Naish Pivot is a good option. Personally I preferred it over Rebel, Xr4, Boost 2, or Edge.

This chic just out jumped and looped 99.9% of all Seabreeze Keyboarding warriors haa haa Perhaps ask her what she rides..

bjw said..

Swavek said..
People try different kites and end up buying what they liked best. Nothing wrong with recommending what you own provided you tried other kites in the same category.

I actually think most people don't demo before they buy, and if they do then they demo one brand, especially as most shops don't have a range of brands. Plus a lot of crew buy online.

Its definitely not easy to demo diff styles of kite, speaking from my recent efforts on east coast.

Richoa said..

bjw said..

Swavek said..
People try different kites and end up buying what they liked best. Nothing wrong with recommending what you own provided you tried other kites in the same category.

I actually think most people don't demo before they buy, and if they do then they demo one brand, especially as most shops don't have a range of brands. Plus a lot of crew buy online.

Its definitely not easy to demo diff styles of kite, speaking from my recent efforts on east coast.

True, took me a few months to try a few models I wanted to try.

Buzz.

C kite with right technique brings you up highest but drops you like a rock too. But the speed and ability to actively fly and throw precisely as your input is 100% converted into action is gold.
Delta kites in larger sizes see you travelling a long distance at crap height. In smaller sizes with nuking wind a small size Rebel or similar would probably outperform any C kite in terms of height from my experience.
Best compromise throughout all sizes and all winds are some of the hybrid C kites e.g. Enduro. As they mix the advantages of the above. Most riders will be able to achieve good things on those kites, and it's best value for money as they are capable of performing in all disciplines pretty well (wave, flat, chop, boost, basic level trickery).
And then there are differences between brands and types of kites aiming at that segment.
Personally I feel that pulleys make kites less direct hence spoil the fun for advanced riders, but make it easier to handle and safer and more comfortable in gusts for the average rider.
Outside of above bandwith there are some experienced riders doing great things on kites outside of what these kites are aiming at, as it suits their specific needs. And that's perfectly fine but confusing for the majority of riders.
Just ride what suits you most and work on the technique. Enjoy along the way.

eppo said..
Pulleys or no pulleys is irrelevant. Flown plenty of pulleyless kites that aren't direct and vice versa. A lot more involved than just pulleys or not. Be nice if it was that simple. With pulleyless kites the canopy has to do a lot of work to change angle of attack, that can create a super sloppy "fly off the front line" feel.

But hey hey if it makes you
feel bette inside about your purchases and ideas then go for it.


I do agree, hybrid C is the best compromise.

Yes it was a generalisation mate and I agree about the potential challenges a simplistic kite design comes with. But I'd rather work around that then having silly bits and pieces on the kite requiring replacement and shortening the lifetime of the lines too.
Guess my point was more about the kite type and that there is no such one kite or kite category making you go huge. And that kite size i.e. wind strength may make you choose a very different kite. Seabreeze users from over East probably fly more 10-12m kites and even larger at times while WA main kites would be in the 7-10m range. WA wind is heaps more consistent and strong, hence choice of kite is different.
Anyway, complex topic. Just try and find what works best for you for what you are trying to achieve, in your conditions, suss the kite out, and work on technique.

RussKraut said..

having silly bits and pieces on the kite requiring replacement and shortening the lifetime of the lines too

Have you ever replaced pulleys?

I've got 8-year-old kites with pulleys that have never had pulley or bridle lines replaced (not Flysurfer by the way). I'm more worried about the canopy falling apart from so much use.

Kamikuza said..

RussKraut said..

having silly bits and pieces on the kite requiring replacement and shortening the lifetime of the lines too

Have you ever replaced pulleys?

I've got 8-year-old kites with pulleys that have never had pulley or bridle lines replaced (not Flysurfer by the way). I'm more worried about the canopy falling apart from so much use.

Good for you. SS RPM don't remember the year, recall of pulleys even, we had to get sliders instead. They have then in 2015 eliminated pulleys altogether.
Core Riot XR. Pulleys chewed away bridle lines making them fluffy and thicker looking. Line snapped during a jump, leading to death loops once I was back in/under water. Kite and lines were in their third season.

I then moved away from pulleys so can't give you more recent examples.

RussKraut said..

Kamikuza said..

RussKraut said..

having silly bits and pieces on the kite requiring replacement and shortening the lifetime of the lines too

Have you ever replaced pulleys?

I've got 8-year-old kites with pulleys that have never had pulley or bridle lines replaced (not Flysurfer by the way). I'm more worried about the canopy falling apart from so much use.

Good for you. SS RPM don't remember the year, recall of pulleys even, we had to get sliders instead. They have then in 2015 eliminated pulleys altogether.
Core Riot XR. Pulleys chewed away bridle lines making them fluffy and thicker looking. Line snapped during a jump, leading to death loops once I was back in/under water. Kite and lines were in their third season.

I then moved away from pulleys so can't give you more recent examples.

The RPMs with pulleys I've seen have all used the same ****ty Ronstan ones that FS uses. They fall apart on a regular basis, good thing they're cheap I guess.

Shouldn't be using bare Dyneema for bridles anyway.

So ok I'll concede that ****ty design and cheap parts can and do lead to failure.

I guess when I think of pulleys I tend to think of Cabrinha and they've been that right for years. Shame the new bars aren't up to the same standards

Caveat emptor as always. I retract my blanket statement that there's nothing wrong with pulleys

Wow that is great video for showing off the kite. You can actually see how responsive and predictable it is. It obviously helps having a good rider but man that thong just looks good in the air.

Here's a good vid of E6 showing its stuff - Looks impressive. and plenty of kite movement visuals...

SaveTheWhales said..
Here's a good vid of E6 showing its stuff - Looks impressive. and plenty of kite movement visuals...

Bad of them to say bomb proof ? All the awl lads down my local have them I think due to cost. They have all been whining about the canopy wearing out where the leading edge touches it, I think they all went back for warranty.
They go nowhere near as good in my opinion.

The evo I tried is a 2016 it's the same hook up as my Vegas / Rebel no pulleys just straight on no kissing type set up.

THE PIN PULLER said..

SaveTheWhales said..
Here's a good vid of E6 showing its stuff - Looks impressive. and plenty of kite movement visuals...

Bad of them to say bomb proof ? All the awl lads down my local have them I think due to cost. They have all been whining about the canopy wearing out where the leading edge touches it, I think they all went back for warranty.
They go nowhere near as good in my opinion.

The evo I tried is a 2016 it's the same hook up as my Vegas / Rebel no pulleys just straight on no kissing type set up.

Yes the 2016 Evo (and 2017) is / WAS a superb all around type kite, more leaning towards the bump and jump TT style end of the spectrum. But it does okay in the waves and on SB's etc.

Pin Puller try and get on a 2018 evo if you can. Because I seem to one of the few people commenting on how horribly sh1t it is. Flying Vegas's and rebels you may understand what I've been trying to say, but no one seems to be listening... oh and try a 2018 rebel, you will love that to
(but apparently that is also much better than ever before....BULLSH1T!!).

There is no better kite on the market better in Floaty jumps than the Ozone Edge and better than that is the Flysurfer Boost2