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True Ames
Skip Frye Side Bites 3.0"
Skip Frye’s 3.0" side bite: a wide, stubby template that adds bite without taking the board away from you.Frye drew this for the times a single fin could use a little help — some added stability, projection or hold — and nothing beyond that.
★★★★★5.0 (2)
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$73.75
new customer discount · applied automatically at checkout
Fin System
FCSFutures
Construction
Solid Fiberglass
Designer: Skip Frye
The Fin
Skip Frye’s 3.0" side bite: a wide, stubby template that adds bite without taking the board away from you.
Frye drew this for the times a single fin could use a little help — some added stability, projection or hold — and nothing beyond that. It is a stubby, small template with a fair amount of base width for its proportions — the bigger of the two Frye side bites, and the one that makes itself heard. What area there is sits in the base rather than the depth: 2.99" deep, 3.70" of base, 7.91 sq in a side, in solid fiberglass.
How that reads
A wide base under a shallow fin gives drive without much hold, which is Frye’s approach generally — less fin, and more of the board’s own rail line doing the work. Added either side of a centre fin the change is real but contained: the board still turns the way it turned before, it just holds a beat longer.
Who it suits
Single-fin boards with two spare plugs where the centre fin is nearly right already. True Ames pass on Frye’s own suggestion as well: run the pair on their own, with nothing in the centre box, and see what the board does close to finless.
If this is not the one
Want even less influence from the sides? The Skip Frye Side Bites 2.75" - FCS Compatible (Solid Fiberglass) is the smaller template, on FCS plugs. For a centre fin to run them with, the Skip Frye single or the Skip Frye Volan.
Specifications
ConfigurationSide bites — pair
Height2.99" / 76 mm
Base3.70" / 94 mm
Area7.91 sq in / 51.03 cm²
Made byTrue Ames, Santa Barbara CA
Price Range$73.75
AvailabilitySold Out
Reviews
What people say
For smoother, less acute turns, riders suggest stepping down to 2.5" side bites.
From True Ames
Frye's fin work is built around flow and trim, and these follow the same logic -- a touch more bite on rail when the wave stands up, while leaving the center fin to do the trimming and pivoting it was drawn to do.
Our take
Run these with a Frye-template center fin on an egg or glider when you want a little more hold for late drops and steeper sections without losing the glide, dropping your center fin a size. They are deliberately modest -- if you need strong rail grip on a heavier board in bigger surf, step up to a 3.7".
More About This Fin
The Skip Frye Side Bites 3.0" are solid fiberglass, Futures-compatible side bites sold as a pair, made by True Ames from Skip Frye's template. They are designed to pair with a Frye-template center fin in a 2+1 configuration on eggs and gliders. At 3.0" they sit in the subtle-to-medium range of the side bite spectrum.
Similar Fins
Mentioned in the review — True Ames Side Bite 3.7 · 2.5" side bites — not something we carry.