Roy. (expurgated edition)

[aho]

^Agreed...Although it was initially a ROY exclusive (at least I thought that was the original intention) those with Roy's can have special bragging rights, an "elite" group if you will....

[aho]

^Agreed...Although it was initially a ROY exclusive (at least I thought that was the original intention) those with Roy's can have special bragging rights, an "elite" group if you will....

[mikecch]

Roy thread on 2nd page = unacceptable

Loom-chatter:

[Vinneus]

Dunno if this was posted....

Cone Denim: Roy Meets World

[rnrswitch]

Dunno if this was posted....

Cone Denim: Roy Meets World

That post along with Henry Wong's post about the special pair that was made for him by ROY, as a present from Cone is what got me first interested in ROY. Then when Henry Wong's blog said that ROY was open for business, well it was all over then. Love at first blog!

[mikecch]

^ Henry Wong's pair that he showed in the blog was awesome!!!

But my regular Roy's are more than good enough for me

More links:

http://www.revolversf.com/blogs/news...ile-roy-slaper

http://autoculture.org/?p=1195

[rnrswitch]

Also, he was recently featured on that denim debate that was posted some time ago that got all heated and outta control.

Mikecch, That pic of loomchatter is beautiful! I like those little knobs.

[mikecch]

Thanks rnrswitch!

You got a link to this controversy? Can't believe I missed it...

[ranonranonarat]

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=194378&highlight=denim+debate

here you go...

[mikecch]

^ I see now. Thank you sir!

off-topic: I gotta say though (after browsing through the site), not much of either debate or analysis is on the Denim Debate. Kinda low yield even for a n00b like me. And there's something commercial/shifty about it that I can't shake off - it's like being followed by a possum on your way home.

On-topic:

Went a bit hammer crazy and started bashing the rivets on my Roy's today. The metal is pretty solid, but I did make some indentations on the rivets which hopefully will give them an unique look after they oxidise a bit.

[rnrswitch]

^ I see now. Thank you sir!

off-topic: I gotta say though (after browsing through the site), not much of either debate or analysis is on the Denim Debate. Kinda low yield even for a n00b like me. And there's something commercial/shifty about it that I can't shake off - it's like being followed by a possum on your way home.

On-topic:

Went a bit hammer crazy and started bashing the rivets on my Roy's today. The metal is pretty solid, but I did make some indentations on the rivets which hopefully will give them an unique look after they oxidise a bit.

Pics dude!

I was thinking of doing this as well, but didn't want to fuck em up.

[mikecch]

Pics dude!

I was thinking of doing this as well, but didn't want to fuck em up.

Right dude, here they are, all six of them...

I chose to leave them with relatively uneven finishes to get a more hand-hammered look which I prefer (I know it's superfluous, they are hand-hammered anyway). I'm hoping for some unique oxidation in the coming months

They were much harder to hammer flat in comparison to the pure copper rivet on my faith x Ken belt - actually, you'd have to put in quite a bit of muscle and precision (otherwise the male/phallic component of the rivet will break off).

Gotta say though, now that the denim is broken into a bit, the patch has shrunk and darkened, and the rivets have been hammered...I really feel like my Roy denim is becoming something special. Glad I purchased these jeans from Roy when he was sane enough to make them

[holleman]

As we are taking denim pics, just some non-quality, non-interesting pics of the ROY's. To put the topic back up on top.

[TallyHo]

here goes...

when you make jeans (or most any clothing), you use a pattern. it looks something like this:

it's graded for different sizes and you use it to trace and/or cut along the edges of the denim.

when you shape a surfboard, you use a template. they look something like this:

again, you trace around them on the foam blank to get your outline.

a truly custom (made-to-measure, MTM) pair of jeans would not come from a graded pattern, but one where each measurement was made to your specifications. ROY jeans still feel custom because they are made specifically for you.

