COL said..
First, I've been a keen fan of the Ozone Reo since 2013, with a 6,8,10 quiver ever since. I've stated my view here a few times since then, that they're a fabulous wave kite and 2014 was a standout model though I didn't find any real substantial improvements since then. I still have V4 as V5 reviews sounded pretty mixed to me. My 15yo son has been sponsored by our local Newcastle kite shop for a 3rd year with a kite of choice, 9m Duotone Dice. I have absolutely no previous experience with the Neo, but I have had access to the Dice. 2019 and 2020 didn't really take my attention, apart from noting the amazing wind range, but I've now had a few good back to back tests, albeit my used, V4 10m Reo vs spanking new 2021 9m Dice in difficult marginal side to pretty onshore wind and that really opened my eyes to Duotone. The Dice clearly got going earlier and made ground much easier, but it also surfed down the line really well.
I was excited to hear news of the new Aluula and was considering just one, due to the cost. And then Duotone springs this Penta on their new SLS Neo, at only modest additional cost, where I could perhaps justify a whole quiver.
I've laid a 2021 Neo SLS 9m over a V4 10m Reo, not a full metre difference in area I would say, Neo is much higher aspect. I weighed the Neo at 2563 and the Reo at 2792. I'm pretty sure the Neo has the bigger bottom end, though I haven't back to back tested, loops just as sweet on the wave, and light wind foiling clearly leaves the Reo for dead. I was apprehensive of the Neo for its reputation as more aggressive, but found it to be as smooth as, and landing jumps strapless are so gentle.
I think Ozone Reo development has stagnated for some years and allowed the competition to overtake.

watch how butthurt the ozone gang will be to your review....

did you get the 9m neo to replace the 10m ozone? how would you compare the bottom end of the 9m neo to the 10m reo?

dafish said..

billygreen said..

COL said..
First, I've been a keen fan of the Ozone Reo since 2013, with a 6,8,10 quiver ever since. I've stated my view here a few times since then, that they're a fabulous wave kite and 2014 was a standout model though I didn't find any real substantial improvements since then. I still have V4 as V5 reviews sounded pretty mixed to me. My 15yo son has been sponsored by our local Newcastle kite shop for a 3rd year with a kite of choice, 9m Duotone Dice. I have absolutely no previous experience with the Neo, but I have had access to the Dice. 2019 and 2020 didn't really take my attention, apart from noting the amazing wind range, but I've now had a few good back to back tests, albeit my used, V4 10m Reo vs spanking new 2021 9m Dice in difficult marginal side to pretty onshore wind and that really opened my eyes to Duotone. The Dice clearly got going earlier and made ground much easier, but it also surfed down the line really well.
I was excited to hear news of the new Aluula and was considering just one, due to the cost. And then Duotone springs this Penta on their new SLS Neo, at only modest additional cost, where I could perhaps justify a whole quiver.
I've laid a 2021 Neo SLS 9m over a V4 10m Reo, not a full metre difference in area I would say, Neo is much higher aspect. I weighed the Neo at 2563 and the Reo at 2792. I'm pretty sure the Neo has the bigger bottom end, though I haven't back to back tested, loops just as sweet on the wave, and light wind foiling clearly leaves the Reo for dead. I was apprehensive of the Neo for its reputation as more aggressive, but found it to be as smooth as, and landing jumps strapless are so gentle.
I think Ozone Reo development has stagnated for some years and allowed the competition to overtake.

watch how butthurt the ozone gang will be to your review....

did you get the 9m neo to replace the 10m ozone? how would you compare the bottom end of the 9m neo to the 10m reo?

I am a REO fan, but butthurt? Hardly. I think all the new kites that are being produced are exciting. When a new idea hits, or new material, that benefits all kiting, I get excited. It forces all designers to keep thinking and pushing the limits. I am a small time rep for Ozone and have a full quiver of v5 Reo's. I also foil a lot. I tried a Peak 4 5 meter kite and thought it was incredible. I then tried the Ozone Access kite in a 6 meter. The Peak was hands down a much better kite, faster looping, more power, everything I wanted for light wind kiting. I sent the Ozone back and let them know they needed to redesign them if they wanted to compete with the Peak. I bought one immediately. I was told this year they have redesigned the Access, which is great. This is what happens when design ideas really work, it forces other companies to improve or they lost out.
I have not seen the new Neo yet, but does it have pullies on the bridle?

I know you are an ozone fanboy DaFish - but (no sarcasm), you are very objective with everything you write and have a non-militant approach. At the end of the day ozone have great products - just not optimised for everyone's taste. The butthurt comment was in jest and referring to the observed responses from the most minor criticisms of their products.

Regarding the pulleys, the bridal is apparently unchanged for the most part and I believe you can see the pulleys in Col's photo of the kites overlaid.

This is definitely worth a watch when comparing these two kites.

billygreen said..

ExSurfCentre said..
This is definitely worth a watch when comparing these two kites.

bit of a dud review, no action, just weighing kites, not really any comparison to how it flies compared to last years model, just stating the obvious really. the overlay of the neo and reo is interesting, laid flat theyre about the same despite a difference of 1m2 in the numbers printed on the wing.

any comparison out there of the sls vs the 2020?

This guy says in his review basically that there is more power on the upstroke.

yes, agreed. I have the 10m2 SLS and it's very familiar feeling to Neo 2019s, I have 7,8 and had 10 (now sold). It clearly climbs better up from low wind window, turns faster, I would say much closer to 8m 2019 than 10 2019. Jumps and floats surprisingly well, the 2019 did well too, but I think SLS is an improvement in there too. Overall, very nice kite, though just one session on it.

billygreen said..

ExSurfCentre said..
This is definitely worth a watch when comparing these two kites.

bit of a dud review, no action, just weighing kites, not really any comparison to how it flies compared to last years model, just stating the obvious really. the overlay of the neo and reo is interesting, laid flat theyre about the same despite a difference of 1m2 in the numbers printed on the wing.

any comparison out there of the sls vs the 2020?

We did a little video review/overview on the new Neo SLS vs the 2020, linking here. Probably also a bit of a dud review with lots of talking and stating the obvious though

Was pretty early on so we'd only had about 3 or 4 sessions on it at the time. We've used it a fair bit now and have a few riders on them, for the most part it's pretty much exactly what you'd expect given the different material characteristics. Faster & more agile, lighter in the sky etc. so better power in light conditions & on the upstroke. Seems to drift a bit better with the lighter weight too.

The stiffer material does make it feel a bit more "punchy" for sure, it's very fast and snappy/responsive. It's not much more powerful than last years, a 9m still feels like a 9m in power but the delivery is a bit more aggressive when you send it, this is running on the new lines too which are also stiffer and probably have a bit of an impact here. 9m feels like an 8 in terms of speed/agility though, maybe even quicker.

There's a lot of focus on the weight, but the impact of the stiffer material seems pretty significant too. Probably does more in terms of how it effects the feel of the kite overall.

Also yes, it does still have pulleys on the bridle. They made some changes to the bridle to tweak performance to suit the new material, as well as having the new bridle lines. There was talk of removing the pulleys at one point but from what I recall they decided against it because they didn't want the kite to feel "too different" to people who are already hooked on the Neo.

We did a full writeup on it which is linked in the video description too if you want to check that out. Stock has only arrived in the last week or two so we're getting a lot more feedback on them as we start to get more riders out on them. So far all the regular Neo riders who've upgraded have been pretty stoked, for people who already love the Neo it's a pretty easy choice as it's basically last years Neo with improvements all around.