Sneak preview: Old vs new - these classic cars are part of the test in surf 10-2025

Hot or scrap - are the test boards finally going in the bin or will the gate to the recycling centre stay closed after all? What have 30 years of shape evolution achieved? We'll try it out for ourselves using freeride boards as an example. With regard to the shape development of wave and freestyle boards, we have already delved deep into the development of concaves, Vs, outlines and other features during our research with the support of well-known shapers. Everything we have experienced and learnt can be found in surf 10-2025!

These are the test candidates

• 30 years of board design: From long and narrow to short and wide - an interview with Werner Gnigler

A board called Horst

The Sputnik 280 spent a large part of its life in a free take-away bin at a surf shop on Lake Neusiedl - nobody wanted it. But then, from 2010, it experienced a brief renaissance as a children's race SUP, with notable successes in numerous children's races. "Horst" is still written on the board. Whether this refers to the owner or whether someone named their wild steed after the gallop racer from the cult film Bang Boom Bang we still don't know who named it. However, with its 54 cm width, it is the balance beam of this test group. Almost no waveboard is that narrow today. In its day, however, the 280 was a typical light to medium windboard. The horse "Horst" in the film was not a happy insider tip. But the film has been shown every week at the UCI cinema in Bochum for 25 years. Does that tell you something about the outcome of the test?

The Ride 282 is a legend for many who stood on the board "back then" - almost like the F2 Sunset Slalom. How does a board like this - unsurfed and in new condition - end up in the deco rack at Surftools Starnberg around 25 years later? We actually don't know, but we were allowed to borrow it and are curious to see how the 60 centimetre narrow board with all the more length performs against the current Magic Ride 119 or Duotone Blast 117 with almost the same volume.

The AHD board has only had one flight and a few, but all the more intensive, surfing lessons behind him up to this point - to and at the surf test in Cape Town. Some challenging test kilometres were covered there. The rest of the story is quickly told: The AHD brand ceased operations and from then on the board eked out its existence in the depths of the surf test cellar - much like Tom Hanks in Terminalstateless and forgotten, unnoticed by anyone. But that is precisely why this board is in impeccable condition and is being used in its original condition.

Compared to the penultimate generation of the Magic Ride - the board has simply been hanging ready for use in a neighbour's garage for 8 years - the current 119 is slightly longer and narrower again. This makes it interesting why there has been this "step back" in evolution, which has actually only ever known shorter and wider.

You can read all the test impressions and the ultimate "old vs. new" comparison in surf 10/2025, in stores from 16 September!