So i picked this board up second hand last year from a friend who brought it back from California. Officially its a 9’4 bing NR 2 (9’4 x 18 x 23 x 16) although it’s fairly different from another friends older NR2. Not long after this one was bought, bing changed the NR2 model to the BN lightweight and i think this is more likely an early version of that model.

It’s a parallel templated noserider, big nose concave, flat rocker with a lot of tail lift, soft pinched rails and a refined foil.  Where it differs from a regular log is in weight. It’s purposefully glassed a bit lighter and foiled a little thinner than the traditional nuuhiwa style noserider template, the aim being to create a more manageable, versatile, traditional board. It’s still got a little heft to it, we aren’t talking progressive longboard style weight.

I’ve ridden the board in beachbreak up to shoulder high and I have to say i think it’s great! The relative lightness and the tail kick make it really loose off the tail. Pushing through your back foot yields really abrupt and satisfying pivot cutbacks. On the nose it’s stable and fast, holding a high line well and letting you get ten or heels over with impressive ease. The lighter glassing also makes it feel really manageable in steeper or slightly larger waves than a heavier log might be suited to. I think it would make a good travel log as a result.

If there is a downside it would just be that it can feel a little twitchy as you transition from tail to nose (though once in a forward position it’s stable) and it lacks the weight to cut through chop in quite the same way as it’s stouter brethren… but you can’t have everything and the compromise does make this into a really good easy riding log style board, either to cover a few bases while travelling or for the lighter logger who finds dead weight & the momentum it gives difficult to reign in!

or why you shouldn’t be wearing  a leash on a log!

I’m quite opinionated about most things, surfing included.  I think style is important, in the sense that the way you surf a wave and the equipment you choose to ride is a reflection of your personality and that the aesthetics of the lines you draw on a wave are important.

I love longboarding, particularly the traditional style of logging, a pursuit where looking stylish and making the difficult look effortless is part of the point.

I am a firm believer in riding longboards without a leash, unless you’re a beginner, likely to lose your board and kill someone of course. I’d go so far as to say that if it’s big enough to need a leash you should be riding a different board.

Perhaps you agree, perhaps you think that’s controversial. In fact the most recent surfers journal has an opinion piece telling us it shouldn’t matter, but hear me out & see if i can convince you.