Hellrazor or MB

[Will.]

I know this has been asked so many times but what are the main differences between these two going to be? Anyone ridden both??
Im planning on selling my 6'3 Flexfire as I dont use it much and it feels a bit like a boat to me now after surfing my 5'8 Spitfire for so long. At the moment im leaning towards the HZ because it just sounds sick from all the reviews! Im unsure though which size to go for between the 5'11 and 6'1. Im like 5'11.5 tall ( tiny bit below 6ft) and weigh around 70-72kg. The 5'11 sounds cool but the 2 1/4 puts me off a bit , the 6'1 sounds cool but the length puts me off a bit ( a 6'0 x 19 1/4 x 2.3 sounds perfect haha). I would be wanting it as a board which I could use in say waist high - overhead and a half. If I went MB it would be the 6'0 thin version for sure. What do you guys have to say about the matter?


Also this is an off topic question but im off to hossegor on sunday and wanted to ask if you guys think the 5'10 hellfire will handle it? How does it handle the barrel?

Thanks as always guys!

Will

[prjwebb]

The main differences in my opinion are going to be the tail rocker and the tail thickness. The Michel has a refined shortboard tail with plenty of rocker that's going to really attack the critical section of a wave. The HellRazor is flatter off the tail with a lot more volume under the back foot. The bevelled rail ala Spitfire is still going to give it that control and response of a thinner tail but it's going to support the back foot a little easier pushing through turns on a fuller wave than the Michel would.
The 511 HZ is your size for sure. I was put off by the 2.25" thickness too but checked one out in the flesh and the rails were comparable to my 2.31" Sub Scorcher. It carries the thickness all the way to the rail and actually feels thicker than it is and also carries that thickness more into the tail. The nose has a good amount of rocker and feels like a modern shortboard nose.
I think the Michel has the edge if you're surfing punchy, bigger, bowly waves most of the time but otherwise the HellRazor is going to kill it.

I think the HellFire will handle Hossegor just fine up until the point you'd want to be on a step up.

[core personal training]

right on prj, right on....... will, if jumping off your spit, or even a HF, you will find the razor much easier to adjust to...its the bigger brother.....i jump from the 510 HF to a MB daily, and there is a lot of dialing in between them...(worth it tho.!!)...

[Will.]

Prj thanks dude for the quality input as always! Yeah im leaning more towards the HZ.
Core you surf quite hollow, sucky waves dont you? how does the hellfire handle the barrel? think it will go well in hossegor?. Im thinking same as Prj that it will go good until the need of a stepup, and im not planning on surfing massive barrels over there anyway, id rather take it over my flexfire.

[core personal training]

i do ride sucky waves, but i attack em (or try to) rather than pull in..i'm not a natural barrel rider..(actually, i'm crap.!.)..coming from full rockers and low volume which will sink if i try and trim, i have enjoyed the HF in tubes...it needs no driving through..it has its own speed so i can spend my time in there looking around..!..it bites into the face at least as well as a shorty, so you can pull off some real sketchy drops...moving up from here, i'd like to spend some time with a razor actually targeting tubes...i might even start to enjoy them....

these days i surf a peak a lot which stands up thick and throws...like france...as long as my back is working for take offs, the HF feels sooooo free on and through them....by the time its getting challenging on the HF, i could probably go straight past my shorty's and ride a 606 pin...

i'd love to ride my HF at your weight...it must feel so free and easy...you've still got the bite and hold of the step down rail without needing my excess weight..and paddling onto waves must be totally stress free....lucky skinny mongrel..!!

[Will.]

Nice !Haha yeah! To be honest I havnt had the chance to surf it much as there hasnt been much decent swell round by me over the summer so really looking forward to putting it through its paces in Hossegor! Ill let you guys know when I get back how it went for me, Ill try and get pics too if I can manage!
Nice one!

[prjwebb]

Yeah it's been a bad year at Will!

[Lizardman]

I can't speak for the MB but I've been riding the HellRazor for a couple of weeks ago. I really like it. I dig the the turns it allows me to do- very smooth feel and easy to throw tail and release fins. Only downside... I do notice that as a session goes on and I get a little tired I sometimes get off balance. I read someone describe the board as "precise" and that is very true. It likes clean waves and you need to be on point. Boards in the hybrid category might offer more stability and forgiveness.

