Griffin Cheater Quad
CHEATER QUAD REVIEWS
GRIFFIN CHEATER QUAD
By John, San Diego, CA
I had the pleasure of riding the AB3 demos for a few days before the event. I have a 5'9 Modfish and Lefthander has been been raving like a madman about his "cheater quad" so that was the focus of my attention.
I'm 6'1 and am 205-215 at any given time. The boards that were closest to something I would ride are the 6'1 (the grey ghost) and the 5'10 which i dubbed "the pumpkin" because of it's orange and green resin swirl. The boards felt really good in my hands, great foils and lightweight. I was really jonesing on the 5'8 quad (the fire colored one) ....it felt magical but there was no way in hell it was going to work for me. I came to the conlusion I need to lose wieght that day.
I rode at Black's, a N. County beach break, and at the AB3 event. I waxed 'em up and paddled out. No surprises here, the boards paddle very well even the 5'10 which by all accounts should be too small for me. Boards also caught waves easliy, again no real surprises as I've ridden a lot of Griffins boards.
SURFING
Now this is where things got interesting for me. Immediately I felt this looseness to the boards. It's really hard to describe how it feels but i would say it's non directional, and I mean that in a good way. The boards will go wherever you guide them. It really was a strange sensation because I'm so used to the immediate lift of the Modfish. The Modfish feels really connected to the wave but free. The Cheater Quad feels like its "hovering" above the wave...like its on a little air pillow but somehow still taps the power. For me it was a totally unique sensation. The boards are very fast and very loose. Its a different feeling from the Modfish but at the same time you know you are riding a Griffin. This is hands down my favorite design from Greg yet.
Mod vs. The Quad
I love the Cheater Quad but I'm still giving the Modfish the nod in the Desert Island/Dailey Driver catagory. When the waves are total crap, when you are barely motivated enough to even get wet the Modfish is what I would grab. I say that because its so consistant in all types of waves. It does mush as well as it does juice.
That brings us to the Cheater. If there is any juice and it's above waist high I would ride The Cheat. I think it has a higher top end speed and I love how sensitive it is. I mean you barely think it and that board is off and running. A guy that rips (unlike me) is gonna go mental on these boards. The only thing that is "fish" like is the way it catches waves but the board is high performance all the way. It might take a couple waves to get used to it if you are coming from a traditional twin keel or quad type fish because its so free. I was getting thrown off the back and left behind on my quad shortboard from Griffin for my first few waves because It was so fast and loose... so fortunately I had an idea of what I was getting into.
Summary
The normal Griffin rules apply here. Backfooters will be in heaven. Front footers might want to bump the rears forward 1/8"-1/16". The concept on all these boards is to ride them from where you do all your power based moves. No need to be riding forward and them step back to turn, you wanna just stay back there with your finger on the trigger.
If you would like to have your review included in this list you can do so by sending me an email at griffinsurfboard@aol.com