-A is a fin that will hold when you need it to and release when the time is right, which seems to fit perfect with my 9’ Retro Noserider Foamy. The other nice thing with having a real and true single fin box, as compared to other cheaper foamy boards on the market, it allows you to adjust your fin in relation to the tail of your surfboard, since where you place your fins in relation to the tail of your surfboard will change how it feels. Fins attached more towards the front will feel looser. While fins more towards the back will give the surfer a more controlled feel. When you compare the 9’ Retro Noserider Foamy to other foamy boards on the market where you get plastic fins that screw into one spot and cannot be adjusted to help you with how you want the board to feel and the fins are not interchangeable with other fins adds to the 5 star rating for the 9’ Retro Noserider Foamy, since it provides all of the above. This board has the cushy feel of a foamy coupled with the performance and durability of a traditional retro longboard, but for half the price. So to sum it up, if you surf in a location where a wetsuit or your skin is covered up all the time, then the only issue I had with the foam irritating the skin would not be an issue, so this would be a 5 star board for you, but if you surf with skin exposed to the foam, then you may need to purchase something to protect skin from the irritation and compression pants or compression knee sleeves may be needed to protect against the skin irritation. Again, I hope this review helps with your homework and research and you have now decided to buy the board, which I believe, in the end, you will be satisfied.

Arrived with a handful of cosmetic dings that I wasn't offered any sort of reimbursement for

I’m so happy with my Paragon Surfboard! The customer service is super friendly and very knowledgeable about surfboard construction. They explained the difference between standard polyurethane and their epoxy softtops. I learned that epoxy is stronger, more durable, and lighter. Polyurethane is heavier and faster but I decided to go for epoxy just because I’m still a beginner. This board floats/paddles really well and is super easy to catch waves and stand up.

So I was gifted the 9' version of this epoxy/foamy hybrid board. I'm 5' tall and have ridden a lot of different boards in my day. I've been surfing for over 20 years, and I'm going on my 3rd year as a surf instructor for a surf school based out of So. Cal. The weight of the board was fantastic, definitely a fun board to ride, very easy to maneuver. I highly recommend these boards if you're looking to transition from bigger boards to smaller boards or really just reccomend them as perfect boards to ride during those summer days for all kinds of breaks. I love that you don't need wax for these. As a surf instructor, they're so much better in stability and maneuverability then Wavestorms (Wavestorms are all around terrible) or the other plastic based foam tops. Our school is actually looking into these boards in bulk for our students. Paragon hybrid foamies are the closest feeling to a harder board your going to get. As a female surfer that prefers to surf in just a swimsuit whenever I can, I do just reccomend that after about 2 hours of surfing in just a bathing suit my legs got a little bit of an irritation from the foam...with that being said, I was having a lot of fun on this board and didn't want to get out of the water for 2 hours. That only happened once, and that issue was easily solved with surf leggings. Paragon makes really fun boards in general, I actually have bought a couple more in different shapes and sizes.

I’m still waiting for my board to arrive. It seems to be late or lost in shipping. Once I get it, I can tell you what I think of it.