Christenson Lane Splitter Review

The Christenson Lane Splitter is built for speed and flow down the line, like all twin fins are. Yet the Lane Splitter has a rounded square tail and flyer (right word?) to give you more control and predictability (less of that skatey twin fin feeling). You’ll also see the CC signature rail template on the Lane Splitter that helps to maximise forgiveness and performance.

The wide point is more forward than you’ll find on a regular shortboard, which as with most twins is commonplace and helps with forward drive/trimming skills/speed. Hard to beat, I think, that feeling of getting high on a wave, pushing down and getting an extreme speed rush.

Foam distribution you’ll find is healthy under your chest, you’ll get a pretty flat deck with full rails (which have a pinched feeling to them – I wanted to say ‘boxy’ but they aren’t boxy, more full with a pinch. And you’ll get a beak nose on it as well, for those who love the older styled nose like that.

On the bottom you’ll see a lot of Vee in the back end (the last third) which helps with rail to rail transitions – meaning it’s easy to lean over and turn and isn’t jumpy or catchy when trying to turn. Vee is a good thing, especially for intermediate surfers, as it allows your surfing to be smoother.

There is a (very) slight concave under your front foot as well which contributes to the glide and speed of the board and allows you to drive off your front foot when coming off the bottom or around a section.

It’ll go in anything up to about 5ft (fins dependent – Christenson Twins up to 3ft, MF twins from 3-5ft), but it’ll go better for you in conditions around the 3ft mark. The Christenson Lane Splitter can handle peaks, lefts or rights, forehand or backhand, it’s one of the more versatile twin fins I’ve ridden.

Obviously, it’ll go better on your forehand (like all Twins), but the Christenson Lane Splitter is the type of twin fin you can ride confidently on your backhand as well. It does need a little difference in waves than when on your forehand though, you’re chasing waves that a little chubby (without being fat), think waves that are fun for carves, snaps, etc but you aren’t throwing up nooners or trying to scoop under a late lip for pigdog tube.

Overall Best Conditions –
For me personally, the ideal conditions for the Christenson Lane Splitter was 3ft Greenmount on a sunny day in boardshorts. For everyone else that means any wave that has a long running bank on your forehand that isn’t wildly sucky/thick or super-duper fat.

These types of conditions bring the board alive! You can get the front foot drive off the bottom, back foot turns when it slows up and that glorious twin fin momentum around sections that allow you to glide up top before putting all your weight into the push as your lean down the wave face.

Stats –
21 Sessions
109 Waves
Top Speed of 35km/h (Currumbin Alley)
Longest Wave of 563m (Snapper Rocks)

It’s a twin fin but doesn’t surf like you’d think a twin fin would/should. It’s got that middle fin free level of speed along with the glide and drive you get from a twin fin, but it’s also got the ability to let you surf tightly in the pocket – throw it up vertically even – and ‘perform’. The best way I can summarise the performance of the Christenson Lane Splitter is that it’s a hybrid between traditional (MR 1982 Retro Twins) and performance twin fins (DHD Horseshoe Twin). So, depending on how you are feeling you can either cruise and enjoy the ride, or rip right in and have at it.

You can surf the Lane Splitter vertically if you want but be aware that if you do push too hard or acutely off the bottom, you’ll pop the board out (it’s still a twin fin remember). In my experience, while it’s amazing that you can throw it up vertically it’s better surfed a little more laterally – carves, progression style snaps, etc. Surprisingly it also worked quite well in the tube, which I put down to the fins for the most part….

Which leads me into fins…

Initially I was using the Christenson Twin Fin template from FCS and they felt amazing in the board with plenty of spark. You could push pretty hard on the rail whether bottom turning or top turning, they held the board in until you wanted to release (mainly through carving – wasn’t really trying to dry the fins out) and generally felt ‘skatey’ enough without popping out until it hit 3ft and above. That’s where I started to have some issues with the board – started to skip out, couldn’t push as hard and generally felt like I had to nurse the board – until I swapped the Christenson twins out for the new Mick Fanning twins from FCS

With the Mick Fanning twins in, the board went back to performing quite well – the fins (which have a wider base) allowed me to push, held in, etc and left me feeling confident taking off. The one thing that jumped out at me when using the MFs was that they gave the board a lot of more drive and I could draw my turns out a lot more vs using the Christenson Twins (which were a bit more snappy/skatey)

Buy the Christenson Twins
Buy the Mick Fanning Twins

Twins, while being all the rage right now, are a hard buy unless you know exactly what you’re buying one for. The Christenson Lane Splitter comes across as the model most likely to cover all bases of what you want from your surfing on a twin fin – you get the glide you love in a twin (runs over flat sections and generates speed easily) but you can still surf at a good performance level if you want to push it.

One of the highlights for me was doing roundhouse cutbacks. It was one of the first boards I’d ridden in a while (haven’t ridden a thruster in a long time) that allowed me to draw a proper roundhouse out and jam the rebound off the white-water without losing speed. This is in part due to vee bottom on the back 3rd of the board (makes for easier rail to rail transitions) but also the Mick Fanning Twins that let the board hold in more as well giving me the drive to draw the turn out.

Overall, this is currently a top three board (ever) for me right now. I’m having so much fun riding it across a variety of conditions it’s become my daily go-to board. I rode a 5’10 when I probably should have ridden a 5’8 (I’m 5’9), but I’ve always enjoyed riding twins a touch longer then suggested.

The Wins –
*Flexible – you can ride it and cruise, or you can ride it and rip in on it. It’ll handle both.
*The Fins – they opened up a wider range of surfing options (Christenson Twins for under 3ft & MF Twins from 3ft to 5ft)

The Challenges –
*Tbh, getting off it. I became thoroughly addicted to it.
*The only thing that bugged me was around the performance of it. Can rip, but it’ll pop out if you push too hard.

If you’re not quite sold on the Christenson Lane Splitter but are interested in getting some twin fins into your rotation, some alternatives include the One Bad Egg from Mark Phipps, the Almond from DMS, the Mid-Strength from Chill or spice it up with the Step-Up Twin from Morning of the Earth.