custom surfboards are a bit harder to pin down. most experienced surfers don't buy boards in shops - they only buy custom boards. what's interesting is that you can buy a custom board, directly from the shaper, for the same price (or often less) than it would cost in shops. however, a lot of "custom" surfboard orders are just like our ROY jeans orders. the surfer calls the shaper and says they want a particular model in a particular length/width/thickness, or they offer their height/weight/ability/wave type and the shaper recommends the dimensions - sometimes a combination of the two. but when the shaper puts the blank on the rack, they still use their template for that particular model and size. because no two hand-shaped boards can ever be exactly the same, each one is still unique - but the concept of "custom" is a bit skewed. to make things even more complicated, many of the most renowned shapers in the world only shape the blanks - then pass them off to a glasser to glass, sand, and hotcoat the boards (which has just as much, if not more effect on the final feel of the board, but very little recognition). to go back to our North Shore* reference, chandler was the shaper, but turtle was the glasser ("don't touch bra! it's a fresh hotcoat!").

certain "master" shapers will really talk to you about the type of board you want. not only the model type (longboard, shortboard, fish, egg, 1-5 fins, etc) but your size, experience, where you most often surf, and so forth. basically, all of the above and more, plus decades more experience. these shapers/boards edge a lot closer to being "custom."

if a shaper is good, he will gain a reputation and stick around the industry longer and longer. more and more people will order boards from them. this is when shapers face the same dilemma as ROY is facing now.

rnrswitch requested an al merrick analogy, but i think that's a bit too difficult. channel islands has grown into an industry giant - it's sort of like when someone asks "does levi's still make their jeans in the USA?" yes and no. al merrick uses the KKL machine (a kind of CAD auto shaper) and has dozens of ghost shapers. frankly, i don't have any idea what's going on there these days. here are some smaller examples:

many people feel that the best longboards in the world come from tyler hatzikian in el segundo, ca. a nicely glassed, traditional longboard typically runs about $1000-1300. for the past several years, tyler longboards have been about $2300 and had a 6 month waiting period. a lot of people think this is ludicrous, and they may be right. one thing that sets tyler apart (aside from being an incredibly skilled shaper) is that he crafts the boards start-to-finish himself. that's shaped, glassed, sanded, hotcoated, and polished all by one person - just like ROY is doing with his jeans. recently, tyler changed his operation a bit - now you have the option of ordering a tyler "craftsman" board (where he handles the board start to finish) in the $2300 range, or ordering a standard tyler board (where he shapes the blank but hands it off to a glasser for completion) in the $1400 range. this second option is really the same as ordering a custom board from most other shapers in the industry - and it adds a very interesting element to the discussion about whether his boards are worth $2300.

another very highly respected longboard shaper is gene cooper of the cooperfish label. i'm not certain whether he is involved in the glassing of his boards or not, but he also introduced a second label: cooperdesigns in recent years. cooperdesigns is an affordable alternative for cooperfish boards, where shapers who trained or apprenticed under gene shape his templates and designs.

chris christenson is a younger shaper in san diego, and he has been getting a lot of recognition lately as a sort of master-in-training. i'm not sure what is going on behind the scenes with him, but i've been seeing these on some of his boards in shops lately:

my best guess is that he sends a lot of his shaped blanks to moonlight glassing, but has started glassing some boards himself and sticking these on them.

i don't think ROY has reached a point where he needs to take on any help, but there may come a time when he does. there are always options to maintain your brand integrity while expanding in more affordable directions.

*film, 1987, highly recommended.

[rnrswitch]

Alright gangsta ness removed as tag. Surfboard shaping 101 added.

Tally Ho, thanks for the in depth post. I surfed from age 10 to 25 once a day and twice in the summer (loved every minute of it). I always got "custom" boards. Never really saw such a direct correlation between jeans and shapers. I wonder if there are surfboard beasts, like denim beasts. People with 100s of boards sitting on racks collecting dust just because they were a limited run...

Also. Give Tally Ho some much deserved rep folks!

[pacioli]

This was on craigslist NY and I've kept it all this time, for today I guess.

free surf boards (Financial District)

Date: 2010-04-13, 12:25PM EDT

Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]

Anyone looking to hang ten this summer. I have been a professional surfer for more than 20 years and have ammased a huge collection of boards. I am moving to australia and have no place to keep them. Most are brand new. I am in lower manhattan pls call me to arrange a pick up JAMES xxx 598 xxxx

[Maynard Friedman]

By strange coincidence, someone over on supersurf has just posted a detailed appraisal of custom-made jeans...