One thing I like about FW is the ability to really analyze all aspects of the board. Using the "compare boards" feature you see much more than just the outline and main dimensions. I am tall and lanky so some people look at me and say I ride boards that are too big. They are taking my weight into consideration but what they don't understand is that my weight is very spread out- making it easier to get off balance sometimes. So when I compare boards I am looking at volume and stability ratings as well.

[Will.]

Hellfire handled Hossegor fine. Shame I didn't get any pics of me, got a lot of pros though.:( unfortunately hossegor handed me the worst conditions. Onshore, windy and massive for the first 5 days(typical!)Then all the sand banks were fucked for a few days after that apart from the contest site which had the best of it. Did surf 6 times and had it lovely twice, didn't get barrelled though, gutted! The pros pull barrels out of nowhere it's unreal!

Out of the MB & HZ which one do you think will grovel better? I'm not after a board for grovelling I have my spit for that but I want a higher performance short board which I can surf in waist - headhigh & above conditions.

[Will.]

Nevermind guys,Iv gone and ordered a 5'11 Hellrazor now!Yeww!!! Had to sell the flexfire :( as it doesnt get used enough, hopefully the guy who bought it will give it what it deserves.HZ is a board iv been wanting to surf since it came out, it was a really really hard choice between it and the 6'0 thin michel. Originally the cut off tail put me off but its really grown on me. The michel was really tempting as by the sounds of it, people are cranking out some of the best turns/carves they've ever done on it. But the HZ is just calling out to me haha! Cheers for the help!

Will

[Chris]

its a super sick board. can't go wrong with either!!

[core personal training]

you'll love it Will...again, wish i was light enough for the 5'11.......i'm tossing between the 6'1 and 6'3...the hellfire has really made me want to keep lengths down...

[Chris]

yeah. I am a little beteen the 511 and the 601 myself. Though I have to say the larger option still works well for me... the board is so ultra precise.

[core personal training]

yeah, i'm a little hesitant to go longer AND flatter that my MB/flexy with the 6'3...just jumped on the scales...back down to 88kg...how low can i go..??..!!...6'1 might get a start..!!

[Will.]

Surely you could ride the 6'1 core its the same volume as the 5'10 HF isnt it? I wouldnt have minded the extra length of a 6'1 but 19 1/2 wide is more than I wanted, 19 1/4 is still a little bit more than I wanted but the thickness 2.25 should make up for that. I recon a 6'0 x 19 x 2.3 would be really nice, but I havnt even surfed it yet so Ill probably be loving the 5'11 when it comes and I cannot wait for it!!!

[Will.]

Ok HZ arrived today, on initial inspection the 2.25 doesnt seem too thin at all, feels really nice under the arm, the double concave compared to the HF is notably more subtle. Looks like more nose rocker than the HF but I didnt inspect the rocker all that much, the tail is thicker than I thought it would be but overall the board looks and feels really nice, its been nanotuned too which is cool. Just got to wait for some decent swell to come now, looks like something is coming on Sunday but is going to be small, will probably take it in and see how it grovels. Will update once iv had a few surfs on it, cant wait!

[core personal training]

cool mate..let us know how she goes..!!

[prjwebb]

It's gonna be small there? It should be pumping here. Good period I reckon it'll be bigger than you think.

[Will.]

Hope your right! It's looking a lot smaller than cornwall on reports.

[Will.]

This board is SICK!!!!! Surfed the beach next to my house which isnt really known as a surf beach as I didnt have much time today and am busy this eve. Waves were thigh high to head high and I am totally amazed at how well the board performed in these conditions, I was waiting for the bigger ones but did surf smaller ones too. Paddling was a breeze, catches waves with ease, really feels good on the bottom turn lots of bite, turns really nice, just felt perfect so glad I went for the 5'11. Yes it was really a day for the Spitfire but didnt really feel when I was out that I wish I had it instead of the HZ. Now the HZ blew me away with its grovel ability as I wasnt really expecting it to grovel, but the head high sets are when it really came alive. This board is fast! Felt faster than the hellfire, and the hellfire is crazy fast! I was running it as a thruster with 2 Powerbase armour flex DLs on the side and a SF4 in the back and it felt great, loads of drive!!! I need to surf it a bit more to really review its performance on cutbacks etc as this is based off 2.5 hours in the water, im so stoked with it Im struggling to remember all the waves and if I had any cutbacks, I remember doing a few snaps and it felt great. But yeah....totally stoked on this board!!!

