how surf companies get bad local reputations...

...this board got traded in and the guy said it wasn't real responsive. Might have been the traction pad placement, ineffectively turning this 6'3" into a 5'5". All summer long I'll overhear little conversations between friends talking about surfboards and junk. I can here the rumors circulating through his group of friends right now:

...dude, I heard Sharpeye surfboards suck. Antoine had one and he said it didn't go vertical at all.

...dude, I had a Creatures of Leisure traction pad and it blew. The arches are in the wrong spot and my foot kept getting stuck.

...dude, don't get a board with FCS fins. They suck. Well, they just do.

Well, I agree with one of those, so maybe they're not rumors...