[TallyHo]

RNR - what happened when you turned 25? maybe it's time we organized a ROY surf trip. haha. oh, and there are definitely surf beasts out there. a few years back i saw this guy selling off his collection on craigslist also. he lived near me, and i always wanted to ask if i could just come check it out, but felt that was kinda of a douchey craigslist thing to do. he had photos of a room that was floor to ceiling racks with all kinda of unreal boards from the past 40 or 50 years. it was insane.

the idea of a dude in lower manhattan having room for a surfboard collection is pretty mind blowing too...

[rnrswitch]

RNR - what happened when you turned 25? maybe it's time we organized a ROY surf trip. haha. oh, and there are definitely surf beasts out there. a few years back i saw this guy selling off his collection on craigslist also. he lived near me, and i always wanted to ask if i could just come check it out, but felt that was kinda of a douchey craigslist thing to do. he had photos of a room that was floor to ceiling racks with all kinda of unreal boards from the past 40 or 50 years. it was insane.

the idea of a dude in lower manhattan having room for a surfboard collection is pretty mind blowing too...

Uhh, well a couple of things happened. I got in a pretty bad car accident, so I had to stop for like 3 months. Graduated from college so I had to find a decent paying job and then got my old lady pregnant. Short story, life got a bit hectic all at once. I just got out of the motions. You know: up at 5am, surf, get to work, get off work, surf, etc. etc.

I tried going out some time later (2 years or so) with my buddies and I found out quick that surfing ain't like riding a bike. I could get up and ride waves and all, but I felt like a chump (kookazilla maximus in surf-bro talk). Couldn't pull the same stuff i used to. It wasn't fun and I felt like for it to be fun again would require the daily ritual, but that wasn't/isn't an option right now. i think when my son is old enough to surf it will be fun again and less about tricks and more about kickin it with the little dude doing something I loved to do. I really miss surfing, even though I tell my buds that still surf that surfing is for chumps.

[TallyHo]

haha, fair enough! i guess life happens, after all. you'll be back out there in no time, i'm sure...

i get separation anxiety when i'm out of the water for too long...

[rnrswitch]

haha, fair enough! i guess life happens, after all. you'll be back out there in no time, i'm sure...

i get separation anxiety when i'm out of the water for too long...

I felt like a bum for those 3 months that I was hurt and couldn't paddle out.

[Vinneus]

Ikea... colors way off.

[holleman]

Small question.

Is there someone who has soaked / washed there ROY's more than 1 time?

The first soak made my ROY's shrink from 36'' to ± 33'', I'm just interested if they will shrink much more after a second soak in a while.

[mikecch]

^ I've done an initial hot-soak (2 hours) and recently did a machine/detergent wash.

The waist did shrink a little after the machine wash, but more so the inseam. I think after 2 hot soaks they'll be pretty stable.

[Anders Helseth]

That post along with Henry Wong's post about the special pair that was made for him by ROY, as a present from Cone is what got me first interested in ROY. Then when Henry Wong's blog said that ROY was open for business, well it was all over then. Love at first blog!

I followed this blog, caught news of this talented guy, and got into contact with Roy; pre-ROY Denim thread. I requested something similar to Wong's piece, which was made of particularly loom-chattery denim, of which he tried to incorporate as much of as possible.

However, he was already changing how he was doing things, like setting up his online shop and developing his present cut. As a final note, I didn't get to order a custom pair, with details of my own choice, and my mind pursued other matters. Totally understandable as it is, being in his situation, though tough luck for me.

Best of luck to him for the future; and hopefully he can stay true to concept for a long time.

Cheers.

[mikecch]

The White Oak has a very 3-D texture, but not overtly slubby...

[ranonranonarat]

got a pair in a 30 for sale in my sig. shameless plug yes but i doubt i'll ever be able to fit into a 30 hence they need to go

[aho]

^Yeah it's a shame when it comes to this point....lets both promise to buy a new pair when Roy makes his triumphant return! ;D

[ranonranonarat]

for sure! I'll remember to go a size up and shorter on the inseams. haha that's at least 2 more customers he has already.

[roy6]

What the hell, aho & ran? Sorry you have to let them go...

A Japanese tourist stole my surfboard, but not my ROYs. She had on a 88 tees shirt, and she kept making apologetic mini-bows, so I didn't fight her for it.