[prjwebb]

Sounds good. I really like the look of the 511. Would love to add a little more thickness down the centre though.

Waves were macking down here. Main beaches were double overhead plus and struggling to hold it. Looks like the cribbar was working well too.

[Will.]

Dude it really doesn't need any more thickness at all trust me! think i'm preferring less foam these days, love the length of 5'11 as well, board feels perfect.
Yeah you were right it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, really good swell! Double overhead down the coast from me but I didn't have much time today so had to just surf the beach next to my house, had a good time anyway. I think you would love the HZ mate, I remember you asked a lot about its grovel ability a while ago and it grovels really well, its like having a HPSB which can grovel. I love it ha ha!

[core personal training]

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew

[prjwebb]

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew

I concur!

[Chris]

well played!

[delmarsurfer]

Hey Will. - how are you liking the Hellrazor a few weeks later?
How do you compare it to your Helfire?
How close to 70kg are you?
Like you I want a board that I can ride in the thigh to head high range but can still grovel a bit of need be.
I have been riding a 5'6 Hellfire and am very interested in the Hellrazor after reading the reviews on it and putting it under my arm it feels really good!
I demo'd a 5'8 MB (thin model) this weekend and didn't particularly care for it. Thinking the Razor might be what I am looking for...a little more HP than my Hellfire and can stlll grovel a bit.

[Wandi]

Hey Will. - how are you liking the Hellrazor a few weeks later?
How do you compare it to your Helfire?
How close to 70kg are you?
Like you I want a board that I can ride in the thigh to head high range but can still grovel a bit of need be.
I have been riding a 5'6 Hellfire and am very interested in the Hellrazor after reading the reviews on it and putting it under my arm it feels really good!
I demo'd a 5'8 MB (thin model) this weekend and didn't particularly care for it. Thinking the Razor might be what I am looking for...a little more HP than my Hellfire and can stlll grovel a bit.

Just out of curiosity
What didn't you like about the MB
Was it the waves or that you couldn't get it going?
I think it's important also to hear about negative reviews
It might make the difference between someone purchasing one board or the other
Cheers

[delmarsurfer]

The waves weren't that great and it probably wasn't the best of days to demo a shortboard like the MB.
Can't blame it all on the board and I am sure it's a sick board in better waves. The kid at the shop loved it and was the same weight as me but about 4 inches taller.
Overall it felt too thick for me and I think it had too much rocker for what I am looking for right now. It paddled me fine although a little harder to get into waves than my Hellfire.
It seemed to be hard to get going but again the waves didn't have a lot of push. Went back to my car and got my Hellfire and had a lot more fun.
I keep coming back to the 5'7 Hellrazor...it feels so good under my arm. I hope that's the one...

[Slowman]

It's difficult to tell in crap waves just what a board can do, let alone work out what the best fins for it will be. When I bought my JK for the first 3 weeks the surf was absolute rubbish; no wave longer than 2 seconds. A lot closed out immediately and everyone was scratching just to get off the bottom and get a turn off the top before they closed out - same story from Sydney to Wollongong. Anyway I started to doubt this board but it was just an unfortunate coincidence. Had many good waves since and it's a great board so unless you get good waves to demo in it is hard to tell much at all. That said, I'd be going the Hellrazor!

[delmarsurfer]

Couldn't agree with you more, Slowman.
Not a fair day to assess the MB plus I know I am looking for a slightly more HP board than my Hellfire but still has a bit of hybrid DNA in it...I think.
So confusing with all these great options Firewire continually puts in front of us.
From everything I have read the Razor sounds a great board and under my arm it feels soooooo good. I hope I can surf it as good as it feels.

[Slowman]

I just felt up a Hellrazor 6'5 in the shop yesterday...definitely want to try one for next winter!

[Gareth]

I just got one last week (6.5) and had it out in glassy head and 1/2 conditions on the weekend. I was stoked. It definately performed as expected. I was using the Josh Mulcoy 5-Fin in a quad setup. I weigh roughly 188 with suit, gloves and booties and am 6ft.

[Chris]

good stuff gareth!!